1.9.12_050515_Valle_De_Oro_Final_Report_-_Interp_Plan.pdf

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V a l l e d e O r o N a t i o n a l W i l d l i f e R e f u g e

February, 2015

Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge

Interpretive Framework

& Site Plan

April 30, 2015

Published: April 30, 2015 Albuquerque, NM

VALLE DE ORO

NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Interpretive Framework & Site Plan

G r e a t O u t d o o r s C o n s u l t a n t s

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Valle de Oro Plan

E n t r y a n d I n t e r p r e t i v e P l a z a V i e w

DRAFT January 21, 2015

Camino Real Trail Crossing

Regional Plant Community Interpretive Islands

Colored Concrete Plaza Walks

Native Plaza Shade TreesVisitor Accessible Lined Pond & Wetland with Recirculating System

Golden Spiral Viewpoint

Vis i tor Center Pond Over look

Riparian Overstory Plantings to Support Wetland Edge Interpretation

V a l l e d e O r o N a t i o n a l W i l d l i f e R e f u g e Concept for Visitor Center & Interpretive Plaza

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Executive Summary

Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a new 570-acre urban refuge located in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2014 the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) continued with the planning process for the refuge by completing an interpretive framework that establishes key interpretive messag-es as well as the conceptual designs of both land-scapes and facilities. USFWS hired a team of experi-enced consultants to help with the project including Great Outdoors Consultants, PUP Global Heritage Consortium, and Robert Peccia & Associates. The project team used the USFWS “Standards of Excel-lence for Urban National Wildlife Refuges” to develop solutions.

Integral to this approach, a participatory process was used to develop an interpretive frame-work which generated principal messages to be developed for the the public and to design the refuge. The refuge will serve a diverse group of visitors with a focus on surrounding neighborhoods. Priority target audiences were identified including: families especially from the South Valley, nature tourists, youth and after school (middle and high school), college age and young professionals. The overarching messaged is, “An evolving participatory steward-ship model aims to balance the complexity of nature with that of modern life.” The interpre-tive framework will contribute to planning visitor experiences and programs.

The project team used a focused process to design refuge facilities and landscapes to cre-ate visitor experience opportunities with the goal of connecting people with nature. Several concepts were considered to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each concept.

From these a preferred design was created. The refuge was designed to provide convenient neighborhood access, bring visitors close to natural habitats, and create an arrival experience with a focus on nature. The refuge design includes restored natural landscapes, water control structures, a visitor center, a community classroom building, gathering areas, a small amphi-theater, an administrative building, a maintenance building/yard, space for volunteers, refuge entrance, children's exploration area, scenic overlooks, interpre-tive stations, pathways and trails throughout the refuge that also con-nect to neighborhoods. The project report includes recommendations to continue with an intentional process to plan and design the refuge with a focus on the local community and nature.

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CONTENTS

Executive Summary E

Introduction 1

Public Input 4

Guiding Statements 7 Standards of Excellence for Urban National Wildlife refuges 9

Interpretive Framework 14 Workshop Proceedings 19

Principal Audiences 20

Experience Opportunities for Valle de Oro Audiences 24

Interpretive Messages for Specific Audiences 32

Interpretive Planning Recommendations 35

Conceptual Site Plan 41 Design Recommendations 44

Concept Plan Elements 45 Refuge Entry 47 Visitor Center & Arrival Area 49 Refuge Pathway 51 Site Elements 61

Contributors 62

Record of Other Products 63

References 63

Appendices 65

Introduction

Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, the Southwest’s first urban refuge, will serve as an urban oasis for both wildlife and people on a former dairy farm just a few miles south of New Mexico’s largest met-ropolitan area. The refuge will help fulfill the goals of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to work with community partners to establish a 21st Century conservation ethic and reconnect people, especially young people, to the natural world. Through the EPA’s Urban Waters Program, Valle de Oro was recog-nized as part of key conservation and res-toration projects along the river. Additionally, the refuge will serve to enhance the river corri-dor and bring the Rio Grande into the daily lives of the citizens of Albuquerque and beyond.

Urban refuges, such as Valle de Oro, offer unique environmental education and recreation opportunities in highly populated areas while promoting the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System to protect wildlife and their habitats for the benefit of present and future gen-erations of Americans.

Significance of Valle de Oro

• Partnership opportunities with educational institutions and resource agencies.

• Educational opportunities for urban youth.

• Trail connection to the Bosque and Rio Grande.

• Enhanced public recreation.

• Preservation of open space in metro-Albuquerque.

• Potential ecotourism opportunities that support the local economy.

• Demonstration area for restored riparian habitat.

• Water use for on-site restoration and Rio Grande environmental flows.

• Valle de Oro NWR is a flagship project of the Middle Rio Grande Initiative.

