AwardsNest

Annual Awards The Annual Awards of the New Mexico Riparian Council ... Nominate some one for next years awards!

2004
The following awards were given out at our Annual Award Ceremony, held on the afternoon of January 13th, 2005, in the Southwest Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel. The Annual Awards Ceremony was held directly following a Pre-Conference Symposium of the Quivira Coalition's 4th Annual Conference. The Pre-Conference Symposium was titled: Like Water In the Bank: The Promise of Alluvial Storage.

Research: Given to a New Mexico person, a group or business that helps us understand, preserve, and protect riparian ecosystems in New Mexico. This year's award recipients are the U.S. Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District for their work on the Middle Rio Grande Fuels Reduction Study. Along the Middle Rio Grande, the increasing proliferation of exotic woody plants has altered the structure of and composition of riparian vegetative communities, and greatly increased the frequency and severity of wildfire. The fuel reduction study is directed toward identifying the most effective fuels-reduction and exotic plant removal practices that will simultaneously 1) preserve cottonwoods and other native trees and shrubs, 2) reduce catastrophic fire risk via control of exotic plants and fuels, and 3) have positive or least-negative impacts on native wildlife species.
Public Awareness/Education: Given to a New Mexico person, group or business that provides information to the public about riparian ecosystem issues. This year's award recipients are the United South Broadway Corporation's Bosque Youth Conservation Corp, Albuquerque Open Space, and Tree New Mexico. These groups have partnered over the past two years to complete the following projects: Building and maintaining 2.78 miles of trail Clearing invasive species and trail grooming Trail watch and adopt a trail through Albuquerque Open Space Using Arc View GIS to map the trail and symbolize points of interest Trained 40 youth in tree identification Cleared timber and brush from the Bosque Fire prevention via clearing/thinning Fire prevention through education and public presentations in neighborhoods adjacent to the Bosque Constructed and placed two informational kiosks, two hand carved benches and a picnic table area made from Bosque wood and recycled jetty jacks BYCC youth participated in the Albuquerque Natural History Museum's Monitoring Congress by giving a poster and verbal presentation Planted 400 cottonwood and willow poles, 100 cottonwood saplings, planted 100 NM olives and 40 urban trees at Kirtland and Eugene Field Elementary Schools Tree New Mexico and Albuquerque Open Space have provided education classes and trainings for the BYCC youth.
Partnership: Given to a person, group, or business in New Mexico who works with other agencies, groups, private businesses or individuals to protect or restore riparian ecosystems. This year's award recipient is wildlife biologist George Long. George is a wildlife biologist on the Questa & Camino Real Ranger Districts of the Carson National Forest. The individual who nominated George noted the effort he has put forth to "share his knowledge of riparian areas and the waters they hold with organizations such as the NM Riparian Council, Quivira Coalition, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, NM Environment Department, Trout Unlimited, NM Wildlife Federation, and the Philmont Boy Scouts of America." It also notes that through "George's work with numerous volunteer groups on the Valle Vidal to enhance riparian vegetation composition and species diversity and improve overall stream conditions along Comanche Creek, the Seally Canyon drainage, the Ring drainage, as well as the many, many volunteers he has supported, we are now seeing significant improvements in these riparian zones. George has worked closely with the Quivira Coalition and NMED in forming a significant partnership that has resulted in over $300,000 of NMED 319 grants being approved to enhance the riparian, water quality, and watershed conditions within the Comanche Creek watershed." In conclusion, the individual who nominated him stated: "I believe that the partnering on the Valle is impressive, resulting in literally thousands of hours of volunteer efforts, and we have accomplished many important riparian and watershed improvements through George working with so many dedicated volunteers. George has put the extra effort forth to establish and build these partnerships, support and encourage them, complete the environmental studies and project design, and implement the work, all this while balancing a VERY busy high priority work schedule.
Habitat Enhancement: Given to a person, group or business in New Mexico who has contributed significant amounts of time to the enhancement of riparian ecosystems. This year we have two award winners in this category. The first one goes to Lou Naue of the San Francisco River Association in Glenwood, New Mexico. Lou has led the effort to re-establish riparian habitat along the San Francisco River. One site on her property now has a gallery forest of willow and cottonwood flanking the stream. Beavers have re-established themselves due to presence of the willows and cottonwoods and are creating numerous microhabitats leading to increased biological diversity. Small meanders have been created on the river. The site is in sharp contrast to adjoining riparian zones. Lou also has several other on-going projects designed to remove exotics and replace with native plants. She has organized volunteers to accomplish these projects. The San Francisco River Association, under Lou's direction, is now an important employer in Catron County. The SFRA has developed a small nursery to accomplish the native plant restoration objectives. The second award winner in this category is the Pueblo of Santa Ana. The Santa Ana river restoration project is located on the Rio Grande upstream of Bernalillo, New Mexico on the Santa Ana Pueblo. The project has been described as "the most dramatic of many efforts along the Middle Rio Grande in central New Mexico to revive the largest cottonwood gallery forest in the Southwest. The Pueblo has been working aggressively since about 1996 to restore the channel with a goal of protecting the levee and riverside facilities while creating aquatic and riparian habitat for wildlife. Their work has included river realignment, a gradient restoration facility, and floodplain lowering. It has also incorporated removal of non-native saltcedar and adding soil amendments to improve establishment of native grasses. The work at Santa Ana has become the model for tribal-federal cooperation.
Lifetime Achievement: Given to a person, group, or business in New Mexico who has contributed significant amounts of time and energy to the restoration and protection of riparian ecosystems. This year's recipient for the Lifetime Achievement award is Jan-Willem Jansens. Jan-Willem is currently the Executive Director of the Earth Works Institute. He was previously the Project Director for the Galisteo Watershed Restoration. He is "a leader in applying innovative watershed and riparian restoration methods to the Galisteo Creek and its tributaries. He is instrumental and effective at involving volunteers in watershed and riparian restoration, and has worked with Bill Zeedyk and others in teaching classes and implementing demonstration treatments on the ground. Jan-Willem has unbound energy and great skill working with people to achieve the objectives of the Earth Works Institute and the New Mexico Riparian Council."