The Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

managed by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

as part of the

National Wildlife Refuge The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...

System. It is located south of

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. This unit abuts the Rio Grande Valley State Park, which is adjacent to the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

Hours

Property hours 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Sunday. Breezeway single stall bathroom is open to public use from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Sunday. Visitor center remains closed for health and safety reasons. Please use the new driveway to enter the refuge and park in the new parking lot.

History

The land that is presently Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge was operated for decades as a dairy farm. After the closure of this facility, this area was dominated by alfalfa and fescue fields, it became seen as a potential development site for suburban homes until its purchase by the

Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

was negotiated. In 2011, the site was earmarked for federal improvements, and in 2012 it was transferred to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. A working farm remains at Valle de Oro NWR, with the on-premises agricultural setting transitioning into native Middle Rio Grande Valley habitats for resident and migratory wildlife. Federal administrators plan to extend the

bosque A bosque ( ) is a type of gallery forest habitat found along the riparian flood plains of streams, river banks, and lakes. It derives its name from the Spanish word for "forest", pronounced . Setting In the predominantly arid or semiari ...

(riparian forest of the Rio Grande) onto the refuge. In 2015, the refuge's land acquisition was finalized, bringing the size of the National Wildlife Refuge to . Valle de Oro NWR is designated as an Urban National Wildlife Refuge, due to its proximity to Albuquerque. It is the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's first Urban NWR in its Southwest region to be built from the ground up under the new Urban Wildlife Conservation Program's Standards of Excellence.

References

{{Commons Category, Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuges in New Mexico Protected areas established in 2012