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Forest Stewards Guild flyer. Handout at April 21, 2017 Coordinating Group meeting.

This 2015 Annual Report provides information on the results of forest thinning during the calendar year 2015. Initial 2008, 2009, and 2010 baseline pre-treatment monitoring data from permanent monitoring study sites provided information on rainfall, ambient and soil temperatures, soil moisture, soil surface profiles to assess erosion over time, soil surface stability, soil chemistry, bird and small mammal composition and relative abundance, and vegetation composition, structure, and cover. Monitoring data from 2011 to 2015 provides post treatment information on the above parameters along with data on medium-sized to large wildlife and livestock for the first 5 years following thinning treatments.

Final Report to Ciudad SWCD, April 2015

This field manual provides detailed protocols for riparian restoration effectiveness monitoring for the Greater Rio Grande Watershed Alliance (GRGWA) restoration projects. This field manual is meant to supplement the GRGWA Riparian Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring Plan (SWCA Environmental Consultants 2012). The monitoring plan provides an overview of the restoration effectiveness monitoring and the general methods used in this manual, and users of this field manual should first read over the monitoring plan to understand the general approaches and context for specific monitoring protocols.

This Greater Rio Grande Watershed Alliance (GRGWA) riparian restoration effectiveness monitoring plan (Monitoring Plan) presents background information and monitoring approaches for comprehensive monitoring of riparian restoration projects and natural resources management within the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) watershed. The monitoring approaches and methods will evaluate the effectiveness of riparian restoration projects conducted by GRGWA members whose projects are aimed at removing non-native vegetation and restoring a sustainable landscape that provides vital economic and ecological services to riverside communities in central and northern New Mexico. The monitoring approaches found within this plan will help the GRGWA achieve the objectives it has developed as an alliance, which are detailed below. This Monitoring Plan details the evaluation criteria and monitoring methods of the following items: riparian vegetation communities (wildlife habitat), shallow groundwater, soil health, and wildfire fuel loading. Monitoring will provide data to address how parameters representing those items respond to restoration treatments, and will show whether or not the restoration treatments are meeting goals outlined in the project proposal and by the GRGWA.

This 2014 Annual Report provides summaries of monitoring data collected during the 2014 calendar year for the Estancia Basin Watershed Health, Restoration and Monitoring Steering Committee (Steering Committee). Details about research questions and the background and administration of this monitoring project may be found in the Estancia Basin Watershed Health and Monitoring Project: Monitoring Plan Evaluation (2008 Monitoring Plan) (SWCA Environmental Consultants [SWCA] 2008), which is available at the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute (Restoration Institute) website (http://www.nmfwri.org/images/ stories/pdfs/Estancia_Basin_Monitoring/EstanciaBasinMonitoring.pdf). The 2008 Monitoring Plan provides detailed information on the background knowledge of forest thinning in the Southwest and presents the goals and methodologies for the Estancia Basin forest thinning monitoring project. The 2008 Annual Report (SWCA 2009) also provides important background information about the Trigo wildfire monitoring project that was initiated in 2008. Previous annual reports for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 summarize overall monitoring findings from those 6 years, and they also may be found at the Restoration Institute website.

This poster presents research on the effectiveness of aerial seeding conducted on private lands by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) following the Trigo Wildfire of April 2008, which burned 13,709 acres of ponderosa pine and mixed conifer in the Manzano Mountains of central New Mexico. The general objectives of this research were to: - determine the effects of fire severity on the recovery of forest understory vegetative communities and determine how different plant species respond to fire severity; - determine the response of intentionally seeded grass species used in restoration efforts by the NRCS (annual rye grass, Lolium multiflorum, and tall wheat grass, Thinopyrum ponticum) to high and low fire severity; and - evaluate the relative recovery responses of native and exotic plant species to fire severity.

- The Estancia Basin Watershed Health, Restoration and Monitoring Steering Committee (Steering Committee) oversees forest thinning projects and monitoring of forest and watershed health in the Estancia Basin in coordination with the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute. The primary goals of the Steering Committee are to improve forest health and create defensible space from wildfire. Funding for this project has been provided by the New Mexico Water Trust Board. - SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) was awarded a contract in 2007 to conduct monitoring for forest thinning effectiveness on the eastern slopes of the Manzano Mountains for the Steering Committee. SWCA finalized a comprehensive monitoring plan in March 2008 which is available online at the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute’s website (http://www.nmfwri.org/images/stories/pdfs/Estancia_Basin_Monitoring/ Estancia Basin Monitoring.pdf)—that provides background information, research questions, and a discussion of methods relative to forest thinning and monitoring. - The principal goals of forest and watershed monitoring are to determine the effectiveness of standard prescribed forest thinning on soils, hydrology, water yield and quality, vegetation, and wildlife. SWCA is responsible for planning and implementing forest thinning monitoring in order to evaluate these resources. - Data from permanent monitoring study sites provide information on rainfall, ambient and soil temperatures, soil moisture, soil surface profiles to assess erosion over time, soil surface stability, soil chemistry, bird and small mammal composition and relative abundance, and vegetation composition, structure, and cover.

Photo Monitoring Restoration Effectiveness Analysis: 2-Photo Comparisons form.

Low-intensity rapid assessment method of photographic monitoring (photo monitoring) to evaluate thinning effects on soils, vegetation and wildfire fuels across many of the individual land-owner thinning treatment project sites, using repeat photographic points and comparative analysis of the repeat photographs. (DRAFT)