Land Witness Project

Land Witness Project New Mexicans of varied backgrounds & occupations sharing their stories about the impact of climate c

The Land Witness Project: Climate Stories from New Mexico was created by a collective of people with deep emotional and physical ties to New Mexico. We are all concerned about New Mexico’s changing climate and its effects on our communities and ecosystems. We embarked on this journey to amplify the voices of the people and communities on the front lines of climate change. The project was designed

and produced through countless volunteer hours, and we want to thank our team for their incredible dedication. The Land Witness Project was funded by generous grants from the Isora Foundation and 350.org

Firefighters responding to the 2022 Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire reported nearly 2,500 retardant drops as they fought t...
12/10/2025

Firefighters responding to the 2022 Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire reported nearly 2,500 retardant drops as they fought the blaze that destroyed hundreds of homes in Northern New Mexico, according to data the federal Forest Service provided Source New Mexico.

Where those drops occurred — and what was in the retardant — is the subject of renewed interest after an independent geologic study discovered elevated levels of potentially dangerous contaminants, including arsenic, antimony and uranium, in 72 private wells in the burn scar, mostly in Mora County.

Kate Zeigler, the geologist who discovered the metals, has said fire suppressants are a likely culprit behind at least some of the contamination, noting that many of the newly discovered contaminants exist in fire retardant and are not naturally occurring.

She also stressed other possible sources of contamination, noting fire suppressants “are most likely not the sole and only source.”

Zeigler also reviewed the drop data and believes it could be incomplete. She is asking people who witnessed the fire to send any evidence they have of suppressant drops to her team. As she’s conducted tests, she’s heard multiple reports of retardant dropped in Monte Aplanado and near Morphy Lake, for example, areas that do not appear in the Forest Service data.

“We’ve been trying to chase down anecdotal stories of people coming back to a house coated in pink dust,” she told Source in an email, referring to the characteristic pink color of the retardant.

Ad reported by Patrick Lohmann New Mexico

Call 505-922-9200 on Coors and tell them to remove rodenticides that can harm wildlife in the Bosque Most cases of rode...
12/02/2025

Call 505-922-9200 on Coors and tell them to remove rodenticides that can harm wildlife in the Bosque

Most cases of rodenticide poisoning in wildlife don’t happen because an animal directly consumes the poison; it occurs secondarily when raptors or other predators consume a poisoned rodent. When a mouse or rat consumes rodenticides, they generally do not die right away. Many of them make their way out into the environment before succumbing to the poison.

On Sept. 23, Emily Rees was planting thousands of seedlings of New Mexico vervain, a purple wildflower beloved by pollin...
11/18/2025

On Sept. 23, Emily Rees was planting thousands of seedlings of New Mexico vervain, a purple wildflower beloved by pollinators, on the plateau above the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos when she received a phone call telling her to stop.

That morning, Rees and Medietta’s employer — the Institute for Applied Ecology, a conservation nonprofit focused on protecting native seeds, pollinators and habitats across the Western U.S. — received 30 federal award cancellation notices from agencies overseen by the Department of the Interior.

In New Mexico, where the IAE had been monitoring 12 rare plants on BLM land affected by oil and gas development, cuts to that project forced the group to lay off three crew members, said Silber. The institute had also just begun work on a project to plant native grasses in the Chihuahuan Desert for wintering grassland birds. Now, however, “the seed is just sitting in our warehouse,” said Silber, who added that it won’t remain viable for more than a few years. “We had a contractor who was going to do that seeding, and so they’ve lost $30,000 and we had less than a month’s notice to cancel that,” she said, noting that that the federal grant cuts have had “ripple effects on the species, on the contractors, on our staff.”

As reported in High Country News by Cecilia Nowell, November 17th 2025

Update on the rodent poison documented at near the Bosque, shared by FYI, the poison has been removed from this locati...
11/14/2025

Update on the rodent poison documented at near the Bosque, shared by

FYI, the poison has been removed from this location. Thank you for contacting Pesticide Compliance Department a the New Mexico Department of Agriculture took action that also did a followup inspection.

The thousands of silvery minnows released this past week were all spawned at the BioPark. Most were spawned last year, a...
11/03/2025

The thousands of silvery minnows released this past week were all spawned at the BioPark. Most were spawned last year, and some were spawned this year.

The Rio Grande silvery minnow occupies 7% of its native range, living in just three sections of the river: the Albuquerque, Isleta and San Acacia reaches. It was first listed as endangered in 1994. Human intervention has been key to preventing the fish species’ extinction.

