Reinvigorating Women Owning Woodlands in New Mexico

To reinvigorate Women Owning Woodlands programming in New Mexico, over a dozen women from across northern New Mexico gathered last month to tour a beaver dam complex along El Rito Creek. 

The positive, can-do energy the group brought to the field tour and a casual post-tour potluck hosted on the property of one of the local women provided a wonderful reminder of the power of creating women-centric spaces to discuss restorative land stewardship.  

The event kicked off with an impromptu discussion of how a company’s proposal for exploratory uranium drilling nearby poses a direct threat to the watershed we visited, as well as downstream communities – including Santa Fe and Albuquerque. (The exploratory mining proposal is under review by the Forest Service, despite local and statewide opposition.)  

We then packed into a single van to head into the Carson National Forest on our way to a beautiful series of beaver dams and a thriving, fish-filled pond system.  

Directly above this series of dams, we discussed ecosystem-wide benefits of beavers, including for wildfire resilience and water storage; beaver habitat needs and ongoing/necessary restoration work in the El Rito Watershed; and sources of human-beaver conflicts, along with ways to promote coexistence.  

We certainly left, in the words of one of our speakers, “beaver believers.”  

This passionate group then gathered on the property that one of the women had lovingly stewarded for several years and had recently come to own. Together, we shared food, exchanged ideas for sustaining the momentum sparked by the gathering, and wandered to her fenceline to visit another beaver dam—one sturdy enough to walk safely across to the far side of the pond! 

The fervor and community built in this single afternoon is not meant to stay in isolation. We hope to continue to host, gather, and support women land stewards and conservationists from across the Southwest, allowing the needs and interests of each community to shape the purpose of future gatherings. WOW as a national network continues to strive to equip women with the information, networks, and capacity needed to take an active role in stewardship, here in New Mexico and across the forest and woodlands of our nation.  

Did you know beavers range between about 30-75 pounds? WOW!