USFWS employee manages habitat. Photo Credit: USFWS

Habitat

Management Tools
Management tools used on the refuge include farming, prescribed burning, exotic plant control, moist soil management, and water level manipulation.

Bosque del Apache NWR cooperates with local farmers to grow crops for wintering waterfowl and cranes. Farmers plant alfalfa and corn, harvesting the alfalfa and leaving the corn for wildlife. The refuge staff grows corn, winter wheat, clover, and native plants as additional food.

Lowering water levels in marshes to create moist fields promotes growth of native marsh plants. Marsh management is rotated so that varied habitats are always available. Dry impoundments are disced or burned, then reflooded, to allow natural marsh plants to grow. When mature marsh conditions are reached, the cycle is repeated. Wildlife foods grown this way include smartweed, millets, chufa, bulrush, and sedges.

Many cottonwood and willow bosques that once lined the Rio Grande have been lost to human developments. Salt cedar or "tamarisk," originally introduced as an ornamental plant and for erosion control, has taken over vast areas and has low wildlife value. Salt cedar is being cleared and areas planted with cottonwood, black willow, and understory plants to restore native bosques that have higher value for wildlife.

Irrigation canals ensure critical water flow. Daily monitoring, mowing, and clearing keeps them functioning. Controlling the water enables refuge staff to manage the habitat.