Ducks Unlimited (DU) applauds New Mexico State Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard for agreeing to proceed with a land conveyance of approximately 212 acres of state trust land to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to become part of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Additional work remains in order to complete this transaction and subsequently open the property for public use. However, this announcement is crucial to protecting this cherished urban refuge while ensuring it remains accessible to the public.

The refuge occupies over 570 acres of ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Tiwa People, now in Albuquerque's South Valley community. The people of these diverse communities have cared for these lands for generations and, at Valle de Oro NWR, continue to play a vital role in its protection, restoration and conservation success.   Since USFWS acquired the lands of Valle de Oro NWR in 2012, DU has partnered with USFWS to restore the refuge’s wetlands.

Over the last few years, DU and other local conservation partners in New Mexico have voiced the need to convey this property to an appropriate management agency. The Lands Office hosted a series of public meetings and outreach to the local community and other stakeholders. DU agrees with Commissioner Garcia Richard that collaborating with the USFWS to incorporate the Bosque property into the refuge is the best path to preserve and protect these lands for the future.

“New Mexico Ducks Unlimited is thrilled to hear this news. The decision to convey this small but very significant property along the Rio Grande Bosque will secure access to the water and wetlands of this great river and add yet another treasure to Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. We look forward to working with our partners to conserve the wetlands at this urban refuge and to support recreational opportunities for all New Mexicans,” said DU New Mexico State Chair Nyleen Troxel Stowe.