Nature is the heart of Albuquerque

The Rio Grande Nature Center brings a safe haven for wildlife and peaceful discovery to visitors from around the world.

by NATALIE McBRIDE

The Rio Grande Nature Center is a peaceful place, bringing together generations of families throughout the last quarter of a century.

Photo by Natalie McBride

This is a stuffed owl on exhibit at the Rio Grande Nature Center.

“I learned how to respect and preserve nature and how delicate nature really is,” Catlin Lucas, 24, an avid visitor said. “I’ve probably been to the nature center 100 times in my entire life, just visiting.”

“I used to go, probably for a whole summer every Saturday for a two hour bike ride,” Lucas said.

“My dad use to take us probably every other weekend because he was obsessed with birds. He tried to get us to watch birds, and we were like, ‘no.’”

One of her favorite memories at the nature center was taking walks with her dad.

Today, Lucas brings her two children there. She said they like to look at the exhibits and watch the birds.

She visits the center to get away from the noisy city life without having to go very far. She enjoys taking her children for bird watches. Now that she’s an adult she has a greater appreciation for bird watching. Lucas likes to take her kids to the nature center shop and let’s them pick out a neat gift to help support the nature center.

“I love the kids’ room,” Lucas said. “They have puppets, puppet shows, craft projects. It’s just a really nice place to go, sit down, watch a little bit of wildlife, have conversations, and kind of be at peace with yourself,' Lucas said.

When it comes to maintaining the nature center Lucas said: “It takes lots of time and respect for wildlife. Lots of volunteers because there’s not enough funding to pay the amount of staff it would take to maintain it. To preserve that last part of what we have left.”

Photo by Natalie McBride

The pond is full of life and sun bathing turtles.

At one time, Lucas was also a volunteer for the New Mexico State Parks Department and has a great understanding of what it takes to keep the beauty of New Mexico alive.

The nature center hosted an event called, Celebra La Ciencia on April 5. Children with bilingual backgrounds came to the nature center to celebrate the science involved in maintaining the center.

The program focused on bringing children the opportunity to learn things they may not have access to in daily life. This is just one of many programs bringing generations together acquiring knowledge to save wildlife. The programs are usually run by volunteers.

“I have the time. I love the outdoors,” said Yolanda Garcia, a volunteer. “I always wanted to do something like this. She said there are excellent training programs for volunteers. “There’s always something new,” she said.

“It’s very natural,” Garcia said. “I guess the ponds aren’t very natural, but they’re close.’

“It’s beautiful with the cottonwoods in the midst of the metropolitan,” Garcia said, adding that she likes how the river is part of it all, meandering, doing its own thing.

Libbie Weber, another volunteer, also shared her experiences of being a volunteer.

“It’s a hidden gem,” Weber said. “It’s right in the middle of the city.’

“The view of the mountains is incredible.”

Weber shared a booklet that she called “Almanac Journaling.” The spiral notebook sits on the front desk of the nature center and is written in when a volunteer wants to express something new they may have seen that day.

Photo by Natalie McBride

Rio Grande Nature Center is in the heart of Albuquerque, with no buildings in sight.

The volunteers said that a birder will sit in the observation room for hours. Artists sit in the observation room and look out over the pond and draw the picturesque landscape. Guests come from all over the world, but to keep them coming, a lot of work has to be done.

Beth Dillingham, the park’s superintendent, makes sure the Rio Grande Nature Center, one of 34 state parks in the state, stays just the way it was intended to be.

“It’s great having work that’s meaningful,” Dillingham said.

The park opened in 1982 and celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s local people were concerned about saving the bosque and the natural habitat. Before the nature center was built, the land was used as a dump, and a slaughterhouse sat near the river. The people decided the best way to save the land was to create a nature center.

The unique building that houses the nature center hides among the cottonwood forest. The building was designed by the famous architect Antoine Predock. A huge, man-sized pipe leads guests to the entrance.

Dillingham grew up in Albuquerque and says she looks at the work she does as a responsibility to take care of her own back yard. She has worked in environmental education for 16 years.

“I’m very passionate about protecting wild places,” Dillingham said.

Due to physical changes with the world, like global warming, the nature center definitely feels the effects. Dillingham said she and the volunteers at the center are trying to do the best they can to maintain the wildlife habitat and preserve it. They want to provide the highest quality habitat possible. She said they want people to enjoy the nature center.

People enjoy the nature center because it’s quiet and peaceful. “You can see people relax. It’s a great time out place,” Dillingham said.

She said people are over stimulated from leading busy lives, and by coming here they can just stop and listen, see and smell. The nature center not only helps the visitors, but the animals too.

Volunteers are working hard to create slower channels in the Rio Grande to make for better breeding grounds for the endangered silvery minnow. That project has been funded by the Endangered Species Collaborative. In the past the wind storms have created quite a mess. So, tree limbs have to be cut, but volunteers are careful not to take any nest holes. Some non-native plants like the Russian olive and salt cedar are being cleared out, but some of it is left behind on the ground to keep up the habitat for the birds.

In the city of Albuquerque it doesn’t seem like there are very many wild animals, but they are here. Skunks, badgers, coyotes, bats, bull snakes, to name a few, reside in the area. There are some rare sightings of the Horned Grebe, a diving bird. The East Coast Warbler is seen here, too. Birders will drive from Colorado just to see the bird because it’s rare to the area. They find out from a hotline called Rare Bird Alert. Many of these wild animals can be seen at night or on a tour with a volunteer.

A training program available to teach volunteers who are needed of all ages. The volunteers teach kids with scientific studies, work in the gift shop and at festivals like the upcoming cottonwood festival. Dillingham said you have to have a sense of humor to work here. There are maintenance, law enforcement and educator positions available.

“I love the volunteers because they have so much wisdom,” Dillingham said. “I really enjoy them so much.”

Photo by Natalie McBride

This little visitor is inspecting the aquactic wildlife at Celebra La Ciencia.

When visiting the nature center there can be some costs for parking which help generate 63 percent of the budget. The center is basically given $35,000 a year for maintenance. Dillingham said this is not enough. The nature center is a non-profit friends group and an enterprise agency because it’s a state park. The nature center is an agency that has to generate its own income, unlike schools. A school’s income is given from the state, not generated from fees.

Luckily for the nature center, the state Legislature helps fund the Rio Grande Nature Center. State Sen. Dede Feldman, recently helped obtain $50,000 to help keep up the infrastructure. Sen. Ed Sandoval, has been helping the nature center from the beginning Dillingham said.

The nature center is able to provide children with important outdoor experiences. The activities available on a daily basis are: bird watching, walking or running trails, mostly self-guided exploring.

Dillingham said: “We just hope people do whatever they can do to make good choices. Please do not waste water. Don’t forget to enjoy nature because it makes your life so much better.”

Written April 22, 2008

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