Silver City Watershed Keepers will be organizing a City Nature Challenge in Silver City and broader Grant County area from April 25-28, 2025! The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is an annual bioblitz event, with citizen scientists from around the world working to record as many species as possible during a four day challenge. 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of this international event, with a theme of “Bringing the World Together for Biodiversity.” Last year, CNC participants recorded nearly 2.5 million observations of plants, fungi, and animals in their local areas. Over 65,000 species (including 3,900 rare/endangered/threatened species) were observed and over 83,000 people have participated.
Why is this event important? We believe that it is critical for members of our community to know the wildlife that also calls our watershed home. The CNC emphasizes the role that towns and cities play in affecting biodiversity and invites people of all ages and abilities to explore nature in their back yards, city parks, and beyond! Observations made during the CNC will all be publicly available on the iNaturalist database and app. These observations can be viewed by other people in our community, used in schools for biology lessons, utilized by local governments and conservation organizations to monitor invasive species or ecosystem health, and employed by scientists to define shifting species’ ranges, migration corridors, or relationships (e.g. plant-pollinator interactions).
Tentative Schedule of Events
- April 19: iNaturalist training – Learn about the history of the City Nature Challenge and how to use iNaturalist. We’ll practice using the app, taking photos, and talk about the differences between “good” and “bad” observations
- April 25: “Birds and Bees” – Meet us at Silva Creek Botanical Garden and the Waterworks for a tour of native plantings and the pollinators and other animals that love them!
- Hike hosts: experts from New Mexico Native Plant Society and Southwest Bird Alliance
- April 26: “Life on the Trail” – Explore Silver City’s trail system on Boston Hill.
- April 26: “Tree Frogs of Cherry Creek” – Travel along Cherry Creek to find reptiles and amphibians like native canyon tree frogs.
- Hike hosts: Maya Morales, Grace Laskey, and Becca Cozad from Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy.
- April 27: “Wild Silver City” – Join a guided walk around Silver City to learn about the wild plants and animals that love to live alongside humans in our built environments.
- Hike hosts: Dr. Bill Norris from Western New Mexico University
- April 28: “Riparian Life” – Take a hike along San Vicente Creek to learn about aquatic and riparian species.
- Hike hosts: Dr. Gregor Hamilton from The Nature Conservancy, Eric Head from Trout Unlimited and experts from New Mexico Native Plant Society and Southwest Bird Alliance
Space on these guided hikes will be limited. Please RSVP to reserve a spot during one (or more) of our events. If group size limits are exceeded, spots will be given on a first come, first serve basis.
Check back for additional details from program partners!
If you are part of an organization that would like to help lead a hike or support City Nature Challenge – Silver City, please contact us via the links below!
