SAVE OUR BOSQUE TASK FORCE

The Rhodes property is located on the east side of the Rio Grande across from the point where Brown Arroyo enters the river channel. The majority of the property is private land owned by the Rhodes Family. Small tracts of BLM and other private lands are located within its boundaries. Various forms of land management, from farming to livestock grazing, have taken place on this property over the years. A lightning-caused wildfire burned much of the property in the spring of 2006, destroying many mature cottonwood trees.  The fire also burned a large area of salt cedar which had been aerially sprayed with herbicide 18 months earlier.

 

Restoration work was conducted in four phases following the fire, and the SOBTF is currently working with the landowner to permanently protect the property using a conservation easement. Future management tasks will include continued monitoring of plantings and assuring that trespass cows are kept away from the treatment areas to allow for native plant establishment and growth. A management plan will be developed in cooperation with the landowner and SOBTF to assure the continued health of this unique property.

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Funding for restoration work on the Rhodes property was obtained through the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Management of Exotics for the Restoration of Endangered Species (MERES) program, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Socorro Field Office, the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project (WHIP), and a Severance Tax Grant from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Forestry Division.