The Belen Marsh
Helping to preserve Belen's only wetland
Contents
WHAT IS BELEN MARSH
OUR MISSION
HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE
IMMEDIATE CHALLENGES
WORKING COOPERATIVELY
LIST OF BELEN MARSH BIRDS
WHAT YOU CAN DO
BELEN MARSH VIDEO (Summer 2018)
What is Belen Marsh
Aerial satellite photo of Belen Marsh and its community - Photo by Google
The wetland is 16.5 acres located along Don Felipe Road, just south of Belen's I-25 Bypass and near Taco Bell/Pizza Hut Express.
It is a depressional wetland, artificially created when soil from the area was taken for local road construction projects. Because the regional water table is just below the land's surface, excavation caused water to pool and form a wetland.
The wetland is managed by the Valencia Fair Association, a nonprofit organization, which would like to use the property to support its county fair activities, including the expansion of parking. The association began backfilling the marsh in May 2008.
Valencia County organizations and residents have joined together as the Belen Marsh Committee, with support from the Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico, to preserve the wetland in a way that meets the needs of the Valencia Fair Association, nearby residents and businesses.
Our Mission
Birds cool their feet in the water Belen Marsh - Photo by Timothy Mandeville
The mission of the Belen Marsh Committee is to protect and conserve the area known as Belen Marsh, which provides critical habitat for nesting and migrating birds. Protection of this local wetlands area for future generations, through a collaborative enterprise with the property owners, managers and local citizens, is our primary goal.
We will work cooperatively with the Valencia Fair Association, the wetland's managing organization, and its constituents in a way that is compatible with local and private interests, realizing an ecological, educational and economic asset to the association, the community of Belen and Valencia County as a whole.
The Belen Marsh Committee meets to discuss the Belen Marsh, and has reached out to the Valencia Fair Association for collaboration.
The committee is supporting the development of birding tourism for the Belen Marsh that will include potential sources of revenue for the Valencia Fair Association and grant funding to improve the marsh area, possibly including Don Felipe Road and the broader fairgrounds property.
The Belen Marsh committee has begun researching and applying for grant funding with help from the Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico. The committee accepts donations through Audubon. Please see later pages in this packet for more information about donating to the cause.
History & Significance
Belen Marsh is 16.5 acres of wetland in Valencia County, New Mexico, just outside of the City of Belen.
Artificially created when soil from the area was used for local road and overpass construction projects, the marsh became a depressional wetland because the regional water table is just below the land's surface. Soil excavation caused water to pool and form a wetland in the early 1990s.
Belen Marsh has become a winter home for migratory waterfowl and springtime nesting site for a number of species of large migratory wading birds. It is an important stop on the Central Flyway for migratory birds, particularly shorebirds. It is one of the few suitable wetlands where shorebirds can stop on their long journey from the arctic to Central and South America in the fall.
To date, 178 species of birds have been documented at the site. Today the marsh is an attraction for local and statewide birders, who come to Belen and the marsh to see the birds that visit and nest.
Immediate Challenges
Concrete at Belen Marsh - Photo by Belen Marsh Committee
Unfortunately, Belen Marsh has had its share of problems. Over the years, the wetland has become a dumping ground for trash, ranging from fast-food wrappers and plastic bags to tires and cement.
Standing water at the site and in nearby agricultural fields is notorious among residents and businesses as a breeding ground for mosquitoes in the late summer. In the past, the Belen Marsh Committee treated the wetlands during mosquito breeding season with Bacillus thuringiensis that kills developing mosquitoes before they become breeding, biting adults (including those which may transmit West Nile virus to horses and equine encephalitis and heartworm disease to dogs and cats. It can be applied to areas that can contain aquatic life, fish and plants, areas used by or in contact with humans, animals, horses, livestock, pets birds or wildlife. A variety of it is used by organic farmers, for control of cabbage loopers and other larva.). However, these insects breed in other nearby standing water and some continue to blame the marsh.
In 2008, The Valencia County Fair Association initiated backfilling of the marsh. It was halted when U.S. Fish and Game enforced the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. While additional filling has not occurred, the Fair Association states they will resume filling if dirt becomes available.
The Belen Marsh Committee coordinates two annual Clean-up Days, one in April and the other in October, in association with the City of Belen's Trek for Trash. Concerned volunteers and neighbors helped remove trash from the marsh. A typical clean-up yields 125 bags of trash, including beer bottles, wire, discarded wood, and automotive parts, as well as a myriad of other stuff, such oil barrels, building material, and tires.
While the efforts help beautify the marsh, larger trash such as broken concrete still clutters the landscape.
Working Cooperatively
Valencia County organizations have joined together as the "Belen Marsh Committee," with help from the Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico, to preserve the wetland in a way that meets the needs of the Valencia Fair Association, nearby residents and local businesses.
The wetland is owned by shareholders and their descendants and managed by the Valencia Fair Association, a nonprofit organization that is seeking to use the property to support county fair activities and generate revenue for the organization's other activities and facilities.
With eco-friendly development of the property, Belen Marsh can be a real economic asset to the City of Belen, local businesses and the Valencia Fair Association as an integrated extension of the fairgrounds and local attraction. Audubon New Mexico has documented the economic benefits of preserving natural habitats.
