February 2014 PDF Edition

Transcription

News & Views
from the
S u s t ai n ab l e S o u t h w e s t
Being Human in Healthcare • Resilience in a Changing Climate
Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks • Tribute to a Local Hero
February 2014
North-central New Mexico’s Largest Circulation Newspaper
Vol. 6 No. 2
2
Green Fire Times • February 2014
www.GreenFireTimes.com
3
4
Vol. 6, No. 2 • February 2014
Issue No. 58
Publisher
Green Fire Publishing, LLC
Skip Whitson
Associate Publisher
Barbara E. Brown
Editor-in-chief
Seth Roffman
Art Director
Anna C. Hansen, Dakini Design
Copy Editor
Stephen Klinger
Webmaster: Karen Shepherd
Contributing Writers
Camille Adair, Esha Chiocchio, Susan Guyette,
Amanda Hessel, Japa K. Khalsa, Jack Loeffler,
Alejandro López, Serafina Lombardi, Harry
Montoya, Mariel Nanasi, Poki Piottin, Quita
Ortiz, Seth Roffman, Miguel Santistévan, Audrey
Shannon, Susan Waterman
Contributing
Photographers
Esha Chiocchio, Anna C. Hansen, Japa K.
Khalsa, Mike Lamb, Jack Loeffler, Alejandro
López, Mariel Nanasi, Poki Piottin, Seth
Roffman, Miguel Santistévan, Jamey Stillings,
Joseph Yaroch
PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANTs
Lisa Allocco, Cisco Whitson-Brown,
Susan Clair
Office Assistants
Camille Franchette, Claire Ayraud
Advertising Sales
Skip Whitson 505.471.5177
[email protected]
Anna C. Hansen 505.982.0155
[email protected]
Lloyd Santiago Covens 505.236.8348
[email protected]
Jenny Gallucci 505.620.5318
[email protected]
News & Views
from the
Sustainable Southwest
Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project
Contents
Increasing Resilience in a Changing Climate. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7
‘Thinking Like a Watershed’ Panels Come to the KiMo Theater . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .8
A Visit to the Proposed Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument . . .. . .. 9
Book Profile: Water Ethics – A Values Approach to Solving the Water Crisis . . .. . . 11
People and Planet: Partners in Wellness. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 12
Drought and Floods: Impacts of 2011-2012 Fires and 2013 Floods. . .. . .. . .. . . 13
Acequias Up-Close . . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 14
New Mexico’s Soul Food . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 15
Local Hero: A Tribute to Dr. Tomás Atencio . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 17
Fresh AIRE: A Year of Growing in Taos . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 20
Urban Farming: The School of the Future? . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 22
Everyday Green: The Santa Fe Community Food Co-op . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 24
Pay It Forward! Being Human in Healthcare. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 27
Sustainable Healing . . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 29
Medicine of the People: Massage and Self-Acupressure. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 31
Health Benefits of Food as Medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine for Animals . . . 33
OP-ED: New Mexico Has a Democracy Problem . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 35
Newsbites . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 25, 32, 35, 37
What’s Going On. . .. . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 38
Distribution
Lisa Allocco, Barbara Brown, Susan Clair, Co-op
Dist. Services, Joe Fatton, Nick García, Andy
Otterstrom (Creative Couriers), Tony Rapatz,
Wuilmer Rivera, Andrew Tafoya, Skip Whitson,
John Woodie
Circulation
26,000 copies
Printed locally with 100% soy ink on
100% recycled, chlorine-free paper
Green Fire Times
c/o The Sun Companies
PO Box 5588
Santa Fe, NM 87502-5588
505.471.5177 • [email protected]
© 2014 Green Fire Publishing, LLC
Green Fire Times provides useful information
for anyone—community members, business people,
students, visitors—interested in discovering the
wealth of opportunities and resources available in
our region. Knowledgeable writers provide articles
on subjects ranging from green businesses, products,
services, entrepreneurship, jobs, design, building,
energy and investing—to sustainable agriculture,
arts & culture, ecotourism, education, regional
food, water, the healing arts, local heroes, native
perspectives and more. Sun Companies publications
seek to provide our readers with informative articles
that support a more sustainable planet. To our
publisher this means maximizing personal as well as
environmental health by minimizing consumption
of meat and alcohol. GFT is widely distributed
throughout north-central New Mexico. Feedback,
announcements, event listings, advertising and
article submissions to be considered for publication
are welcome.
.
lamy, New Mexico, Site of planned crude oil transfer station
(see newsbite, page 37)
COVER: a
ngel oak by elliott mcdowell • www.elliottmcdowell.com
Green Fire Times is not to be confused with the Green Fire Report, an in-house quarterly publication of the New
Mexico Environmental Law Center. The NMELC can be accessed online at: www.nmelc.org
5
6
Increasing Resilience in a Changing Climate
Esha Chiocchio
L
ong periods of drought, unprecedented storm events, warmer average
temperatures, rising seas, unpredictable weather patterns—we are already
seeing the impacts of a changing climate. Whether we like it or not, we are entering
a period of warming on a global scale that is shifting weather patterns everywhere.
Three potential strategies: do nothing, migrate
from the area, or proactively work to adapt
Over the course of several months, the planning team studied the predicted
climate shifts as well as the forest, water and economic vulnerabilities of the area.
From this information, we used a prioritization system to analyze the climate
risks and determine the areas of highest priority. Perhaps not surprisingly, the
resulting priorities include reduced water supplies, increased risk of wildfire
and forest degradation, flooding, and a dearth of job opportunities to retain and
attract working families. Taking into consideration the pillars of sustainability
(environmental stewardship, economic health and social justice), the planning
team developed five goals that address these issues and have the greatest chance
of long-term success.
GOAL 1: Increase the water security and ecological integrity of the Santa Fe
watershed through conservation, infiltration, groundwater recharge and reuse.
GOAL 2: Improve forest health for resilience in the face of climate change.
This section of the upper Santa Fe watershed has been
treated to reduce fuel loads and stabilize the soil.
Forest and Water Climate Adaptation: A Plan for the Santa Fe Watershed, outlines
specific strategies and action steps to safeguard water resources and reduce
hazards from storms, fires and floods. These strategies include increasing rainwater
infiltration, developing municipal water reuse systems, expanding forest-thinning
treatments, improving the functionality of our rivers and arroyos, promoting energy
efficiency and renewable energy, and developing long-term financing structures
that enable all of this work to be implemented.
In order to ensure lasting change, everyone in the community will have to
participate. To be a part of the solution, you can conserve water and energy, increase
the permeability of your landscape, capture rainwater, reduce fuel loads on forested
properties, support local farmers, and invest in renewable energy.
Our overarching goal is to ensure that Santa Fe thrives for
centuries to come. What will be your role in shaping Santa
Fe’s future? i
To read Forest and Water Climate Adaptation: A Plan for the
Santa Fe Watershed, visit www.santafewatershed.org.
© Jamey Stillings
Fortunately, there is something we can do about it. Seeing these patterns take hold,
The Santa Fe Watershed Association (SFWA) contracted with the Model Forest
Policy Program (MFPP) to develop a climate adaptation plan through its Climate
Solutions University (CSU) planning process. Under the MFPP’s guidance, I led
a team of experts from the greater Santa Fe community, including former city of
Santa Fe Water Resources Coordinator Claudia Borchert, Jémez y Sangre Regional
Water Planning Council Chair Charlie Nylander, Ecotone Executive Director
Jan-Willem Jansens and La Ciénega Valley Association President Carl Dickens,
to develop a holistic approach to address the most pressing vulnerabilities and
create an action plan to add long-term resilience to the watershed and Santa Fe
community.
© Esha Chiocchio
Here in the southwestern United States, these changes are being expressed through
reduced snowpack, shifting precipitation patterns, decreased water supplies and
increased temperatures. As a result, we have already experienced catastrophic
wildfires, flooding and reduced agricultural yields—trends we expect to continue.
Esha Chiocchio is the Climate Solutions coordinator for the Santa
Fe Watershed Association and chair of the Energy Committee of the
Sustainable Santa Fe Commission.
GOAL 3: Develop the workforce training needs to
implement this plan.
GOAL 4: Increase energy efficiency and renewable energy
(EERE) to achieve a reduction in fossil fuel-derived and
water-consumptive energy sources by 45 percent by 2030.
GOAL 5: Establish financing systems that facilitate (equity)
investments, emergency funds and cash-flow availability to
fund climate adaptation and innovation initiatives.
The implementation of these goals will take time and
resources; however, it is imperative that we continue to
address our vulnerabilities on multiple levels. History tells
us that when communities are faced with changes such as
these, there are three potential strategies and outcomes: 1)
they do nothing and are subject to the environmental impacts
that ultimately destroy their cities, 2) they migrate from the
area, or 3) they proactively work to adapt to the changes and
ultimately thrive. What do we want for Santa Fe?
Through climate-adaptation planning we can increase the
resilience of our landscapes while improving our economy
and creating new job opportunities. The plan we developed,
7
‘Thinking Like a Watershed’ Panels
Come to the KiMo theater
Attaining a Balanced Relationship Between People and Arid Lands
Jack Loeffler
W
e need to seriously whip into action instead of just inching our way toward
a cultural perspective that’s appropriate for what’s happening around this
world of ours. Thanks to the KiMo Theater and the New Mexico Humanities
Council, we’re getting a major boost in the right direction. On February 13, the
first of five monthly panel discussions will take place under the heading Thinking
Like a Watershed. Each will feature three widely recognized humanities scholars
who possess both general and specific knowledge and expertise in their fields. Their
diverse perspectives will contribute to a new, broader sphere of reference vital to
understanding and addressing the dilemmas that will direct human culture within
a less friendly future environment. The intended outcome of these discussions is
to inspire consciousness germane to attaining a balanced relationship between
people and their arid homelands in the American Southwest.
As a preface, we have to honestly accept that we are all part of the overabundance of
human beings living within our planetary habitat. This greater commons comprises
diminishing common-pool resources upon which all earthly living creatures rely
for sustenance within their respective watersheds, ecosystems and bioregions. That
is the bottom line. We’re also faced with the reality that our presence has wrought
enormous changes to the nature of our planet. We have invigorated a wave of
climate change and instability that will grow in intensity and can be tempered
only if we react immediately. We must curb emissions of CO2 to the planetary
atmosphere. We must stop growing as a species and alter our economic course to
fit within a steady-state economy. This requires a profound shift in individual and
cultural attitudes worldwide.
Cultural diversity and biodiversity
are deeply interlinked.
Humankind’s creation myths historically forward the notion that we are the reason
to be for existence. This misconception has wended its way into the conglomerate of
political persuasions, systems of cultural mores and the collective human mentality.
It would behoove us to comprehend that we haven’t been here forever, and at
the rate we’re going, we may not be here much longer. We’ve thus far failed to
collectively perceive that we are part of an integrated supra-organism and that our
continued presence relies on how well this ecosphere remains in its current state of
balance. Human consciousness has become a keystone in the planetary operating
system. Science alone will not provide final answers, nor will answers come from an
economically dominated paradigm. Cultural diversity and biodiversity are deeply
interlinked. Before we can draw conclusions and proceed with some measure
of possible success, we must comprehend the bigger picture. To that end we are
presenting a series of panels to address issues that require our conscious attention.
Panel I (Feb. 13, 7 pm) will provide an historic overview
of human habitation and water use in the Southwest. It
will address issues including global warming and climate
instability, and the effects of Manifest Destiny on indigenous
cultures and southwestern habitat. It will also bring attention
to the limitations of capitalism in a
world of finite resources, and the
relationship between water, coal,
hydro-electricity and associated
William deBuys
factors. The three panelists: historian
and author Dr. William deBuys, author and Director of
the Center for the American West, Dr. Patty Limerick,
and author, photographer and polemicist John Nichols.
John Nichols
8
Panel II (March 27, 7 pm) will present multicultural land/water use perspectives,
including sacred, secular, economically oriented and other attitudes that shape
relationship of human culture to habitat. It will address the roles of indigenous
peoples concerning both commonly held
and differing perspectives within the realm
of Indigenous Mind,
which is that aspect
of collective human
consciousness that
Dr. Rina Swentzell
is shaped more by the
flow of Nature through
homeland than by a list
of facts about the nature
of homeland. The panel:
Estévan Arellano
Lyle Balenquah
Dr. Rina Swentzell from
Santa Clara Pueblo, archaeologist Lyle Balenquah from the Hopi Independent
Nation, and Estévan Arellano, acequiero and writer from Embudo.
Panel III (April, TBA) will present perspectives
of traditional ranchers and the role of Holistic
Range Management in overcoming problems of
overgrazing wrought by ranchers transplanted to
the arid Southwest from the verdant East of earlier
generations. It will introduce the fact of water scarcity
in both surface and ground waters in New Mexico
and the Southwest.
It will also address
Julia Stafford
restoration ecology
as a culture of practice shared by Native American,
Hispano and Anglo rural residents of New
Mexico and beyond. The panelists: rancher Sid
Goodloe from Carrizozo, rancher Julia Stafford
from Cimarrón, and Steve Harris, director of Río
Grande Restoration.
Sid Goodloe
Panel IV (May 29, 7 pm) will review the evolution
of water law in the Colorado River and Río Grande
greater watersheds. It will address the 1922 Colorado
River Compact and the 1939 Río Grande Compact.
It will also delve into the growing disparity between
“agricultural best use,” as defined in the early 20th
century, and the emerging “urban/economically
oriented best use” that pits agriculturalists against
urban chambers of commerce and developers over
water rights. The panel will also address instances of
governmental legislation that violate laws of Nature in
Jack Loeffler
our anthropocentrically biased culture. The panelists:
John Echohawk, director of the Native American Rights Fund, Bruce Frederick
of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, and Em Hall, author and water
rights attorney.
continued on page 11
A Visit to the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks
A Proposed National Monument
Marian Naranjo • Photos by Mariel Nanasi.
I
n October 2013 I was privileged
to join a delegation of norteños to
spend time in the Organ Mountains–
Desert Peaks in the southern part of
our state. I traveled from my home at
Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New
Mexico to visit the Organ, Sierra de las
Uvas, Robledo and Potrillo mountains, a
traditional ecological landscape in Doña
Ana County. I had never been to that
region before, but I knew from stories
passed down that the Native people
who used to make a home there in
those wilderness areas carried a wealth
of traditions and knowledge about how
to live in balance with plant, animal,
human and spirit relations.
Oral histories and
firsthand observations
verify the landscape’s
cultural richness.
I was asked to join the group because
I had been involved in the vibrant
coalition that helped move the New
Mexican congressional delegation and
President Obama to establish the Río
Grande del Norte, 242,000 acres of
magnificent wilderness in the north,
as a National Monument under the
Antiquities Act. It took years and
many, many people. It took diverse
organizations, businesses, individuals
and community leaders who came
together to protect our land and water.
Before I went on this
trip I had a conversation
with a spiritual leader
from Santa Clara Pueblo
who is knowledgeable in
the history and culture
of the ancestors. One of
the interesting topics that
came up was about the
trade routes, and I learned
about our first trade foods:
raw cocoa, chile and
melons. They came from
further south than the
Organ Mountains. Those
foods took two routes: one
went north along the Río
Grande and the other went west where
many pueblos exist, including Acoma
and Zuni, and ultimately towards what
is now known as the Navajo Nation and
even Hopi.