Project Purpose

Complete a concept interpretive site and facility plan establishing key messages, concept site design, and concept facility design for Valle de Oro National Wildlife refuge (570 acres), locat-ed on the south edge of the City of Albuquerque, NM.

Project Objectives

Facilitate through a community-consensus process key interpretive messages regarding the natural history, restoration, and cultural history of the site.

Develop a concept site plan to include, but not limited to trails, teaching areas, interpretive and environmental education facilities, parking, and access. This also includes a concept design of the entire site, suitable for presentation at public meetings and use as a guide for restoration and further site plan development.

Develop a concept facility design (buildings and associated landscape features). This process explored several options that demonstrated the “look and feel” of potential facilities and relat-ed infrastructure, but do not include any architectural or engineering drawings.

Project Process

The project was conducted from March 2014 until March 2015. USFWS worked with a team of consultant specialists to assist with this process. The following process was used to develop the project outcomes described in this report.

1. Project planning, team meetings and site visits

2. Review information from previous planning efforts and USFWS documentation

3. Stakeholder interviews to identify issues and opportunities

4. Hold interpretive framework workshops with a diverse group of stakeholders

5. Use information from the previous steps to develop an approach to design

6. Prepare alternative designs to compare and contrast

7. Prepare preferred designs

8. Document project outcomes in this report

Previous Planning & Design Efforts

The outcomes of this project were developed with careful consideration of information from prior processes and meetings. These included:

• Land Protection Plan and Environmental Assessment for the property

• USFWS Urban Standards of Excellence

• History of water management on the property

• GIS data

• Site survey data

• Partner meeting notes

• Public meeting comments spreadsheet

• Storm water and restoration studies

Public Input

USFWS and its partner agencies have held a series of meetings since the beginning of refuge planning. An input report was prepared that summarizes the public and agency input and comments to date from open public meetings and stakeholder interviews. Additional pub-lic input specifically related to the interpretive messaging is documented in the interpretive framework report. Comments included in the input report were collected at the following events:

• Public meetings and scoping for the project Environmental Assessment (2011-2012)

• National Public Lands Day (9-2013)

• Stakeholder Design Charrette (11-2013)

• Two Public Meetings by Wilson & Co./Sites SW Inc. (01-2014 & 06-2014)

• Stakeholder Meetings conducted by Great Outdoors Consultants (4-22 & 4-23-2014)

The input report is included as an appendix to this document and provides a list of organiza-tions that have contributed and a list of comments in the following categories:

A great diversity of organizations and individuals has contributed many creative ideas and solutions to establish an urban wildlife refuge for the 21st Century. This summary is a gen-eral overview of public input. Specific public input can be reviewed in the public input report in Appendix C. The common thread heard throughout the public input process is to create a place for the local community to immerse itself in nature through well designed facilities, quality programs, and restored natural habitats.

Summarized List of Public Input

• Provide nature-based outdoor recreation opportunities for local residents with a focus on trails

• Connect the refuge and its trails to the Rio Grande Bosque (forest), other trails, bicycle paths, and local streets

• Provide facilities and gathering areas for groups to share experiences and connect with nature. These should be found throughout the refuge, but especially close to the visi-tor buildings.

• Develop facilities to meet visitors’ needs and sense of security, especially for people with little experience in nature

• Create opportunities for children to explore and enjoy nature

• Celebrate the history of the property and area through facilities, programs, and the landscape. Create an opportunity for community involvement in a nursery and garden.

• Provide multicultural and multilingual information and programs to reach the diverse population of the area

• Design facilities to serve formal and information education groups. The refuge should be an indoor and outdoor nature-base classroom.

• Provide a building for visitors to meet and be introduced to nature as a bridge to expe-riences deeper in nature on the refuge and beyond

• Develop ongoing programs to tell the story of the refuge and topics important to its visitors

• Distribute observation stations and gathering opportunities throughout the refuge to provide a range of experiences

• Manage water and restore habitats to re-create a natural landscape with environmental services. Re-create a diversity of local natural habitats with an emphasis on wetlands.

• Develop facilities to “fit-in” with nature while embracing the surrounding urban setting

• Respect adjacent property owners through effective environmental management and setbacks from their residences

• Create programs to explore the topic of environmental justice

• Engage the local community in restoration, management, programs and oversight of the refuge

• Establish facilities and programs to engage youth and adults in volunteering, resto-ration, research, art and other nature-based activities

• Continue to engage a wide variety of private and public institutions in the refuge’s success

Guiding Statements

Guiding statements clarify the most basic assumptions about refuge use and management and provide context for how the refuge should be managed or used. These foundation ele-ments form the boundaries that frame decisions concerning the refuge. Table 1 is a compila-tion of these limiting elements from a variety of sources to ensure that subsequent planning conforms to the path already set down. In good practice, this policy framework or guiding statements analysis should precede all planning and will become more useful in the future to ensure that VdO has a focused approach and also as a reference to defend decisions.

