Preserving & Protecting: VSWCD joins Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative

When we think of endangered species, many that come to mind are exotic animals such as tigers and rhinos on the other side of the globe, but it’s important to know that you don’t have to look far to find them.

“One of the biggest things around here is when people are thinking about the environment, they tend to overlook our own backyard,” said Johnny Chavez, acting director of Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District. “A lot of people don’t realize that we have our own unique environment and ecosystem here that still has a lot of diversity happening and we need to take care of it.”

The VSWCD oversees Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area and, according to the website, “the district encompasses 1,438,000 acres, including all of Valencia County, a small portion of northern Socorro County, Isleta Pueblo and Laguna Pueblo.”

VSWCD is dedicated to the conservation and sustainability of natural resources such as agriculture, water, soils, plants and animals. Seeking to further this goal, they recently joined the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program in January under the direction of Andrew Hautzinger, the previous director.

“It is a way for us to better connect (with resources) and it helps us better manage Whitfield,” said Chavez of joining the collaborative program. “Whitfield has potential for most of these endangered species as a habitat source and (MRGESCP) have a lot of knowledge and experience that we could pull on.”

According to the Endangered Species Act, a species is considered endangered if it’s in danger of extinction in all or a significant part of its range.

The collaborative program, which is a partnership of 17 signatory entities, is dedicated to supporting actions in the Middle Rio Grande aimed at protecting and recovering five federally-listed species, with a focus on science and adaptive management.

Of these five, Chavez said he has the most experience with the southwestern willow flycatcher as he’s done some research studies on them over the years.

“They do like this area because they need dense vegetation of trees to nest in, and they also like to be close to standing water because they’re insectivores,” Chavez said. “In the past, there used to be a lot more wetlands (in the MRG) but now they’re kind of spread out. Some birders have spotted them in Whitfield actually, very rarely though.”

Chavez noted the MRG is part of a large migratory route where many migratory birds can be spotted, including sea birds. A pelican was even spotted in Whitfield a few years back, he recalled.

Most species on the endangered species list have a small gene pool due to their shrinking population but something interesting about the southwestern willow flycatcher, Chavez said, is their gene pool still remains fairly high. He said this is likely due to them being good at moving around, allowing them to breed with others outside their local group.

The New Mexico meadow jumping mouse was listed as federally endangered in 2014 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The rodent can be distinguished from mice of other families by its long, hind legs and long tail.

“It lives among dense, tall, herbaceous (non-woody) plants that are next to flowing streams,” according to the National Park Service.

A fun fact about this jumping mouse is that it hibernates for about eight or nine months out of the year, USFWS states, which is longer than most other mammals.

Endangered species also encompass plant life, including the Pecos sunflower.

The collaborative’s website states this wetland plant may resemble the common sunflower, “but it can be distinguished by its narrower leaves, fewer hairs, smaller flower heads and narrower bracts around the base of the flower heads.”

Chavez said they are considering bringing some Pecos sunflowers to Whitfield through the collaborative program, “but once you bring an endangered species onto property, there’s a lot of federal regulations you have to follow through the Endangered Species Act, so we’re still discussing it.”

In 2014, the western yellow-billed cuckoo was recognized federally as threatened and it’s listed in New Mexico as a species of greatest conservation need.

“Secretive, except for its distinctive guttural call, the western yellow-billed cuckoo is an increasingly rare bird dependent on large patches of native streamside forest in the American West,” NPS states. “The yellow-billed cuckoo is a slim, long-tailed bird, sometimes confused with a dove.”

Being that there is a refugium for this species in Los Lunas, the Rio Grande silvery minnow is perhaps the most locally-known MRG endangered species. It was listed as federally endangered in 1994 and is also among the state’s list of species of greatest conservation need.

The silvery minnow was once abundant in the Rio Grande but now only exists in a small stretch of the river which “often goes dry due to irrigation diversions and low precipitation … the decrease in the RGSM population correlates directly with modifications and alterations to the Rio Grande over the past century.”

“They also serve as what’s called a habitat indicator,” said Chavez. “These are certain species we look at to see how well they’re doing. If they’re doing well, that means, usually, the habitat is doing pretty good, and if they’re not doing too well, that means there’s something going on.”

Chavez said a big contributor to the decline of these species and others is due to habitat loss.

“Hundreds of years ago, the Rio Grande ‘breathed’ more, so it got bigger, got smaller and left behind these little pockets of wetlands, and that’s what created their habitat, but the levying kind of made that smaller now,” he said. “A lot of it is also due to humans putting in homes, farmland … down close to the river.”

While human activity plays a significant role, Chavez said climate fluctuation over time is also a big contributor, as “1,000 years ago, this place was a lot wetter and it’s been slowly drying up.”

Chavez said wetlands are one of the most biodiverse habitats in the world, so it’s important to take measures to protect and restore these areas.

“Like here at Whitfield, we flood certain areas at certain times of years for birds to create habitat and a water source,” he said. “The U.S. Forest Service goes inside the bosque and does some restoration inside of it and MRGCD helps as well.

“In the bosque, they create these little pits, kind of ponds in a way, so that the water holds there longer. So we do little mitigations like that to help out with the local environment for these species and other species as well.”

Chavez said it’s important to protect and be aware of these endangered species because every species serves a niche in the local ecosystem and, if you lose one, it could negatively impact the entire system.

“Each species deserves to live,” he said. “If it’s human caused, we can change things here and there to make it a little easier for them, but also, it’s good to learn about these species because you learn how they live, how they contribute to the environment and how they all play their part in the larger-scale picture.”

To learn more about the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program and their efforts, visit webapps.usgs.gov/MRGESCP/.