We’re number one!
The Most Extreme Weather State of 2013 – weather.com Most Extreme Weather State
Is there one state that has, well, taken it on the chin more than others this year?
You could make a strong argument for several states taking the prize for most extreme state of 2013. As far as touching many weather extremes, we argue for one “enchanting” choice.
Let’s lay out our case on the following pages.
The Most Extreme Weather State of 2013 – weather.com Most Extreme Weather State
John Fleck rightly points out elsewhere that the subject of water in New Mexico is frequently a front page topic at the Albuquerque Journal (as opposed to the more narrow subject of the Albuquerque bosque and the Mayor’s Vision).
There might have been a great disaster in Albuquerque a week ago. On the other hand, the bosque might have gotten the rejuvenating flooding it appears it will never get without managers hand-picking which segments will be so nurtured. We like to imagine the bosque is a strip of wilderness but it is really just an unkempt park. That’s OK. Central Park is a great park and couldn’t be more unnatural. Let the professionals do their jobs managing nature for our benefit.
The flood that wasn’t | ABQJournal Online
Authorized by Congress in 1960 and completed in the mid-’70s, Cochiti is one of the largest and arguably the most controversial dam in New Mexico. Its completion drowned farmlands, summer homes and culturally significant sites at Cochiti Pueblo, and seepage beneath the dam waterlogged remaining pueblo farmlands downstream. In addition, the way it altered the Rio Grande’s flows has caused lasting environmental problems downstream, depriving the riverside ecosystem of natural floods.
But on Sept. 13, it did the job we gave it when we built it, which was to protect the Middle Rio Grande Valley from flooding.
Originally, the Journal gave NO coverage to the meeting that became the turning point for public discussion of our community’s vision of the bosque, the riparian ribbon along the banks of the Rio Grande. (Small wonder because the bosque buys no advertising.) Today, that discussion appears on page one thanks to Leslie Linthicum.
Bosque plan depends on details | ABQJournal Online
It’s no wonder that a discussion about changing access to the river – “bringing the river more into our daily lives†– has found broad, bland support and narrow, passionate opposition.
“The bosque†means different things to different people.
Bosque plan depends on details | ABQJournal Online
Ironically, Leslie and the crowd she joined were out not to see the bosque but to see the river as we never get to see it — almost flooding enough to keep the bosque alive. Also ironically, she speaks of enjoying the view from bridges, as artificial and controversial a vantage as one can get. (Mind you, I love that old Alameda bridge and am so glad someone had the foresight to leave it standing — what was that discussion like?) Nevertheless, this topic should be on the front page of the Journal more than once because we all need to know about the options. Doing nothing is not a long-term option, albeit a wise short-term one.
(1) At the Sept. 4 Town Hall meeting, one of the… – Rio Grande Bosque by Jasper (Joe) Hardesty
While progressive and caring, the design firm and others employed by the City (tax dollars spent) do not include ecological or restoration expertise (until just recently retained, but only late in the process, with minimal design or project scope input). The recent hiring of an environmental firm is unfortunately a whitewash to give credibility to a plan that has no legitimate restoration element. Given this, starting over makes a lot of sense. If the City is not willing to start over because it would cost too much, then we can’t afford the project after all. If the City is willing to do it right, this is good news for the designers, as it means more work. They can thank me later.
From the perspective of the architect, this is an amazing opportunity to demonstrate how design and nature can be integrated to create beautiful elements that people will enjoy. No doubt, I would LOVE this type of a project and that opportunity! However, great design at the expense of environmental damage is not actually great design, and definitely not a community benefit. Integrating nature and design will have other, more appropriate opportunities. The Bosque Plan should be about what is best for the long term health and vitality of our community.
(1) At the Sept. 4 Town Hall meeting, one of the… – Rio Grande Bosque
Improve the bosque with more wetlands, meadows | ABQJournal Online By Ross Coleman / Albuquerque resident | Mon, Sep 16, 2013
If I were to make a single suggestion regarding the Rio Grande vision it would be this: Take a significant portion of the funding (half or more) for ecological restoration. Focus that effort to create groundwater infusion wetlands (mimicking oxbow marshes), wet meadows, wooded wetlands and overbank wetland areas.
The benefits for wildlife and the people who will be visiting the bosque will be tremendous.
I think there is a place for improvements, such as trails that will bring pedestrians into the bosque and along the river. They should be designed with an emphasis on a low-impact human presence.
Improve the bosque with more wetlands, meadows | ABQJournal Online
We used Ouray’s riverwalk frequently on a recent vacation. We also spent half an hour near Durango’s riverwalk. Albuquerque is unique, but we should look at what these other towns have done, including Farmington and Pueblo, CO.