A more in-depth version of the guiding statements is provided in appendix B. This is a use-ful resource for community members, and some elements (such as quotes by Aldo Leopold) which might not influence planning in practical terms contribute to the story and heritage of the place. The challenge of a good guiding statements document is to balance breadth with depth. We do not want to miss important historical policy guideposts on one hand, but do not want to include so much detail from other documents that it no longer serves as a quick and easy reference.

Furthermore in the hands of the community, references to personages important to other groups may emerge, for example, famous sayings of a Pueblo shaman or statements from a leader in the environmental justice movement. These statements not only improve breadth but legitimacy in community eyes. By adding local color and historical value, this process is an interpretive investigation of the site’s policy history.

Table 1. Guiding Statements

Guiding Statements to Inform Planning for Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge

National Context

America’s Great Outdoors Initiative

To work with community partners to establish a 21st century conservation ethic and recon-nect people, especially young people, to the natural world.

Urban Waters Federal Partnership

Through our partnership, we will revitalize urban waters and the communities that sur-round them, transforming overlooked assets into treasured centerpieces and drivers of urban revival.

This partnership will reconnect urban communities, particularly those that are overbur-dened or economically distressed, with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and collaborating with community-led revitalization efforts to improve our nation’s water systems and promote their economic, environmental and social benefits.

USFWS

Agency context

Mission Statement

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

The Refuge Recreation Act

Authorized the Secretary of the Interior to administer refuges, hatcheries and other conser-vation areas for recreational use, when such uses do not interfere with the area's primary purposes.

National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997

The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the ben-efit of present and future generations of Americans.

Wildlife-dependent recreational uses may be authorized on a refuge when they are com-patible and not inconsistent with public safety. Wildlife observation is included as one of these six wildlife-dependent activities (hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife photography, interpretation and environmental education), which are to receive en-hanced and priority consideration in refuge planning and management. Regulated wildlife observation as described above and consistent with the management direction will provide the visitor with a chance to experience wildlife first-hand and develop knowledge about species’ behaviors, adaptations, and habitat requirements while also developing an un-derstanding of the refuge’s role in wildlife and habitat conservation through the National Wildlife Refuge System.

USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System Goals

• Conserve a diversity of fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats, including spe-cies that are endangered or threatened with becoming endangered;

• Develop and maintain a network of habitats for migratory birds, anadromous and inter-jurisdictional fish, and marine mammal populations that is strategically distributed and carefully managed to meet important life history needs of these species across their ranges;

• Conserve those ecosystems, plant communities, wetlands of national or interna-tional significance, and landscapes and seascapes that are unique, rare, declining, or underrepresented in existing protection efforts;

• Provide and enhance opportunities to participate in compatible wildlife-dependent recreation (hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, environmental education and interpretation); and y Foster understanding and instill appreciation of the diversity and interconnected-ness of fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats.

Table 1. Guiding Statemenets (continued)

USFWS

Agency context

This activity will not conflict with any of the other priority public uses or adversely impact biological resources. Therefore, through the compatibility determination process, the Ser-vice has determined that wildlife observation and environmental education, in accordance with the stipulations provided above, will not materially interfere with or detract from the fulfillment of the National Wildlife Refuge System mission or the purposes of the refuge.

Instead, this use directly supports the purposes for which the refuge was established by providing an opportunity for visitors to experience nature so they can better understand and support conservation of all wildlife and their habitats.

Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation: Vision Document for the refuge System (2011)

Recommendation 13: Create an urban refuge initiative that defines excellence in our exist-ing urban refuges, establishes the framework for creating new urban refuge partnerships and implements a refuge presence in 10 demographically and geographically varied cities across America by 2015.

Recommendation 19 directs the development of “… an interpretation strategy that builds upon current Service standards and guidelines, takes advantage of multiple modes of delivering messages, reaches diverse audiences, and measures the effectiveness of our programs in partnership with key government agencies, the National Association for Inter-pretation (NAI) and other professional organizations.”

Recommendation 20: “Develop an environmental education strategy that inventories existing efforts, identifies priorities for investment of staff and funds, and outlines basic standards for all refuges.” Additionally, the Charter for the Environmental Education Imple-mentation Plan states that, “The environmental education program will create pathways to understanding nature and provide tangible contributions to community schools.”

Interpretation Plan for the National Wildlife Refuge System: Touching Hearts and Minds: A Strategic Plan for Improving Interpretation for the National Wildlife Refuge Sys-tem.

Goal: Strengthen interpretation within the Refuge System to create a connected conserva-tion constituency.

