Northern New Mexico National Forests Sign Final Decision on Riparian Restoration

By Arnie Leshin 

The Carson, Cibola and Santa Fe National Forests and Kiowa National Grasslands have released the final decision notice on a proposal to restore riparian, wetland and aquatic ecosystems in Northern New Mexico. The signed decision opens the door to begin implementing multiple projects to improve aquatic and terrestrial habitat, watershed health and water quality across the three national forests.

Although wetlands or riparian areas make up less than 200,000 acres of the 4.8 million acres of National Forest System lands in Northern New Mexico, they provide essential ecological functions far beyond their small footprint. Riparian zones support the highest plant, bird, insect, reptile-amphibian, and mammal biodiversity on the forests by providing nesting habitat, movement corridors and safe harbor from unfavorable conditions. They also enhance popular human uses of the forest, including recreation, sightseeing and grazing.

At the same time, riparian, aquatic and wetland areas have been impacted by significant stressors, including climate change, uncharacteristic wildfire, agriculture and grazing, urbanization, groundwater pumping, recreational use and invasive species. Nearly 60% of the subwatersheds across the three forests have been categorized as impaired or at risk.

“When the three forests launched this project in 2019, we enlisted our public and private sector partners to help us develop a truly innovative approach to restore one of our most valuable resources, our watersheds,” Santa Fe National Forest Supervisor Debbie Cress said. “The signed decision is a true milestone in public land management.”

“In New Mexico, we know that ‘el agua es vida.’ So it’s a special thing when land stewards work together to develop opportunities to sustain life,” Carson National Forest Supervisor James Duran said. “We now have a robust tool in place that gives us many opportunities to make this valuable work a priority across Northern New Mexico.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with our partners, including the New Mexico Forestry Division and the Department of Game and Fish, to implement riparian restoration across our national forests,” Cibola National Forest Supervisor Steve Hattenbach said. “Riparian restoration will provide quality wildlife habitat and help secure sustainable sources of clean water for New Mexico.”

Stewart Liley, Chief of the Wildlife Management Division of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, praised the three-forest riparian restoration proposal. “Even though riparian areas make up a small portion of the New Mexico landscape, they are extremely important for a significant number of wildlife species. The Department is excited to partner with the Forest Service to enhance and restore riparian areas across the state.”

The three forests worked together to increase the pace and scale of riparian ecosystem restoration by identifying a broad range of projects to promote watershed health, species recovery and sustainable human uses, including hunting and fishing.

The forests prepared an environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that reflected public comments received during the scoping period in 2019 and the comment period in 2020. The final EA and a draft decision notice were released in December 2020. The Center for Biological Diversity submitted an objection during the pre-decisional objection period, which was resolved by the Southwestern Region of the Forest Service in March 2021. The final decision notice supports a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) under NEPA and is consistent with all three forests’ current and proposed forest plans.

The signed decision notice opens the door for the forests to use project-specific design criteria and a flexible toolbox approach to begin implementing five primary types of projects:

• Projects to improve passage for aquatic species
• Instream, side-channel and floodplain projects
• Riparian vegetation treatments
• Road and trail erosion control, relocation and decommissioning
• Restoration of seeps and springs

Proposed projects range from channel reconstruction and streambank restoration to planting riparian species and restoring beaver habitat to relocation and decommissioning of roads and trails. Additional information on the Northern New Mexico riparian, aquatic and wetland restoration project, is posted on the project webpage.