The Latest News
Mid Rio Grande Times Article
May 10, 2023
Read Edna Loehman’s article Sometimes We Call Them Weeds to find out how to connect with these valued local plants through the Yerba Mansa Project, Albuquerque Herbalism, Dara’s book The Ecology of Herbal Medicine, and other local resources
Read the article here.
Native Plant Society of New Mexico
April/May/June 2023
Learn about our recent conservation work and yerba mansa mapping in “Happenings in the Bosque with the Yerba Mansa Project” by our Director, Dara Saville, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) contributor, Jonathan Tanis.
Read the article here.
United Plant Savers Monograph
August 2022
Yerba mansa is on United Plant Savers Species At Risk list. Dara wrote an in-depth monograph for this listing, which is now published on their website.
Read the monograph here.
New Mexico Economic Development Department Grant
August 2022
Thanks to the New Mexico Economic Development Division’s Outdoor Recreation Division for awarding the Yerba Mansa Project a grant to support our environmental education initiatives for 2023. This grant enables us to plan for another year of providing field education events for school classrooms and the general public and to expand the number of schools who will be able to participate.
Read the press release here.
Native Plant Society of New Mexico Annual Conference
August 5-7, 2022, Albuquerque
Join Yerba Mansa Project Director Dara for three sessions at the NPSNM annual conference.
- Botanically-Based Environmental Education
- Field Trip to our Restoration Site
- Herbal Essentials Botanical Food & Medicine Workshop
Grant from the Native Plant Society of New Mexico
March 2022
Special thanks to the Native Plant Society of New Mexico for awarding the Yerba Mansa Project a grant from the Jack and Martha Carter Fund. This funding supports our GIS team’s work collecting, processing, and analyzing geographic data on plant populations to evaluate our work and support ecosystem and species conservation efforts.
Native Plant Society of New Mexico
Jan/Feb/March 2022
Read Hannah Eisenberg’s interview with YMP Director Dara about the Yerba Mansa Project’s work and the importance of yerba mansa to its ecosystems and the people of the Southwest.
Read here.
Yerba Mansa Project: Round Up for Change Donation Recipient
The Bean, Fall 2021
The Yerba Mansa Project was the May recipient of La Montanita Coop’s Round Up for Change donations program. Learn about our project and how this community donation will advance our mission and goals. Thanks to La Montanita and our community for this gift!
Read here, pages 24-25.
Native Plant Society of New Mexico
Oct/Nov/Dec 2021
Read Margaret Manache’s interview with YMP Director Dara about her book The Ecology of Herbal Medicine, the Yerba Mansa Project, gratitude, and more.
Read the article here.
Cottonwood Forest Communique
Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation: 2021
Read about the work of the Yerba Mansa Project in the most recent issue of United Plant Savers’ Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation. See the article “Cottonwood Forest Communique” by YMP Director Dara Saville.
Read the article here.
The Paper Interview with YMP Director
July 20, 2021
Read the latest article from environmental news reporter “From Foraging to Cycling, Bosque Has It All: Yerba Mansa Restoration Project Helps Community Give Back to the Riparian Habitat”
Read the article here.
Urban Ecologies Outdoor Eco-Art Exhibit
April 22 to September 22, 2021
Visit this outdoor eco-centric art exhibit with works of relevance to the environment of New Mexico, created through a partnership of the Railyard Park Conservancy and Railyard Art Project. The Rootwalk by Hollis Moore features Yerba Mansa and a contribution from our Director Dara Saville.
Find out more here.
La Montanita Coop
May 2021
Shop at La Montanita Food Coop during the month of May and round up your total to support the Yera Mansa Project. Thanks to La Montanita for this donation program and to everyone in our community making it possible.
International Herb Symposium
June 10-13, 2021 (Online)
Join Dara at this year’s virtual conference for 2 sessions:
- Organizing & Implementing Native Medicinal Plant Restoration on Public Lands
- Anemopsis californica: A Plant’s Ecological, Cultural, and Medicinal Importance
Find out more here.
Good Medicine Confluence
July 16-18, 2021
Dara will be at this year’s virtual Plant Healer conference teaching 3 sessions. Join her for:
- Shrubs: The Medicine of our Times
- Tales from the Land: Medicinal Plant Landscapes
- A Medicinal Plant Walk in the Rio Grande Bosque
Find out more here.
