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The Warm Springs Watershed Alliance is an informal organization established to identify, plan and implement watershed restoration plans. Members of the group include environmental groups, Hot Springs High School Biology Club, Gila National Forest Permittee's Association, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, County of Sierra, numerous volunteer fire departments, Natural Resources Conservation Service and others, with a total mailing list of over 60 groups and individuals. The Sierra Soil and water Conservation District serves as the lead entity on this watershed workgroup. Initially, this group was comprised of members of the Sierra County National Fire Plan who wanted to begin looking a watershed restoration efforts that could assist in reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfires.
Reduction of the risk of catastrophic wildfire, improved water quality, increased herbaceous cover and improved wildlife habitat were designated as key areas of emphasis for the group. The group will research various funding opportunities that will enable them to reach these goals. Initial efforts of the Warm Springs Watershed Alliance were to identify areas to be incorporated into watershed planning. Currently the area basically incorporates the Lower Rio Grande from the N. portion of Socorro County, southward to Caballo Dam, eastward to the White Sands Missile Range and the west border includes Wall Lake up to the Luera Mountains.
Warm Springs Watershed Alliance has received a Collaborative Forest Restoration Program grant funded through the US Forest Service. The grant, in the amount of $358,554, was for a research and demonstration site on 200 acres of the Black Range District, Gila National Forest. The goal of the grant is to implement various treatment methods that show varying degrees of improvement to the vegetative cover. A contract was established with Northern Arizona University, Ecological Resource Institute (ERI) who will assist in the development of the treatment plan, the monitoring plan and sustainable forest restoration. Treatment sites are in an area near the Continental Divide on NM State Highway 59. Pre-treatment and Post-treatment monitoring is being conducted on all sites. At the conclusion of the three year funded grant, actual treatment took place on 193.7 acres on three separate research sites. Sites were selected based on difference in topography, soils, and fuel types. After four years, the reduced number of trees per acre had a dramatic affect an herbaceous cover and improvements in forest health, as seen in the following photographs:
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