El Paso's Wetlands | Rio Bosque Park

El Paso's Wetlands | Rio Bosque Park

So Miguel and I had a chance to visit this beautiful area that we didn't even know existed called Rio Bosque Wetlands. It's on the east side, it's actually very close to the border wall, and thanks to El Paso Times we actually learned a ton about it. So we're pretty excited to check it out and share it with you. So

we're gonna roll some of the footage and then talk about some of the area. So this area was actually originally a bend in the Rio Grande until that kind of meandering river was actually straightened and channelized in the 1930s. So of course what happened is that the bed went dry, all of the native

vegetation died off. However, starting in the late 1990s there have been efforts to kind of rejuvenate and restore water flows to this area. So why would they want to do that? Well, one could argue that it's important to try to maintain and keep these natural areas so that

essentially we don't lose, whether it's different plant species, trees, mammals, fish, birds, right? So most of us want to live in an area where we share with nature, right? We don't want to essentially concrete over the entire planet here. That's not going to be good for anybody. So these restoration efforts

are in full effect in the Rio Bosque and essentially what that means is returning water to these areas so that the native vegetation that was there can start to come back. One of the main, I guess, tree species that they're trying to conserve and bring back are willows and cottonwoods. And not only do

these trees thrive in what was originally that wetlands area, but it also brings migrating birds, like we said, different types of animals. There was even something interesting in the article about how originally the Rio Grande had 18 species, native species of fish, and now that's been whittled down

to about eight. And so we thought it was pretty cool to see this in person. You can go there and visit. It's interesting because there's actually, you can only get there by a dirt road, and so that might put some people off. But it's very easy to travel. Any car could could do it. We actually did also run into a

border patrol agent because it is right there, and he had some pretty interesting stories about it as well. So it's an interesting place that we just kind of wanted to share with you. If you do get some free time, I would definitely check it out. Super interesting place. I love how the trails are kind of covered by

vegetation, so it feels like you're kind of going through tunnels. And so we really enjoyed it. So if you get some free time, go check out Rio Bosque Wetlands.