The
Middle Rio Grande Bosque Initiative (MRGBI) is an ongoing,
congressionally supported, interagency ecosystem management
effort to coordinate activities related to the ecological
restoration and management of the Middle Rio Grande. For this
initiative, the Middle
Rio Grande is defined as the 180-mile Rio Grande corridor
within central New Mexico extending from Cochiti Dam to the
headwaters of Elephant Butte Reservoir.
The objective of the MRGBI is to protect, enhance,
and restore biological values by addressing ecological functions
within the Middle Rio Grande. The MRGBI implements recommendations
identified by a Biological Interagency Team and documented
in the report Middle
Rio Grande Ecosystem: Bosque Biological Management Plan
(Crawford et.al. 1993) (pdf 24.5 MB, 312 p.). These recommendations
provide guidance for project implementation resulting in long-term
protection of the bosque.
The MRGBI receives Federal funds
that are appropriated annually to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to support new and ongoing projects. The MRGBI annually
sends out a Request
for Project Proposals to a wide array of organizations
and entities that have interest in bosque improvement within
the Middle Rio Grande corridor. Proposals are received and
presented at an annual meeting of the Bosque Improvement Group
(BIG). BIG is an informal non-exclusive "think tank"
which provides a forum for those interested in bosque management.
The MRGBI has been guided by BIG since 1995. BIG participants
are numerous and include federal, state, tribal, city, county,
and local government agencies, private industry, private organizations,
private individuals, and others who have interest in bosque
improvement activities.
At the annual meeting of BIG, participants review
and discuss proposals presented. A proposal review committee
is identified. Proposals are reviewed and ranked by the review
committee. Funding of priority proposals is allocated on an
annual basis. Total funding of projects is dependent on annual
congressional appropriations.
Final products from MRGBI funded projects include:
interim reports; final reports; video documentaries; on-the-ground
habitat improvement; community involvement/participation;
networking; and web sites.
The MRGBI is administered by a full-time
coordinator.
The coordinator is responsible for participating in and leading
activities to achieve the goals of the Initiative. Primary
duties of the coordinator include: coordinating BIG meetings;
reviewing all projects funded through the MRGBI; managing
the funding of projects and day-to-day coordination with BIG
participants; and developing and maintaining collaboration
and participation with diverse entities in a variety of projects
and decisions designed to manage, maintain, protect, and enhance
the bosque.
In September 1991, Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)
appointed the Rio Grande Bosque Conservation Committee (Committee). He asked that the nine citizen-based members
examine the problems affecting the Middle Rio Grande bosque, to solicit broad public involvement, and to make
recommendations for the long-term protection of the bosque and the benefits it provides. The Committee worked on
the Senator's charge for almost two years before presenting him with a
committee report
(pdf 1.4 MB, 9 p.) in June of 1993. The report recommended that a biological management plan for the Middle Rio Grande
be developed as "the first step towards restoring the Bosque's health". An interagency technical team was formed to
create the Middle Rio Grande Ecosystem: Bosque
Biological Management Plan (BBMP) (Crawford et.al. 1993) (pdf 25 MB, 312 p.), which was released in October
1993. The BBMP includes historic information regarding hydrologic conditions, aquatic and terrestrial resources and
organisms, climate, river morphology, population trends, land use, and water management practices of the Middle Rio
Grande. This information provided the basis for twenty-one recommendations designed to guide future management of the
river and its riparian corridor. The BBMP also recommended that a central coordinating structure be formed to ensure
integration of management activities. Beginning in Federal fiscal year 1994,
funds were appropriated to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to create and support a central coordinating structure, the MRGBI.
Since the release of the 1993 BBMP, there has been a continued surge of interest and activity among management agencies,
stakeholders and the public, based on the concept of the river and the bosque as an ecosystem. The 20th recommendation
of the BBMP was for periodic updating of the BBMP. October 2005 marked the publication and release of the
Middle Rio Grande Ecosystem Bosque
Biological Management Plan-The First Decade: A Review & Update (Update) (Robert, L, 2005) (pdf 7.9 MB, 140 p.).
The Update chronologically records progress made over a decade (1994-2004). It also describes an integrated "ecosystem
approach" to restoration, and suggests a number of avenues for future action. The original 21 recommendations were reviewed
and retained and a 22nd recommendation was added. The Twenty-Two
Recommendations continue to guide future management of the river and its riparian corridor. For a free CD of the
Middle Rio Grande Ecosystem Bosque Biological Management Plan-The First Decade: A Review & Update contact Cyndie Abeyta at
505-761-4738 or Cyndie_Abeyta@fws.gov.
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