Environmental Education Plan for the National Wildlife Refuge System: Conserving Our Future through Environmental Education: A Strategic Plan for Improving Environmental Education in the National Wildlife Refuge System

Goals:

1. Provide quality environmental education programs throughout the Refuge System.

2. Inventory and evaluate program resources, content, staff, and delivery.

3. Invest in communications, training, and professional development.

4. Maximize effectiveness of delivery modes.

5. Maximize partnerships and leverage program resources.

USFWS

Agency context

Standards of Excellence for Urban National Wildlife Refuges

The USFWS is developing urban wildlife refuges across the U.S. and Valle de Oro is one of the first of its kind. Building upon the USFWS mission, “working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people”, the Urban Standards of Excellence Initiative was developed.

According to this Initiative, The future success of conservation lies ultimately in our ability to inspire Americans to connect with the outdoors and nature, and to become stew-ards of the environment. Americans are spending less time outdoors, and are becoming more ethnically and racially diverse. With more than 80% of Americans now living in urban areas, our challenge is to become relevant in their daily lives. Without public awareness and support, our conservation mission will not succeed.

Urban areas present a strategic opportunity to reach new audiences who don’t know about the Service and therefore are less likely to visit Service lands. Refuges close to highly-populated areas provide the greatest op-portunity to engage new and diverse audiences, whether through an ur-ban refuge or an urban wildlife refuge partnership. Strategically building an urban conservation constituency ultimately benefits the entire System and the broader conservation community by nurturing increased support among these audiences.

The Initiative includes eight standards that serve as a framework for collaboration among the USFWS and urban communities, whether such collaboration is on or off USFWS lands. They are:

1. Know and Relate to the Community.

2. Connect Urban People with Nature via Stepping Stone of Engagement.

3. Build Partnerships.

4. Be a Community Asset.

5. Ensure Adequate Long-Term Resources.

6. Provide Equitable Access.

7. Ensure that Visitors Feel Safe and Welcome.

8. Model Sustainability.

Regional Context with Mexico

UNESCO World Heritage Site Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

Vision

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro is recognized throughout the United States of America and Los Estados Unidos de México as a timeless route of trade and cultural exchange and interaction among Spaniards, other Europeans, American Indians, Mexicans, and Ameri-cans, that shaped individual lives and communities and affected settlement and develop-ment in the greater Southwest. Recognition of this route as an international historic trail will commemorate a shared cultural heritage and contribute in a meaningful way to elim-inating cultural barriers and enriching the lives of people along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

Goals for Interpretation and Education

Work together to ensure that interpretive and educational materials, programs, and media are accurate, consistent, sensitive, and complimentary among the various sites and facili-ties along the NHT.

Work cooperatively to provide training for interpreters and educators designed to set and meet high-quality standards. Provide trip-planning and other information about the trail to support visitation to trail-related sites and interpretive facilities.

(http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1351)

Table 1. Guiding Statements (continued)

Local Context

Middle Rio Grande Conservation Initiative Mission Statement

To seek long-term sustainability of cultural and ecological integrity of the Middle Rio Grande valley’s riverine system by promoting responsible recreation, education, and con-servation goals while maintaining the economic vitality of the region.

Environmental Assessment for the Establishment of the Urban Wildlife Refuge

(later named Valle de Oro) (September 2011)

“The County has an interest in developing complementary interpretive and programmatic opportunities, in conjunction with the Service, to inform the public about the site’s ecology and the rural historical land uses of the Middle Rio Grande since pre-colonial times.”

Establishing the proposed refuge would:

• Foster environmental awareness through environmental education opportunities and outreach programs (especially youth)

• Expose an urban population to the larger USFWS Refuge System

• Develop an informed and involved citizenry that will support fish and wildlife con-servation

• Expand outdoor recreation opportunities in proximity to the state park trail system in the Rio Grande Bosque

• Conserve and enhance the natural resource values that may be degraded or lost through conversion of the property to other uses, including the loss of senior water rights associated with the property y Capitalize on the Service’s partnership with Bernalillo County to achieve shared goals, such as provide economic benefits to the local area.

Refuge Purpose: The primary purpose for establishment is to create a refuge “suitable for— (1) incidental fish and wildlife-oriented recreational development, (2) the protection of natural resources, (3) the conservation of endangered species or threatened species”

Local Context

Conceptual Management Plan

(Sept. 2011, in environmental assessment; the following passage has evolved since origi-nal writing)

Facilities

The Bernalillo County Board of County Commissioners will have to approve a special use permit or a conditional use permit for the refuge. A site plan that shows building loca-tions, footprints, grading and drainage, vehicular parking and ingress and egress, and util-ity connections will need to be submitted at the appropriate time after land acquisition but before any public facility is constructed. Adequate road and utility infrastructure will be a condition of land use approval. Public meetings with adjacent residents and area neighbor-hood associations will also need to be part of this process. The Service will work with Ber-nalillo County Publics Works Division to design safe and efficient access to the facility and will consider effects on road conditions and maintenance, traffic quantity and patterns, and neighboring residential areas and will attempt to minimize negative impacts through signage or road upgrades. A Traffic Impact Analysis prepared by an experienced and li-censed traffic engineer may be required to identify any necessary road improvements.

