Matthew Monjaras, an accomplished waterfowl hunter, will be the featured speaker at the New Mexico Wildlife Federation’s December Wildlife Wednesday event.
Monjaras is head of Impact Outdoors, a group he founded that takes veterans, first responders and youth into the field. In recent years, the group has expanded its mission to include conservation projects.
Monjaras’s Wildlife Wednesday presentation will focus on waterfowl hunting tactics and decoy presentation. He will also provide information about his group’s conservation work.
His talk will start at 5:30 p.m., Dec. 13, at Marble Brewery’s Northeast Heights Taproom, at 9904 Montgomery Blvd NE, Albuquerque. The event is free.
Impact Outdoors evolved from Monjaras’s years of work with the Youth Conservation Corps, hosting summer camps and other work in the outdoors. Recently, the organization received a donation of some marsh land in Guadalupe County, near Santa Rosa.
“This is probably the most biodiverse marsh I’ve ever been in in my life for duck hunting and stuff, it’s really great,” Monjaras said. He said the property has become a central hub for the work his group does with veterans.
Monjaras said his group increasingly is working on ecological projects including planting for bird habitat and other conservation projects. He said it has performed conservation work on over 60 sites so far this year.
“Last year, we did 64 sites of marshland development,” Monjaras said. He said they have planted over 300 acres of bird habitat so far this year.
Impact Outdoors is a recent recipient of a grant from the state of New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund. The grant is funding a program to work on bird habitat that could involve as many as 500 kids this year.
Monjaras said he took 114 veterans into the field last year and hopes the program total reaches 200 this year. He said veterans who have participated in the program are increasingly returning to work on habitat improvement projects and workshops.
Monjaras went to New Mexico State University, where he learned to hunt ducks in the desert. He lives now in the Albuquerque area and said he has hunted the Middle Rio Grande and Elephant Butte areas extensively.
For more information about Monjaras’s work with Impact Outdoors, visit the website at: https://www.impactoutdoorsnm.com. The group may be reached at impactoutdoors.nm@gmail.com.