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State Plans Colorado
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Mesa and Plains
(Area - 13,216,700 ha)
Description - This physiographic area is located almost entirely in central
New Mexico. Major landforms are valleys, lowlands, outwash plains, and alluvial fans and
terraces. The middle reach of the Rio Grande is found here. Grama and galleta grasses and
four-wing saltbush occur along with sand sage at lower elevations, pinyon-juniper at
higher elevations, and conifers are in the scattered mountain ranges. Riparian strips
along water courses have cottonwood-willow and non-native salt cedar.
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Conservation recommendations and needs - Overgrazing and an interrupted fire regime are the main factors affecting grasslands and desert shrub habitat. A rest/rotation grazing system and lowering of stocking rates, especially during drought years, would help to improve conditions in these habitats. Conversion for development and agriculture, water diversion, overgrazing, damming, channelization, mining, invasion of invasive non-native plants, and recreation have severely damaged riparian systems, here and elsewhere in the arid Southwest. Solutions include grazing regimes that allow regeneration of cottonwood-willow, restoration of natural flood cycles, and planting of cottonwood-willow. Pinyon-juniper habitat is affected by fuel wood cutting, conversion for development and grazing, overgrazing, and fire suppression followed by catastrophic fires. Limiting fuelwood cutting, especially of mature pinyon trees, and curtailment of conversion for grazing could retain the mature growth conditions preferred by priority birds. Restoration of fire at appropriate intervals and intensities, probably cool fires and moderate intervals, would also be beneficial. Fire suppression and catastrophic fires, overgrazing, and some timber harvest practices have altered coniferous forests. Rest/rotation grazing, return of a cool fire regime, timber harvest practices that leave snags and some older trees, harvesting only part of a salvage sale, and thinning dense pine stands would improve conditions significantly.
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