Al Barrus

Close up of bald man in tie and shirt with pink apple blossom tree in the backround.
Public Affairs Specialist - New Mexico
New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office
Office of Communications
Address

500 Gold Ave. SW
Albuquerque, NM 87103
United States

(505) 328-2583
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About Al Barrus

Al was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and grew up in Shelton, Wash., where he graduated high school, then started his career serving in the U.S. Army, attending basic combat training in Fort Jackson, S.C., then public affairs specialist training at Fort Meade, Md., and worked in the field as an Army news writer and photographer in Baghdad and Fallujah in Iraq. Al studied computer science at South Puget Sound Community College, North Seattle Community College, then graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., in 2011 with a Bachelor of the Arts. Later that year Al moved to Saltillo, Mexico, where he taught English and wrote travel articles for an international auto insurance company. 

In 2014 Al started working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, first as a maintenance clerk at a dam in Libby, Mont., then as a public affairs assistant in Omaha, Neb. During which time he also earned some graduate hours from Colorado State University in organizational studies. In January 2017, Al began working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a public affairs specialist, starting mainly as a social media manager and feature story writer, but these days you'll find him mainly working on communications planning for Endangered Species Act announcements, responding to media queries, and working on stories.

Species expertise
New Mexican Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus)
Bolson Tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus)
Gila Trout (Oncorhynchus gilae)
Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti)
Roswell Springsnail (Pyrgulopsis roswellensis)
Areas of expertise
New Mexico Refuges
New Mexico Fisheries
New Mexico Ecological Services
New Mexico Migratory Birds
New Mexico Law Enforcement

In The News

Southwestern willow flycatcher sitting on a branch.
Habitat Restoration
From Salt Cedar to Willow Flycatcher Habitat
When birds migrate, they need stopover habitat, areas along the flight route where they can rest and refuel. For threatened and endangered species like the southwestern willow flycatcher and the yellow-billed cuckoo, the steady decline of these stopovers due to development presents a challenge....
A monarch butterfly crawls on a small whorled milkweed amidst dried grass and shrubs.
Habitat Restoration
Ranch for At-Risk Youth Converts Farmland Back to Desert Wetland
Running down the center from north to south of the fifth largest U.S. state — New Mexico — flows its largest and most important waterway: the Rio Grande. Known as the Rio Bravo to neighboring old Mexico, one might interpret the name, (meaning great or brave) as a testament to the courage the river...
a small cactus that has green fleshy parts and white hair
Wildlife Crime
Catching Cactus Crooks
“Never in a million years did I expect to investigate cactus smuggling as a federal officer,” said Special Agent Eric Jumper. “Once I started working the case though, I found it both very interesting and absolutely shocking: reading the correspondences between supplier and buyer, and learning how...
A bolson tortoise moving along a sandy surface next to some dry grass.
Endangered Species Act
How Gertie the Bolson Tortoise Led Her Species to Recovery: Part One
In the arid wilds of the Chihuahuan Desert’s northern range in southern New Mexico, an icon of conservation dwells, deep in a hole in the ground, defying human standards of time. Her name is Gertie, and she is an endangered Bolson tortoise of mysterious age and endearing demeanor. Gertie's journey...
One person hands a large tortoise to another person, with desert grasslands in the background.
Endangered Species Act
How Gertie the Bolson Tortoise Led Her Species to Recovery Part Two
In the 1950s in Mexico, scientists first described a new species of North American tortoise. In the 1970s Several of these Bolson tortoises we brought to the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch including the first, a large female tortoise named Gertie, whose age is unknow, but experts estimate she’s...
New Mexico meadow jumping mouse feeding on grass
Endangered Species Act
Biobanking: a Wildlife Recovery Insurance Policy
Deep in the wilds of the American Southwest, the secretive and endangered New Mexico meadow jumping mouse continues, against all odds, to eke out a living adjacent to the rare and dwindling rivers and streams of this high-altitude, arid region. One dark night, a tiny mouse smells something...