The western 1/2-2/3 of the property will be managed for habitat restoration and the remaining area utilized for infrastructure needs because it is adjacent to 2nd

Street. The Service is responsible for maintaining facilities on its lands. Upon acquisition of any prop-erty, the Service will evaluate the condition and any need for retaining any structures or buildings. Structures or buildings may be kept for Service use, sold off for relocation to another site, sold for salvage or destroyed. If a structure is on, or eligible to be on, a state or national register of historic places, it cannot be destroyed. It must be maintained or properly disposed of to an entity that will maintain it. Sustainable design models could be utilized on new construction or retrofitted to existing structures to showcase sustainable living.

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) building techniques may be integrat-ed into facilities design.

Bernalillo County Open Space has an interest in developing complementary interpretive and programmatic opportunities, in conjunction with the Service, to inform the public about the site’s ecology and the rural historical land uses of the Middle Rio Grande since pre-colonial times.

New Mexico State University has expressed some interest in locating extension offices, native plant materials center and demonstration plots for native plant restoration of retired farmlands on the site.

The Service concluded that the floodwater detention basin proposed on the site by Albu-querque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA) is important for public safety and could be designed to be consistent with the values envisioned for the refuge.

AMAFCA and the Service have committed to working closely in design and construction of the flood control infrastructure. AMAFCA has indicated that they are responsible for, and regularly provide maintenance on this type of structure.

Local Context

Facilities associated with the environmental education program would focus on the out-door environment, rather than an expansive building. While building space is important, and necessary, the focus will be on getting students outside, where they can be in close contact with the environment. Facilities would include basic classroom space, wet-lab space and assembly areas for up to two bus loads of students (approximately 150 stu-dents at a time), with a total capacity of 150 on site at one time. These facilities would be developed to provide maximum flexibility to accommodate other groups such as local civic clubs who support the refuge, training courses for volunteers and staff, and meeting space for partner organizations. The student facilities will be physically separate from the visitor facilities to enhance both the student and visitor experience, and for the security of stu-dents.

The administrative building component will also be limited in size and be physically sepa-rate from the visitor center. It will provide office/meeting space for refuge staff and part-ner offices.

The visitor center is proposed to be a welcome and gateway to the National Wildlife Refuge System and New Mexico refuges generally, and the Bosque/Rio Grande specifically. Exhib-its would introduce the Middle Rio Grande ecosystem and unique cultural history, provide space for partnership displays (for example, Bernalillo County Open Space) and invite visitors to explore not only the refuge, but other nearby facilities such as the Albuquer-que Bio Park, Hispanic Cultural Center and the Rio Grande State Park and Nature Center. It would further invite visitors to continue down the Rio Grande to Sevilleta NWR and Bosque del Apache NWR to learn more and experience the unique Middle Rio Grande corridor. A small gift shop that would support refuge activities could be operated by the Friends of the refuge.

Interim wildlife compatibilities: wildlife observation, photography, EE, interpretation.

Interpretive Framework

VdO’s use of interpretation as a fundamental criterion for the design of the site is a cutting edge approach to integrating core ideas into the very physical as well as programmatic design of the site. USFWS elected to use a participatory, community-based approach to determining its interpretive messages that keeps it well ahead of the curve as well as addresses the urban standards of excellence. Those include:

1. Connecting people with nature through stepping stones of engagement. To invite a wide community cross-section to participate in the workshops, the refuge has to know and relate in such a way that members feel motivation to attend.

2. Build partnerships. Though many partnerships are blossoming across the stakeholder landscape, the community now has an additional stake in refuge development, that of the essential messaging and communication of the refuge to the rest of the world.

3. Be a community asset. The refuge, as a community asset, has increased in value for the community because its ownership in VdO has increased through co-creation of the messaging.

4. Provide equitable access. Though this standard largely refers to physical access, com-munity interpretation allows a psychological access or ownership to the heart of the refuge, its core ideas and meaning. Meaning is after all what defines a sense of place, what binds people to place. Interpretation at VdO introduces local residents and people who have little experience in nature to the natural world found within the refuge. Mes-sages and programs will be designed to communicate effectively with diverse target audiences.

5. Ensure adequate long-term resources. In this case the resource is community sup-port. Though support continues to be ensured through a variety of engagement strate-gies, ownership in the values and meanings behind the resource is an important factor.

