Good Day Working on the Mountain

Working on Soil Erosion, Forest Rehabilitation and Wildlife Habitat Restoration on the Mountain

Cold afternoon on the mountain under gathering snow clouds was good to work with my honey on soil erosion control and conservation and wildlife habitat restoration on the mountain today. 

 http://www.lasplacitas.org/lpa_pdfs/bmp_ver2.pdf

Best Practices Erosion Control for New Mexico

This link has descriptions with simple clear diagrams of different ways to slow water flow and repair erosion with stones, logs, dirt and a combination of all three.

Erosion from the leveling of the construction site above the steep sloe has exposed the roots of these pinon trees that help block the oversize building from our view. 

Digging, moving rocks and cutting down and moving dead trees is a good workout, too. Barry does the chain sawing of dead trees and we move the logs together. I use the shovel to dig out the arroyos and put the dirt back on the roots of the trees and make dams with tree trunks and rocks to make terraces to retain the earth and water near the trees and shrubs so they will grow healthier in this drought.

 It is heartbreaking when the earth you love is treated so poorly by people whose ugly house the size of a shopping mall in your view. I usually just share photos of the beauty of these views, but in the last few years the construction to the north and up the mountain has been devastating.

The roots on this tree are badly exposed from the erosion. We will build a rock wall on the east and west sides and fill it with topsoil and silt gathered in the arroyos. It should help this tree to grow and hopefully fill out horizontally.

  There is lots of damage done to our north boundary on the mountain slope from a huge 7,000 plus square foot house a new neighbor built above us with a retention pond right to our property line. They leveled the top of the ridge, cutting down lots of big 100 year old pinon trees and a big healthy Ponderosa Pine, which was holding the roots of their ridge and are very rare and hard to grow on our south side of the mountain, and it changed the drainage down the steep slope so lots of trees died.

 We are trying to repair the drainage and cover the exposed roots and try to save the remaining ones and plant new ones to repair the damage.It is sad to see the earth treated with such disrespect. But there are things we can do to heal the scars and help the earth there get healthier.

Here is a helpful diagram of ways to slow down water flow downhill in steep areas.
http://www.drylandsolutions.com/includes/image_resize.php/1.jpg?width=350&image=%2Fresources%2F1.jpg

This link has information on how to get free technical assistance for repairing soil erosion at conservation technical assistance Conservation Technical Assistance

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/technical/

Have a beautiful day wherever you are on our loving earth.