Bernardo, NM is one of 3 working farms in the Rio Grande Valley managed by the Dept of Game and Fish. This 1700 acre farm cultivates about 450 acres annually to provide winter  feed for the birds and animals that visit that area. Several fields are flooded to provide a resting place for the 12000 or so sand hill cranes and 25,000 snow geese that winter in that area. Because it is an area of open water, fields and dense forest it also attracts mule deer, coyotes, raccoons, pheasants, hawks, owls, quail and song birds. Corn is the major crop planted for the animals but they also plant alfalfa, milo and millet. Most of the corn rows are mowed  down in the fall to make it easily accessible to the geese but  they leave some just knocked over so the taller sand hill cranes will have that available.  Several platform areas are available for the public to watch the coming and going of the birds. There are several tour routes one can drive through as well. The hours are from 1/2 hour before sunrise to sunset, September  through March. Sometime around February these little critters will head back north. Matter of fact, since I live north of that area, I often hear them flying overhead as they start that long journey. If you would like to visit this area, from Albuquerque, drive south on I-25 and follow the signs….Snow base at some of our ski areas are as follows…..Angel Fire, NM 30 inches….Durango, Co, 34 inches…Red River, NM 32 inches….Sandia, NM, 16 inches and opens Dec. 17….Ski Apache, 31 inches,….Telluride, Co 30 inches…..Wolf Creek, Co 58 – 64 inches….Winter is here, folks……Pete Hester