6. Provide equitable access. Invite diverse audiences to participate to afford access to a wide cross-section of the community. Provide introductory programs to build confi-dence.

7. Ensure visitors feel safe and welcome. Sense of place arises from the meanings that visitors ascribe to a place, thus the interpretive framework’s community-consensus meaning should increase the familiarity with Valle de Oro.

8. Model sustainability. Several of the framework messages refer directly to sustainable behavior by refuge managers.

Interpretation is the art and craft of provoking audiences to think deeply about some object, such as VdO’s heritage and management approach, and thus form deeper more positive atti-tudes toward it. Another way to say it is to guide a visitor to forge a deeper more intimate and caring relationship with Valle de Oro and the wildlife it presents. Interpretation is not to be confused with education which seeks to teach certain knowledge and values, although both techniques commonly overlap.

An interpretive framework (IF) (see table 2) is a hierarchically arranged lineup of natural and cultural heritage-based messages, in the best of cases, facilitated by experienced interpreters but defined through consensus of community members. Structurally, planners erect a frame-work much as with any building starting with heritage elements. These include attractions, stories, and significant attributes (outstanding or superlative facts about the natural/cultural heritage object, in this case, VdO) (foundation of the building).

A small committee composed of workshop members and a facilitator (six in total) combine the emerging messages from both workshops and then fashion them into local messages which reveal insights about the place (walls of the building). The small committee then con-verts and integrates these messages into universal messages (roof of building) which reveal meanings about universal forces and processes that apply not just to the site but to other parts of the world, so that audiences from anywhere can relate their personal experiences to the local site. Finally universal messages integrate into an over-arching universal message (pinnacle on roof). With effective interpretation and in time, a visitor’s appreciation deepens and eventually approximates the universal messages identified by the community.

Interpretive frameworks, as currently understood, offer at least seven applications:

1. IFs connect tangible attractions (raw material) with universal meanings, provoking thinking and appreciation by all kinds of visitors.

2. IFs showcase different but related messages that reinforce each other, forging new relationships unavailable to single-message interpretive programs.

3. IFs increase the likelihood that most or all communicators at a site use the same mes-sages in the same way, instead of at cross-purposes or in contradictory ways.

4. IFs offer planners a choice of messages to best accommodate different audiences.

5. IFs present messages with pre-associated attractions and stories readily available for use by tour guides, historians, tour operators, government officials, or residents.

6. With publicly sanctioned messages in an IF, unscrupulous heritage purveyors cannot simply invent meanings and stories to entertain paying audiences.

7. Along the IF’s meaning hierarchy, visitor appreciation progresses and deepens over time.

Once an interpretive framework is completed, ideally, some community entity holds and updates the framework over time, possibly including interpretive opportunities (tours, books, and other media) for different kinds of users to better understand the site. The framework as well should be added to the Guiding Statements document as yet another boundary for strate-gic planning.

Interpretive Framework for Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge

Overarching message prepared by the small committee Universal forces and processes

An evolving participatory stewardship model aims to balance the complexity of nature with that of modern life.

Nature’s complexity takes shape in the structure of forests, diversity of river life, variety of habitat types, and the development of social organization, high-order thinking, and consciousness. Modern complexity takes shape in sophisticated governance, interrelated communication and economic flows, and the diversity of cultural and spiritual expression. Evolution in fact tends toward greater complexity, but at times can be set back locally by powerful natural phenomena like tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. It can also be set back by uncontrolled economic growth and industrial output that transform natural complexity into human complexity. An emerging vision of a healthy balance of human and non-human complexities, however, requires a new stewardship model that emphasizes active collaboration of all levels of society with traditional decision-makers. VdO is just such a place where this evolving model emerges, where nature’s complexity co-exists and blends with the urban complexity of modern life.

Universal messages prepared by the small committee Universal forces and processes

Migration and cultivation, traditionally guided by natural cycles, have been fragmented by modern transportation and production systems creating complex landscape mosaics.

Migration and cultivation date thousands or millions of years (if one includes ant fungal cultivation, for example), guided entirely by natural cycles. In industrial times, modern thinking has invented linear time, where processes are seen as having beginnings, middles, and ends.

Materials start at a source and end in a sink. Problems are black and white. A leads to B to C and do not cycle back. This thinking has weakened awareness of natural cycles and can be seen in the landscape crisscrossed with production and transportation systems. While some criticize replacement of cyclical time with linear, the blend enhances landscape complexity (forest remnants co-exist with industrial ruins, bike paths, and heritage areas). Ultimately these complex landscape mosaics contribute to place identity. VdO shows this combination of dairy-agricultural history with habitat and visitor use diversity.

When people come together to connect with and care for the land, they heal the environment and themselves.

