On April 9, 2008, the 11^th Annual Youth Conference on the Environment, cosponsored by Sandia National Laboratories, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and the Environmental Education Association of New Mexico, was held in the Rio Grande Bosque, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The conference was designed to challenge and inspire New Mexico’s youth to nurture and understand the environment around them.  The theme for this year’s Youth Conference was “The Bosque.”  The conference offered an opportunity to learn, with a hands-on approach, about the ecosystem along the Rio Grande.  Approximately 170 New Mexico students and teachers attended the day-long conference.  Service staff participated in the planning and implementation of the Conference, and made on-site presentations on groundwater, surface water, water quality, ecology, and conservation.