Alternate vision for bosque proposed | ABQJournal Online
Tony Anella, an architect and board secretary of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, an environmental group, said he doesn’t oppose improving public access to the bosque, but doing so should be based on conservation science.
“I hope the public will be better informed about what the choices are,†he said of the meeting. “… The issue really is, How do you design that access?â€
Barish, one of the leaders of a coalition working on the issue, said it is important to maintain one of Albuquerque’s “wild edges†– a forest and river running through the midst of New Mexico’s largest city. It is part of what “unique sense of place,†he said.
Any city effort should include major habitat restoration efforts, critics argue.
Kudos to Alex Limkin for exciting and energizing reaction to Mayor Barry and his forces for development (privatization and profit).
Rio Grande Bosque, by Alex Limkin
The Mayor and his design team, Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, want to upscale and upgrade the Bosque. They believe this will attract tourists and business to the region. For them, this means replacing our dirt trails with a 10-foot wide “multi-use” road.
The trails, which they referred to at Wednesday’s Town Hall meeting as a “spiderweb network,” are the trails of our forefathers. They are humble and simple. Quiet underfoot. They have served Albuquerqueans for generations, and much longer still, long before any “Duke of Alburquerque” was even born.
For me, walking on the trails allows me to lose myself in the comforting setting of the forest. The Bosque closes in around me on all sides. I feel connected to the woods. The feeling on a trail is like that of being embraced by nature. A trail does not impose its will on the landscape, like a road, but wanders to the left or right, to make way for trees and bushes. Trails give way. They don’t assert. They don’t demand. Like water seeking least resistance, that flows into the cracks and crevices that present themselves, the trails reflect the combined choice of wildlife and people to blend in with the landscape, to accommodate their steps to the irregularities and unevenesses of the land.
It is interesting that this sort of trail is something that the Mayor and his landscape architects object to. But of course they object. Landscape architects exist to build things, mighty projects, they seek to mold and shape the landscape before them. A humble footpath that costs nothing to build, virtually maintains itself, and does not bear the stamp of Modern Industry would seem, in their eyes, like a bit of nothing.
For me, the trails are beautiful, much like a spider web is a thing of beauty. Instead of building roads, let’s educate our children so they don’t feel this disconnection from nature. So they can sense the majesty and grace of grass and fern, soil and sand. Let’s take them out on these trails so they can experience the wonder and mystery of following in the footsteps of their forefathers, of not being able to see around the next bend, of being surprised by the undulating wonders that the trail gives freely, where no road can.
I walk the trails and touch my fingers to the tips of grasses. This spider’s web, connecting us all–to the river, to the earth, to each other–is worth protecting.
Rio Grande Bosque, by Alex Limkin
87% of voters in both states agree that wolves are a “vital part of America’s wilderness and natural heritage.†8 in 10 voters agree that the FWS should make every effort to prevent extinction. 82% of Arizona voters and 74% of New Mexico voters agree there should be a science-based recovery plan. Over two-thirds of voters in both states agree with scientists who say there are too few Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico and that we need to reintroduce two new populations of wolves in suitable habitat in the states.
Alamosa Land Institute is prominently listed on the Planning Team for remaking the Albuquerque Bosque. Who are they? Everyone else on the team is an architectural or construction firm. Do we need to know more than that to judge this project?
Alamosa Land Institute (ALI) is a non-profit organization that is committed to the planning, facilitation, and execution of projects that address community economic development through local and regional ecological health, resource productivity, and the aesthetics of land restoration. ALI is dedicated to using innovative and cost-effective solutions based upon the best science that will produce real change on the ground for the benefit of both local communities and the ecological landscapes upon which they depend.
We are in the process of building our site. Please check back soon.
Contact » ABQ The Plan: The Rio Grande Vision
Planning Team
Dekker/Perich/Sabatini
Alamosa Land Institute
Karpoff and Associates
Jettwalker Inc.
Bohannan Huston, Inc
Contact » ABQ The Plan: The Rio Grande Vision
The Rio Grande Vision — City of Albuquerque
Project Presentation
Click to view our latest presentation.
Contact Info
Town Hall Meetings
Wednesday Sept. 18, 6 -8 pm
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain NW
Albuquerque NM 87104
Protect our Bosque from the Proposed Rio Grande Vision Plan / Hawks Aloft Inc.
Hawks Aloft Blog
Protect our Bosque from the Proposed Rio Grande Vision Plan
September 4th, 2013
It is not often that we, at Hawks Aloft, take on an activist role in our community. However, we have relatively recently become familiar with the details of the Rio Grande Vision Plan, proposed by Mayor Berry and his design team. That site was updated only yesterday, therefore considerable detail has not yet been reviewed. There is a public meeting tonight
Wednesday Sept. 4, 6 -8 pm
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain NW
Albuquerque NM 87104There will be a second public meeting on Wednesday Sept. 18, 6 -8 pm.
