Belowis some writing bymiddle school students that recently visited the refuge (YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THIS AS A PDF WITH IMAGES)

High Plains Writing Project, Young Authors’ Camp 2009

The High Plains Writing Project centered at Eastern New Mexico University is the Eastern New Mexico site for the National Writing Project. The Writing Project is a network for professional development serving teachers of all subjects from kindergarten through university in the practice of teaching writing. The National Writing Project’s mission is to improve student achievement by improving the teaching of writing and improving learning in the nation’s schools. This year the High Plains Writing Project held its first Young Authors’ Camp, which was open to students from Sidney Gutierrez Middle School. With the Camp as a “laboratory,” leaders Leslie Lawner and Cynthia Gustamantes were able to apply various strategies and activities with the students in order to see what was most effective in helping the students develop their own voices as writers. To that end, the focus of the Camp was the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, a jewel of facility in our local area. The students spent the first morning of camp with volunteer and Friend of Bitter Lake Noel Sivertson in a fascinating “backlot” tour of the Refuge. Students took notes, photographs, and made sketches along the way. The idea was first to get them to appreciate the Refuge and its work and, second, to give them some “inspiration” for future writings. For the next several days, the students created pieces inspired by Bitter Lake. They were not given any specific direction, but were free to write what they wanted in the genre of their choice. The results were wonderful and varied, as you will see as you read their works. We also had them break into two groups (boys and girls) and asked them to ponder what would happen if all the folks who worked at
Bitter Lake were suddenly made to leave. The results of that thought experiment are also included. Bitter Lake provided a perfect jumping off point for our students. The
incredible biology it offers, the geography lessons in the interaction between man and the environment, the natural beauty of the refuge all conspired to pique the students’ interest and to lead to new creative frontiers.

Many thanks to Mr. Sivertson, Steve Alvarez, and Joe Saenz for allowing Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge to be a part of our Young Authors’ Camp.

Bitter Lakes

(Girls)
If Bitter Lakes had no employees to take care of it many bad things would happen, such as:
• The roads would be overgrown by brush and other native plants
• There won’t be as many birds because the water levels would not suit specific types of birds in each season
• Under or over population of fish and other animals would occur because of the water levels and the lack of food from crops
• The river would go back to it’s natural shape because nobody is there to keep it straight
• There wont be as many natural plants due to water levels either too high or too low
• There wont be as many migratory birds because of the water levels not changing or changing too drastically for some birds
• There will be more floods and droughts because nobody is there to drain and flood the impoundments
• The park would go back to its natural state because it would grow and grow back to its previous freedom
• Birds and animals would adapt to having no people at the park Bitter Lake’s Future Without Humans

(Boys)
• Salt cedars would overpopulate
- Rivers and lakes will soon dry up because the Salt Cedars would undergo a population explosion which would damage the entire ecosystem around Bitter lake and the birds that stop at Bitter Lake in the winter would have no where to rest which may lead to a decrease in population of the birds
- The entire area would undergo a severe drought which would decrease the number of species that live in and around Bitter Lake
- The endangered animals that live at Bitter Lake would become extinct which could topple the entire hierarchy of life because many of the animals at the refuge depend on each other for survival
• The government would save about 2 million dollars because - electricity is used to control the water levels at Bitter Lake
- the government wouldn’t have to pay the salary of the employees at Bitter Lake
- not as much coal would have to mined to power the plants that produce electricity for Bitter Lake
- the U.S.D.A. wouldn’t have to send employees out to Bitter Lake to inspect the quality of the progress that has been made having to do with the crops and the soil fertility
• Areas near Bitter Lake would suffer because
- there would be a shortage in water for farmers because they use the water from the Pecos River which depends on Bitter Lake for water which in turn is used by the farmers.
- If the farmers suffer a shortage in water there will not be as many crops produced which would result in an inflation of prices in the food market/industry

BITTER LAKE FRIENDS
By: Alysha Guajardo
One day a Sandhill Crane named Sally was walking around Bitter Lakes and suddenly she heard a tiny voice yelling for help. The voice she heard was coming from a beautiful blue and black damselfly named Delilah. Delilah had fallen into the water and was drowning. She needed someone to help her get out of the water and back on land because she hurt her wing and couldn’t fly. Sally went over to the dragonfly and carried her to a rock that was nearby. Delilah was thankful that Sally helped her, so they became friends. The next day, Sally and Delilah were sitting on a big rock together when the rock started moving. They soon found out that they weren’t sitting on a rock, they were sitting on a turtle. The turtle’s name was Timmy. Timmy explained that he was resting in the sun, and he thought he felt something on him. He wasn’t sure what it was so he just ignored it and left to find some lunch. After that he heard a noise so he stopped and that’s when he met Sally and Delilah.

A few hours later Sally, Delilah, and Timmy were all playing in the water and they saw a lonely duck that was all by herself. They felt bad for her, so they went over to see what was wrong. The duck told them that her name was Daisy, and nobody wanted to play with her. The three friends told her that they would play with her, and Daisy was happy. So Sally the Sandhill Crane, Delilah the Tule Bluet Damselfly, Timmy the Spiney Soft-Shelled Turtle, and Daisy the Green-winged Teal Duck all became good friends and
they played together every day during the spring, summer and fall.