As I connected with the Native and
Hispanic people who guided us around
the designated National Monument area,
I saw firsthand that the stories passed
down were evident in the petroglyphs
and the actual wild food that still grows
there. The source and sustenance of all
earthly life was all around us. That was
an amazing moment! To marry the oral
histories with the observations we were
making in the landscape was proof of
this cultural richness.
We discovered an ancestral “kitchen”
near Providence Cone. In one spot
there were hand-hewn grinding bowls
Norteños visit Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks
Food in abundance
in the rocks for making pastes and
meals. Women long ago ground locally
harvested food that provided nutrients
for their tribal community. We sat
back-to-back, reenacting the process of
Wild onion
women in service from a time past. We
imagined the women’s contributions
and relished this memory. We put our
hands in the smooth surfaces of these
beautifully carved bowls. We were
astonished by how functional they were.
One could tell that these bowls had been
used over and over as an everyday way
of life. They were part of the “kitchen”
area, and it was obvious that this was a
communal kitchen for women.
We were enamored by the bounty and
beauty. All around this kitchen were
plants and herbs growing in abundance.
The lemoncillo we picked added to the
aroma and flavor of our water. We found
wild onion, which was pungent and
spicy to the taste. We also gathered wild
beans, which we learned were a protein
staple that complemented the game that
was hunted by the men. The petroglyphs
we saw, which mirrored similar designs
The grinding kitchen
9
Desert Peaks continued from page 9
It felt so good to call the ancestors in
and thank them for sharing their life.
It was a stunning day!
of current day Zuni, Hopi
and the northern Pueblos,
were truly a remarkable
sign of cultural linkage.
There was a spot I located
near the kitchen that
we believe was the toolmaking area. Flint pieces
appear to have been
created there, and we saw an example of
the final product: an arrowhead. This was
an exciting find. We were seeing traces
of an established communal society. We
were amazed by the sophistication and
vitality of their place-based existence.
The rock carving that particularly
caught my attention was that of the
Avanyu, which my people know as the
water serpent. This important symbol
lives on today at Santa Clara Pueblo.
There was actually so much that I related
to, such as the broken pottery shards. We
saw pottery that dated from indigenous
ancestry, as well as a later period of
colonization by the Spanish. This area is
our living history and must be preserved.
Being with the air, land and water in
this area, it was easy to hear the calling
of our ancestors and to remember that
we are not separate from the sacredness
of the natural world in which we live. I
brought corn meal in a pouch because I
knew I might come across a sacred place.
It turned out that the whole area was a
sacred place, and we were all moved by
the spiritual and intellectual strength of
the land. I was compelled to honor the
ancestors and made a spiritual offering.
10
Protection of this
ecosystem—for our own
well-being and for the
benefit and survival of all
living creatures with whom
we share this land—will
sustain us physically and
spiritually. This biologically rich habitat
is quite vulnerable, however. These
areas are threatened by unregulated
large-scale housing developments,
off-road vehicle abuse, degradation
from rapacious mining for rare earth
minerals and energy infrastructure. We
created a major step when a long-term
preservation plan designating a National
Monument for the Río Grande was
enacted. Together, again, we can protect
the woodlands, mountains, arroyo
riparian areas, stone outcroppings, and
all the flora and fauna that inhabit the
Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks—if
you will join me and our strong coalition.
In December 2013 Senators Udall
and Heinrich introduced S.1805, a bill
to designate the Organ Mountains
and other adjacent public land as
components of the National Wilderness
Preservation System in the state of New
Mexico, and to establish the Organ
Mountains–Desert Peaks National
Monument. We must congratulate
them for their recognition of the need
to preserve these historic ancestral
lands and cultural heritage sites and
for their conservation leadership. I pray
The Avanyu (water serpent) symbol
that Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and
President Obama will honor our request
to permanently protect the Organ
Mountains Desert Peaks and create a
National Monument for generations to
inherit and enjoy. i
Marian Naranjo is director of Honor Our
Pueblo Existence (HOPE), based at Santa
Clara Pueblo, NM. She is a grandmother and
a traditional potter. She has been involved in
environmental and health issues for 20 years.
HOPE also works on cultural preservation
and reclamation projects. mariann2@
windstream.net
Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks
National Monument Legislation
New digital photo book released
© Joseph Yaroch
Marian Naranjo
We spotted lizards, nearly stepped on a
tarantula, and were visited by a flock of
raptors overhead, Swainson’s hawks. At
another point, we stood mouths agape
as swallows darted in and out of holes
in the cliff habitat overhead. One of the
youngsters we were with picked up and
then released fluorescent green bugs
the size of a thumbnail. We didn’t see
golden eagles, quail or owls, but had we
stayed longer and hiked deeper into the
mountains, maybe other wildlife would
have graced us with their presence. We
walked amongst the grasslands, desert
shrubs, ocotillo, yucca and
barrel cactus. The Organ
Mountains may be one
of the most botanically
diverse mountain ranges
in New Mexico.
Last month New Mexico Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall introduced
legislation to designate the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks a national monument
in response to longstanding and widespread local desire to see the area preserved for
future generations. The area is well known for its steep mountain cliffs, thousands of
archeological sites and diversity of wildlife, including peregrine falcons, pronghorn
antelope and mountain lions. The bill would protect public lands near Las Cruces
that many consider the crown jewel of the Southern Rockies. The new monument
would be managed by the Bureau of Land Management and would include eight
new wilderness areas. The legislation has provisions to help ensure border security,
support flood prevention and continue to allow hunting and grazing in approved
areas. A recent economic study found that national monument designation would
give an annual $7.4 million boost to the economy and double the number of jobs
supported by outdoor recreation and tourism on public lands.
Some cattle ranchers and a coalition of border sheriffs oppose the legislation. The
ranchers have a deep-seated distrust of the federal government and think the national
monument would lead to restrictions on how they run their ranches. The sheriffs
think it would increase illegal immigration and drug trafficking from Mexico.
New Energy Economy has released a digital photo book featuring the landscape
of the proposed monument and some of its diverse supporters. It may be viewed
online at: http://youtu.be/qFF9oJAs1UU
Water Ethics
A Values Approach to Solving the Water Crisis
by david groenfeldt
routledge 2013 (paperback)
216 pages
This book introduces the idea that ethics are
an intrinsic dimension of any water policy,
program or practice, and that understanding
what ethics are being acted out in water policies
is fundamental to understanding waterresource management. Thus, in controversies
or conflicts over water-resource allocation and
use, an examination of ethics can help clarify the
positions of conflicting parties as preparation
for constructive negotiations.
The author, David Groenfeldt, adjunct associate
professor, Department of Anthropology at
UNM and founder of the Water-Culture
Institute in Santa Fe, shows the benefits of
exposing tacit values and motivations and
subjecting these to explicit public scrutiny and
debate. The aim of such a process is to create the
proverbial “level playing field,” where values favoring environmental sustainability
are considered in relation to values favoring short-term exploitation for quick
economic stimulus (the current problem) or quick protection from water disasters
(through infrastructure that science suggests is not sustainable).
The book also shows how new technologies, such as drip irrigation, or governance
structures, such as river-basin organizations, are neither “good” nor “bad” in their
own right but can serve a range of interests that are guided by ethics. A new ethic
of coexistence and synergies with nature is possible but ultimately depends not on
science, law or finances but on the values we choose to adopt. The book includes a
wide range of case studies from countries including Australia, India, Philippines,
South Africa and USA. These cover various contexts including water for agriculture,
urban, domestic and industrial use, the rights of indigenous
people and river, watershed and ecosystem management.
The book’s chapters include: Introduction to Water Ethics;
Manipulating Rivers; Water for Agriculture: The Ethics of
Irrigation; Ethics in Urban and Domestic Water Use; Water
for Industry: What is Responsible Use?; The Ethics of Water
Governance; Indigenous Water Ethics; Towards a New Water
Ethic.
David Groenfeldt
Watershed Panels continued from page 8
Panel V ( June 26, 7 pm) will focus on Southwestern dams, hydroelectric power,
inter-basin water transfers, and visibly diminishing waters in the American
Southwest concomitant with rising human populations. The Central Arizona
Project will be reviewed as an example of political, corporate and legalistic will to
provide water to develop a desert ecosystem for human habitation and economic
growth. This panel will identify certain “conflicting absolutes” that stand between
human beings and other fellow species that comprise the life forms within the
watersheds of the American Southwest. The panelists: author and editor Dr. Sonia
Dickey, Albuquerque Journal science editor John Fleck, and Bureau of Reclamation
Area Director Mike Hamman.
Funding is being sought to finance four subsequent panels to complete this
proposed series. These four additional panels will further address necessary shifts in
human cultural attitudes and cultures of practice that must occur if we are to survive
in any state of balance within
Thinking Like a Watershed is committed to the Southwestern ecosystem
contributing to a new Land Ethic vital for the
during the decades and
preservation of our endangered ecosystems in centuries to come. i
the North American Southwest. At 7 pm on
Thursday, February 13, the firsts of a series of Author and bioregional aural
five monthly panels will be presented at the historian Jack Loeffler, project
director of Thinking Like a
KiMo Theater, 423 Central Avenue NW in Watershed, will introduce and
Albuquerque. 505.768.3522
moderate the five panels.
11
People and Planet: Partners in Wellness
Susan Waterman
W
ellness—it ’s precious—and
don’t we all want it? We commit
plenty of time and dollars to be well on
multiple levels—physical, mental and
emotional. These days, however, living
in a technology-driven society, it’s easy
to disconnect from nature and forget
that our own health is a reflection of
the health of our little piece of the
planet. Nature doesn’t send texts saying
“HELP ME” when it’s not looking so
good out there.
In the big picture, personal wellness
and the wellness of nature—the wellbeing of our shared Earth home—are
inextricably connected. Ultimately,
people and planet exist in a dynamic,
reciprocal partnership of well-being.
It’s up to humankind to remember
that people are part of nature, and to
protect the life support system given
to us by nature—soil, water and air.
Our physical bodies can’t survive
without this trio humming in harmony.
Ecology is paramount to economy in
the scheme of basic survival. Dollars
won’t mean much when there’s no
water to drink. Who else aside from
us can protect that which protects us?
Relaxation in nature is becoming
part of it. Whatever you’re doing in
nature—working in a garden, hiking,
fishing—you may notice your mind
lapsing into pause mode, thoughts
dissolving into a deep, silent space.
A moment of a still mind is worth
every shovelful of compost you dig in,
every row of tiny seeds that you plant,
every mile you hike or ski. The closer
the mind is synchronized with the
vibration of the Earth, the more relaxed
12
and quiet it becomes. Planet Earth
vibrates at approximately eight cycles
a second, 7.83 hertz, the Schumann
Resonance. Spending time in nature,
the cell phone left behind in the house,
will offer relief from the billions of
vibrations per second that have become
the predominant electromagnetic
bombardment in most environments.
True, in an urban environment with
cell phone towers on many rooftops
and wifi connections in nearly every
building, it may be impossible to escape
the pervasive wireless frequencies, but
the effect can be somewhat neutralized
in the presence of the energies of plants.
Pausing to sit or lie down for a few
minutes on the earth will drain away
tension and slow the noisy vibrations
of the day. It helps the body to attune
to a more natural environment and the
mind to become clear and receptive.
reducing massive losses of the world’s
topsoil. Soils made dead by chemical
poisoning have little capacity to retain
water, resulting in surface runoff.
Building living soils with compost
helps conserve the global water supply.
Eliminating the use of herbicides,
pesticides and fertilizers in food
production prevents the accumulation
of toxins in the food we eat and in
tissues and organs in the body.
Healthy Soil Organic gardening
is a satisfying way to connect with
nature and the earth at home—with
an attainable outcome of supporting
both personal and planetary wellness.
The thoughtful care one organic
gardener gives to the earth benefits
the health of the entire planet. The
gardening process can fire up a renewed
and vital connection with nature
and the invisible higher order that
helps shape life. Connecting with the
wisdom of nature—nurturing nature—
is nurturing ourselves. When we forget
that we are part of nature, we destroy
that which supports us. Our existence
depends on nature.
Healthy Water and Air
Confronted by massive environmental
upheavals and devastation, finding
solutions to foster wellness for
humankind and nature may seem
overwhelming. But there’s truly no
limit for collective imagination and
willingness to create new solutions.
Nature’s wellness—and our own—
faces serious threats nearly everywhere:
take fracking (hydraulic fracturing for
natural gas and oil) in New Mexico.
The routine expenditure of water for
every “frack” runs into millions of
gallons. Clean water is mixed with
hundreds of chemicals and forced
miles into the earth vertically and/or
horizontally. The same spent gallons
of poisoned water come back out of
the ground as toxic waste—often
left in open, unlined evaporation
ponds to contaminate water, air, and
soil. Seepage and spills of poison
fracking fluids, fires and explosions, air
pollution, and depletion of pure water
compromise and destroy the health of
nature and the communities exploited
and overrun by the industry.
Natural and organic gardening
techniques restore weak and dying soils,
What choice do we have? It’s time
to assert our right to life and health
and move forward as communities to
embrace our collective future in creative
partnership with nature. Together, we
have an opportunity to create justice
and local governance to wrest control
of our lives from the corporations and
politics that seem to be running the show
and ruining our “place.” Mora County
citizens, for example, have successfully
adopted an ordinance for the right to
self-government and a ban on oil and gas
extraction in the county, protecting people
and partnering with the planet.
Connecting with the
wisdom of nature
nurtures ourselves.
Partnering with nature isn’t an arbitrary
choice when it comes to health and
well-being—partnership is imperative.
People and planet become partners in
wellness as we align with nature’s cycles
and the rhythm of the cosmos. Planet
Earth is resilient and will survive
many extreme transformations as she
has over billions of years. But, living
life on the planet beyond renewable
limits, destroying nature, not only
impacts personal wellness but threatens
existence of the human species as we
know it. Owning wellness, claiming a
partnership with nature is a visionary
gesture of respect, care and gratitude
to our beautiful—and tremulous—
Mother Earth. i
Susan Waterman has
a PhD in botany. She
has been an advocate of
sustainable agriculture
and local food systems for
over 25 years. susan@
harvestbyhand.com, www.harvestbyhand.com
Drought and Floods
The Impacts of 2011-2012 Fires and 2013 Floods
Serafina Lombardi
Many of us spent the summer praying
for rain, watching crops and pasture
suffer with little humidity in the air
and acequias running low—if at all. At
the zenith of high temperatures and
no precipitation, on June 25, 2013, the
USDA Drought Monitor reported
44.8 percent of New Mexico was in
exceptional drought, with nearly all of
the remainder of the state in extreme
drought. (The numbers were similar
throughout June and July.) Then, in
mid-September all those prayers burst
forth into record rains with the National
Weather Service calling September
a historic month. Nearly the entire
state received above-normal to recordbreaking precipitation, with much of
New Mexico receiving 150-600 percent
of the normal amount. Before 2013
came to a close the Weather Channel
named New Mexico the most extreme
weather state of the year.
Livelihoods and local
food security are
threatened.
Some started asking, “Is the drought
over?” Others were reminded that the
work of acequieros and agriculturalists
is not only adapting to drought, it is
adapting to extreme weather patterns
that defy the rhythms of Mother
Nature with which we have learned
to work.
For acequia farmers and ranchers
across the state, for many of whom the
acequias are their only non-rain form
of irrigation, the effects of the drought
were devastating, with some ranchers in
Mora and San Miguel counties seeing
established pasture grass wither and
die. When the rains came, it was too
late. Though they reported lush green
fields, it was with annual weeds—not
offering the same erosion protection,
soil-building or animal-nourishing
properties.
