Advancing a Climate-adapted Restoration Design for the Whitfield Complex Following the Big Hole Fire
Andrew Hautzinger, District Director at Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District
Andrew Hautzinger will provide an overview on a restoration workshop held prior on April 6-7, 2023, co-hosted by the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District (VSWCD) and the USDA SW Climate Hub. The workshop was entitled: Development of a climate-adapted revegetation design for Whitfield Complex lands along the middle Rio Grande. Andrew will speak to progress made on achieving the workshop’s goal of advancing a climate-adapted restoration design for the Whitfield Complex following the Big Hole Fire of April 2022 with the help of and in collaboration with several dozen subject matter experts. During the workshop there will be a review of what climate change means for the middle Rio Grande region, the anticipated impacts of climate change on riparian and bottomland physical processes, and to formulate a climate- and fire-adapted bottomland revegetation plan that will summarize the plant species, planting locations, and planting methods most conducive for long-term viability in a rapidly changing climate. It is hoped that the VSWCD-SW Climate Hub workshop will be of interest to other practitioners of restoration work in similar riparian areas.