Human deprivation and abuse often relate directly to the land. It can take the form of water pollution, lost access to green spaces, enclosure in small spaces, industrial poisoning, severance from heritage pasts, extinction of traditional foods and practices, etc. These deprivations weaken the body, mind, and social networks that maintain cultures. By coming together to restore the environment, people not only clean sources of their own health, both physical and psychological, but also build and strengthen social bonds between those coming together. This occurs by simply planting a tree or organizing to fight industrial pollution and mindsets that oppress low-income and people of color.

VdO is situated in a historic hotspot of environmental injustice, and its presence and mission not only bring the community to heal the land, but in so doing heal the social fabric of the South Valley community itself.

Due to evolving social awareness and activism, protected areas must now work in deeper collaboration with their communities, requiring a new participatory conservation stewardship model.

Society and the world evolve in many ways including social awareness, activism, technologically, proliferation of information sources and democratization, number of NGOs and interest groups, etc. Where before protected area agencies both planned and implemented on their own, today, they are compelled, willingly or grudgingly, to collaborate with their communities (defined broadly) to include interest groups wherever they may be found. This collaboration requires a new model only just now emerging and characterized by greater participation, power redistribution, innovation, agility, and learning. VdO for instance pioneers urban refuge standards, multiple channels of community participation, participatory interpretation as a fundamental design criterion for site layout and programming, partnerships with AMAFCA’s storm water drainage system, and many other organizations.

Local messages prepared by the small committee Unique Combination of universal forces

Throughout time, people and other species migrate along the Rio Grande because of water availability according to natural cycles.

Pueblo, Hispano, European, and modern industrial methods of cultivation have blended through time to produce a mosaic of agricultural systems in the MRGV, including modern habitat restoration.

The environmental justice movement in the South Valley heals land and people through VdO.

VdO creates and cares for an accessible gallery of Middle Rio Grande habitats.

VdO evolves from and for its urban co-mmunity.

VdO pioneers a community-based model for integrating cultural and natural heritage in protected landscapes.

VdO extends the gradient of engaging activities that traditional refuges offer right up to the doorstep of every urban dweller, no matter their prior experience with wildlife or its protection.

Table 2. Interpretive Framework

Emerging messages prepared by public workshops Aspects of the local site or region

People and wildlife migrate along the Rio Grande throughout time.

Description

Natural cycles such as seasonality guide migrants through time, the Rio Grande guides them through space as water sustains their journey. Humans, since indigenous trade routes, have increased their migratory media from footpaths such as the Camino Real, to car ways (I-25), and then railways which all run parallel to the river.

Climate change now alters many of the traditional migratory cycles and people’s and wildlife’s adaptation to these changes.

Agricultural systems blending through cultures.

Description

Over time new cultures moved in with their respective agricultural systems, blending crops and cropping methods enriching and deepening the agricultural heritage of the region.

Restoration of natural habitat is considered the most recent form of agriculture as it produces food for a variety of non-human species (e.g., sunflower seeds for songbirds).

Agriculture includes both food and medicinal products as well as crops designed to attract and support populations of pollinator species.

Healing land and people through environmental justice and awareness.

(Refuge as healing retreat/salve)

Description

Environmental justice manifests in many places. In the South Valley, the movement has taken the tool of a refuge to generate healing and environmental justice. In certain sense, the refuge offers refuge for wildlife and humans alike.

Restoring and caring for natural landscapes

Description

In one sense, VdO honors the National Wildlife Refuge system’s eldest of objectives: conservation of biodiversity, also VdO’s second establishment objective. Yet VdO goes much beyond this traditional use. Its restoration involves the creation of an accessible (broadly defined) outdoor museum with close proximity of living exhibits or dioramas from the Valley region that tie it to the entire Rio Grande and other refuges throughout the NWR system.

Wildlife refuge evolving from and for an urban co-mmunity

Description

The refuge was born of community activism, enthusiasm, and ownership. Its ties to community are its lifeblood and thus VdO represents a sea change of vision within the wildlife refuge system. As the community saved the property from industrial degradation, so the refuge will help to save the community.

(Combined messages)

Pioneering a new model for wildlife refuges (people-first) & Paradigm shift in refuge design and management integrating natural and cultural systems

Description

A new model for wildlife refuges is being pioneered at VdO, one that integrates community, social, cultural, and natural resources. The model recognizes that management agencies no longer have the same power to implement they once had and now must share power with the community to get things done. The new US FWS urban refuge standards are an experimental instrument to get this done and are being tested for the first time in their entirety at VdO.

(message written by agency after public workshops)

Description

Urban wildlife refuges are not just stepping stones to visit traditional National Wildlife Refuges more distant from expanding urban areas (home to over 80% of the US population) such as neighboring Bosque de Apache and Sevilleta, they are gateways through which new urban audiences pass to increase their self-confidence and comfort in wildlife communities.

