Connecting Kids to Conservation with RiGHT Outside!
One of the best things about our conservation work is sharing it with others, especially the young people in our community.
Wool Felting and Willow Planting at Cactus Hill Conservation Easement
RiGHT and the Rio Grande Watershed Conservation Education Initiative (RGWCEI) held a furry and fun youth education event on the Cactus Hill Farm. RiGHT conserved this property at the end of 2020. Owner, Elena Miller-ter Kuille, kicked the day off with a tour of her sheep and wool operation. Students had a chance to be hands on as they used wool sheered from Cactus Hill sheep to create a felted wool craft. After some furry fun, we moved down to the Alamosa River, which runs through the property, to talk about the importance of riparian forests for river stability and wildlife habitat. Students helped transplant willows into suitable areas along the river and collected water samples to investigate and learn about macroinvertebrates. We had a lot of fun enjoying the river together, too.
River Education Day at Encantada Ranch
On another river-focused adventure, RiGHT partnered with RGWCEI and the Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project (RGHRP) to engage Del Norte high school students in a river education day at the Encantada Ranch on the Rio Grande. The main focus of the day was the importance of the Rio Grande to the health and livelihood of the San Luis Valley. Students donned waders, examined the stream bed, and used non-toxic water dye to calculate river flow as they discussed fish habitat and learned about hydrology, stream channel morphology, and substrate. The Encantada Ranch was another of RiGHT’s 2020 conservation easements.
