Three mornings a week we rode the range in our trusty Government 4-wheel drive. Working for the Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR, we sometimes drove up to 200 miles in a day to maintain and post border signs, install gates and repair fences. The Refuge extends from Falcon Dam to the Gulf of Mexico, covering 275 miles along the Rio Grande River. To date there are 115 distinct parcels of land, covering 90,000 acres and still growing.
La Sal del Rey (the salt of the King) is named after its principal geological feature: a 530-acre salt lake. Salt has been mined at the lake since aboriginal people occupied the land. The salt trade represented one of the first commercial enterprises by the Spaniards in this part of what was once Mexico.
We were pleased to be part of a team of volunteers charged with the task of building a handicap accessible bird observation deck at La sal del Rey. The deck took about three weeks to complete with 6-8 volunteers working each day.
In late March the NBC Today Show visited Santa Ana NWR to do a segment about RVers who volunteer for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