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the plan, attend the meetings and express your opinions, either through the public meeting venue or by submitting written comments to via email to theplan@cabq.gov Comments may also be mailed to The Mayor’s Office, PO Box 1293, Albuquerque NM 87103.
As an organization that cares deeply about the health of our bosque, we mailed a letter to the Mayor on September 3, 2013, the same date as the revised Plan was posted on the City website. We urged Mayor Berry and his team to consider the effects of a similar management that has occurred in the Rio Rancho bosque over the past 10 years and the devastating impacts to bird densities as that reach of the bosque has become more ubanized. A full copy of our letter to the Mayor follows below this chart.
Rio Rancho bosque Avian Densities 2003-2012
September 3, 2013
Mayor Richard Berry
City of Albuquerque
PO Box 1293
Albuquerque, NM 87103Hawks Aloft, Inc. is deeply concerned that the City of Albuquerque’s Rio Grande Vision Plan, if enacted, will have a devastating effect on avifauna and other wildlife that depend on the natural habitat of the bosque. We base our concerns on scientific data collected by Hawks Aloft, Inc. We have conducted avian monitoring within the bosque, between Bernalillo and the La Joya Game Management Area since December 2003. The purpose of our study is to assess avian abundance and species richness (number of different species observed) relative to habitat and management entities. We currently monitor 78 (½ mile long) transects in various habitats. Each route is surveyed three times per month during the summer and winter months, when the birds present are resident, rather than migratory.
As greater detail has been released about the Rio Grande Vision Plan, it is apparent that large portions of the bosque within the Rio Grande Valley State Park will be developed to increase human usage, with hardened riverside trails up to as 8-10’ wide, viewing blinds, benches, and other park-like amenities, many of which are proposed for installation along the river’s edge. The Plan also calls for removal of non-native vegetation as part of a restoration process. All of these sound very similar to the Willow Creek bosque management that has occurred in our neighbor to the north, Rio Rancho.
The Rio Rancho bosque has undergone significant changes, from an unmanaged wild area in 2003 to urban parkland between 2004 and 2012. (Changes have occurred in 2013, but data are still being analyzed). We have documented a significant decline in avian abundance over time as this section of bosque has become increasingly developed.
We provide the history below as potential explanation for the change in bird densities in the Rio Rancho bosque.
2004-2005: Mechanical clearing of non-native woody vegetation occurred in some areas. Sunflower crop was poor, resulting in relatively low bird numbers during winter. Limited human use.
2006-2007: Vegetation re-growth and presence of extensive sunflower patches. The sunflowers attracted large numbers of wintering birds, especially sparrows and finches.
2008-2009: Crusher-fine loop trail installed. Human use began increasing as soon as trail was completed. No winter surveys conducted due to lack of funds.
2009-2010: Clearing resumed, again using heavy equipment, resulting in removal of all woody vegetation except for coyote willow, cottonwoods, and a few, scattered New Mexico olives. Expanded wide, crusher-fine, walking trails, and smaller trails with classroom style seating. Sunflowers were mowed prior to setting seed.
2011-2012: Avian density among the lowest of all transects surveyed.
2013: Additional crusher-fine trails and benches installed. Riverbed altered to shift water flow closer to the Rio Rancho bosque and provide benefit to silvery minnow. Fill from riverbed mounded on west edge. Fill area seeded; minimal planting of shrubs.
Human and dog use of the Willow Creek bosque has grown exponentially since the establishment of the wide, crusher-fine trail. It is not unusual to encounter 20-30 people and up to 10 dogs, many of them off-leash, during a ½ mile long transect. This bosque has become a place for people and a de facto dog park, with little natural habitat for wildlife. Birds that utilize the shrub understory and ground dwelling species have largely disappeared due to the lack of cover and persecution by unleashed dogs. Those birds present are largely canopy dwelling species such as White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch, and Black-chinned Hummingbird.
All Russian olive (non-native) and junipers (native) have been removed from the Willow Creek bosque. Russian olive is of vital importance to birds in the middle Rio Grande bosque. It is, in general, greatly undervalued by land managers, but provides important nesting substrate for sub-canopy and understory breeding birds as well as an important food and cover resource. While dense stands of coyote willow provide valuable cover for birds, they do not provide a substantial food resource, particularly for seed and berry eating animals; additionally, because coyote willow lacks a complex structure, it is of limited value to nesting birds.