Due to the drought, over the last year
ranchers across the state sold off 20
percent of their cattle. Acequias on the
Río Mimbres and the Upper Hondo
Watershed Water Users Association
reported that some ranchers made herd
reductions of 70-80 percent.
Many acequias had reduced flows,
leading to shortened irrigation seasons,
with priority being given to gardens—
meaning that pastures might not get
irrigated. There were long gaps in the
availability of water. This translated into
many farmers reducing their plantings
and not doing regular succession
plantings, threatening both their
livelihood and local food security. At
the same time, many communities
got creative about water-sharing and
conservation techniques, drawing on
traditional wisdom and some modern
technology.
Then came the rains—pouring down
on dry land unable to absorb the sky’s
bounty. Again, across the state we
saw severe flood and erosion, causing
enough damage for Gov. Martínez
to declare a state of disaster, making
funding available for repairs.
One of the overburdened recipients
of these rains of biblical proportions
was the Acequia Portero of Chimayó
in Santa Fe County. On the morning
of September 15, Mayordomo Mike
Lamb went to inspect the damage
and submitted the photo above as
a testament to the silting the ditch
experienced. Mr. Lamb, without a
backhoe, young people to assist, or
funds on hand, and being a very
proactive mayordomo, got in touch with
Santa Fe County’s emergency manager,
who advised him on the process of
applying for the emergency funds.
Some acequias in Las Vegas were left
underwater, so assessments couldn’t be
made immediately. They had to wait
days until they determined that there was
significant damage to culverts, diversion
dams and lots of silting. Additionally, a
levee broke along the canal that delivers
floodwater to Storrie Lake, which initially
prevented a much-needed water-capture
opportunity, and created flood damage. It
was later repaired.
© Mike Lamb
L
ast year our New Mexico landscape
experienced record drought, our
earliest wildfires ever, and then record
rainfall. All of these weather patterns
affected one another and multiplied
impacts.
Acequia Potrero culvert full of silt after severe storm and flooding in September 2013
A key connection between drought
and flood is erosion—the run-off of
soil that creates water pollution and
makes earth disappear from where
it belongs. Flooding is exacerbated
by dry unvegetated soils that can
repel water rather than absorb it. An
important action that can be taken
to reduce flood impacts is to reinvest
in our upper watersheds that have
been depleted and diminished by fire,
mismanagement and other factors.
Restoring and rebuilding our upper
watersheds will help us retain lifegiving water and minimize future
impacts of drought and heavy rains.
As acequiero farmers and ranchers
prepare for the 2014 season, we will
need to be planning not only for
drought but also for flooding in our
communities and properties.
Seraf ina Lombardi is a
farmer/rancher specialist
f o r t h e Ne w M e x i c o
Acequia Association,
where she does community
outreach to farmers and
ranchers. Additionally, she
serves on the board of the
Santa Fe Farmers’ Market.
Farming in Drought to Be Discussed at
Annual Organic Farming Conference
Drought is the big topic on the minds of agricultural producers. Without good
snowpack this winter, farmers face exceptional irrigation shortages. Farming
in drought will be a new category of topics among the 36 sessions at this year’s
New Mexico Organic Farming Conference, February 14-15, at the Marriott
Albuquerque Pyramid North.
“This is the largest and most diverse agriculture conference held in New Mexico,”
said Joanie Quinn, NM Department of Agriculture’s organic commodity adviser
and conference coordinator. The event is organized by NMDA, Farm to Table and
NMSU’s Cooperative Extension Service.
Keynote speaker Margaret Hiza Redsteer, a climate change research scientist with
the US Geological Survey, will open the conference, explaining what farmers and
ranchers in the Southwest can expect. Other drought topics will include: managing
soil salinity, water harvesting for farmers, grazing management in times of drought,
understanding your water rights, land restoration, and new alternative crops. Some
of the presenters include organic soil guru Ron Godin of Colorado State University;
Billy Kniffen, Texas AgriLife Extension’s retired water resource specialist; Frank
Aragona, director of programs at Holistic Management International; Molly
Walton of Quivira Coalition, a representative of the State Engineer, and authors
Gary Nabhan and Helen Atthowe.
Registration for both days is $100 per person, and for single-day entrance, $65.
Early registration may be done online at www.farmtotablenm.org
13
Acequias Up-Close
Story and photo by Alejandro López
Daily life at the López family farm in Santa Cruz, NM: Balam Lemus and Gerald Romero (top), Alana Moriarty and Joseph López, families from Santa Fe, Lorenzo Candelaria of Atrisco
T
he Acequia de Santa Cruz flows
through the land where my family
settled in 1943 after my father moved
his family back to New Mexico from
Redcliff, Colorado, where he had
sustained a serious mining accident.
On this four-acre piece of property,
most certainly his pride and joy, my
father tried hard to reproduce, as best
as he could, the agrarian lifestyle he
had grown up with in Las Truchas, a
full 1,000 feet higher in elevation. He
and my brothers dug lateral acequicitas
(secondary ditches) to water the
orchard of one hundred trees that
he had painstakingly put in, a chile
patch and a corn and vegetable field.
On the dryland side of his property
he channeled Noah’s ark, with every
sort of animal short of elephants and
giraffes. His seven sons provided all of
the labor needed to produce all of the
food that grew. In fact, so much food
was harvested from the two acres under
cultivation that in the summertime
our farm supplied the nearby Tewa
pueblos with truckloads of corn,
melons, tomatoes and cucumbers, all at
14
a premium, and the upland villages of
Las Truchas, Ojo Sarco, Las Trampas
and Peñasco with apples galore of every
conceivable variety.
I wish that children
today could have these
kinds of innocent,
private propertydefying experiences.
Each year on a particular morning
toward the end of winter, a team of
peones (paid or community workers)
would suddenly show up on our
property, making their way through
the acequia, head and shoulders clearly
visible, the rest submerged in its trench
and obscured by its banks. In a kind of
concerted rhythm, they scooped out
with their shovels the dirt that had
accumulated since the previous spring,
chopped down encroaching bushes and
burned away any brush in their path. It
was as if the peones themselves were a
force of nature equal to the lengthening
of the days, the reappearance of the
birds or the gentle jostling of the wind.
Their arrival and the readying of the
acequia for the flow of water made
patent the fact that winter by now had
irrevocably retreated and a new season
of growth and renewal had arrived.
After the annual cleaning of the acequia,
my father arranged for a neighbor to
come with his tractor or perhaps a
horse to plow the land. The sight, smell
and texture of the moist overturned
earth was nothing short of intoxicating
as it revealed the beauty of the normally
unseen levels of soil and its potential to
harbor and produce endless life. Next
came the planting of our crops, using
simple hand methods that involved
two people working in tandem with
only a hoe to make small holes on the
edge of the rows and a tin can that held
the corn or chile seed that was thrown
into the holes by a sure swing of the
hand. It was a scene straight out of
biblical times and had been repeated
for generations and generations of my
ancestors, probably for thousands of
years. Uncomplainingly, we worked
day in and day out doing this, all the
while feeling the satisfaction that now
the semilla (seed) was deep within the
bosom of earth and beyond our control.
The day on which the water was
released was magical because the flow
of water across the landscape is itself
magical. If one were lucky enough,
one witnessed the advancing tongue
of water gliding swiftly like a serpent
down the bed of the acequia. As
children, we sometimes jumped inside
the acequia ahead of the water and ran
hard to keep from being overtaken
by the advancing current. No longer
was the acequia a mere hollow trench.
Instead, it had become a swiftly moving
body of water that brought with it all
kinds of surprises. In the early spring,
it ran full of tetones (bunches of pointy
packets filled with cotton) that had
hung f rom the cottonwood trees
lining the ditch upstream and had
fallen into the acequia. Later on in the
summer, after violent thunderstorms,
it delivered endless supplies of early
New Mexico’s Soul Food
Quita Ortiz
O
ur plants and trees have yielded
to winter and are in deep
hibernation. Food traditions are alive
and well in acequia communities
throughout New Mexico, and if we’re
prepared, some of us had preserved
much of our har vest for future
consumption in the forms of drying,
canning or freezing.
Our communities still rely on the
traditional foods and dishes of northern
New Mexico to fill their plates. From
calabacitas to tamales, we covet them
all. Elena Arellano is no exception, and
when it comes to food, her skills are
well known and highly regarded in and
around her community of Embudo.
SEVENTH RAY SKIN CARE
2019 Galisteo St. N8, SF, NM
Traditional foods of
northern New Mexico
Like many of us, one of Elena’s favorite
traditional foods is tamales. In the
past, she has worked at her local coop in Dixon to organize workshops
to demonstrate the process of making
tamales. Elena asserts that if you’re
going to prepare tamales, you’d better
do it right. “A lot of people take
shortcuts in ingredients and you can’t
do that,” she says. “You need to use
• Microdermabrasion
• MicroCurrent Lifting
• Signature Triple
Firming Facial
© Seth Roffman
Elena grew up nearby in Cañoncito, but
her culinary skills didn’t really blossom
until later in life. “Since I was little, I
remember helping out on the farm. I
always liked to help outside more than
in the kitchen, but I was expected to
help with dinner when I came home Elena Arellano prepares food for the annual
from school. When I got married I Celebrando las Acequias in Dixon, NM
started experimenting more. It was
good meat, good chile and good masa
interesting to me to try different foods
with good manteca (lard). I won’t spread
and recipes,” she said, “but we still eat a
my tamales until I taste my masa and
lot of traditional foods like quelites and
know that it’s good and spreadable.”
verdolagas (wild greens).
Elena realizes the importance of
Elena’s culinary evolution stemmed
knowing the source of what we eat,
from her creative side. She said she’s
especially for our young people. “A
always been interested in art and
lot of people have no idea where
photography, and they fueled her food
food comes from. For them, food and
endeavors. “The color and texture of
supermarket are one and the same,”
food were very important to me,” she
she said. She told me that she often
said. “If it doesn’t look pretty, it’s not
has atole (ground blue corn served as a
going to taste as good.” She has taken
hot cereal) for breakfast instead of the
on catering opportunities throughout
store-bought cereals. “It’s healthy,” she
the years but nowadays only caters
says. “It makes me feel good when I
occasionally and prefers small events
drink a cup of atole, compared to eating
where she can be more creative.
a bowl of corn flakes.”
Renew and Refresh
for the New Year
Now that the Holidays are over,
take time for yourself, relax and
enjoy one of our many facials.
www.seventhrayskincare.com
505.982.9865
• Add a hand, foot or
collagen eye treatment,
you deserve it.
Despite the grave truth about the
masses being unaware of the origins of
what they consume, our food traditions
in New Mexico are, after centuries,
still thriving. We eat what we grow,
and we love what we eat. Frijoles,
posole, chicos, chile, followed by natillas,
bizcochitos, pastelitos to satisfy the sweet
tooth—they’re New
Mexico’s soul foods.
i
Quita Ortiz is
communic ations &
project specialist with
the New Mexico
Acequia Association.
15
“KICK ASS”
GLUTEN FREE CRUST
DELIVERY
UPPERCRUSTPIZZA.COM
ON LINE ORDERING
DELIVERY • 982-0000
Appointments in the comfort of your own home.
Dr. Audrey Shannon, DVM, has training in both Western
veterinary medicine and in traditional Chinese veterinary
medicine.
Her integrated holistic approach focuses on acupuncture
and acupressure, with nutritional and herbal therapy to
ensure your animal’s optimal health and well-being.
Treatment is available for dogs, cats, and horses.
www.animalacupuncturevet.com
505.820.2617
GREEN FIRE TIMES
Needs a commission ad salesperson
for the Albuquerque area.
Please email résumé to:
[email protected]
16
Advertise in
GREEN FIRE TIMES
Call Skip at 505.471.5177 or
Anna at 505.982.0155
LOCAL HEROES
A Tribute to Dr. Tomás Atencio and La Resolana
Alejandro López
Dr. Atencio’s insistence on engendering
genuine communication and dialogue
between groups and individuals in
society is his most profound legacy.
In his writings, speeches and intense
enthusiasm for every form of cultural
expression, and especially for vibrant
and highly interactive community, that
legacy still inspires many to affirm,
cultivate and document knowledge
and wisdom borne out of grassroots
community living, especially in the
diverse Latino communities of the
United States. He taught us that the
process of spinning the stories and
drawing out the lessons embedded
in the daily lives of individuals and
societies is an immensely important
activity. This is so, not because such an
activity might represent a vestige of the
past, but because by taking the time
to be reflective of our thoughts and
actions, we can begin to conceive of a
world of greater possibilities, meaning,
purpose and plentitude.
For the better part of the second half
of the 20th century, Tomás, as most
everyone lovingly knows him, was
the foremost cultural philosopher,
sociologist and even the unofficial
historian of the lndo-Hispano people
of northern New Mexico and beyond.
He was also an inspired musician, an
ambitious builder in adobe, a sculptor
and a compelling conversationalist,
constantly switching between his two
highly polished languages of Spanish
and English. Not surprisingly, this
published writer has also been a
devoted family man.
The unofficial historian
of the lndo-Hispano
people of northern New
Mexico and beyond
Most importantly to his admirers,
he was the founder of La Academia
de la Nueva Raza (The Academy
for a New Humanity), a grassroots
popular-education movement deeply
rooted in New Mexican soil since
the 1970s. Its reverberations have
been felt across the Southwest and
throughout the nation, with members
of each successive generation finding
meaning and nurturance in his highly
progressive, original thoughts and
ideas, which always call for community
revitalization and personal realization.
Brought up in the village of Dixon
under the tutelage of his “old-school”
Presbyterian minister father, but
trained in academia and specifically
in theology in southern California,
Tomás gave voice to the concerns of
the common man of the earth who
sought participation and validation in
an alien urban society but also dignity
and justice. Tomás dedicated himself
to the exploration of humanity’s most
persistent questions: “Who are we?”
and “Where do we come from and
where are we going?”, together with the
concerns specific to our time: “What is
the nature of human consciousness?”;
“What is the role of the dialectical
process in society?”; and “What
are the promises for widespread
communications in the digital and
global age?”
Certainly, Tomás will always be
remembered for bringing to light
the age-old practice of resolana or
the informal gathering of lndoHispano villagers along the sunny
side of adobe walls during the winter
or cool early mornings of spring
and fall to exchange news, dialogue
or simply to reflect on life’s comings
and goings. He used resolana as the
central metaphor for the process of
dialogue much like Socrates had done
in the Athenian marketplace more
than 2,000 years before. For Atencio,
as well as for celebrated Brazilian
writer and community educator Paolo
Freire (his friend), dialogue was the
essential element needed to conduct
the critical processes required in a
democracy (thought, reflection, analysis
and consensus building), which enabled
a citizenry to consciously shape the
social forces and institutions that
themselves shape human collective life
and interaction.
Tomás began his career working
for the Colorado Migrant Council
in the 1960s, where he advocated
on behalf of the rights of migrant
workers and helped provide for their
mental health needs. He later moved
to Santa Fe where he worked with
COPAS, a community mental-health
organization. There, he grew more
intimate with the social and mentalhealth problems that plagued many of
the native Indo-Hispano people living
in the city’s barrios, as well as with their
vast treasure trove of life experiences
and local knowledge, which he termed
el oro del barrio, or the “gold of the
neighborhood.”
