This 2009 article describes a volunteer-driven initiative to restore the ecology of the Cebolla Spring wetland in New Mexico.
REVITALIZATION readers familiar with the area are invited use the Comments section below to share their insights on the current state the wetland.
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A marsh hawk patrolled the edges of Cebolla Spring, New Mexico, searching the bulrushes and cattails for a midday meal. The restored wetlands at the headwaters of Cebolla Canyon offer a renewed food source for the area’s wildlife.
The restoration project, which began nearly a decade ago, has turned the spring, once little more than a soggy patch of soil, into acres of lush plant and animal life.
Nearly 40 volunteers of the Albuquerque Wildlife Federation spent the weekend of Oct. 16-18, 2009 helping restore the watercourse in the lower reaches of Cibola County, south of the Acoma Indian Reservation.
The group first began the project eight years ago, said Mike “Sel” Scialdone of the federation. “It’s a good excuse to come out camping for a couple of days. We’ve been doing this so long now that it (the canyon) feels part of the family.”
The canyon is now administered by the Bureau of Land Management as a wilderness area within the agency’s El Malpais National Conservation Area.
The major goal is to reestablish 40 to 80 acres of wetland, primarily around the spring.
The project is funded by grants from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state’s River Ecosystem Restoration Initiative.