The Rio Grande river has been immortalized in movies and in songs, but sadly, the river itself has shrunk and now regularly runs dry in certain areas. The World Wildlife Fund has prioritized restoring the river and to that end is funding programs to revitalize the Rio Grande.
One such program called Rio Grande Return is building beaver dams and other wood structures in the river, in an effort to improve water retention and water quality, and they are beginning to see positive results.
(All images courtesy of Rio Grande Return)
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Reid Whittlesey graduated from Humboldt State University with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Ecological Restoration. He has successfully managed the implementation of over 40 federal, state, and private water quality, riparian ecosystem, wildlife habitat, and watershed improvement projects and has been working in the field of restoration since 2009. The partnerships on these projects have included: United States Forest Service, New Mexico State Land Office, City and County of Santa Fe, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico Environment Department, Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources.
Before becoming the Restoration Director for Rio Grande Return, Reid served briefly as the Acting Restoration Director at WildEarth Guardians after having worked as their Program Field Coordinator for ten years from 2009-2019.
He enjoys rock climbing, skiing, botanizing, and trying to reduce the erosion rates on his property north of Santa Fe.
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