Tree New Mexico Receives
Collaborative Forest Restoration Program Grant

Albuquerque, NM – Tree New Mexico (TNM) has been awarded a $410,000 Collaborative Forest Restoration Program (CFRP) grant (3 year, 2007 – 2009) in partnership with United South Broadway Corporation – Bosque Youth Conservation Corps and Albuquerque Open Space. The grant’s main purpose is to address the critical shortage of native riparian middle story plant materials needed for on-going restoration and monitoring efforts in Rio Grande Valley State Park (the Albuquerque Bosque), and other New Mexico riparian systems. This project will establish a riparian portable shade structure grow-out facility in the Albuquerque Open Space Division’s Candelaria Farm Preserve on Arbor Road in Albuquerque. This innovative project will provide a minimum of 3,000 native riparian plants annually for revegetation plantings at six 50 acre sites (TBD) within the 2,500 wooded acres of the Albuquerque Bosque, and offer surplus riparian materials to qualified third-parties at low or end-cost.

The nursery and subsequent reforestation efforts will provide approximately 40 annual youth jobs and training opportunities in planting and maintaining trees and shrubs, monitoring techniques, and small construction projects from recycled wood from the Bosque.

"This grant opens up opportunities for the youth in Albuquerque to become involved with restoration of one our most valuable resources...the bosque,” said Diana Dorn Jones, executive director, United South Broadway Corporation. “Young people working in USBC’s Bosque Youth Conservation Corps program are actively engaged as caretakers of the bosque environment. What a wonderful thing for them to look back years from now and be able to point out to their children and relatives about the role that they have played in making the Albuquerque Bosque a healthier place that we can all be proud of."

Tree New Mexico was also awarded a $450,000 CFRP grant in 2002. Some of the grant activities included: assisting Open Space with clearing heavy fuel loads and invasive materials from the Bosque, providing jobs for 30 – 40 youth per year, and utilization of waste wood from the Bosque. “We are thrilled to be a part of the restoration efforts of the city’s most valuable natural resource, and our heritage – the Albuquerque Bosque,” said Suzanne Probart, executive director, Tree New Mexico. “Our partners and volunteers make the hard work enjoyable – we make a great TEAM!”

Tree New Mexico has also received several other grants for Bosque restoration from both private and public sources. All told, over the past five years, TNM has brought nearly $1,000,000 in resources to assist with restoration efforts in the Albuquerque Bosque. “Tree New Mexico has proven to be a highly effective partner for the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division on many projects over the past 15+ years”, says Matt Schmader, Superintendent, Open Space Division, Parks and Recreation Department. “In particular, the numerous projects that involve bosque restoration have proven to be an invaluable asset in securing planting materials and tools—but more importantly, as a way to connect the community with the bosque they treasure through volunteerism and education.”

To find out more about this program, contact Tree New Mexico at 265-4554, or email tnm@treenm.com.