Upper Pecos Watershed Association

06/19/2026

NEW FIRE START - ELK WILDFIRE

The Elk Fire is located on the Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District within the Pecos Wilderness, approximately 1.5 miles northwest of Iron Gate Campground. Fire is estimated to be one tenth of an acre. In an area with heavy dead and down fuels. Pecos River Handcrew has been ordered to this fire.

No active evacuations at this time.

Resources are responding, the fire is currently receiving moderate precipitation.

We will share additional updates as information becomes available.

06/19/2026

Beaver restoration efforts are expanding nationwide, with states and tribal coalitions successfully relocating "problem" beavers to drought-prone or wildfire-threatened watersheds. These ecosystem engineers are returning to historical habitats to create crucial wetlands, build natural firebreaks, and improve groundwater storage. Catch the beaver fever and support the Upper Pecos Watershed Association's efforts to reintroduce beavers to protect, restore, and maintain a healthy and sustainable Pecos River. For more information about beaver's ecosystem benefits, read John Canon's 2025 article in Mongabay at: Beavers restored to tribal lands in California benefit ecosystems.

06/17/2026

🎉 Save the Date! 🎉

The Upper Pecos Watershed Association is excited to announce that our annual Water, Wildflowers, and Trout fundraiser will take place on Sunday, July 19, 2026, from 5:00–8:00 PM at beautiful Field Trip NM in Pecos Canyon.

This year is especially meaningful as we celebrate 20 years of protecting and improving the Upper Pecos Watershed. For two decades, UPWA has worked to restore river health, improve water quality, provide environmental education opportunities for local youth, and protect the places we all love.

Join us for an evening of great food, live music by Syd Masters, a live auction, silent auction, and community celebration in support of the Pecos River and its future.

🎟️ Tickets are $85 per person.
Tickets are available now:

https://checkout.square.site/merchant/BW415Y5BM0BZA/checkout/TNVTXO3JG7LMFYZQHWPHOHZS

We hope you'll join us as we celebrate 20 years of stewardship, restoration, and community impact.

06/15/2026

Big things are happening on the Pecos River! 🌊

The Upper Pecos Watershed Association is currently working on the restoration of nearly two miles of the Pecos River near the Monastery. This is one of the most significant restoration efforts we have undertaken and represents an important investment in the long-term health of the river.

Projects of this scale require tremendous collaboration, and we are incredibly grateful to our contractors, partners, and supporters who are helping bring this vision to life.
This work is made possible through funding provided by the New Mexico Environment Department through the New Mexico River Stewardship Program. Their commitment to protecting and restoring New Mexico's waterways is helping create lasting benefits for future generations.

We look forward to sharing progress updates, photos, and behind-the-scenes looks as this exciting project moves forward. Stay tuned!

06/08/2026

🌲 We still have 5 Pecos Ambassador positions available for the 2026 season!
Last year, Pecos Ambassadors helped remove more than a ton of trash from public lands while supporting recreation access throughout the Pecos Canyon. This year, the program is expanding to include Pecos Canyon State Park and Pecos National Historical Park.
If you enjoy spending time outdoors and want to make a difference in the places you love, we'd love to have you join us.
A volunteer training will be held on July 1st, and new ambassadors are welcome to sign up now.
To learn more or volunteer:
📧 [email protected]
📞 505-757-3600

06/02/2026

Beavers build drought defense! Earlier this spring, federal agencies announced that New Mexico is entering its third consecutive year of extreme drought (Bureau of Reclamation, 04/16/26). The amount of water the snowpack would produce if melted, known as the snow water equivalent, was only a small fraction of the median measured over the last twenty years across Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado mountain ranges. The Upper Pecos Watershed Association recognizes the superpower of beavers to dampen drought by slowing flow, creating pools, and allowing water to infiltrate the ground and recharge shallow aquifers. Join UPWA in its advocacy of beaver reintroduction to the Upper Pecos watershed to assist its restoration and sustainability efforts.

Photos: Beaver dam and gnawed tree stumps on the Upper Gallinas River (Winter, 2026).

05/31/2026

🚽 Every summer, thousands of people enjoy the Upper Pecos Canyon and these portable toilets play an important role in helping protect the river, recreation sites, and water quality throughout the watershed.
Your support helps us pay for and maintain 10 portable toilet units throughout the canyon, and our goal is to keep them serviced and available through the end of September.

If you’re able to support this effort, every contribution truly helps:
👉 https://square.link/u/la6Rwgql

A big shoutout and thank you to Roybal's Septic Service for helping us make this happen on the ground each season 🙌
Because taking care of the Pecos means taking care of all of it.

05/30/2026

05/29/2026

🌲 Reminder: We still have a few positions left to fill for the upcoming Pecos Ambassador season!
Last year, our volunteers helped care for recreation sites throughout the Pecos Canyon by picking up trash, monitoring high-use areas, and supporting recreation access for everyone enjoying the outdoors.
This year, the program continues to grow and expand into Pecos Canyon State Park and Pecos National Historical Park.
If you’ve been thinking about getting involved, now is a great time to join us. Pecos Ambassadors help care for the public lands we all love while becoming part of a growing community stewardship effort.
To sign up or learn more:
📧 [email protected]
📞 505-757-3600

05/27/2026

Beavers support river resiliency to forest fires and recovery after them. New Mexico Highlands University undergraduate student Colman Lee studied the potential of beaver occupation as a fire buffer, habitat refugia, and an agent of recovery for streams in the footprint of the 2022 Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire. He (1) located beaver dams using satellite imagery; (2) calculated burn severity using the Difference Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR); (3) identified beaver dam capacities from the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT); and (4) compared burn severity in river reaches with and without beavers but having the same beaver capacity. The results were clear: riparian areas in the Gallinas Watershed with beaver dams had significantly reduced burn severity compared to riverscapes without beaver dams. Be a beaver believer! Support the Upper Pecos Watershed Association’s advocacy of beavers as fire fighters and watershed warriors.

Read more about Colman’s work at

https://nmgs.nmt.edu/meeting/abstracts/view.cfm?aid=3161.