The lower Colorado River is one of the most important wintering grounds for waterfowl and other migratory birds in the southwest. Aldo Leopold wrote of the impressive flocks of geese and ducks that he saw during his late-season travels here. Today, the landscape is much different and extensive work is needed to restore wetland habitats. DU's conservation work on the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is focused on rehabilitating existing habitat management infrastructure and restoring wetlands. Ducks Unlimited has been actively conserving wetlands on the Cibola NWR for the last 5 years and the future looks bright.

 

Old ditch

Main goose hunting area

The old ditch is
cracked and filled with sand.

Unit 2 is the main goose
hunting area on the refuge.

The Unit 2 (Goose Unit) ditch rehabilitation project began in March 2007. This project will completely reconstruct the main water supply ditch that feeds several hundred acres of flooded fields and wetlands. The current concrete lined ditch is inadequate to effectively manage the habitats in this unit. A strong partnership between the refuge and Ducks Unlimited has resulted in the completion of several on-the-ground projects in the Farm Unit and development of several proposed projects in Units 2 and 3.