Tomás came to believe in the need for
the creation of a body of knowledge
centered on the vital cultural, historical
and even personal experiences of this
long-lived and—out of necessity—
highly adaptive community. He
appreciated the values held by this
community that arose f rom an
intimate relationship with a rugged
© Chip Wyly
U
pon visiting close f riend and
colleague, Dr. Tomás Atencio,
who currently is battling a neurological
disease similar to Alzheimer’s, I am
moved to pay tribute to one of New
Mexico’s most outstanding Chicano
cultural figures of this and the last
century. Long the champion of resolana,
or dialogue in the plazas, villages and
other New Mexican spaces, Atencio
has now transitioned into a state in
which his abilities to speak and move
are almost nonexistent.
Dr. Tomás Atencio
epic landscape composed of forested
mountains, canyons, deserts, plains,
farmlands, woods, rivers and even
manmade acequias. Tomás affirmed
the local ways of communicating
through “cuentos (stories), mentiras (tall
tales), chistes (jokes), images, symbols,
ceremonies and rituals; integral parts of a
community’s foundational knowledge.”
This body of knowledge, he argued,
would serve to validate the experience
of a struggling community in transition,
engender a shared understanding of its
unparalleled historical processes under
various governments, as well as enable
it to map out its own future.
To satisfy this need, in the mid1970s, with a grant from the national
Presbyterian Church, he launched
La Academia de la Nueva Raza, an
association of community leaders and
scholars who pooled their collective
knowledge, wisdom, experience and
sweat equity to give life to a vital,
multifaceted process of concientización,
or consciousness-raising in northern
New Mexico. Working out of his
home and later out of an old adobe in
Dixon’s historic center, the academiados
(La Academia’s members) organized
art shows, community fiestas, gardens,
service learning projects, forums,
gatherings and publications for more
than a decade.
One of La Academia’s most important
initiatives was an oral history project
through which many of the oldest
re s i d e n t s f ro m n o r t h e r n Ne w
Mexico’s Spanish-speaking villages
were interviewed and their stories
and insights carefully recorded and
17
A Tribute
continued from page 17
preserved.Tomás believed
that it was not enough to
gather this information
f rom the community
but argued that it should
be returned to the
community and serve
as a catalyst for further
dialogue, discussion and
purposeful action.
The dynamic cycle of
“thought and action,”
he believed, ought to
be directed at nurturing
and enhancing what he
termed “una vida buena
y sana y alegre” (a good,
healthy and happy life
for the people). Between
1975 and 1977 the
asociados, among them,
Juan Estévan Arellano,
a w r iter, editor and
photographer, produced
se ver al issues of El
Cuademo de Vez en Cuando (The
Occasional Notebook), a scholarly
publication exploring the politics of
self-determination and consciousnessr a i s i n g a m on g t h e M e x i c a n o /
Chicano people of New Mexico
and the Southwest, and Entre Verde
y Seco (Green with Life bordering
on Tinder Dry), a compilation of
community-derived stories and folk
For Atencio, dialogue
was the essential
element needed to
conduct the critical
processes required
in a democracy.
wisdom. Both publications, together
with La Madrugada (The Dawn), a
pithy community newsletter, were
distributed in northern New Mexican
communities, where they prompted
both dialogue and action among local
residents.
In his later years, Tomás taught in
the Sociology department of the
University of New Mexico, doggedly
advocating on behalf of the selfdetermination of the Sawmill workingclass neighborhood of Albuquerque,
stood up to the heroin trade in Dixon
18
and helped launch the
Learning While Serving
AmeriCorps program,
which had 120 members
in northern New Mexico’s
Indo-Hispano and Pueblo
Indian communities. That
project, administered by
Siete del Norte of Embudo,
was designed to reaffirm
traditional agriculture and
inspire a new generation
o f ac ad e m i c a l l y a n d
agriculturally proficient
young people.
Through the Río Grande
Institute, a reincarnation
of La Academia, Tomás
and his intellectual equal
and wife, Consuelo
Pacheco, created a forum
for dialogue between
Native American and
Indo-Hispano people
that, among other
things, resulted in the publication of
a joint book of poetry, essays, photos
and other artwork titled Ceremony
of Brotherhood. Five years ago, just
before the onset of his illness, Tomás
coauthored with Miguel Montiel and
E.A. (Tony) Mares, a long-awaited
book titled Resolana, Emerging Chicano
Dialogues and Globalization (University
of Arizona Press). In it, as well as
in the prestigious Ernesto Galarza
Lecture that he delivered at Stanford
University years before, Tomás
developed the kernels of his ideas for
individual and community engagement
into wonderfully articulated fullfledged treatises that focused on the
community that he knew best—the
Chicano community. Lucky for us, he
took the time to pen this legacy; more
importantly, he showed us how to live
what he thought and believed, which
is yet an even bigger legacy. i
Gracias, Tomás.
Alejandro López is
a photographer and
writer in English
and Spanish. He
was one of the
original asociados of La Academia de
La Nueva Raza and specialized in the
gathering of oral history among the elderly
of northern New Mexico. He also served
as the director of the Learning While
Serving AmeriCorps program.
Efficient and
resourceful.
Wayne Steen ChFC CLU, Agent
3005 S St Francis, Suite 1E
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Bus: 505-820-7926
[email protected]
I'm eco-friendly too.
Whether it's local or global, every little bit we do makes
a difference. That's just part of being there.
Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®
CALL ME TODAY.
statefarm.com/green
0901002.1
State Farm, Bloomington, IL
19
AIRE: Agriculture Implementation, Research and Education
Fresh AIRE 2013: A Year of Growing in Taos
Story and photos by Miguel Santistévan
AIRE
has a mission “to
gather the people
and plant the fields.” We have been
an official nonprofit educational
organization since December, 2010.
AIRE was formalized with multiyear funding from the Kindle Project,
now part of the Common Counsel
Foundation. Our work strives to
accomplish multiple goals that relate
to youth involvement in agriculture,
crop adaptation and propagation, food
security awareness and actualization,
and research and development in
sustainable agriculture methods.
Our base of operations is Sol Feliz
Farm, irrigated f rom the Acequia
Madre del Sur del Río de Don Fernando
de Taos, an age-old communally
managed, gravity-fed irrigation ditch.
Here we implement research plots
in crop adaptation around drought
tolerance over generations, as well
as soil-management techniques
using chickens, compost, compost
tea, and biochar. We host groups
of all ages to learn, hands-on, from
our Permaculture- and traditional
agriculture-inspired techniques within
the context of an acequia landscape
and culture. Our location allows for
experiences such as the cleaning out
of acequia ditches, irrigation and an
understanding of the acequia’s ecology
in the landscape.
Adapting crops for a
high-elevation, shortseason, water-stressed
environment
In the fall of 2011, AIRE was recruited
by Rocky Mountain Youth Corp to
identify a “Master Gardener” who
would be willing to steward a GrowDome in the Taos area for education
and production of local food. A
partnership was established between
Carlos García of Chrysalis Alternative
School, an arts-based high school of the
Taos Municipal Schools, and myself, as
director of AIRE, to care for the dome.
20
I was teaching a course through UNMTaos called “Sustainable Food and
Farming,” which provided concurrent
enrollment with students at Chrysalis
from Carlos García’s science class. The
dome was planted with greens such
as chard, spinach, kale and lettuce,
in addition to legumes like peas and
habas (fava beans) and became part
of the curriculum. The dome has a
700-gallon water tank to stabilize
internal temperatures and now hosts
bluegill fish for our beginning studies
of aquaculture.
Early in 2012, AIRE looked into
putting a milpa (cornfield) and garden
on the Enos García Elementary School
grounds at Parr Field, a large patch of
grass in the middle of the town of Taos,
used mostly for Field Day activities of
the elementary students at the end of
the school year. A relationship forged
between AIRE and the Taos Municipal
Schools resulted in the Parr Field
Garden Project. By early May, with the
involvement of student interns from
Chrysalis Alternative School, we had
prepared a 100x60-ft. section of the
field for a milpa, two raised beds and a
greenhouse. The planting of the project happened
concurrently with the school’s Field
Day and competition as part of the
students’ physical education program.
The students received three seeds
each of corn, beans or squash. The
garden was planted by almost 500
kindergarten-through-fifth-grade
students over three days in May.
Over the summer we constructed
a mud-oven horno at Chrysalis in
anticipation of making chicos (hornoroasted sweet corn) from our Parr
Field Garden Project milpa. Students
learned how to make the adobe
bricks and construct the horno in a
series of workshops. The horno was
constructed with funds f rom the
McCune Foundation and has become
an important part of our overall
programming around traditional
agriculture and food traditions.
Top (l-r): Students Francisco (Kiko) Pacheco, Jesyka Ortega, Chris Durán and Augustine Gonzales
coordinator Micah Roseberry, William Roth (UNM-Taos), Chris Durán, Greg Romero (UNM-Ta
his team; Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Grow-Dome; Apple pie-making at an AIRE culina
harvest; Parr Field Garden Project, where hundreds of students plant, harvest and are involved
Chris Durán plant a field of white corn; Jesus Gonzales and Chris Durán open the horno for th
I n Au g u s t o f 2 0 1 2 , I s e c u re d
employment within the Taos Schools as
a math and science teacher at Chrysalis
Alternative School. AIRE was able to
strengthen its support of activities and
curriculum in the maintenance and
use of the Grow-Dome and the horno
from within the school, in addition
to facilitating research projects, food
science and culinary arts activities. Our
efforts culminated in a Thanksgiving
feast in November. AIRE facilitated
the preparation of pumpkin pies,
mashed potatoes, red chile and a green
bean casserole that came from our
harvest. We also cooked several turkeys
and a leg of locally harvested deer in
our horno as part of a workshop the
evening before the feast.
In 2013 we continued the tradition of
putting the “field”in Field Day at Parr Field
AIRE has been developing
methods within the GrowDome with the participation of
the students at Chrysalis. We
acquired almost 40 bluegill
fish from the NM Department
of Game and Fish and are
beginning our aquaculture
program. We grew many
greens and tomatoes this year,
in addition to some melons
and jalapeños, but we had a lot
of lessons to learn about indoor
growing and pest
management,
overheating
mitigation, and
other aspects of
soil management,
crop types
and irrigation
frequency.
given to the students for their Field
Day in 2014. We provided 20 pounds
of chicos to the food service director of
the Enos García Elementary School
for use in the school’s holiday meal
that includes red chile and a choice of
posole, beans or chicos. Approximately
250 students were fed from our harvest.
While they were eating, we gave a
presentation to the students about the
progress and significance of the Parr
Field Garden Project. As part of our
mentorship program, the presentation
included contributions f rom our
student interns who had helped with
the land preparation, garden care and
harvest activities. We cared for the
Parr Field Garden
and the GrowDome over the
summer, hosting
workshops and
visiting groups.
We h a r v e s t e d
many pounds of
green beans for
blanching and
left the rest to
mature into seed
to give out to the
students for Field
Day 2014. When
the corn was
ready to make
chicos, we had over
300 elementary
students help
us har vest. We
harvested so much
corn, we quickly
s pose with the horno they built at Chrysalis Alternative School; Sembradores youth-in-agriculture team (l-r): greenhouse realized we were
aos), Francisco (Kiko) Pacheco. Miguel Santistévan (front), executive director of AIRE, broke his leg and had to rely on going to have to
ary workshop; The Grow-Dome, an “outdoor” classroom; Classroom at Chrysalis became temporary storage for the
make two batches
d in the care and upkeep as interns over the summer; Jesyka Ortega, Francisco (Kiko) Pacheco, Desirae Gonzales and
of chicos. In
he turkeys cooked overnight for the annual Thanksgiving feast. Miranda Romero and Dion Martínez look on.
addition, we
harvested 418 pounds of squash, several
by getting the Garden Project going again
from the Taos School District, a youth
ristras of red chile, five bottle gourds, and
and having almost 600 students of Enos
program we are calling “Sembradores” or
other crops such as cucumbers, eggplant
García and Ranchos Elementary plant
master planter/gardeners. Stipends for
and even a rare black variety of barley.
the field in a series of workshops. This
our interns and funding for our summer
time we were able to provide homemade
programming were provided by the Healy
After we made chicos in the horno and
seed packets of locally grown corn, beans
Foundation. Additionally, a partnership
had our fill of fresh tasty chicos, we
and squash to each of the students. We
between AIRE and the UNM-Taos
strung them up and hung them to dry
hosted a photo contest in hopes of giving
CAMP program provides internship
under the porch at the school. We had
the students an incentive to plant a garden
opportunities for college students to assist
over 25 pounds of chicos and a similar
themselves.These activities were facilitated
in AIRE’s activities while gaining college
quantity of sweet corn seed harvested
by the participation of student interns
credit. from the field. The corn seed will be
All in all, it was a successful year
with much product and learning to
show for it. As we enter the third
year of the project, we are looking
forward to expanding our milpa and
chile plots in hopes of providing
more traditional food to the schools
and refining our “school-to-farm-toschool” model. We are hopeful that we
will secure another three-year Memo
of Understanding with the schools
for the Parr Field Garden Project in
2015. We are also looking forward
to strengthening our programs at
Chrysalis and in our Grow-Dome with
the construction of more raised beds
and the refinement of our aquaculture/
aquaponics program. We are honored
to be able to facilitate these activities
and know that this investment in our
youth and seed now will have incredible
returns for the conservation of our
local food traditions, the inspiration
of young people into agriculture and
the adaptation of crops for our highelevation, short-season, water-stressed
environment. Please check our website
to learn about developments in our
future programs. i
Inspiring youth to
take up agriculture
Miguel Santistévan was
recently elected president
of Acequia Madre del
Sur del Río de Don
Fernando de Taos. He
runs a demonstration/
seed conservation farm
with his wife and daughter. He has an MS
in Agriculture Ecology from the University of
California, Davis and is working on a Ph.D.
in Biology at the UNM. solfelizfarm@gmail.
com, www.GrowFarmers.org
21
Urban Farming The School of the Future?
Poki Piottin
W
endell Berry, the legendary farmer and poet, states: “Our children no longer
learn how to read the great book of Nature from their own direct experience, or
how to interact creatively with the seasonal transformations of the planet. They seldom
learn where their water comes from or where it goes. We no longer coordinate our human
celebration with the great liturgy of the heavens.”
When my mother took me to my first kindergarten class, I screamed and kicked;
I had no desire to go to school. Already I sensed I would be confined and
indoctrinated for many years, molded into a good tax-paying citizen. I survived
my so-called “education” and became a creative entrepreneur for 25 years until
the 1999 World Trade Organization events in Seattle. Profoundly affected by our
government’s violent response to civil disobedience, I vowed to become an activist
and steward of the Earth. For the past 10 years I have been involved in a variety
of projects related to sustainability and, at 52 years of age, became a farmer.
with the neighboring
residential community.
In addition to
growing food, Gaia
Gardens’ activities have
included educ ating
schoolchildren, hosting
f ree workshops and
setting up a produce
stand. Although
these activities fully
align with the 2008
Sustainable Santa Fe
Plan passed by the city council, activities such as these have conflicted with city
ordinances regulating a business in a residential neighborhood. These current
ordinances do not accommodate the reality of urban farming.
When I look at Gaia Gardens, I see not only a modern version of a Victory
Garden but a perfect school, all in harmony with a regenerative Santa Fe. Math,
physics, ecology, science, construction, economics, art and more are all present in a
palpable and real-time form. And best of all, the classroom is outdoors, so a child
can be with nature, have fun, learn the skills of the future and build a strong and
healthy body at the same time.
The mission of Gaia Gardens is to inspire a citywide movement of urban farming
and permaculture education, while demonstrating the viability of urban farming
in Santa Fe. Our project explores numerous revenue-generating elements that
can be incorporated in such an operation. We sell produce at the farmers’ market
Caring about Compost
I chose to farm within the city to interact with and inspire as many people as
possible, believing that lasting ecological health and social well-being are fostered
by rekindling our connection to the Earth and reclaiming our food sovereignty.
