Charlene Peterson, Librarian. The school sits on a large piece of land where many outdoor areas have been established, but they lack vegetation. Each grade level will be responsible for designing and maintaining a different area. Students will learn about native plants and their importance in the ecosystem. The gardens will also allow students to take ownership of their school and use the skills learned to teach their parents and create home gardens.

Jonah Snead, park ranger. This grant will restore and maintain the high biodiversity of this unique canyon ecosystem of Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument by removing invasive species. The project will prioritize manually removing Bromus tectorum, Eragrostiscurvula, and Bromus inermis. By prioritizing native plant preservation, this initiative will enhance ecosystem health, support wildlife habitats, and protect the canyon’s unique natural heritage.

Kerry Ann Gardner, Trustee. Keystone Heritage Park is a nonprofit organization encompassing 58 acres of botanical gardens, bird sanctuary wetlands, and Chihuahuan Desert Experience hiking trails, all managed by a dedicated volunteer Board. The grant would build a native plant greenhouse. Native plants are underrepresented in local and regional retail nurseries. The greenhouse would help alleviate this bottleneck and promote native plant availability for conservation and education in the greater El Paso and Southern New Mexico region.

Harpo Faust, University of New Mexico Herbarium. This is the second year of funding to update a publicly accessible checklist of all the ferns and fern allies in New Mexico. The list will be primarily based on reviewing herbarium specimens and occurrence data and focused collection efforts.

Anna Downing, UTEP PhD student. Wildfire drastically alters ecosystems through changes to vegetation biomass, biodiversity, and structural diversity. Efforts to restore wildfire-affected habitat to historic pre-fire conditions can be complicated. The project seeks to determine if restoration efforts of historic riparian habitat in Lincoln National Forest are effective by using remote camera traps and unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor changes in vegetation structural diversity.

Mari Quillman, Master Gardener. The project will add plant species identification signs in an established pollinator garden and develop education materials for students in the local schools and the general public.The project will also provide service hours for students from local schools who will help maintain the garden, learn to identify plants and pollinators, and participate in collecting data for a pollinator study.

Rich Wagner, director of the New Mexico Riparian Council's Isleta Reach Stewardship Association. Exotic Ravenna grass has been spreading throughout the Middle Rio Grande Bosque. It is reducing habitat for native riparian species and increasing fire risks. Irrigation outfalls in the Isleta Reach create and maintain native riparian habitat and refugia for federally-listed species even when the river is dry. Removing Ravenna grass and revegetating impacted areas is crucial to protecting native riparian species.

Thomas Dominguez, director of the Santa Fe County Extension Office. A five-acre plot of neglected soil on the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds will be plowed and seeded with native grasses and forbs. Keyline contour plowing and imprinting during seeding will establish a system of small collection basins that utilize all available water. The initial planting will establish a foundation groundcover and a network of roots that will store carbon, increase the abundance and diversity of microbial populations, and provide food and habitat for terrestrial fauna.

Cristina Salvador, Santa Fe Botanical Garden. This project aims to inspire action and restore vital ecosystems through an educational, user-friendly booklet on New Mexico’s native grasslands. Divided into three sections, Part I describes the historical significance of grasslands, their transformation, and degradation; Part II highlights grasslands in mitigating climate change; and Part III provides practical guidelines for planting and maintaining grasses.