Whitfield hosts Earth Night and Day with family activities, stargazing

Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area hosted Earth Night and Day as a free, low-cost outing for Valencia County families, with games, snacks, giveaways and prizes spread across Friday evening and Saturday daytime north of Rio Communities. The two-day program ran Friday, April 24, from 4 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., turning the conservation area into a place for kids’ activities, wildlife learning and stargazing without a long drive.

Friday’s schedule leaned into the evening sky and the wildlife that depends on it. The program opened with Nighttime Pollinators featuring Jade McClellan of UNM Long-term Ecological Research at Sevilleta, and a Conservation Excellence Award presentation to New Mexico State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard was set for about 5:15 p.m. Laura McCann of the Raptors of New Mexico Foundation followed with Nighttime Raptors at 6 p.m., then Sarah McIntyre of Sarah McIntyre Photography and the Dark Sky Council presented Aurora Borealis in New Mexico at 7 p.m. The night finished with nighttime photography at 8 p.m. and night-sky viewing at 8:30 p.m., a lineup built for families who wanted science, not a screen.

Saturday shifted the focus to practical stewardship. The day opened with a land acknowledgment at 10 a.m., followed by a backyard composting workshop with John Zarola of Bernalillo County Extension Master Composters at 10:15 a.m. A guided nature walk followed at noon, then Eileen Beaulieu led Saving the Belen Marsh at 1 p.m. Jeff Sanders, education manager for the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District, capped the schedule with a rainwater harvesting demonstration at 1:15 p.m. The district said attendees would also learn about the wildlife benefits of dark skies, backyard composting methods that reduce waste, and how to install a water-harvesting landscape. Kids also had room to jump into activities such as a Recycling Relay and Nature Match Up.

The setting gave the event extra weight. Whitfield was created in April 2003 when the district acquired a donated 97-acre tract in Belen, and it remains under a permanent conservation easement through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Wetlands Reserve Program. The Whitfield Conservation Area Complex now includes the Stacey Unit, added in December 2015 with about 42.9478 acres, and the Rio Abajo Conservation Area, which adds about 100 acres. The Visitors’ and Education Center opened in late 2009, giving the site a base for school groups, birdwatchers and hikers interested in wetlands ecology in a dry region.

Garcia Richard was being recognized for preservation of public lands and for strengthening education, communication and collaboration around land and natural resource conservation. The district also said she supported Whitfield’s restoration after the April 11, 2022, Big Hole Fire and secured resources in 2025 to conserve the watershed. With previous programming such as Whitfield Under the Stars already drawing visitors in partnership with the Friends of Whitfield and the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, Earth Night and Day reinforced Whitfield’s role as one of Valencia County’s most useful places to learn, look up and stay close to home.