For the past two years, with the help of countless volunteers and schoolchildren,
we have built Gaia Gardens, a one-acre working farm, using imagination, elbow
grease and a wealth of community resources.
A farm is much more than a place that grows vegetables. It is a living organism,
a sanctuary for wildlife, a business operation and a micro-community. In order
to keep it alive, the people involved must understand not only the world of
plants and soil health but also plumbing, carpentry, electricity, animal husbandry,
accounting, public relations, sales, marketing, grassroots community organizing,
conflict resolution, and, as we painfully discovered last year, politics.
Unlike the sustainable Santa Fe of 1919, when a survey found 1,200 acres of farmland
irrigated by 38 acequias, modern urban farms must negotiate a maze of city ordinances,
building codes, land-use and water issues— all in an effort to demonstrate compatibility
22
Compost is a great way to reduce the volume of your weekly trash and improve
your garden. By collecting non-repurposable food scraps from its 30 commercial
clients, Reunite Resources’ pilot program will divert up to 2 million pounds from
the landfill in its first year of operation. That is enough organic material to create
a pile as high as Mount Everest.
In landfills, food scraps are buried and the opportunity is lost to make compost,
which replaces the need for chemical fertilizers, retains moisture and provides
nutrients for healthy plant growth. Furthermore, when left in landfills, this organic
matter creates methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 21 times more heat than CO2.
Less than 30 percent of what ends up in landfills actually belongs there. Of the 70
percent that does not, at least a quarter is compostable.
Reunity Resources is taking the steps toward a zero-waste reality. The systems it
is creating and data it will collect through its pilot program could be the basis for
citywide composting in Santa Fe. Reunity is raising seed funds, spreading the word,
designing educational materials, creating logistical systems and contracting with
clients. Contact the organization if you’d like to support this initiative or be a part
of this ground-saving program: 505.629.0836, [email protected] or
[email protected]
© Seth Roffman (3)
and through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), along with plant starts,
worms, compost tea, seeds and healing salves. Education and community building
are probably the greatest benefits of an urban farm and are certainly compatible
with residential zoning. Many cities have already passed comprehensive urban
farming ordinances because they understand that urban farms help build selfreliant communities and inspire positive local action around food access and
interrelated social, economic and racial justice issues.
Education and community building are benefits of
an urban farm compatible with residential zoning.
How do we prepare our children (and ourselves) to live in a world desperate for
restoration and care? Can we afford to wait for our school system and government
to evolve and provide kids with the necessary tools to cope with the monumental
task that they will inherit? One practical way to prepare our children is to consider
urban farms as partners-in-education with our local school system. This may require
new city ordinances that allow urban farms to become sustainable education centers
while also paving the way for them to attract capital, land and infrastructure so
they can fulfill their purpose.
Children who learn to care for the Earth belong to community, grow food, build
and repair things and heal themselves naturally. These children are much more
apt to become adults who will create rather than destroy the future. These adults
will contribute to the regeneration of our ecosystem, fostering a healthy and
resilient culture. i
Poki Piottin and his partner Dominique Pozo operate Gaia Gardens, a nonprofit urban farm in
Santa Fe. They are currently exploring ways to purchase the 3.5-acre property. Donations to the
farm are tax-deductible. 505.796.6006, [email protected], www.thegaiagardens.org
23
EVERYDA Y GREEN
The Santa Fe Community Food Co-op
More Options for More People
Susan Guyette
W
ith the cost of food rising 4-to-7 percent a year, affordable food is rapidly
disappearing from the commercial marketplace. A new food co-op under
development aims to fill this gap. A group of dedicated people has been meeting
for many months. Their guiding principle is that the availability of high-quality,
nutritious, reasonably priced food will only come from the cumulative actions
of individuals who expand the market for local food production. The Santa Fe
Community Co-op intends to grow its own organic food using energy and waterefficient technologies and to buy from local farmers.
Small-scale, local ownership encourages self-help and reciprocal relationships,
promoting local economies and social development. Due to their size and
commitment to mutual support, both internally and across cooperatives, more
stable economies are created. Cooperatives hold the potential for transforming
local economies.
Park Slope co-op saves shoppers 20-to-40 percent per year. At the outset, the
SF Community Co-op’s markup will be 29 percent. The co-op’s intention is to
reduce this over time.
In some regards, food co-ops and employment-creating co-ops are examples of
returning to the old ways. Recognition of the early roots of cooperative concepts
is appropriate when looking at northern New Mexico. Native Americans have
practiced the pooling of labor and redistribution of resources as an economic form
for thousands of years. In some local tribes, extended families still work this way.
Hispanic communities have also traditionally practiced many forms of collaborative
work, such as the acequia system and the sharing of seeds.
Low-cost, high-quality food with a small amount
of labor provided by each member
Although food cooperatives do exist in New Mexico, they don’t all have the same
form. For example, La Montañita Co-op has membership, yet members do not
work in the store. As more co-ops form with diverse structures, there will be more
options for more people. The Santa Fe Community Co-op intends to provide
low-cost food with a small amount of labor provided by each member.
Natural-food grocery stores, both corporate and local, typically mark up food from
45 to 100 percent. The model being used by the Santa Fe Community Co-op is
the Park Slope Food Co-op in Brooklyn, New York. That co-op lowers the markup
to 21 percent. One of the top five independent grocery stores in the country, the
Today’s co-ops are owned by their members and managed by democratic voting—
balancing financial viability with the needs of members and their communities. The
full participation of members in the cooperative’s operations promotes the co-op’s
economic and social development through elimination of profits for those who are
not members, collective involvement in determining working conditions and pay,
environmental stewardship and social networking. In other words, cooperatives
embody and foster a true sense of community.
The Santa Fe Community Co-op’s 5-Year Goals
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Establish a sustainable, community food cooperative in Santa Fe
Establish a small farm with a solar-powered greenhouse
Create a community composting facility for farms and gardens
Establish satellite outlets in outlying communities
Provide outreach and subsidies to support food equity
You can help make possible the co-op’s planned fall 2014 launch:
Pay an annual $25 membership fee, make a one-time $100 pledge and fulfill the
co-op’s work requirement: currently two 3/4 shifts every four weeks. All adults
over 21 in each household must join. You can pay the full amount or sign up for
monthly or quarterly installments. The first year’s $25 membership fee is being
waived for the first 400 founding members. You can join at one of the co-op’s
regular community meetings or through its website. For more information, email
[email protected] or visit www.sfcommunitycoop.
wordpress.com i
Susan Guyette, Ph.D. is of Métis heritage (Micmac Indian/Acadian
French) and a planner specializing in cultural tourism, cultural
centers, museums and native foods. She is the author of Sustainable
Cultural Tourism: Small-Scale Solutions; Planning for Balanced
Development, and the co-author of Zen Birding: Connect in Nature.
[email protected]
24
Locally Sourced Food
Top Restaurant Menu Trend of 2014
Food Industry Seeks Federal Legislation
to Keep GMO Labeling Voluntary
Each year the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the leading business
association for the industry, surveys 1,300 professional chefs who are members of
the American Culinary Federation (ACF) to come up with its What’s Hot culinary
forecast of menu trends.
The political battle over genetically modified foods has been heating up. The
industrial food industry has long successfully opposed efforts in Congress to require
labeling. In response to the growing consumer movement, the industry spent
almost $70 million to defeat ballot initiatives in California and Washington State.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association is currently pushing industry-authored
legislation that would preempt any state labeling laws. Connecticut and Maine
passed such laws last year. Labeling is now being considered in 26 states.
Top 10 food trends for 2014:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Locally sourced meats and seafood
Locally grown produce
Environmental sustainability
Healthful kids’ meals
Gluten-free cuisine
Hyper-local sourcing (e.g., restaurant gardens)
Children’s nutrition
Non-wheat noodles/pasta (e.g., quinoa, rice, buckwheat)
Sustainable seafood
Farm/estate branded items
“Today’s consumers are more interested than ever in what they eat and where their
food comes from, and that is reflected in our menu trends research,” said Hudson
Riehle, senior vice president of the NRA’s research and knowledge group, in a press
release. “True trends – as opposed to temporary fads – show the evolution of the
wider shifts of our modern society over time.”
“The chefs who took part in the survey understand that sourcing locally and
environmental sustainability tie in with ongoing efforts to provide more-healthful
foods for everyone, especially children,” said Thomas Macrina, ACF national
president.
When asked which current food trend will be the hottest menu trends 10 years
from now, environmental sustainability topped the list, followed by local sourcing,
health-nutrition, children’s nutrition and gluten-free cuisine.
USDA Likely to Approve Herbicide
in Food Supply
Last month the Obama administration said that it expects to approve corn
and soybeans that are genetically engineered by Monsanto and Dow Chemical
Company to tolerate the toxic herbicide 2,4-D. They are planning this approval
despite the fact the herbicide is associated with increased rates of immune-system
cancers, Parkinson’s disease, endocrine disruption, birth defects and other serious
health problems. The approval of these crops will lead to vast increases in the use of
this chemical, which researchers at Penn State University say will actually worsen
an epidemic of superweeds that become resistant to herbicides. Scientists have
definitively linked a catastrophic decline in monarch butterflies to herbicide use
on GMO crops.
2,4-D was introduced in the 1940s and became notorious during the Vietnam
War as part of “Agent Orange,” a chemical weapon. Citing studies that predict
dire consequences to both human and environmental health, Denmark, Sweden,
Norway and part of Canada have banned 2,4-D. In the US, a coalition of 144
farming, fishery, environmental and public health groups have asked the USDA to
not approve the 2,4-D-resistant crops, which are primarily used as livestock feed
in factory farms. Through the February 19, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service is inviting public comments (Go to: www.regulations.gov/#!s
ubmitComment;D=APHIS-2013-0042-0050). The USDA must then respond to
the comments in a final environmental impact statement.
25
26
Pay it Forward! Being Human in Healthcare
A Systemic Approach to Positive Change through Emotional Intelligence
Camille Adair
T
he generation of super-elders who
experienced World War II saw
physicians as demigods and almost never
questioned the medical establishment.
Boundaries of role and power were
clear. Their stoicism, independence and
deference to authority are rapidly being
replaced by the aging baby boomers who
transform all systems and constructs in
their path. And, for many people, the
silent prayer is, “Please let this include
healthcare, aging and the way we die.”
Healthcare is increasingly a business
that answers to high-cost treatments,
insurance and pharmaceutical companies,
not the care of people. Healthcare
professionals and organizations are faced
with daily dilemmas that arise from
the intensifying focus on compliance,
productivity and pressure to meet the
demands of a changing healthcare
system. If we look at healthcare as a
system in need of systemic attention, we
can perhaps link the source of the issues
to three primary dysfunctions rather
than pointing the finger at a particular
organization, policy or individual.
Emotional intelligence
shares many of the
universal principles
found in ancient
wisdom and spiritual
traditions.
The first dysfunction is that healthcare
is a business construct based on and
oriented to disease and illness, not on
health and wellness.
The second dysfunction is the victim/
perpetrator exchange among healthcare
professionals and between healthcare
professionals and healthcare organizations.
This manifests as bullying, burnout and
compromised patient care and delivers a
high price tag to the bottom line.
The third dysfunction is that “modern”
medicine is founded on outdated
Newtonian science, which is mechanistic,
reductionistic and separates people by
their parts. Current science reinforces
our connectedness and shows us what
makes us well and how we participate in
our own outcomes.
The roots of the problems plaguing
healthcare are relational. By taking a
foundational approach to complex issues,
we can address the culture, which is ripe
for systemic transformation through
a paradigm shift in how we think and
feel about how we take care of ourselves,
each other, and how we approach the
business of healthcare. Building relational
systems and behaviors calls for social and
emotional skills, which, in the end, could
be the answer to our health, happiness and
transformation of healthcare and society.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a field that
embodies new science and shares many of
the universal principles found in ancient
wisdom and spiritual traditions. EI is the
ability to effectively combine thoughts
and feelings in order to make better
decisions and develop and sustain more
mutually respectful relationships with
others and ourselves. EI is a set of skills
that can be learned, taught and become
more permanent with practice. Skills
that are foundational to EI include selfawareness, empathy, optimism, intrinsic
motivation and self-management.
Research indicates that people with
developed EI skills make healthier
lifestyle choices and have improved
relationship skills, a life purpose that is
aligned with their values, and a greater
ability to connect cause and effect.
The impact of social and emotional
well-being on businesses is nothing less
than improved return on investment
(ROI) through increases in retention
rates, employee satisfaction, customer
loyalty, ethical decision-making and
productivity, along with a positive impact
on organizational climate. A recent
Gallup poll study revealed that the
number one indicator for employee
retention lies in having at least one
positive interaction with a supervisor at
least every seven days. It’s relational.
Paul Zak, professor at Claremont
Graduate University in Southern
California and a pioneer in the field of
neuroeconomics, has demonstrated that
the neuropeptide oxytocin is responsible
for empathy, generosity and trust, which
are the key components in building
relational models. He has also discovered
that societies with higher levels of trust
are more prosperous and have lower
levels of poverty. Oxytocin has been
called the shy molecule. It is produced
in human beings through the stimulus
of connection, relationship-building
and networking. It is not produced in
high-stress, competitive environments
where behaviors of separation and
isolation are seen through siloing and
self-preservation.
We can easily see the paradox and dilemma
that exists within modern healthcare,
where the very systems created to provide
care to people at their most vulnerable
moments can increase suffering and cause
harm when consideration of personhood
is ignored. Here, the challenge and the
opportunity are the same: learning how
to appropriately connect emotionally and
socially. Healthcare needs human-tohuman healing, inviting the shy oxytocin
molecules to make an appearance so that
we may problem-solve with empathy,
trust and generosity rather than with
blame, ignorance and self-centered
agendas.
The good news is that change is possible.
Unlike personality tests, EI assessments
measure a baseline by which individuals
are able to evaluate their strengths and
weaknesses in order to develop personal
and professional goals for positive growth
and wellness. Developing EI skills
requires practice and offers measurable
results.
Science has demonstrated that we are
all connected through time and space,
whether we are aware of it or not. Perhaps
the invitation to connect is also a call
to awareness in being more of who we
already are—human.
Pay it Forward!
Living Bridges, a New Mexico-based
501(c)(3), whose mission is to support
sustainability in hospice and healthcare
through education and the arts, provides
EI training to individuals and businesses.
The program is designed to demonstrate
community leadership and good will
through empathy, trust and generosity.
If you would like to “pay it forward,” you
can sponsor a training for an individual
or organization. i
References:
Paul Zak: Trust, Morality and Oxytocin?
TED Talk, Filmed July 2011. Posted November 2011.
TEDGlobal 2011
http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_zak_trust_morality_
and_oxytocin.html
Camille Adair, RN,
a certif ied Social
Emotional Intelligence
Assessor, is executive
director of Living
Bridges, principal of
Sacredigm Alliances
and an awardwinning filmmaker.
She pro vides EI
trainings for healthcare organizations, healthcare
professionals and through cross-sector leadership.
505.470.3838, [email protected]
The Effects of Economic Status
on Health in New Mexico
A New Mexico Department of Health report released last year on the state of
health in New Mexico looked at the effects of economic status. Not surprisingly,
the report suggests that less affluent populations often experience more barriers
in receiving preventative healthcare.
