BY NATASHA NORMAN AND DAVID PATTERSON
What was once a concrete dumpsite in the drought-stricken southwest became a four-acre oasis, known as La Mancha Wetlands, along the Rio Grande near Las Cruces.
The La Mancha Restoration Project, a vision of Kevin Bixby who then lead Southwest Environmental Center, took years of planning, permitting, fundraising and hard work to come to fruition in 2010. It provides habitat for numerous species of waterfowl, beavers, foxes, rabbits and quail as well as snakes, dragonflies and birds. The trail around it welcomes many visitors who enjoy the serene beauty of nature at its finest.
We began volunteering there in 2020 and were soon joined by Jim Mulhauser, a true craftsman who built and installed numerous birdhouses. His kestrel house was such a success that a study group from New Mexico State University came to monitor the project, which is now in its third year of successful fledging.
During our tenure there, Southwest Environmental Center decided to close its doors and in 2022 it donated the property to Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, led by Ángel Peña. Years of severe drought began taking a toll on the water level, cattails invaded and soon the pond only held water a few months during the summer — when the Rio Grande was running.
Under the project’s new stewardship, the wetlands experienced a remarkable renewal. In 2023 the organization kicked off its first Earth Day Clean Up (pictured above). It marked the beginning of sustained community engagement and celebrated the first year of new management.
Just this year, the project launched its first-ever designated giving campaign specifically for La Mancha Wetlands restoration efforts, raising nearly $1,000. These funds will help protect La Mancha’s ecosystem, restore trails, enhance public access to the wetlands and provide community programs focused on conservation education.
In May, 12 members from the growing La Mancha volunteer group joined their first official monthly gathering to continue ongoing restoration efforts. The restoration has also attracted academic interest. Professor Buenemann and students from New Mexico State are initiating research for a GIS project at La Mancha, using drone technology to study the wetland’s recovery.
Through our five years volunteering, we’ve witnessed La Mancha Wetlands thrive as essential habitat, proving dedicated community efforts can successfully revive and protect precious natural resources in our desert.
For more information on Nuestra Tierra’s La Mancha Wetlands Restoration Project, visit nuestra-tierra.org
About Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project: Based in Las Cruces, NTCP works to ensure historically and deliberately excluded communities have access to the outdoors and that our history, values, and people are authentically reflected in public land and water management decisions.
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