Published Oct 16 ,2008
Wild river otters will be swimming in the Rio Grande for the first time in decades when Taos Pueblo, the federal Agriculture Department and the state Game and Fish Department release five otters imported from Washington state.
Federal wildlife agents planned to deliver the otters to the Pueblo on Sunday, after state officials have reviewed their health certifications. The otters will be held in a confinement area for a few days before being released in the Rio Grande Box on Pueblo land.
The release is the first of several planned by a group of conservation partners that includes the Pueblo, the federal Agriculture Department’s Wildlife Services division, the federal Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico Friends of River Otters and the state Game and Fish Department.
In August 2006, the state Game Commission directed the Department to reintroduce river otters to sections of the upper Rio Grande and the upper Gila River. There have been no confirmed sightings of native river otters in the state since the 1950s, but recent reports indicate some otters have migrated to Navajo Lake from Colorado, where they were reintroduced in the 1980s.
A feasibility study has indicated that otter reintroduction efforts could be successful in state waters formerly in the otters’ historic range.
For more information on river otters and their reintroduction, visit www.amigosbravos.org/river_otter.php.
From a press release
The Quartzite and County Line river access sites on the Rio Grande, near Pilar, will be closed to the public from Wednesday (10/15) through May 1, 2009.
Construction of new toilets, boat ramps and access roads should be completed by May 1. The public is encouraged to use alternate sites until then.
For more information, contact River Manager Mark Sundin or Bureau of Land Management Education Specialist Mark Lujan at (575) 758-8851.
From a press release
Depending on weather and fuel conditions, Santa Fe National Forest fire managers will continue prescribed burns within either the Gallina Wildland Urban Interface or the Mesa Camino Prescribed Burn.
• The Mesa Camino area is located near Forest Road 77 in the Mesa Alta area, seven miles northwest of Gallina and six miles north of State Road 96. Approximately 1,075 acres remain to be burned.
• The Gallina Wildland Urban Interface project area is located one mile south of Gallina off State Road 96. Fire managers plan on burning 50 to 100 acres per day.
Smoke released from either burn may be visible from Ghost Ranch, the Rio Chama Monastery, Abiquiú and possibly Chama and Española.
For daily recorded messages regarding prescribed burns on the Forest, call (877) 971-FIRE or visit www.nmfireinfo.com.
From a press release
The Wildlife Center, a rehabilitation and education facility in Arroyo Seco, has chosen Katherine Eagleson as its new executive director.
Eagleson comes to the Center with 13 years of experience as the director of an agency providing services for abused children and families. Although working on behalf of children has dominated her work career, working on behalf of wildlife and the environment has been a life-long avocation.
Eagleson has volunteered in the Center’s intensive-care unit for over a year and has helped develop release plans for migratory birds. Katherine was also an Audubon Chapter president in the Adirondacks of New York and has volunteered with the Nature Conservancy.
The Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of sick, orphaned and injured wildlife. It also offers educational programs to schools, community groups and the general public. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the Center’s 35 non-releasable educational animals, including eagles, bobcats and owls.
For more information, call 753-9505 or visit www.thewildlifecenter.org.