Twenty percent of the population is considered to be living in poverty in New
Mexico, the second-highest percentage rate in the country. The national poverty
level is 15.9 percent, according to the US Census.
Proper nutrition is also a problem. New Mexico leads the nation in child hunger with 30
percent of children experiencing “food insecurity.” The USDA defines food insecurity
as reduced quality, variety or desirability of diet. New Mexico is also ranked No. 2 in
the nation for adult hunger, with 20 percent of adults experiencing food insecurity.
One in four adults in New Mexico ages 45 and older has been diagnosed with two
or more chronic diseases such as arthritis or cardiovascular disease. Most inpatient
hospitalization among people 65 and older is due to heart disease, influenza and
pneumonia. The Department’s report shows that teen smoking dropped from 30
percent in 2003 to 19.9 percent in 2011.
Suicide attempts have decreased since 2003, although the rate of suicide among Native
American youth in New Mexico is nearly four times the national rate. Funds are being
sought from the state Legislature and the governor for programs to address this.
27
ripening manzanitas de agosto (little
August apples) from someone else’s trees
up the way, much to our hearts’ delight.
When it came time to irrigate, my
father delighted in slowly opening the
compuerta (headgate) to initially let in
a trickle of water so that it would not
cause erosion or drag the seed away when
it had finally reached the rows. Only
when he was fully convinced that the
amount of water that he had released was
benevolent, would he open the compuerta
just a little more in order to obtain a flow
capable of watering the land just enough
without causing any damage. Having
watered a few rows in this gentle manner
in which, perhaps after an hour, the earth
showed clear signs of having drunk in
as much water as it needed, he would
block the rows already irrigated with an
earthen tapanco (small dike) and open
up other rows downstream. By doing
this repeatedly he managed to irrigate
an entire field in just a few hours.
As the water made its way down each
of the furrows to moisten the seed and
prompt the process of germination,
it reflected the sky and sometimes
the rising or setting sun in a kind of
living three-dimensional impressionist
painting. The gurgling of the water
punctuated by bird song or children
playing infused one’s being with a kind
of deep peace and a yearning for time
to forever stand still. In those moments,
one was filled with the certainty that
what one was doing was in and of itself
a sacred and timeless act in which one
viscerally communicated with the earth,
water and plant spirits.
the long, hot summer, we
irrigated once between
each hoeing. Every time,
soon after the water had
successfully reached the
plants, they responded
by standing up straight,
growing taller and taller,
and most importantly,
by defying the scorching
heat of the merciless
midsummer sun.
One could not long afford to remain
in paradise because the selfsame
water that caused the plants to sprout
also engendered millions of weeds,
originating primarily, of all places, in
Russia! There was Russian thistle, the
prickly rosetas, the broadleafed añiles,
the deeply rooted patitos, together with
a host of other annoying weeds that
always came back soon after they were
cut. Our summers were spent hoeing
endless rows of chile, corn and other
vegetables, in part because we had been
socialized to do this kind of work, but
also because we both respected and
feared our elders who had commanded
us to do this work. During the course of
To offset the same intense
heat, the neighborhood
children gathered almost
on a daily basis at our
bridge to swim in the
acequia, which was an
impossibility because it
was much too shallow
and because no one knew
how to swim anyway.
Wade, soak, splash and
dive are a more honest
reflection of what took place during
those cacophonous summer afternoons
between stretches of hard work. So
brilliant, refreshing and invigorating
was the water of the acequia that, in our
minds, the recreation that it provided
was ample reward for the work that
we did.
Other times, we launched homemade
boats and ships and watched them sail
by. A few times we launched canoes,
rafts and even tubs to harness the
transportation possibilities of the acequia
and ended up in other people’s properties
further downstream. They knew exactly
what we were up to, looking for
adventure, of course, and they laughed
at us with fondness in their eyes, for as
children, they had done the same thing.
How I wish that children growing up
today could have these kinds of innocent,
private property-defying experiences.
In late July, just as the water supply
in the Santa Cruz dam was dropping
considerably, the annual rains came
p o u r i n g d ow n a n d f re q u e n t l y
circumvented the need to irrigate
our fields for the week. At times, the
downpours were so enormous that
the melons and watermelons became
waterlogged and we had to carefully turn
each one over to avoid rotting. Typically,
however, we irrigated until mid- or late
September, when the harvest peaked and
the water was turned off.
28
© Alejandro López
Acequias Up-Close continued from page 14
An acequia in northern New Mexico
When the water stopped running, it was
as if an old friend had suddenly left our
midst, and the ground had returned to
just being the ground and not the waterlaced earth that poured forth its greenery
and abundance of fruit and food. From
this time forward the magic of the water
flowing through the acequia instead
turned into the magic of the snowfall.
There to the west, on Chicoma Peak
(Obsidian Mountain), which lay directly
in our line of vision, the snowpacks kept
growing all winter long, if it proved to
be a wet one. The same thing occurred
along the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
on the opposite side of the Española
Valley, the fountainhead of our own
acequia water supply.
During the long winter months, when
one grew weary of the cold, one could
gaze out the window and appreciate the
source of our summer acequia waterflows,
which together with a plot of overturned
earth, a hoe, a tin can, some seed, the
sure swing of an arm and a few tapancos
(dikes), we were able to transport
ourselves into a literal paradise for as
long as summer lasted. i
Alejandro López, a photographer and writer
in English and Spanish, grew up farming on
an acequia in rural northern New Mexico.
Several of his recent photographs will be
used as part of a Spring 2014 exhibition
on acequias at the Maxwell Museum of
Anthropology at the University of New
Mexico in Albuquerque.
Sustainable Healing
Amanda Hessel
E
ver feel like you have been trying
to heal the same symptom or
condition in your body for years?
Perhaps it comes and goes, but you
know you aren’t 100 percent healed.
Maybe you have even seen all types of
practitioners and healers but feel like
you haven’t reached the state of health
you want in your body. These feelings
are more common than you may think.
Chronic disease is on the rise and is
affecting us earlier in life. Despite
advancing medical technologies and
our efforts to change and be healthier,
we often do not experience the amount
of physical, emotional, social and
spiritual well-being we desire.
In an energy-rich
state the body has more
resilience.
A primary reason our bodies break
down and express symptoms and
conditions is because we lose our ability
to adapt to life’s circumstances. We all
have a range of what we can handle.
When we stretch beyond that range we
start to feel stressed. Stress is defined
as pressure or tension on a system
(such as our body) that results from
demanding or adverse circumstances.
Over time, this pressure can create a
situation in the body called chronic
stress. With chronic stress we begin to
lose our ability to recover from sickness
or injury, we feel tired, our muscles feel
tense, we might have stomach upset,
and we can feel irritable and not fully
present in our life. We lose our innate
ability to heal and our connection to
ourselves and those things that are
important to us because we don’t have
the energy for them. Chronic stress
puts our bodies into an energy-poor
state. This is a survival condition in
the body and it is incompatible with
healing, growth, sustainability and
greater well-being.
For full, sustainable healing to occur,
the energy state of the body must
change. We cannot expect greater
health through simply alleviating
symptoms with methods that remove
or numb the pain or condition. Most
people think that when they have a
symptom, the symptom is the problem
and they must get rid of it. Most also
think that when they get rid of the
symptom it means the body is all
better and that they are healthier. This,
however, is not necessarily the case.
Symptoms and pains are often the
expression of a situation in the body
where there is not enough energy to
maintain optimal function of all the
organs, glands, muscles and cells. The
body may malfunction, break down,
and disease processes begin to show up.
If you don’t change the energy-state of
the body, it will continue to function
poorly because the underlying state
that set up the problem in the first place
has not been addressed. In time, old
symptoms will show up again or new
ones will develop in their place.
Removal or alleviation of pains and
symptoms merely buys a person time.
People choose one of two paths to
follow with that time. The first path is
to go about life as they did before the
symptom occurred, without making
any changes. This allows a person to
continue the same life and function
in the world as he or she did before
the symptom. However, this approach
does not provide a higher energy state
in the body. Typically what happens
in this situation is that the body will
continue to break down (even with the
symptom removed) until a crisis point
is reached where a person has to make
a life-and-death health decision, which
often involves taking drugs or having
a lifesaving surgery. The other path
is to undergo a healing process. In a
healing process, people use symptoms
and pains as energy to make changes
in their life. Change gives us a new
energy source and brings the body into
an energy-rich state. In an energy-rich
state the body can function better; it
has more adaptability, flexibility and
resilience, and it can heal sustainably.
in our bodies, we look for certainty at
all costs; we want to return to the life
we had before the condition occurred,
instead of moving into and creating
something new. Moving into greater
health and sustainable healing requires
a radical shift in our perception of
what symptoms and pains mean along
with the tools to gain the messages
our bodies are giving us through their
expression. i
Dr. Amanda Hessel, D.C., M.S., B.S., is a
chiropractor and body-awareness facilitator.
She is dedicated
to shifting
consciousness
around health and
helping people
create energ yrich states in their
body-mind,so
that greater
levels of health are
achieved. She utilizes a gentle system called
Network Care to assist people in healing.
For more information, contact the Scher
Center for Well Being. 505.989.9373, www.
HealingWithoutLimits.com
Green Fire Times needs Las Cruces Area
Ad Sales and Delivery people.
Please email [email protected]
Green Fire Times is also available at many locations
in the metropolitan Albuquerque / Río Rancho area!
For the location nearest you,
call Nick García at 505.907.7553
Largely what we have done in our
current healthcare system is to take
away symptoms and conditions that
contain the energy we need for change.
With that we have taken away our
opportunity to be even healthier and
experience greater possibilities for our
lives. We have valued comfort and
sameness over change and growth.
Stability and security have become
the hallmarks to a good life, and when
that becomes threatened, especially
29
Ask us about Zirconium Implants for people with metal allergies!
Beehive Extract
Arrests Prostate
Cancer Cell
Growth
According to a paper from researchers
at the University of Chicago Medical
Center, an over-the-counter natural
remedy derived from honeybee hives
arrests the growth of prostate cancer
cells and tumors in mice. Caffeic
acid phenethyl ester, or CAPE, is a
compound isolated from propolis,
the resin used by bees to patch holes
in their hives. Propolis has been used
for centuries in natural remedies
for conditions such as sore throats,
allergies and burns.
The researchers found that CAPE
arrests early-stage prostate cancer
by shutting down the tumor cells’
ability to detect sources of nutrition.
Fed to mice daily, tumors stopped
growing. When that treatment
was stopped, the tumors began to
grow again at their original pace,
according to Richard B. Jones,
Ph.D., senior author of the study. “It
doesn’t kill the cancer, but it basically
will indefinitely stop prostate cancer
proliferation,” said Jones.
To assess the impact of CAPE
treatment on the proteins of cellular
pathways involved in cell growth,
Jones and his colleagues used an
innovative technique called “microwestern array” to monitor hundreds
of proteins at once. The CAPE
experiments offer a precedent to
unlock the biological mechanisms
of other natural remedies as well.
“Now we’ ll actually be able to
systematically demonstrate the parts
of cell physiology that are affected by
these compounds,” Jones said.
Advertise in
GREEN FIRE
TIMES
Please support our
work for a more
sustainable world.
Call Skip Whitson at
505.471.5177
or Anna Hansen at
505.982.0155
30
Health
Medicine of the People:
Massage and Self-Acupressure
Story and photos by Dr. Japa K. Khalsa
T
he healing arts encompass many
traditions including massage,
acupuncture, chiropractic and shamanic
healing. In New Mexico, there is
the shamanic healing tradition of
curanderismo, indigenous folk medicine
that encompasses healing of the body,
mind and spirit. New Mexico law
provides a safe harbor that legally
protects the curandero/a’s right to
practice. In some states, traditional
healers can be shut down for practicing
medicine without a license. New
Mexico’s support of traditional and
alternative medicine is a step towards
multicultural sustainability. At the core
of all of these healing traditions is a
reliance on the body’s innate ability to
heal itself. It is important to consider
when and how we can make a change
in our own consciousness. A tired and
overburdened healthcare system cannot
heal until we find a way to change the
system from within and develop our
own healing power.
The body’s innate ability
to heal itself is at the
core of these traditions.
In Eastern medicine, the speed of
energy movement picks up and moves
quickly around the fingertips and toes
and slows down as it moves into the
center of the body. This speed could be
due to the larger quantity of sensory
nerves in toes and fingers, or that
there are beginning and end points
to the 12 major organ meridians on
the ends of fingers and toes. We can
use direct pressure on the limbs to
influence change in the internal organs.
Working with the body in this way
can be as effective as direct pressure or
stimulation into the internal organs.
So let ’s look at several common
ailments and simple ways to self-heal
by combining a local, gentle trigger
point or acupressure release at the site
of the problem and a simultaneous
release at a distal point on the arms
and legs.
Squeeze Away a Headache
Special digestive points on the forearms
and hands can be massaged quite easily
for relief of headache. Grasp the forearm
step as many times as necessary until the
headache subsides.
It also helps to massage the sides of the
temples gently and starting at the inner
eyebrow, grasp and gently massage the
eyebrows towards the outer part of
the eye. Gently massage along the jaw
line, moving up the side of the face to
gently massage any tense areas in the
cheekbones and especially near the
tense parts of the jaw muscle along the
sides of the face near the ear.
If you have an acute episode of sluggish
digestion or bloating, try pressing the
outside upper part of your leg below
your knee. This point is known as “walk
three miles” in Chinese medicine, and
pressing hard on this point will help
to stimulate digestion. It is known for
giving strength and relieving fatigue, so
couple this with daily belly rubs and see
what digestion improvements unfold.
Nobody Likes Nausea
A simple way to relieve nausea and a
churning stomach is to press the point
called Pericardium 6 near the wrist.
Say you’ve been reading too long while
riding in a car or you’ve eaten the wrong
food combination. Try pressing and
massaging this point on the underside
of the forearm near the wrist. It is
Medicine of the People
Massage and self-acupressure bring us
in touch with the true medicine of the
people, a way that common ailments
can be healed by touch. The art of
laying on hands is a time-honored and
authentic way to bring support to a
part of the body that is under stress or
pain. Getting a massage is wonderful,
and it is important to remember that
self-massage, as part of the routine of
life, is valuable to overall health on
many levels. Massaging and pressing
on parts of the body directly can help
to bring blood-flow to an organ or
release pain from a muscle region.
Stomachaches, headaches and stress
can all be alleviated with simple hand
pressure. One secret is to massage both
the actual area where the pain is located
and also a distal point on the hands or
feet to free up the blockage that may
be causing the symptom.
brain, sensing and delivering those
gut feelings of butterflies or protective
warnings. The belly has a powerful
inner wisdom of guidance and healing
for the entire mind, body and spirit
connection.
with the opposite hand and massage
down the forearm, looking for tender
spots while squeezing. Find a tender
spot, stop there, hover at this spot and
massage vigorously, using the thumb to
press into the spot repeatedly until some
of the tension in the spot is dispersed.
In the hand, pay special attention to the
webbing between the index finger and
the thumb.The acupuncture point in this
webbing is known to relieve migraines
and headaches. Find the tender spot in
the middle of the webbing and press
hard for several seconds, breathe deeply
and then relax (see photo). Repeat this
Belly Rubs for Better Digestion
Because digestion is such an ongoing
and never-ending process in the body,
it’s great to give it some daily support
with simple techniques. Try simply
rubbing the belly in a circular fashion
about 20 to 25 times, once or twice
a day. Move in a soothing way and
clockwise direction (imagine the belly
as a clock, facing outwards). This will
help to get in touch with the treasure
trove of nerve endings in the abdomen.