The Ecology of Herbal Medicine: Book Release
March 1, 2021
Yerba Mansa Project Founder Dara Saville’s new book, The Ecology of Herbal Medicine: A Guide to Plants and Living Landscapes of the American Southwest, has been released by University of New Mexico Press. Attend free live-streamed or in-person events.
Watch: Dr. Cheo Torres interviewing Dara via Bookworks discussing The Ecology of Herbal Medicine, the Yerba Mansa Project, and more.
Land and Water Summit: An Evolving Climate
Presentation & Panel Discussion: February 24-26, 2021
Attend this year’s virtual Land and Water Summit and hear Dara’s presentation Native Edible and Medicinal Shrubs for Landscape Resiliency: Keepers of Our Biological and Cultural Heritage. She will also be a panelist for a discussion on Plants and Pollinators for a Changing Climate. Find out more here.
Yerba Mansa Monograph
Journal of the American Herbalists Guild: Spring 2020
Read in-depth about Yerba Mansa in this article by YMP Director Dara Saville in the spring 2020 issue of the Journal of the American Herbalists Guild.
New Interview
Ground Shots: May 2020
Yerba Mansa Project Director Dara Saville discusses yerba mansa, invasive species, restoring plant communities and land connection along the Rio Grande on the Ground Shots Podcast with Kelly Moody: Take a listen here.
New Interview
Growing Forward: December 2019
Dara Saville, YMP Director, shares her philosophy, work, and what motivates her on the Growing Forward Podcast with Bethany Aviv Latham: Take a listen here!
The YMP on tv!
How does herbal education open up a world of custom body products, medicinal resources and love for nature? Albuquerque’s KRQE interviews Dara Saville of the Yerba Mansa Project and Albuquerque Herbalism. Check it out here! Photo by Bill Pentler.
Interview with Dara Saville
Basmati.com
How are plants part of a systems or landscape approach and how do they work as medicines inside of us? What is herbal health and vitality? How does place inform health? Basmati.com sat down with Herbalist Dara Saville to talk about love of nature, natural healing and herbalism. Listen here!
Interview with Dara Saville
Interview with Samantha Ann Carrillo for Elbow Room NM
Samantha interviewed Dara in August 2017 to discuss the Yerba Mansa Project, the Rio Grande Bosque, and high desert herbal remedies. Read the interview on her blog here.
Plant Healer's Champions of the Herbal World Award:
The Yerba Mansa Project is the recipient of the 2017 Plant Healer award for advocacy of medicinal plants and self-empowered community. Thanks to the many people who have volunteered their time, donated money, sponsored educational events, or otherwise supported our work. Thanks also to Plant Healer for recognizing and encouraging conservation and restoration efforts.
United Plant Savers Journal Publication: Spring 2017
The Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation published by United Plant Savers featured an article about The Yerba Mansa Project in the Spring 2017 isssue. Written by Yerba Mansa Project Founder and Director, Dara Saville, the article entitled “The Yerba Mansa Project: Community-Driven Native Plant Restoration in the Rio Grande Bosque” outlines the project’s methodology including how to work on public lands, organize your community, and undertake restoration work. Read the article here.
Native Plant Society of New Mexico Grant:
The Native Plant Society of New Mexico awarded The Yerba Mansa Project a 2017 grant through the Jack and Martha Carter Conservation Fund. This grant was used to purchase GIS equipment to enable baseline documentation and long term monitoring at our restoration site. Thank you to the Native Plant Society for supporting our data collection and research.
Museum Exhibit at the Historic Gutierrez-Hubbell House:
The Gutierrez-Hubbell House, a historic Camino Real family property and museum in Albuquerque’s South Valley, hosted the exhibit Folk Healing Traditions of New Mexico: Medicinal Plants of the Middle Rio Grande from November 2016 to April 2017. Co-created by Yerba Mansa Project Director Dara Saville and Herbalist Dianne Rand, the exhibit highlights the local curandera tradition and important medicinal plants from the Rio Grande Bosque, the Chihuahua Desert, the Sandia Mountains, and the agricultural/urban areas around Albuquerque.
Edible Magazine Article
June/July 2016: A Tale of Two Plants by Keiko Ohnuma:
“Yerba Mansa and Osha owe much of their magic to their environments. However, the current fragility of these environments requires humans to intervene–both by cultivation and by managing native habitat–to ensure the plants’ survival.” Read here starting on page 72.
