Volunteer weekend in the Jemez Mountains at the beautiful Valles Caldera

Located in the Jemez Mountains, the Valles Caldera National Preserve is a unique and important landscape, beloved by local communities and those who travel from all over the world to visit its remarkable vistas and features. It is home to vital water resources, diverse wildlife species, rare geothermal features, and holds great cultural significance to connected Pueblos and Tribes.

The Preserve became a unit of the National Park System relatively recently in 2015. Years of heavy land use have left parts of the landscape damaged, but ongoing restoration and education efforts are a bright hope for the park’s future.

Livestock grazing is no longer allowed within its boundaries; however, grazing is still permitted on Forest Service lands surrounding the Preserve. When cattle stray across boundaries from the national forest into the Preserve through downed fencing, they can cause damage to streams, wetlands and vegetation.

NPCA is partnering with the Albuquerque Wildlife Federation and Rio Grande Return to bring volunteers out to the Preserve for a camping workshop: volunteers will help repair fencing and assist with stream restoration. This work will help ensure cattle stay on adjacent grazing land, protecting the fragile vegetation and wetland streams, fortify habitat for beavers, and improve the health of the watershed.

Event Details

WHAT: Volunteer weekend to help repair fences and assist with in-stream restoration projects, with Albuquerque Wildlife Federation, Rio Grande Return and National Parks Conservation Association. Navigation, food and camping details, registration, and a detailed agenda of the weekend’s activities will be sent to you once you RSVP.

WHEN: Volunteers will arrive to the camping site the evening of Friday, June 20 and camp the nights of June 20 and 21. All day Saturday, June 21, and the first part of Sunday, June 22 will be volunteer days. Volunteers will depart late morning/midday on Sunday, June 22. You are welcome to attend any portion of the weekend!

WHO: All are welcome to attend, no previous field experience necessary.

RSVP: To sign up, please contact Kristina at abqwildlifefederation@gmail.com.

Please join us for a weekend of fun, community, and some restoration work to help protect the riparian ecosystem of the beautiful Valles Caldera National Preserve!