Visit Whitfield and be cool

Summer in central New Mexico has been hotter and drier than normal — and it’s not over, yet. Even without a quick fix to this scorching season, there are some commonsense adaptations that Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District is offering.

With a nod to Spain’s old ways of keeping cool during centuries of unrelenting summer heat, the district will be offering extended visiting hours at Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area. Some years back, the district’s board had the foresight to approve this measure, with the expectation that board members would open and calose the Whitfield gates, so extended hours would not increase staff hours.

The district can now invite folks to stroll along Whitfield’s 1.1-mile perimeter nature trail, after the heat of the day has passed. With more triple-digit temperatures than not, extended visitation will provide the opportunity to experience the great outdoors at Whitfield, safely, without the risk of dehydration and heat stroke.

Another adaptation will be the postponement of customary late-summer district programming to the autumn. School field trips to Whitfield will resume later in September. The visits to Whitfield have provided hands-on, outdoor science learning for district students from Valencia County and the Pueblo of Isleta.

This year, for the first time, students living in the district’s northern Socorro area have scheduled their field trips and, hopefully, Pueblo of Laguna schools will, too. This outdoor education program is geared primarily to students in grades 3-5, but can be tailored for both younger and older classes.

Students learn about the plants and animals of the bosque, riparian ecosystems, the history of Whitfield and more. They start nature journaling in a beautiful outdoor setting and get to take their own nature journal home. Teachers are requested to book their school visits early by calling Environmental Education Program Manager Jeff Sanders at 505-864-8914. Free bus service to and from Whitfield is provided, thanks to donations from the Friends of Whitfield and others.

Another “beat the heat” adaptation will be holding the Pollinator and Desert Willow Festival on Saturday, Oct. 4, rather than in August. Festival attendees will learn about pollinator species, climate-adapted native plants, and how to establish a backyard refuge.

Visitors will also have a chance to take a guided tour of Whitfield, buy native pollinator plants, and support local vendors, including popular food trucks. There may even be a chance to do some “solar gazing” through powerful telescopes.

Stargazing will also return later in the fall for the annual “Whitfield Under the Stars,” likely in November, after the district’s federal friends at the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument conclude their dark sky programming at the Abó Unit from 6-8:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24.

Members of the district’s board and staff and of the Friends of Whitfield have volunteered at Abó so that the Dark Sky programs can continue, given massive staff cuts in the National Park Service.

Park rangers guide visitors through the Abó ruins in a crepuscular tour, prior to unveiling the big telescopes for night sky viewing. This past Friday, the Milky Way was in plain view above the Abó ruins. For those without professional cameras, park rangers and a volunteer professional photographer provided instructions on how to maximize one’s cell phone capabilities for a good photograph that could be printed on the spot, for free.

Another opportunity not to be missed this autumn is the planning workshop for drought and river drying in the Middle Rio Grande, which also has been postponed from September to Oct. 28-29 at the University of New Mexico (UNM).

The district is co-sponsoring this conference with UNM’s ARID Institute, because six southwestern states — including New Mexico — constitute one of the four regions in the world experiencing “mega-drying” from severe drought, decreased and lower-altitude snow mass and overuse of groundwater.

For farmers and gardeners wanting to implement conservation measures, autumn marks the season to apply for financial assistance from the district, with applications due by Sept. 30. Conservation planning can begin with a consultation at Whitfield, with both the district staff and federal Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) planners.

With NRCS offices closing around the country, Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District was the first in the nation to provide complimentary space for NRCS office hours (Wednesday through Friday at Whitfield).

Through the late autumn, the District will continue its free soil assessment and testing. In addition, the District still has garden beds available for families or individuals to plant and overwinter at the gardens it manages next to the community centers in Meadow Lake and El Cerro Mission.

For more information, call the district’s Environmental Education Program manager.

(Teresa Smith de Cherif is board chairwoman of and grant writer for the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District.)