Monday, February 1, 2016

TED TURNER ECO TOUR & GETTING TO KNOW NEW TERRITORIES Jan 10, 2016

LAS CRUCES  - There’s nothing like getting to know your territory better, whether you were born here or are a newcomer to the Mesilla Valley and southern New Mexico.
I was reminded that I’m somewhere in between, and still have a lot to learn when I went on a couple of Ted Turner Expeditions ecotours. (I wrote about my adventures in Sunday, Jan. 3 Las Cruces Sun-News. Check out what it’s like to roam with the bison at lcsun-news.com.)
I focused on a five-hour tour to the Ladder Ranch. Our guide, as it turned out, was Ken Stinnett, a photographer and biologist I’ve known for years. I was surprised at how much I learned about the nearby territory, even though I’ve spent a lot of time in the area, and did an extensive series on the archeological digs at nearby Cañada Alamosa for the Sun-News and a piece for New Mexico Magazine.
Traveling with others, I also realized that it’s fun (and informative) to see our territory through new, as well as experienced eyes.
As we trekked through isolated territory on a warm December day, we’d hear a flutter of wings and before we could grab our binoculars, Ken had already identified several species taking flight. (We trusted his renowned birder skills: by the time we spotted most of flying critters, they were tiny specks in the bright blue sky.)
If you’re fortunate, as I have been much of my life, you’ll be able to find knowledgeable guides whenever you move or travel to a new territory.
I got a good start with wilderness-loving parents in Michigan. Dad taught us how to spot everything from white-tailed deer to several kinds of snakes, frogs and trout.
Thanks to mom’s botanical skills, before I entered elementary school , I could identify several kinds of pines and other Midwestern trees, and had already started scrapbooks with pressed and sketched examples of my favorite wildflowers: columbines, the hard-to-find Jack-in-the-Pulpit, delicate little white trilliums and trailing arbutus, with its lovely ethereal fragrance.
I suppose an arbutus by any other name, or gone unnamed entirely, would smell as sweet, but there was something about being able to recognize and name each flower that delighted me as a little kid. Each spring and summer, it was like greeting old friends for a flowery reunion fiesta.
I never really felt at home in Connecticut or New York, and I’ve since wondered if that was because I knew so little about nature and wilderness areas there, when and if you could find any, in the densely populated areas.
I had better luck finding knowledgeable nature mentors in other places I’ve lived: my tree-hugging, dolphin-rescuing sister Sally in Florida, Gregg Weston in Jamaica (who knew that allspice is a berry, not a blend?) and a host of wonderful sources in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.
On my first visit to New Mexico at a cave management symposium, I met Dr. Milford Fletcher, then regional chief scientist for the U.S. Park Service, who helped educate me on everything from monsoon season to bats, when I moved to Santa Fe.
When I arrived in Las Cruces, I quickly found many friendly souls who taught me bits and pieces here and there and steered me to a source I recommend to all newcomers: The Southwest Environmental Center’s Saturday Back by Noon series of nature hikes. (Check out their hikes and other great programs at wildmesquite.org).
I learned about native plants and medicinal herbs on a tour with Deborah Brandt, R.N., a Healthy U magazine columnist and owner of From the Ground Up. SWEC’s executive director Kevin Bixby educated me about the Rio Grande. Thanks to the efforts of Kevin and SWEC, another wonderful resource is available for nature lovers: Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, where the visitor center offers a great guide to local plants and wildlife, and the trails offer opportunities to experience it all yourself.
Other wonderful sources for me have included state and national parks and the cactus gardens at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, along with programs and exhibits there and at the Las Cruces Museum of Nature & Science.
Keep your eyes open and ask questions: you’ll find a lot of information about our fragile, wonderful, high dessert country, and a lot of people willing to share their knowledge. I hope that the more we know, the more we’ll work together to preserve it and share it with new generations.

S. Derrickson Moore may be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com, @derricksonmoore on Twitter and Tout, or call 575-541-5450.

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