Forest Management

 We often take our dog to this beach on the Rio Grande, walking there a quarter mile through the dense cottonwood forest.

There was no riverside forest in the vicinity of Albuquerque for a couple centuries after European settlement. Firewood harvesting and the demands of agriculture eliminated the forest, and then the Corps of Engineers tightly channeled the river's course to control flooding.  Now the area is protected as State park land and the web of steel jettyjacks has been mostly removed to allow some riverside irrigation for the cottonwoods.  Too much of a good thing at times, as fires are frequent and can be difficult to control because of the density of the vegetation.

Recently, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) has begun a massive effort to thin the forest for the purpose of fire suppression.  Previous clearing was most focused on removing invasive species like the Russian Olive along with the associated ground litter, but the current effort is of much wider scope and has given the forest a much more open look with broad swaths permitting access by heavy firefighting gear.