Valle de Oro Urban Wildlife Refuge gets over $250K to improve access and connect trails

The Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge recently received some funding that will help improve access areas.

The state’s Outdoor Recreation Division awarded Bernalillo County with a $256,962 grant that Bernalillo County District 2 Commissioner Steve Michael Quezada said in a statement will link the refuge with the rest of the bosque.

“It’s an important project that will not only make it easier for the community to access these open spaces, but also (build) on the longstanding relationship we’ve built with them over the years we’ve been working on this project together,” he said.

The money came from an Outdoor Recreation Trails+ Grant that is awarded to “shovel-ready” conservation projects around the state, Bernalillo County spokesman J. Austin Munn said.

Bernalillo County will continue to collaborate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and use the grant money to work on the “Bosque Bridges” project, which will connect the Paseo del Bosque bike path (soon to be the Rio Grande Trail route) to the refuge’s perimeter trail. Once finished, the bridges will connect the refuge to the existing trail system in the bosque and improve access for the South Valley Community, Munn said.

He said that Bernalillo County is working alongside other organizations to make this project, a part of the Valle de Oro’s master plan, a reality. The city of Albuquerque is also paying a grant-match for the bridge project, while the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is providing licenses to cross their ditches. Valle de Oro will also provide volunteers to help with the Bosque Bridges project.

Established in 2012, the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge sought to restore 570 acres of farmland in Albuquerque’s South Valley to a natural state, becoming the first urban wildlife refuge in the Southwest.