There are so many nerve endings in the
digestive tract that it acts as a second
about two fingerbreadths up from the
wrist crease in between the two major
tendons in the center of the underarm
(see photo). Press firmly here, just to
the sensation of discomfort and hold
for about five seconds while taking a
deep breath. Repeat until the nausea
sensation begins to disperse.
31
Supporting Local Business in Southern New Mexico 221 N. Main Street, Las Cruces. 575-‐323-‐1575 Advertise in
GREEN FIRE
TIMES
Call Skip: 505.471.5177
or Anna: 505.982.0155
32
Health Benefits of Food as Medicine
in Traditional Chinese Medicine for Animals
Audrey Shannon
One of the most important considerations in food therapy is that food be from
clean sources. The food could be organic or natural and can include many foods that
are grown locally. Fresh food by definition is not processed and hasn’t been frozen
or stored for a long period of time. Additionally, there is always the controversy
of cooked versus raw food.
The foundation for any
health regimen
The choice of which is more appropriate
can depend on several things including
the time of year, the health, constitution
and age of the animal. Serving cooked food is most important in the colder
months. A younger or very healthy animal can more easily digest raw foods. An
older, senior or ill animal may need cooked food because its digestive system may
not be able to process or utilize raw food.
In the winter months, cooked foods may include root vegetables, warmer meats,
darker greens and, depending on the animal, warmer grains. A bone broth is
helpful to senior animals and those with arthritis. In the spring, darker greens,
warm meats and lighter and fewer grains are good. In the summertime, lighter
greens, fruits, fewer grains and cooler meats such as fish or turkey are helpful to
dispel excess heat. In the late summer and fall, fruits, root vegetables and alliums
in small amounts are generally fine for dogs. Cats are sensitive to alliums such as
garlic and green onions. Any individual animal can have its own sensitivities and
allergies, so it is best to try new foods in small amounts.
Added hydration in our dry New Mexico climate can be key to health and is
important in many inflammation-related problems. Meat or veggie broth is a
good constant for conditions such as arthritis, kidney disease, aging issues and
skin disorders. Soups and stews are a good way to add all the relative ingredients
and provide hydration at the same time. Baking of meats is fine but can cause
excessive nutritional loss with vegetables. Steaming retains the most nutritional
value over baking or boiling and is great for meats, vegetables and fruit.
The benefits of making the meals yourself include the value of the intention and
care put into the food you make for your pets. This can’t be duplicated by large
manufacturers or even large-scale kitchens. For those with less time, you can keep
the meal simple, adding just a couple of ingredients. Simple recipes include a
bone broth, sweet potatoes or another root vegetable and one green vegetable. It
can be served by itself or added to high-grade canned food or kibble to increase
palatability and nutritional value. A high-grade animal
nutritional supplement can also be added to ensure that all
nutritional needs are being met.
The rewards of adding whole fresh foods to your pets diet are
numerous. Most pets appreciate and thrive on a traditional
Chinese medicine food-therapy-based diet. i
© Anna C. Hansen
T
he health benefits of Chinese medicine food therapy for animals are longlasting and vitally important to recovering from illness. Many senior and ill
animals noticeably respond to an addition of a whole food diet. Such a diet, based
on Chinese medicine therapy, can be the foundation for any health regimen. Just
as acupuncture and herbal therapy are used in diagnosis and treatment to correct
particular organ system and chi (energy) imbalances, food therapy can be used as
well. Food is the cornerstone of an animal’s health in any medical system. Similar
to other Eastern systems of health and healing, Chinese food therapy is prescribed
based on what an animal’s constitution might benefit from in conjunction with
what is appropriate for the season or time of year.
Audrey Shannon, DVM, offers animal acupuncture as well as food
and herbal therapy for pets. 505.820.2617
Medicine of the People continued from page 31
Stress Relief in
a Surprising Place
macro-universe of the body. There are
points distributed all through the ear
that help the skeleton, the glandular
system, the heart and inner organs and
all other parts of the body. Try it out
and experiment to create an immediate
state of less stress.
less stress and greater quality of life.
Sustainable self-care and wellness,
relating to ourselves with reverence,
respect and nurturing energy can, over
time, create a change in our world and
better health for everyone. i
The Sweet Spot: the Neck
What is an easy, free way to relax the
body in a few seconds? It sounds funny,
but squeezing the ears and massaging
all around the earlobe releases multiple
acupressure points that are found
there. It is actually relaxing for the
entire body in a very short amount of
time. The ear is considered a microuniverse of healing for the entire
The part of our ner vous system
(parasympathetic) that controls our
rest-and-relax response has many
outlets and nerves in the neck area.
It’s a sweet spot for natural healers to
ply their trade because working on and
relaxing a person’s neck is a surefire way
to create deeper relaxation. This part of
the body holds so much chronic tension
from staring at a computer screen and
keeping the 30 pounds of the head
elevated. The more relaxation flows
into the neck, the easier it is for nerves
to stay healthy, for lymphatic fluid to
flow and for muscles to be pain-free.
Take hold of the nape of the neck,
and squeeze and release the entire
area. Be creative; rub and massage,
then squeeze, compress and release.
Hold yourself with reverence and see
how much natural healing you can
create. Within our own bodies lie the
tools for the answer to our health and
happiness. Gift yourself with a regular
massage from a professional and add
acupressure into your daily routine for
Dr. Japa K. Khalsa received a Bachelor or
Science from Northwestern University and
completed her Master of Oriental Medicine
at Midwest College of Medicine. She is a
board-certified and licensed Doctor of Oriental
Medicine, and practices in Española, NM.
505.747.3368, [email protected], http://
www.drjapa.com
33
* Foreclosure defense
34
op-ed: New Mexico Has a Democracy Problem
s one of the Santa Fe County
Commissioners who voted in
2008 to adopt an ordinance regulating
oil and gas extraction within the
county, I’ve followed similar efforts of
other communities across the country.
Last year, following in the footsteps
of about two dozen towns and cities
(including Pittsburgh, Pa.), the Mora
County Commissioners proceeded to
adopt a local law banning oil and gas
drilling as a violation of the civil rights
of Mora residents, which included
their right to water. Understanding
that our current system of law views
the “rights” of extraction corporations
as more important than those of our
communities and elected officials, the
Mora Commissioners then used their
local law to raise Mora’s right to local
self-government above those “rights”
claimed by extraction corporations.
Mora’s actions were a response to a
shocking reality—that New Mexico
isn’t really governed by us anymore
but by a relatively small handful of
individuals who run some of the largest
corporations. Those corporations, over
the last century or so, have not only
successfully created a system of law
that allows them to use government to
preempt us, but one that also recognizes
“corporate rights” that can be used to
legally override our local lawmaking.
Thus, when our communities decide
that they must stop projects that
endanger our health and safety, we find
that we have been rendered powerless
to do so.
In Santa Fe County in 2006, when we
began to explore options for controlling
oil and gas extraction, our lawyers
informed us that we couldn’t ban
drilling—even though that’s what I
believe a majority of people in the
county actually wanted. The lawyers
told us that if we did try to ban
drilling outright, we could be sued by
oil and gas corporations for violating
their constitutional “rights” and for
“interfering” with state authority over
oil and gas operations. Like most
elected officials who run into that
system of law, we decided to try to live
within that law. Thus, we adopted an
ordinance that regulates how drilling
for oil and gas can be done within the
county. As a regulatory ordinance, it
automatically allows the drilling to
occur— it just makes it more expensive
to do so. When natural gas or oil prices
rise to the point where it’s cost-effective
to comply with the requirements of
our ordinance (or to bear the cost of
suing to overturn parts of it), Santa Fe
County will be drilled.
If I had the choice again, as a county
commissioner, I would choose to
go in a different direction—the one
that Mora County has gone. Unlike
us, they recognized that we have to
make a choice—that we can either
accept the system of law as it has been
given to us, or we can begin to build
a new system of law that forces those
corporations to respect local laws that
protect the health, safety and welfare
of our communities.
Mora County was recently sued by
corporate interests seeking to overturn
their Community Bill of Rights’ ban on
oil and gas extraction. In that lawsuit,
Panel discussing the community rights movement (l-r): Thomas Linzey, executive
director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, Mora County
Commissioner John Olivas, writer Lee Einer and Kathleen Dudley, chair of the New
Mexico Coalition for Community Rights (www.nmccr.org)
a corporate few seek to vindicate their
“rights” over the rights of the Mora
community. It is my hope—given
how clear the Mora County situation
has become—that people across New
Mexico will begin to realize that we
don’t have a fracking problem—we
have a democracy problem.
The situation in Mora County (and
endless ones prior to it, dealing with
a variety of issues important to New
Mexicans) points out the necessity
of constitutional change in New
Mexico—changes that recognize a
right to local self-government that
cannot be overturned by corporations
using preemptive state government or
their own corporate “rights.” Win or
lose, the Mora County Commissioners
deserve our thanks for beginning that
long-overdue conversation about
whose rights must, in the end, prevail—
community majorities or corporate
minorities.
Ar tic le 2 of the Ne w Mexico
Constitution already recognizes that
“all political power is vested in and
derived from the people.” Led by Mora
County (and the city of Las Vegas,
NM, which adopted a similar law), it’s
time to make that declaration real. It’s
time for a democratic, grassroots revolt
in which our communities openly—
and unapologetically—reject these
corporate legal doctrines, which have
been manufactured to keep us under
their thumb. It’s time to disobey that
system of law and use that disobedience
to drive a new system of state and
federal law that actually protects our
communities.
Gracias/kudos to Mora County for
leading the way. i
Ha r r y M o n toy a
served two terms
as Santa Fe County
Commissioner
(2002-2010),
ser ved on the
Pojoa que School
Board and has
been a candidate
for NM Public
Lands Commissioner and US Congress. He
represented New Mexico on the National
Association of Counties Board of Directors,
and the National School Boards Association.
© Anna C. Hansen
A
© Seth Roffman
Harry Montoya
La Bajada Mesa is part of a historic landmark that has been culturally and
environmentally significant for (at least) hundreds of years. This gateway to the city
of Santa Fe from the south has been painted, drawn, photographed and filmed for
generations.
An application to mine basalt and crush it for gravel on a 50-acre section of La Bajada
Mesa for a 25-year period has been submitted to Santa Fe County by Buena Vista
Estates/Rockology, an Albuquerque-based company. A letter from Santa Fe County
Water Utilities expressing a willingness and ability “to provide bulk [hauled] water
services for the project” was submitted with the application.
A Rockology application for the proposed mine site was withdrawn in 2008 because
a permit was denied based on a “cadre” of issues including impacts on historical and
archeological resources. Development of such an industry on an otherwise open
landscape could result in increased pollution from carbon emissions, dust from
crushers and conveyors and heavy industrial traffic, along with blasting and night
lighting.
The proposal will be heard
before the Santa Fe County
Development Review
Committee on Feb. 20 at 4 pm
(102 Grant Ave.), and then
before the Board of County
Commissioners in March.
The applicant is seeking to
rezone the 5,217-acre property
(which is also for sale) from
agriculture/residential to mining. If approved, the mining zone could be expanded.
The Rural Conservation Alliance, community organizations and individuals
dedicated to preserving and protecting the Galisteo Basin, is encouraging citizen
input at the hearing. The Alliance (savelabajada.org) has also requested that letters
be sent to the case manager, José Larrañaga: [email protected]
35
La Bajada Mesa by David Outhwaite © 1983
Santa Fe County Hearing on Mining La Bajada Mesa – February 20
910
G.L. Runer Electric Inc.
Honest Quality Work at Competitive Prices
505-471-3626
We provide testing, and
troubleshooting for Santa Fe, NM
and the surrounding areas.
w w w . g l rune r e le ct r ic.com
Consider placing an ad in this award-winning
publication. Call Skip Whitson (505.471.5177)
or Anna Hansen (505.982.0155)
36
Water Quality Control Commission Votes
Against Water Quality Protection
Renewable Energy Day at the Roundhouse
sunday, february 16, 10 am-2 pm; press conference at noon
Last month the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC)
unanimously voted down a motion that would have prevented the Copper Rule,
adopted by the commission in September 2013, from being used in mine permitting
decisions while the rule is under appeal.
Renewable Energy Day
at the New Mexico State
Capitol, rescheduled
f r o m J a n u a r y, w i l l
showcase the economic,
environmental and
community benefits
of renewable energ y
and energy efficiency.
A diverse g roup of
advocates, including
business associations,
workforce development
associations,
public institutions, Renewable Energy Day is organized by Got Sol, a group
c o m m u n i t y g r o u p s dedicated to increasing energy efficiency and renewable
and homeowners, will energy in New Mexico.
have information tables set up. There will be hands-on electricity-generation
demonstrations, electric cars, solar ovens and ecological art.
The Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP), Turner Ranch Properties, L.P. and
Amigos Bravos filed the motion. They argued that the case raises important legal
questions that must be resolved by the Court of Appeals, and that irreparable harm
to public water resources is likely if the Copper Rule is implemented. The rule marks
the first time since the state Water Quality Act was adopted that the WQCC has
adopted regulations that would allow contamination of groundwater by an industry.
The motion was supported by the NM Office of the Attorney General. It was opposed
by the NM Environment Department (NMED) and multinational copper mining
corporation Freeport-McMoRan. NMED and Freeport-McMoRan, which operates
three large open-pit copper mines in Grant County, worked together to draft and
advocate for the rule.
Bruce Frederick, NM Environmental Law Center staff attorney, said, “the law
requires us to go to the WQCC before we can ask the Court of Appeals to stay the
Copper Rule pending appeal.”
New Coalition Opposes Goldmine
A coalition of conservation groups and jewelers say that Santa Fe Gold Corporation’s
proposed, deep open-pit mine in the Ortiz Mountains would turn the area into a
polluted industrial zone visible for miles, increase truck traffic along the Turquoise
Trail, consume enough water to sustain thousands of households, and potentially
endanger area water supplies by draining acidic runoff into groundwater.
The coalition, comprised of the Turquoise Trail Preservation Trust, Earthworks and
Fair Jewelry Action, has released an analysis of Santa Fe Gold’s proposal. The report
has been endorsed by one of the country’s leading scientists on the environmental
impacts of gold mining, Dr. Glenn Miller of the University of Nevada, Reno. The
report says that the mine may annually consume the equivalent of water needs
of between 4,600 and 7,800 New Mexicans; it would be similar to the nearby
Cunningham Hill Mine, which is draining acid into groundwater; because the ore
is low grade, mining each ounce will generate 169 metric tons of waste, creating
a massive tailings heap; and that the mine would release hundreds of millions of
pounds of greenhouse gases.
Santa Fe Gold recently merged with a Canadian mining company. The coalition’s
report is available online at http://ortizreport.earthworkssaction.org
Lamy Says No to Crude Oil-Loading Facility
Pacer Energy and Santa Fe Southern have reportedly struck a deal to convert the
rail facility in the unincorporated quiet village of Lamy, southeast of Santa Fe, into
a transfer station for crude oil. Fifty to 100 tanker trucks weekly may be barreling
down the 285 corridor and in and out of Lamy on the recently paved 2-lane road,
their engines idling as they wait to offload oil to railroad cars, possibly 24 hours a
day. The cargo is to be transported to refineries near Albuquerque.
Crude oil shipments by rail have increased more than 400 percent since 2005.
In light of recent freight train accidents across the US, last month the National
Transportation Safety Board recommended strict new measures for transporting
crude oil. A Santa Fe County woman is currently suing Western Refining because
last February during a blizzard one of its trucks on US 84/285 lost control, jackknifed,
struck and totaled her vehicle, spilling hundreds of gallons of fuel.
