Upper Chama Soil and Water Conservation District/New Mexico Earthlings

New Mexico Earthling’s (NME) mission is to create a lasting infrastructure that reduces barriers for all NM youth to participate in environmental education and outdoor learning opportunities in order to promote vibrant rural communities and resilient agriculture. In 2020 and 2021, we were awarded the NM Outdoor Equity Fund to establish Conservation Writing Workshops in the Chama Valley, empowering students to learn from local land stewards and use their voices to address local conservation issues. We served students ages 8-17 in these workshops. In 2022, we developed our first Watershed Internship Program, bringing student interns from Escalante Middle High School and Mesa Vista High School to Catspaw Ranch to develop skills in landscape scale natural resource management. Students learned about the indicators of a healthy watershed through soil, wildlife, and water monitoring. We were also awarded the Permaculture Fund grant in 2022. Building from both programs, in summer 2023 students from Escalante Middle High School and Mesa Vista High School will work on a restoration project in the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire area, learning about both the social and ecological impacts of the disaster and getting hands-on experience with restoration efforts. Our goal for 2023-2024 is to provide bi-monthly classes for students in Northern Rio Arriba County to learn land health and stewardship practices from community mentors, culminating in a Watershed Internship in Summer 2024 where they will put their learned skills to work.