For more than 20 years, Fish and Wildlife, and the BioPark have been gathering minnow eggs in the spring, then releasing grown fish into the river in the fall.

In the early years, fish were not spawned in captivity. The eggs were raised to adulthood, then released. But the effort has grown more sophisticated, and now some of the wild eggs are used to breed more fish. The BioPark, along with state and federal officials, works with 13 other partners to conserve the fish.

is reported in the Albuquerque Journal by Cathy Cook
📸Photos by Chauncey Bush

Sagebrush Church is poisoning wildlife.. this poison must be removed immediately. ‼️‼️‼️Most cases of rodenticide poison...
10/31/2025

Sagebrush Church is poisoning wildlife.. this poison must be removed immediately. ‼️‼️‼️

Most cases of rodenticide poisoning in wildlife don’t happen because an animal directly consumes the poison; it occurs secondarily when raptors or other predators consume a poisoned rodent.

When a mouse or rat consumes rodenticides, they generally do not die right away.

Many of them make their way out into the environment before succumbing to the poison. These poisoned rodents are weaker and less coordinated than their healthy counterparts, making them easy prey and more likely to pass the poison throughout the food web.

Once a predator consumes a poisoned rodent, the rodenticides bioaccumulate, or build up, in their bodies and inhibit their blood’s ability to clot, causing them to suffer a slow and painful death.

Sagebrush Church is poisoning wildlife.. this poison should be removed immediately. Most cases of rodenticide poisoning ...
10/31/2025

Sagebrush Church is poisoning wildlife.. this poison should be removed immediately.

Most cases of rodenticide poisoning in wildlife don’t happen because an animal directly consumes the poison; it occurs secondarily when raptors or other predators consume a poisoned rodent.

When a mouse or rat consumes rodenticides, they generally do not die right away.

Many of them make their way out into the environment before succumbing to the poison. These poisoned rodents are weaker and less coordinated than their healthy counterparts, making them easy prey and more likely to pass the poison throughout the food web.

Once a predator consumes a poisoned rodent, the rodenticides bioaccumulate, or build up, in their bodies and inhibit their blood’s ability to clot, causing them to suffer a slow and painful death.

Duh…
08/21/2025

Duh…

👍🏽😂
04/29/2025

👍🏽😂

Schrader said the project began as restoration of a patch of land by the river on the west side of Santa Fe River Road t...
04/29/2025

Schrader said the project began as restoration of a patch of land by the river on the west side of Santa Fe River Road that had been degraded by city equipment and rock materials.

River Source decompacted the soil, added native plant grass and flower seeds, and worked with volunteers and staff to plant milkweed plants in a series of catchments.

DiLoreto has remained passionate about helping pollinators in the years since and praised River Source for the work it did cleaning up the patch of earth and helping stabilize it to prevent erosion. She credits McDonald and Zoe Isaacson, current river and watershed manager for the city of Santa Fe, for their support of the project.

“Zoe made it happen,” she said.

A lot of people have helped sustain the garden since it was first planted in March. DiLoreto said the volunteer response has been “phenomenal,” noting that when a friend went to sign up for a watering shift in April they had already all been taken and she had to take a May slot instead.

“The response has been really wonderful,” she said.

A new national forecast warns that above-normal wildfire risk will exist through most of New Mexico by April. Meanwhile,...
03/11/2025

A new national forecast warns that above-normal wildfire risk will exist through most of New Mexico by April. Meanwhile, federal cuts could leave one-third of the state without dispatchers to monitor for nascent blazes and fewer firefighters to respond if they blow up.

Snowpack this year was far below average. Most of the state is in severe drought. Fine fuels, like grass and pine needles, are abundant following two years of moderate precipitation. Meanwhile, the United States Department of Agriculture slashed 3,400 employees, 75% of whom had wildfire-fighting training, according to recent Congressional testimony.

Also, two wildfire dispatch centers, including one covering the fire-prone Gila National Forest, are slated to close, thanks to the Department of Government Efficiency’s announced lease terminations.

Combine all of that and, “It’s bad, man,” said Matt Hurteau, a fire ecologist at the University of New Mexico.

“It’s just going to be a matter of the intersection of an ignition and a wind event and high temperatures, and we’re off and running,” he said.

As reported in by Patrick Lohmann

This story speaks for itself!❤️
03/08/2025

This story speaks for itself!❤️

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