The Belen Marsh -- Preserving Belen's Only Wetland


• WHAT IS BELEN MARSH • OUR MISSION • HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE • IMMEDIATE CHALLENGES • WORKING COOPERATIVELY • LIST OF BELEN MARSH BIRDS • WHAT YOU CAN DO

Arial 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 nearmTaco 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 Central New Mexico Audubon Society, to preserve the wetland in a way that meets the needs of the Valencia Fair Association, nearby residents and businesses.

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 weekly to discuss the Belen Marsh, and has reached out to the Valencia Fair Association for collaboration. The committee is in the process of developing a professional economic viability proposal for 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 Central New Mexico Audubon Society. The committee accepts donations through Audubon. Please see later pages in this packet for more information about donating to the cause.

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 many species of large migratory wading birds. It is an important stop on the Central Flyway for migratory birds. To date, 95 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.

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 2008, backfilling of the marsh was initiated. The Belen Marsh Committee coordinated the Belen Marsh Clean-up Day, in association with the City of Belen’s Trek for Trash, on October 4, 2008. Twenty-five concerned volunteers helped remove trash from the marsh. Throughout the morning, 125 bags of trash were collected, 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 effort helped beautify the marsh, the property was left with larger trash still cluttering the landscape, such as broken concrete.

Valencia County organizations have joined together as the “Belen Marsh Committee,” with help from the Central New Mexico Audubon Society, 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 fairgrounds shareholders 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. The organization began backfilling the marsh in May 2008. 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. 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.

Black-necked Stilt flying over Belen Marsh - Photo by Timothy Mandeville
Pied-billed Grebe Great Egret Snowy Egret* Cattle Egret* Green Heron White-faced Ibis Glossy Ibis Tundra Swan Snow Goose Gadwall Mallard* American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal* Cinnamon Teal* Green-winged Teal Redhead Canvasback Ring-necked Duck Lesser Scaup Northern Shoveler Ruddy Duck* Cooper’s Hawk Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Swainson’s Hawk American Kestrel Turkey Vulture Ring-necked Pheasant American Coot* Sora* Virginia’s Rail* Kildeer* Semi-palmated Plover Black-necked Stilt* American Avocet* Lesser Yellowlegs Greater Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Western Sandpiper Semi-palmated Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Baird’s Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Long-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Phalarope Red-necked Phalarope Franklin’s Gull Black Tern	Rock Dove Eurasian Collared-Dove White-winged Dove Mourning Dove Greater Roadrunner Black-chinned Hummingbird Ladder-backed Woodpecker Belted Kingfisher Black Phoebe Say’s Phoebe Eastern Kingbird Western Kingbird Loggerhead Shrike American Crow Common Raven Chihuahuan Raven Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Winter Wren Marsh Wren Northern Mockingbird European Starling Yellow Warbler Common Yellowthroat* Yellow-rumped Warbler American Redstart Wilson’s Warbler Green-tailed Towhee Dickcissel Brewer’s Sparrow Lark Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Blue Grosbeak Red-winged Blackbird* Western Meadowlark Yellow-headed Blackbird Great-tailed Grackle* House Finch Pine Siskin American Goldfinch Lesser Goldfinch House Sparrow Nest at Belen Marsh Near Wetland* Burrowing Owl

The Belen Marsh Committee needs your help preserving the Belen Marsh. To help, please consider supporting us financially: SAVE THE BELEN MARSH c/o Central New Mexico Audubon PO Box 30002 Albuquerque, NM 87190-0002 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) 865-1781 The Belen Marsh Committee operates with the support of the Valencia Fair Association and Central New Mexico Audubon Society.