The Lost River
By Kayla Bell
The river is lost but found again
Adventures wearing
The moggy banks down
Generations have seen this river
Running down
The algae-grown river bed
Back in the good days
The days of our youth
We saw this river running
Smoothly and swiftly
We knew what to do with this river
Have fun with it
Use it
We must find this lost river
Without it
Where would our childhood be?
We are lost like the river
Waiting for our time
To reappear

Flower of Mine
Kayla Bell
If I were a flower
I would bloom one million times
I would never stop
Even in the winter
I would welcome the bees
The butterflies
Even the little ants
Because I am so happy
I would wait for someone
To see me
Happy and blooming
Enticing
I will live forever
Generations will know me well
I will be here
Waiting for you

Kayla Bell
Dinner
I build my web over a hole
Waiting for my prey
Gracefully lounging
Still as a stone
Waiting for my prey
Hungry for my dinner
Still as a stone
No need to hurry
Hungry for my dinner
Patience is the key
No need to hurry
Time to fix my web
Patience is the key
My prey has been caught
Time to fix my web
Dinner time!

Never-ending Cycle
Kayla Bell
The little purple flower smiles in the summer
Happy to see the sunshine again
Yellow in the middle
Waiting for the bees to get their pollen
The little mauve flower gets colder in the autumn
Waiting for the snow and cold
Wishing the sun would come back
And warm the petals it had so delicately bloomed
The little violet flower is frozen in the winter
Not able to wait for the spring
Not able to wish
Just to sleep
The little purple flower
Blooms to its purple self
Ready to start
The cycle again

Amanda Valdez
Bitter Lakes poem
6/16/09
Dear old friend I never met
Dear old friend I never met
You must have lived a long life
Being shelter to small muskrats,
Having long thick branches for birds to roost on
You have provided so much
-for everybody
You lived in the Bitter Lake refuge
You once stood there tall and green
You watched all the different birds stop by
while creating their nests in your branches
surviving dust devil winds
hail from the pouring rain
Along with droughts we suffer from
long thick branches so beautiful
stretching far into the blue sky
branches going different directions
amazing under the desert moon light
Thank you old friend you no longer live or grow leaves
But you now help other species live their lives
You will always have a purpose in the world
I love you my old friend
But I have to leave now
I’ll try to stop by and visit you sometime

What is it?
Gus Liakos
It’s lurking there when you sleep
It tries to comfort you when you weep
But everyone just pushes it away…
Is it a monster?
Is it God?
Whatever it is
It’s here to stay…
The greatest mystery
Of all time
Throughout history
It’s the coconut without the lime
The black sheep
The outsider
The middle of the great leap
The provider
Of all the troubles
That change earth to rubble
But also the comforts
Like hope and love
Of all that doesn’t hurt
All brought via the dove
Of life
And strife
It’s always there
The secret miracle
Always fair
Never satirical
Always ostracized
But never criticized
What is is?

Why Am I Me?
abbey bell
Why am I me?
Because of my bed
It’s messy and unorganized
Why am I me?
Because of my room
It’s bright and loud
Why am I me?
Because of how I talk
I always talk like I’m nervous
Why am I me?
Because of what I am
I am nobody else but me
Haiku
In still and hot land
Wind breezes through the tall brush
Oh, how beautiful
Haikus are easy
I love to write them
They are tons of fun

Jet Murphy
The Land of Life
Blue waters, lush greens
Electric colors flying
Jumping full of life

Magnificent Waterfall
Water torn apart
Flowing into endless streams
Taking many paths

The Pleasant Sun
Rising so early
Bright oranges and soft yellows
Setting very late

The Glorious Sea
Waters so serene
Creatures swimming everywhere
Moon comes out, day’s end

Tales from Bitter Lake
By Mitchel L.
Welk was running faster than he thought
possible, but the horned beast was still drawing
closer and closer. Welk ran to a pile of sticks, and,
grabbing one he stuck it into the ground so it was
facing outward like a spear. He did the same with
several more, until he had a wall of spears between
him and the beast. Then he piled up more of the
sticks and crawled under the pile. Looking out, he
noticed that the beast had run through the spears
and had hardly been hurt. Welk drew his sword.
Then he broke out of the pile and charged the beast.
It growled and stomped its foot. All of the sudden,
the ground collapsed beneath it. Welk stopped. The
beast had fallen into a sinkhole! Welk was relived.
He sheathed his sword and ran off.
***
High on a hilltop, a kangaroo rat was deep in
meditation, when another rat ran up.
“The harvest mouse has escaped!” he exclaimed.
“Welk?”
“Yes.”
“Hunt him down.”
“Yes sir.”
“Oh and what happened to the horned lizard?”
“It fell into a sinkhole.”
“Send someone to free it”
The rat scurried away.
To be continued . . . . .

Pointless Hope
Hope and life are akin to a river
The joyous life is the river
on even ground.
The river, fortunately,
encounters a waterfall.
The joyous times of life
and all of your hopes and dreams
now fall
into an abyss that leads directly to Hell.
The fires evaporate everything that you have garnered
in life
and ultimately leave you
hopeless.
By Adrian Lopez