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Several events in the Gila Region are coordinated by the Gila Conservation Education Center.  These events are often in collaboration with particular schools or conservation organizations and help facilitate both the mission of the schools and that of the various organizations.  The collaborative process helps promote an environment of shared responsibility within the community for natural resource conservation.  At each of the school events, professionals and volunteers from throughout the community conduct education stations or give interpretive walks. Annual school-related events cosponsored by GCEC include:

  • Jose Barrios Elementary Outdoor Education Lab.  Education stations are set up outside on campus grounds and are attended by 3rd and 4th graders from Mr. Cantrell and Mrs. Padilla’s classes every September. 
  • Mimbres Cultural Heritage Site Outdoor Day.  Education stations are set up at the Mattocks site, San Lorenzo, New Mexico, on the Mimbres River, and are attended by the 7th grade Windriders academic team of La Plata Middle School every October.
  • Cobre’s Gila Water Festival.  2007 is the first such water festival for Cobre Consolidated Schools elementary students.  Education stations are set up at The Nature Conservancy’s Lichty Center, Cliff, New Mexico, on the Gila River, and are attended by 5th graders from various Cobre elementary schools, November 9, 2007.
  • Gila River Days.  Education stations are set up at the Lichty Center and are attended by the 7th grade Windriders academic team of La Plata Middle School every April.
  • Silver’s Gila Water Festival.  2008 marks the 5th annual water festival for Silver Consolidated Schools 4th and 5th graders.  Education stations are set up at the Lichty Center every April around Earth Day.
  • Dragonfly Site Interpretive Hike.  La Plata Middle School students attend an interpretive walk to the Dragonfly petroglyph site in Arenas Valley with archeologists of the Gila National Forest every May.
  • Sapillo Campground Outdoor Education Day.  Education stations are set up at the Sapillo Campground area of the Gila National Forest and are attended by San Lorenzo Elementary students every May.

GCEC also cosponsors other conservation education events. Both research and habitat restoration are important aspects of conservation education. GCEC cosponsored research and habitation restoration events include:

  • Natural History of the Gila: A Southwestern New Mexico Symposium.  The Gila symposium occurs every other year on the Western New Mexico University campus.  Proceedings include research presentations and conference publications.
  • Sheep Corral Canyon Road forest monitoring in the Gila National Forest, a research and educational partnership between Aldo Leopold High School and GCEC.  The forest monitoring project includes hazardous woody material assessments by high school students.
  • Silva Creek Botanical Gardens workdays.  Formerly a road-maintenance staging yard, the site is now being rehabilitated as a community demonstration garden.

Recent Events

Trunks Program.  Over a 200 trunks presentations have occured during the 2007-2008 school year reaching over 3000 students, thanks to volunteers, professional conservationists, and GCEC staff.  MORE VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED.

The Wolf and You Exhibit Sept 2008

A traveling exhibit on wolves, from the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN, is coming to Silver City! It will take place from September 6 to September 14,2008 in the lobby of the Fine Arts Center at WNMU. Hours are 10am to 5pm. For more info view the centers website at www.wolf.org or contact Nancy K. at 575-956-5832.

5th Annual Gila Water Festival, Thrusday and Friday, April 17-18, 2008.  4th and 5th graders from Silver Consolidated elementary schools cycled through education stations at The Nature Conservancy's Lichty Center on the Gila River and at the Silver City Recreation Center learning about water science and water conservation.

Gila River Days, Wednesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 9, 2008.  7th grade students from La Plata Middle School cycled through education stations at the Mogollon Box on the Gila River.

GCEC Nature Hike, March 1, 2008.  SWNMAS member David Beatty (of the bimonthly Bird Sightings Report fame) and native plant specialist Tricia Hurley, guided a walk through the Gomez Peak trail system with 25 community members and area visitors.

Conservation Education Day at Jose Barrios and 6th Street Elementaries, February 15, 2008.  With the help of students from Aldo Leopold High School, presentations about birds, forest fire ecology, and Woodsy the Owl were given to over 150 elementary students.

Conversación: Culture, Resource Conservation, and Education on the Border, January 31, 2008.  The Border 2012 Education Trunks Project (and EPA border area initiative) was introduced by GCEC project director Kileen Mitchell.  The event was also an informal networking opportunity, discussion, and celebration for volunteers and staff.

Conservation Education Day at Harrison-Schmitt Elementary , November 30, 2007.  With the help of students from Aldo Leopold High School, presentations about the natural history of the Gila River and Woodsy the Owl were given to over 200 elementary students.

November 9, 2007, Cobre's Gila Water Festival.  Over 100 4th and 5th graders from Hurley and Bayard Elementaries came out to the Gila River at the Lichty Center to learn about the last free-flowing river in New Mexico, thanks in large part to the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance.

October 30-31, 2007, Mimbres Cultural Heritage Site Outdoor Days.  Middle schoolers got to the see and learn about the Mattocks Site and the Mimbres River by cycling through education stations organized by Marilyn Markel of the Grant County Archaeological Society.

September 20 and October 26, 2007, Jose Barrios Elementary Outdoor Education Labs.  Classes from Jose Barrios Elementary School cycled through education stations outside on the school grounds.  Presentations included Seeds on the Move, Archeology of the Mimbres, Gila River Natural History, a bird walk with Mr. Beatty, Wilderness in the Rain, Geology, and Watersheds of the Gila.