We believe that the Rio Grande Vision Plan, if enacted in its current state, will have a similar, equally devastating effect on bird numbers, as that documented in the Rio Rancho bosque. We sincerely hope that we are able to have a voice at future technical science team meetings. It seems rather odd that the research group that has monitored bird use in the bosque for the past 10 years has not been included in the planning process. Thank you for your attention to our concerns.
Protect our Bosque from the Proposed Rio Grande Vision Plan / Hawks Aloft Inc.
From Gail Garber, director of Hawks Aloft:
I am writing to you to request your help in protecting and preserving the Rio Grande bosque within the Albuquerque City Limits. Although Hawks Aloft has not often taken an activist role in local politics, I believe that we must speak out on this issue, using the data we have collected over the past 10 years of avian monitoring in the bosque. Trevor and I are working on compiling the avian numbers for the Rio Rancho bosque, which has undergone a very similar management process with devastating effects on the avifauna of that portion of the bosque. We hope to be able to present a graphic that will show the decline in bird numbers once a riparian forest is developed into urban parkland.
In sending this request, we join with Sierra Club, Audubon, and others, all working toward a common goal.
The City is planning two public meetings, on September 4 andh also on September 18, to present their plans for the bosque. I strongly encourage those of you that can make it on September 4 to attend. However, if you cannot make the September 4 meeting, please try to attend on September 18.
The subject of the meeting will be the City’s schematic designs for the projects between Central Ave. and the I-40 bridge that the City intends to build next year. Richard Barish, of Sierra Club, attended an Open Space Advisory Board meeting this week and got a preview of what the City will present. His two paragraphs below describe only the City’s initial plans for a trail through the bosque.
“The design is for a highly developed trail through the bosque on the east side of the river in this section. The City is considering four possible surfaces for the trail, from crusher fines through graded native soil. The City is not considering an option that would leave the trail as it is in any portions of this section of the bosque. The City talks about varying the width of the trail, but appeared to me to clearly intend that the trail will, for the most part, be an 8 to 10 foot wide trail to accommodate multiple uses. The City is talking about two pedestrian bridges and one, or perhaps two, boardwalks in the bosque in this section. This design is apparently the template for the trail through the bosque in other locations, as well.
“As the direction of the planning becomes apparent, it becomes even more urgent that people show up on September 4 to tell the City that the bosque should left as open space, not turned into a city park. If you love the bosque, it’s time to show up and be counted. We need an overwhelming turnout to turn the tide. Please attend and comment on September 4!”
Meeting details:
Community Town Hall meeting
Wednesday, September 4th and Wednesday, September 18th
6:00p.m.-8:00 pm
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain NW in Old Town
Bear Canyon Arroyo would seem an ideal wildlife corridor between the Sandias and Rio Grande.
» State should move in to help black bear survive in Sandias | ABQ Journal By Harrison H. Schmitt / Former U.S. Senator on Sun, Jul 14, 2013
For thousands of years, bears could migrate from the Sandias into the Rio Grande valley for water and alternate food sources.
Today, when bears try to do this, they find our homes, commerce, fences and streets between the mountains and the river. The bears also encounter excited, unprepared homeowners.
Some residents contact wildlife officials to remove the bears, unknowingly giving a possible death sentence to these hungry and thirsty foragers.
The remarkable black bear, prominent figure of Native American lore, is a tri-athlete in its own right. These animals can turn on a dime and run at incredible speeds, climb trees with little exertion and swim effortlessly in lakes and rivers. The giant paws can carry its large mass silently through the night with little or no trace. …
As a friend pointed out, “The state that saved Smokey Bear should now come to the rescue of his relatives.â€
I live at the base of the Sandias at the edge of Black Bear country. Our family wants the state animal to stay healthy and survive for coming generations. New Mexicans will have heavy hearts if the Sandia Mountain black bear population disappears due to inaction and lack of perspective and common sense.
The governor and other state officials need to act and act quickly. Time is running out for the bears.
» State should move in to help black bear survive in Sandias | ABQ Journal
Less than a mile from our house. In 10 days.
» Drought watch: rains bringing little improvement so far | ABQ Journal
1.44″ of rain so far in July
» Drought watch: rains bringing little improvement so far | ABQ Journal
Each summer by early July, the monsoon season arrives just in time to break a long stretch of temps in the high 90s and higher. In the monsoon, clouds build in the mountains, moving out to rain in the late afternoon. (And, if we’re truly lucky, it might rain most of the night.) Showers are widespread but one neighborhood may get an inch and another not a drop.
We have all of this right now, but don’t call it the monsoon. Monsonal moisture moves from the south to the north. This nonsoon flows from the north to the south each day. It’s just a topsy-turvy coincidence, but Albuquerque is loving it just the same. Monsoon or nonsoon, we’ll take it.
