Madison McClintock

15 min | Madison McClintock

Written, Directed, Shot and Edited by Madison McClintock

Funded by a grant from the City of Albuquerque’s Arts and Culture department.

Featuring

Julia Bernal, Pueblo Action Alliance

Dara Saville, The Yerba Mansa Project

Kim Eichhorst, Bosque Ecological Monitoring Program

Reem Musallam, South Valley Community Alliance

Marco Sandoval, Story Riders

If you live in Albuquerque, you are familiar with the bosque. “Bosque,” which means forest in Spanish, is what Burqueños lovingly refer to when they talk about the riparian ecosystem that runs along the Rio Grande as it flows through Albuquerque. The largest stretch of cottonwood gallery forest in the American Southwest, the bosque accounts for less than 1% of the landmass in New Mexico but over 30% of its biodiversity. 

Our beloved forest along the river invites a wealth of activity, whether you are walking the trails under the grandmother cottonwoods, watching sandhill cranes gather on the sandbanks as they stop on their migration routes or forage mulberries and native medicinal plants from the shaded understory. Although the bosque is highly-frequented and loved by our communities, many are not aware of its ecological story, cultural significance and the environmental challenges it faces. 

Our Beloved Bosque offers audiences insight into the history of the Middle Rio Grande Ecosystem and its significance to indigenous communities, the plants and animals that call it home, and what the future may hold for this oasis in the high desert in the face of climate change. By interviewing an ecologist, herbalist, activist, community organizer and indigenous knowledge keeper, the film uses a truly community-driven model to illuminate the significance of this special place in the New Mexican desert.