Organization name: Native Plant Society of New Mexico
Organization website: http://www.npsnm.org
Name: Jim McGrath
Email Address: sedges@swcp.com
Location:
Affiliation: Non-governmental Organization
Interests: Water resources
Other interests: Biodiversity; protection of natural areas that preserve high plant and animal biodiversity representative of pre-settlement habitats
Bio: I am interested in the protection of natural areas - areas of high biodiversity or unique natural conditions that are representative of pre-settlement conditions - that is, before livestock grazing, logging, and mining and other human activities drastically reduced the biodiversity and abundance of wildlife and native plants. Such areas are rare in the Zuni Mountains and should be protected as representative of conditions that existed pre-settlement. Such areas represent our natural heritage and reveal the extent of human impacts upon our natural environment. I have worked as an independent contract botanist for 15 years, mainly performing rare plant surveys. I have performed a search for USFS sensitive plants in Lincoln National Forest, NM (2006) and I created a vegetation map and performed a botanical inventory of Stewart Meadows in Carson National Forest, NM (2006).