Through these gateways, American people come to understand that the health of those communities — even if unseen from urban windows — and the health of their urban communities depend on each other. Urban refuges, then, through the application of the urban standards of excellence, not only connect new conservation constituencies with the integrity and authenticity of wild areas, but build a land ethic for the conservation, protection, and enhancement of all fish, wildlife, and plants, and their habitats whether in wilderness tracts or urban backyards. VdO in particular accomplishes this when it restores natural hydrologic cycles by mimicking stormwater flows and river flooding.

Its habitat restoration as well provides ecosystem services to people of the Middle Rio Grande, such as pollination for agriculture and mosquito control.

Landscape features, attractions, stories, elements that illustrate local messages from design workshop and individual contributions

Camino Real with historic camp, Railrunner, I-25, Rio Grande, migratory flyway, story of explorers, big migration map, bird banding station, climate-controlled evolutionary plant exhibit, Pueblo agricultural layout connecting Visitor Center to garden plots, acequia demonstration, milk barn, community garden, habitat restoration as food source, medicinal garden, story of Spanish adoption of Pueblo irrigation, pollinator garden, native plant nursery and demonstration area, ice cream stand reminiscent of Price’s Dairy

Community artwork in refuge, possible exhibitry, views of industrial areas, green and socially conscious infrastructure, exercise course along perimeter, recycling/composting/waste management, mini-wind and water turbine, solar power, electric vehicles, story of most famous champions of environmental justice from the area, Habitat types, such as the “wild area,” existing bosque, Rio Grande, representation of oxbow (with trail or other feature), natural history of how the site has changed land uses, story of how acequia system mimics natural flooding regime, successional forest trail, Possible (bilingual) exhibitry, community art and garden, presence of diverse visitors, ADA universally accessible trails, community space for festivals, markets, etc., center for conservation careers, urban sensory area, school program area, Exhibitry about urban refuge standards, interpretive framework itself,, co-location of partner organizations, story about the refuge’s founding process and manager

Table 2. Interpretive Framework (continued)

Table 2. Interpretive Framework (continued)

Brainstormed and organized cards from workshop participants (raw data to construct emerging messages)

Southmost railrunner stop in ABQ (metro area)

River valley with ancient and current settlement

Green infrastructure provides community flood control and wildlife habitat

Part of largest cottonwood forest in the world

Most accessible wildlife refuge in NM. 1st NWR developed under urban standards of excellence

1-25 newest migratory route Many curanderos (traditional herbal healers) in the Refuge community.

Urban environmental awareness drives restoration

1 of few ABQ open spaces with viewscapes

Community initiated & community partnerships

New template for water permitting

Historical migration corridor for wildlife & humans

Price’s Farm and Dairy that people remember

Refuge next to industrial areas (environmental justice)

Being restored to pre-agricultural habitat

Community founded and community led Equal respect for cultural and biological diversity

Located on central North American flyway for migratory birds

Active in the largest acequia system in the world.

Exploring our heritage facilitates cultural healing/unity, common purpose in divided community

The refuge exists in the only rift valley in the US.

First urban refuge in the Southwest First refuge with a EJ plan (born of this concept)

Railroad distributes agriculture and manufacturing products. Railrunner.

Migratory route.

Home of Price’s Dairy Farm Extraordinary avian diversity, located on the Rocky Mountain Flyway.

Largest metro area for ecotourism in NM First refuge to use interpretation first to design landscape

Site of the Camino Real. Tricultural agricultural base of sustenance and knowledge

Last green open space in ABQ area. First urban refuge initiated by immediate community.

Unprecedented # of state and local partners for a NWR

The 600-mile Camino Real passes through the Refuge.

First restorable oxbow wetland in NM Safe family destination, because of openness.

Site of the first Spanish colonization expedition in 1598

Jennifer is a very influential on community outreach

Notes defining different spaces: VdO is 570 acres; South Valley is a town in Bernalillo Co. south of Albuquerque covering about 30 square miles; Middle Rio Grande Valley is the area along the Rio Grande from Cochiti Dam to Elephant Butte. Version history: 16 July 2014 (1st committee meeting); 23 July (design workshop); 25 July (2nd committee meeting); 26 August (3rd committee meeting); edits by refuge manager on 10 September (part of participant review).

Workshop Proceedings Workshop proceedings are provided in appendix C and include lists of all participants, events, methodology, and products from the public workshops to produce the interpretive frame-work. It is intended to be a public record of the process and its outcomes created by the par-ticipation of community stakeholders. An earlier draft of the interpretive framework is includ-ed in the proceedings. Please see the final interpretive framework described above.

Principal Audiences Experience opportunities are inextricably linked to different kinds of audiences. The back-ground and experience of each kind of audience influence heavily both the desired experi-ence and how to design the opportunity.