NMDGF Conservation Education Program
The NMDGF Conservation Education Program provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary fish and wildlife conservation education program to assist students of any age in developing the awareness, knowledge, skills and commitment to stewardship of New Mexico’s wildlife and wildlife habitats.
Wildlife Curriculum for New Mexico
The Conservation Education team offers a New Mexico Wildlife Education curriculum for upper elementary through middle school grade levels, correlated to Common Core State Standards, current NM Science Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
New Mexico Wildlife Activities and Lessons
The following lesson plans have been developed by the Department’s professionals, which include professional educators, biologists and game wardens. Lesson plans target upper elementary and middle school grade levels. These lessons have not been peer-reviewed or correlated to the Common Core State Standards and current New Mexico Public Education Department Science Standards, but offer sound content for teaching New Mexico’s youth about the state’s valuable wildlife resources.
Scroll here to view all PDF downloads:Lesson Plans and Presentations |
Advanced Workshops
NMDGF Wildlife & Fisheries Careers Virtual Academy can be found here.
Wildlife Conservation in New Mexico
Our Mission: To provide and maintain an adequate supply of wildlife and fish within the state of New Mexico by utilizing a flexible management system that provides for their protection, conservation, regulation, propagation, and for their use as public recreation and food supply.
Classroom Presentations with colorful slide show on New Mexico wildlife and wildlife conservation is available statewide. Presentations include hands-on discovery critter boxes with wildlife skins, skulls and more. Presentations are given by Conservation Officers, and staff from the Information and Education Division.
Critter Boxes
Wildlife critter boxes on a variety of species are available for loan to educators. Critter boxes often contain skulls, skeletal parts such as antlers, horns, etc., hides, scat, tracks, videos, children’s literature and a Teachers Guide. Contact Storm or Dennis for information on the following critter boxes:
- Bear
- Bighorn
- Bosque
- Desert Wildlife
- Elk
- Forest Carnivores
- Grasslands
- Predator-Prey
- Rocky Mountain Wildlife
- Track Mold
- Wolf
Coloring Books
New Mexico Wildlife Coloring Books: Written at about the 5th-grade reading level, the coloring books include professional black-line art of New Mexico wildlife and habitats along with the state map locator for each species.
Introduction to New Mexico’s rich aquatic environments. Coloring pages, descriptions, and habitat ranges for: Bluegill, Mottled sculpin, American dipper, Yellow-headed blackbird, Checkered garter snake, Snapping turtle, Greenthroat darter, American beaver, Largemouth bass, Woodhouse’s toad, Bufflehead, Spiny soft-shelled turtle, Rio Grande cutthroat trout, Great blue heron, Bank swallow, Channel catfish, Belted kingfisher, Muskrat, Painted turtle, Western chorus frog, Osprey, Canada goose, American bittern, Sora, Water shrew, Longnose gar, Walleye, Canyon tree frog, and Tiger salamander. Includes “A Riparian Tragedy” and glossary.
Coloring book with habitat ranges for New Mexico wildlife: Kit/Swift foxes, Lesser prairie chicken, Wild turkey, Western spotted skunk, Northern pintail, Collared lizard, Western meadowlark, Red-tailed hawk, Black-tailed jack rabbit, Burrowing owl, Mountain lion, Common raven, Elk, Blacktailed rattlesnake, Little brown bat, Coyote, Pronghorn antelope, Short-horned lizard, Greater roadrunner, Black-tailed prairie dog, Black bear, Javelina, Desert bighorn sheep, Sandhill crane, Abert’s squirrel, Porcupine, Pinon jay, Dusky shrew, Western bluebird, and Ringtail. Glossary included.
Introductory text, glossary, and coloring pages with descriptions and habitat ranges for: Peregrine falcon, Gila trout, Bald eagle, Broad-billed hummingbird, Mexican gray wolf, Neotropic cormorant, Sand dune lizard, Southern pocket gopher, Gray-checkered whiptail, Bell’s vireo, White-sided jackrabbit, White-tailed ptarmigan, Least tern, Common black-hawk, Colorado river toad, Meadow jumping mouse, Colorado pikeminnow, New Mexico ridgenose rattlesnake, Gila woodpecker, Socorro isopod, Western river cooter, Least chipmunk, Thick-billed kingbird, Jemez mountain salamander, Elegant trogon, Pecos bluntnose shiner, Gila monster, American marten, and Whooping crane.
New Mexico lifezones includes alpine, subalpine, coniferous forest, transitional (mountain), grasslands, woodlands, and desert environments. Book includes coloring pages together with descriptions of plant and animal life, as well as a glossary.
Publication Library
Visit the Publication Library to view factsheets and other publications that will help you learn more about fish, wildlife and conservation in New Mexico.
Storm Usrey
Conservation Education Coordinator
Phone# 505-222-4740
Stormw.Usrey@dgf.nm.gov
Dennis Segura
Sport Fishing / Aquatic Resources Education Coordinator
Phone# 505-222-4727
Dennis.Segura@dgf.nm.gov