Concept: A re-claimed habitat for the endangered silvery minnows of the Rio Grande is simultaneously a habitat for humans to enjoy the river woods, via a boardwalk. The two habitats are seperated vertically, yet share the same infastructure. The Oxbow Refugium links the cultural to the natural in the same manner as a channel or oxbow, connecting the Bosque to the River, which supplies an experience of multiple rich habitats, through the habitat of the southwestern willow flycatcher that then becomes a silvery minnow refugium along a sandbar on the river. Human, animal, and fish habitats coexist within one location, in a beneficial and enriching manner, and the overlaps produce education, protection, and respectful awareness.
