For its first evening program of the year, on Friday, January 17th, at 7:00 pm, the Gila Native Plant Society has invited two representatives of the New Mexico Department of Transportation to talk about the Department's plans for roadside vegetation in the Gila region. The topic of their presentation is "NMDOT Vegetation Management and our Gila Highways: Working on a plan to improve what's being done." The program is free and open to the public.
According to its website, the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) maintains approximately 25,000 miles of roadsides. While safety is always a primary driver, NMDOT is also responsible for good environmental stewardship within its rights of way. To achieve that goal, it is implementing an Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) program. In their presentation for GNPS, William and Andrew will explain what the IVM Program is and what is being done to improve vegetation management. They will then introduce the Gila Vegetation Management Plan.
Andrew Alderete has a bachelor's degree from Western New Mexico University in Silver City with a double major in forest wildlife biology and zoology with a minor in botany. He has been involved with various aspects of environmental consulting in the private sector, but has been with NMDOT for the past eleven years. For the last four years he has been working to build the NMDOT Integrated Vegetation Management program.
William Hutchinson has degrees from Oregon State University and Lewis and Clark College and has been licensed as a Landscape Architect in New Mexico for forty years. He and the NMDOT Roadside and Community Design team handle the ecological management of 200,000 acres of roadside environment.
The program will be hybrid – in person and via Zoom – on Friday, January 17th, at 7:00 pm. All are welcome. It will be live on the WNMU campus in Harlan Hall, Room 111. (Harlan Hall is at the corner of 12th and Alabama Streets in Silver City.) Those who prefer to attend online may request a Zoom link from
The Gila Native Plant Society is committed to promoting education, research and appreciation of the native flora of the Southwest; encouraging the preservation of rare and endangered plant species; and supporting the use of suitable native plants in landscaping. For information on programs, publications and membership, please visit www.gilanps.org.