Belen Marsh is already popular with New Mexico birders. According to national statistics, 31 percent of adults participate in birding activities. Studies have shown that so-called birding hotspots generate significant revenue for local communities. Areas near Belen, including Rio Communities, Bernardo and Soccoro, have begun to tap into eco-tourism as a consistent source of revenue.
List of Belen Marsh Birds
Black-necked Stilt flying over Belen Marsh - Photo by Timothy Mandeville
| Pied-billed Grebe | Rock Dove |
| Great Egret | Eurasian Collared-Dove |
| Snowy Egret* | White-winged Dove |
| Cattle Egret* | Mourning Dove |
| Green Heron | Greater Roadrunner |
| White-faced Ibis | Black-chinned Hummingbird |
| Glossy Ibis | Ladder-backed Woodpecker |
| Tundra Swan | Belted Kingfisher |
| Snow Goose | Black Phoebe |
| Gadwall | Say's Phoebe |
| Mallard* | Eastern Kingbird |
| American Wigeon | Western Kingbird |
| Blue-winged Teal* | Loggerhead Shrike |
| Cinnamon Teal* | American Crow |
| Green-winged Teal | Common Raven |
| Redhead | Chihuahuan Raven |
| Canvasback | Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
| Ring-necked Duck | Cliff Swallow |
| Lesser Scaup | Barn Swallow |
| Northern Shoveler | Winter Wren |
| Ruddy Duck* | Marsh Wren |
| Cooper's Hawk | Northern Mockingbird |
| Northern Harrier | European Starling |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | Yellow Warbler |
| Swainson's Hawk | Common Yellowthroat* |
| American Kestrel | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Turkey Vulture | American Redstart |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | Wilson's Warbler |
| American Coot* | Green-tailed Towhee |
| Sora* | Dickcissel |
| Virginia Rail* | Brewer's Sparrow |
| Killdeer* | Lark Sparrow |
| Semi-palmated Plover | White-crowned Sparrow |
| Black-necked Stilt* | Blue Grosbeak |
| American Avocet* | Red-winged Blackbird* |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | Western Meadowlark |
| Greater Yellowlegs | Yellow-headed Blackbird |
| Solitary Sandpiper | Great-tailed Grackle* |
| Spotted Sandpiper | House Finch |
| Western Sandpiper | Pine Siskin |
| Semi-palmated Sandpiper | American Goldfinch |
| Least Sandpiper | Lesser Goldfinch |
| Baird's Sandpiper | House Sparrow |
| Pectoral Sandpiper | |
| Stilt Sandpiper | *Have nested at the Marsh |
| Long-billed Dowitcher | |
| Short-Billed Dowitcher | |
| Wilson's Snipe | |
| Wilson's Phalarope | |
| Red-necked Phalarope | |
| Franklin's Gull | |
| Black Tern |
What You Can Do
The Belen Marsh Committee needs your help preserving the Belen Marsh. To help, please consider supporting us financially:
SAVE THE BELEN MARSH
c/o Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico
PO Box 30002
Albuquerque, NM 87190-0002
bacnm.org
Contact us to attend our weekly meeting, to be added to our list of supporters, or for more information:
THE BELEN MARSH COMMITTEE
Eileen Beaulieu, Chair
Los Lunas, NM
(505) 249-7929
www.valenciafair.com
www.facebook.com/valenciacountyfair/
The Belen Marsh Committee operates with the support of the Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico.
Supporters
Organizations
Albuquerque Wildlife Federation
abq.nmwildlife.org
Audubon Southwest
southwest.audubon.org
Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico
bacnm.org
New Mexico Wildlife Federation
nmwildlife.org
Amigos de la Sevilleta
amigosdelasevilleta.org
Friends of Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area
friendsofwhitfield.org
Hawks Aloft, Inc.
hawksaloft.org
Businesses
BRAVE_E, Inc., d/b/a
Elizabeth Hurst-Waitz, President
Kare*n*Growing Greenhouses
Karen Barela, Owner
Marty's Muffler Shop
Phil Martinez, Owner
Families & Individuals
The Family of Laura West
Albuquerque, NM
The Family of Ryan Beaulieu
Los Lunas, NM
Celestyn M. Brozek
Albuquerque, NM
Sharon Fullingim
Socorro, NM
Rebecca Gracey
Albuquerque, NM
Judy Liddell
Albuquerque, NM
Lee Hopwood
Albuquerque, NM
Robert Munro
Albuquerque, NM
Jerah Cordova
Belen, NM
Donna Royer
Albuquerque, NM
Donations
SAVE THE BELEN MARSH
c/o Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico
PO Box 30002
Albuquerque, NM 87190-0002
Contact
The Belen Marsh Committee
Eileen Beaulieu, Chair
Los Lunas, NM
(505)249-7929
www.valenciafair.com
Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico
A Chapter of the National Audubon Society
PO Box 30002
Albuquerque, NM 87190-0002
(505) 255-7622
bacnm.org
© 2009-2018 Belen Marsh Committee
The Belen Marsh is private property owned by shareholders and managed by the Valencia Fair Association. This website was designed and is maintained by the Belen Marsh Committee, a committee of the Valencia Fair Association.