At a meeting of 275 people on Jan. 18, a couple of Pacer’s reps were unable to answer
the many questions asked by outraged people from Lamy, Galisteo and Eldorado, who
were there en force, united by a deep and urgent desire to protect their watershed and
prevent air and noise pollution. Other issues of concern: safety risks, liability, possible
storage facilities development, property values, road degradation, hazmat incidents,
permeable soil, etc. The consensus: spills, accidents and wrecks are inevitable. Lamy’s
community water well head is only 109 feet from the proposed transfer site. “No
Crude Oil in Lamy,” a regional alliance, may pursue a legal injunction.
A press conference at noon will feature gubernatorial candidates Lawrence Rael and
Alan Webber; Santa Fe mayoral candidates Patti Bushee and Javier Gonzales; Steve
Cummins of the Los Alamos Smart Grid; David Melton of Sacred Power, and others
who will share their policies and plans to help grow the renewable-energy industry
in New Mexico.
Free parking is available in the parking garage at 420 Galisteo St. More information:
New Mexico’s Solar Industry Growing
According to a new report, more than 1,000 New Mexicans are employed by the
soar energy industry. The Solar Foundation (thesolarfoundation.org), a nonprofit
solar advocacy foundation released the National Solar Jobs Census 2013, based
on information culled by labor market analysts. As a result of the steady growth in
megawatts of solar energy across the US, cheaper photovoltaic prices, new technology
and tax incentives, the solar industry added over 18,000 jobs nationally from Sept.
2012 to Nov. 2013, according to the foundation. More than half of those jobs were
as solar installers, averaging $20 an hour.
The cost of installing PV in New Mexico declined 15 percent last year. Seventy
percent of people who have bought solar systems told surveyors that they did so to
save money and because the price was competitive with power provided by utility
companies per kilowatt-hour.
2014 Sustainable Santa Fe Award
Nominations Sought
The city of Santa Fe is seeking nominations to recognize model sustainability
projects that are helping Santa Fe reduce it’s ecological footprint, mitigate carbon
emissions and build resilience in the face of climate change, in accordance with the
Sustainable Santa Fe Plan. These annual awards, given since 2009, are limited to
projects or programs with significant events that occurred during the 2013 calendar
year or ongoing programs that haven’t yet been recognized. Award recipients will be
recognized during a reception in association with Earth Day, which will be promoted
on the Sustainable Santa Fe Facebook page and in local media outlets.
Award categories include:
Community Outreach, Environmental Advocacy, Environmental Justice, Food
System, Climate Adaptation—Water, Climate Adaptation—Ecosystem, Renewable
Energy / Energy Efficiency, Affordable Green Building / Building Systems, Green
Economic Development, Low Carbon Transportation, Waste Reduction, Green
Journalism, Youth-Led, and Other
Nominations will be accepted until March 15 and can be made online. A link to the
nomination form can be found at: www.santafenm.gov/sustainable_santa_fe or at the
website of any of the co-sponsors of the event, including Earth Care, the Santa Fe Green
Chamber, and Green Fire Times. Separate nominations must be made for each project, but
you may nominate as many different projects as you wish. Contact Katherine Mortimer,
Sustainable Santa Fe Programs manager: 505.955.2262, [email protected]
37
© Katie Macaulay
NEWSBITEs
What's Going On!
Events / Announcements
ALBUQUERQUE
Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 9 am-5 pm
Clean Economy Conference
ABQ Embassy Suites
1000 Woodward Place
Eight experts will discuss Building Resiliency through Sustainable Practices.
Keynote speaker: Joel Salatin of Polyface
Farms. Plenary sessions on wise water use,
regenerative agriculture, zero-waste, organic
food production, compost tea, strategies to
shrink our carbon footprint, seed saving,
creating an agricultural production center,
community gardens, urban farming, sustainability tradeshow and more. $125/day.
505.819.3828, iginia@carboneconomyseries.
com, www.carboneconomyseries.com
Feb. 1
Off-Grid Solar Electricity
Design and Installation
CNM Workforce Training Center
5600 Eagle Rock Avenue NE
8-hour class (ID: 25589) for PV professionals. Learn core principles of off-grid living,
differences between grid-tied and off-grid
PV systems, principal components used, resources available, etc. Info: 505.224.5200,
[email protected], www.cnm.edu/depts/
wtc/index.html/index.html
Feb. 5, 5:30-7:30 pm
Green Drinks
Hotel Andaluz, 125 2nd Street NW
Network and mingle with
people interested in local business, clean energy
and other green issues.
505.244.3700, Lindsay@
nmgreenchamber
Feb. 5-6, 2 pm and 7 pm
Fossil-Free Film Festival
The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave. NE
The best new films about climate change
and what you can do about it. Sponsored
by the ABQ Climate Coalition, 12 NM
nonprofit groups including 350.org/NM.
505.350.3839,
[email protected],
http://abqclimateaction.us/f4
Feb. 6, 5-7 pm
Contemporary Indigenous
Discourse Series
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center,
2401 12th St. NW
Repatriation and cultural patrimony on local,
national and international levels. A forum for
Indigenous peoples to share knowledge and
strategies for advancing tribal self-determination. Moderated by Americans for Indian Opportunity executive director Laura Harris. Panelists: LaDonna Harris, Jacquette Swift, Terry
Snowball and John Beaver. 505.843.7270
Feb. 8, 8 am-5 pm
Advanced Photovoltaic
System Design
CNM Workforce Training Center,
5600 Eagle Rock Ave. NE
38
Learn to apply National Electrical Code
standards and industry best practices from
one of ABQ’s most successful PV system
design engineers. The course qualifies as
advanced training for those preparing to
take the NABCEP PV Installer exam. $169.
Class ID: 25590. RSVP: 505.224.5200, work
[email protected], www.cnm.edu/depts/wtc/
index.html/index.html
Feb. 8, 10:30 am-12:30 pm
Eating for Your Health
Highland Senior Activity Center
131 Monroe
Community-based workshop by Susan Clair,
MCRP/MPA, on elements of a healthy lifestyle,
plant-based and animal proteins, organic vs.
conventional, antioxidants and systemic alkalinity, health benefits of herbs & spices, fats and
sweeteners. $5 suggested donation. Registration
required. 505.321.8649, [email protected]
Feb. 8, 1:30-3:30 pm
Home Composting Basics
Open Space Visitor Center
6500 Coors Blvd. NW
Learn the science, materials and methods of
drought-proofing your garden soil in order
to grow vegetables, fruit and berries. Free.
Feb. 13, 7 pm
Thinking Like a Watershed
KiMo Theater, 423 Central NW
The first of five monthly panel discussions featuring 3 different humanities scholars, who will
be introduced by Jack Loeffler. The intent is to
contribute to a new Land Ethic for the preservation of our endangered ecosystems in the
Southwest. Panelists William deBuys, Patty
Limerick and John Nichols will provide an historic overview of human habitation and water
use. Funded by the NM Humanities Council.
Free admission. 505.768.3522
Feb. 14-15
New Mexico Organic
Farming Conference
Marriott Albuquerque Pyramid
North, 5151 San Francisco Road NE
The Southwest’s premier conference for organic agriculture. Producers and researchers
share their experience and expertise to help
agri-producers make decisions in running
their farm and ranch operations or in starting a new one. Workshops and exhibitors.
Presented by Farm to Table, NM Department of Agriculture, NMSU Cooperative
Extension Service. Registration: $100/$60.
Discounts for student groups if approved
ahead of time. Info: 505.473.1004, ext. 10
(Santa Fe) or 505.889.9921 (ABQ).
Feb. 18, 7:15-8:30 pm
Improving Desert Garden Soil
Meadowlark Senior Center, 4330
Meadowlark Lane, SE, Rio Rancho, NM
Gardening with the Masters lecture series
presented by Sandoval County Master Gardeners. Free. 505.929.0414, zarjoe@ymail.
com
Feb. 25
Crawford Symposium: Green
Trails for the Next Generation
Conference
Bosque School
Info: 505.898.6388,
bosqueschool.org
Rebecca.belletto@
March 5-7, 8 am-5 pm
3rd International Meeting on
Indigenous Women’s Health
Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
Healthy Generations: Integrating Traditions
and Science to promote well-being. An opportunity for physicians, midwives, nurses,
community providers and others who work
with indigenous women to share, support,
network, learn and build partnerships to improve the health of indigenous women and
their families. 505.272.3942, kbreckenridge@
salud.unm.edu, http://som.unm.edu/cme
April 7-9
10th International Conference
on Concentrator
Photovoltaic Systems
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
An opportunity for suppliers of components
and services to the PV and CPV industry to
connect with experts and potential customers
from all over the world. 400 people from more
than 25 countries, including many corporate
executives from global companies are expected to participate. Host committee: CFV Solar
Test Laboratory, Fraunhofer USA, Sandia
National Laboratories. www.cpv-10.org
May 3 Opening
Acequia Research Project Exhibit
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology,UNM
Based on NSF-funded research by scientists
and scholars across several disciplines and
institutions, including UNM, NMSU, NM
Tech and the NM Acequia Association, this
exhibit will tell the story of how acequias
operate as part of whole watershed systems,
how and why they persist, as well as the challenges they face today. 505.995.9644, quita@
lasacequias.org
SANTA FE
Through March 16, 2014
Cowboys Real and Imagined
NM History Museum
This exhibit explores NM’s contribution to
the cowboys of both myth and reality from
the 1600s to the present day.
Through April 1, 10 am-5 pm
Heartbeat – Music
of the Southwest
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
A celebration of sight, sound and activity for visitors of all ages. Over 100 objects relating to Southwestern Native music and dance are featured.
505.476.1250, http://indianartsandculture.org/
Feb. 2, 2 pm
The Melting World: A Journey
Across America’s Vanishing
Glaciers
Center for Contemporary Arts
CCA Living Room
Author Christopher White (The Melting
World) will tell tales of his journey documenting the loss of Montana’s alpine glaciers. [email protected]
Feb. 3, 6-8 pm
Art and Activism
Earth Care/Zona del Sol, corner of
Jaguar and Country Club Rd.
Interactive giant mural presentation/workshop related to climate change, globalization and resource extraction. Presented by
the Beehive Collective. 505.983.6896, info@
earthcare.org
Feb. 4 Registration Deadline
City of Santa Fe
March 4th Election
Santa Fe County Clerk, 103 Grant
Ave., 505.986.6280, co.santa-fe.nm.us
Feb. 5-26, Weds., 11 am- 1 pm
Winter Hikes Around Santa Fe
The city of Santa Fe is offering hiking opportunities ranging from easy to moderate on local
trails and the Galisteo Basin Preserve. $20. Register in person at least 24 hours prior to the first
hike. 505.955.4047, www.chavezcenter.com
Feb. 5, 5:30-7 pm
Green Drinks
Mayoral Candidates
Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort, 1297
Bishop’s Lodge Road
Patti Bushee and Javier Gonzales discuss
their “Green Vision for Santa Fe.”
Feb. 5, 7 pm
Telluride Mountinfilm on Tour
The Lensic, 211 W. San Francisco
WildEarth Guardians hosts this mix of
films, from mountain sports to amazing wild
places. Thrilling imagery and thoughtful storytelling. $15. 505.988.9126, ext. 0.
Feb. 6, 1-3 pm
Tree Pruning Workshop
Railyard Park and Plaza
Arborist Tracy Neal will prune trees and answer questions at this hands-on workshop.
Meet at the Railyard Community Room behind Site SF. [email protected]
Feb. 8, 12 pm
Southside Quality
of Life Listening Session
Southside Public Library Community
Room
Feb. 9, 2-4 pm
BFA Creative Writing Event:
Hearts Afire
Museum of Contemporary Native
Arts, 108 Cathedral Place
Institute of American Indian Arts faculty and students read their work. Free.
888.922.4242
Feb. 9 6:30-8:30 pm
Reading of Cascarones
Teatro Paraguas, 3205 Calle Marie
A new play by Irma Mayorga developed at
the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center Playwrights’ Conference. Dreamlike encounters
with John Wesley Powell, Francisco Vázquez
de Coronado and others whose actions influence the present. Reservations: 505.424.1601
Feb. 10, 6 pm
Mayoral Forum
CCA, 1050 Old Pecos Trail
Discussion focused on issues of arts, culture
and creativity. Free.
Feb. 10, 6 pm
Land Grants, Trails, and People in Southeast Santa Fe
Hotel Santa Fe
SW Seminars lecture by author Steve Post,
author of Ten Thousand Years of Living in
Santa Fe, former deputy director, Office of
Archaeological Studies, Museum of NM. $12.
505.466.2775, [email protected],
SouthwestSeminars.org
Feb. 10-14
Sculpting Workshop with
Roxanne Swentzell
Tower Gallery
Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque
Beginners welcome. $950 includes supplies and
firing. To register: 505.455.3037 (ask for Cindy)
or [email protected]
Feb. 11, 4-6 pm
Eldorado/285 Recycles
ECIA Conference Room
Eldorado area recycling advocacy group
monthly meeting. All welcome.505.466.9797,
[email protected],
www.eldorado285recycles.org
Feb. 11, 6:30-8:30 pm
Lifesongs Community
Conversations
Academy for the Love of Learning
Seton Village
An evening with Molly Sturges, Acushla
Bastible, Denys Cope and Christine Sandoval. Lifesongs is an intergenerational
arts program that promotes social inclusion
and dignity for elders and people in hospice
care. Free. Registration: 505.995.1860, www.
aloveoflearning.org/programs/lifesongs
Feb. 13-28
Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Sculpture Exhibition
Galeria El Farol, 808 Canyon Road
Rarely seen bronze sculptures by the late
great singer/songwriter actor of prominent
Native American leaders. Info: 415.328 4321
Feb. 14, 6-9 pm
At the Artist’s Table
SF School of Cooking
125 N. Guadalupe
An intimate evening of fine art, cuisine and
conversation featuring artist Susan Contreras
and chef Michelle Roetzer. A fundraiser for
Partners in Education Foundation. Tickets:
$300/couple or $175/person. Reservations:
505.474.0240, www.attheartiststable.org/
Feb. 15, 9:30 am-12 pm
Love Your River Day
Frenchy’s Park, Osage at Agua Fria
Help keep the SF Riverbed free of trash.
Free training provided. Cocoa, baked goods
and good friends. 505.820.1696, stewards@
santafewatershed.org
Feb. 16, 10 am-2 pm
Renewable Energy Day
at the Roundhouse
NM State Capitol Building
Celebrate the economic, environmental and
community benefits of renewable energy and
energy efficiency. Learn about the latest developments and network with others working to improve NM’s energy future. A diverse
array of community groups, business associations and public institutions will have displays and demonstrations. Press conference at
12 pm. 505.310.4425, [email protected]
Feb. 18, 5:30 pm
Water Matters Lecture Series
SF Community Foundation
501 Halona St.
Presentation by Laura McCarthy, director of conservation programs, The Nature
Conservancy. Presented by Amigos Bravos.
Feb. 19, 6-7:30 pm
NM Women’s Justice Project
Natural Grocers Community Room,
3328 Cerrillos Road
Public meeting to stop expansion of the
women’s prison. Speaker: Bette Fleishman.
505.466.1048
Feb. 20, 4 pm
Hearing on La Bajada Mesa Mining
Santa Fe County Courthouse
102 Grant Avenue
See newsbite, pg. 35, www.raintreecounty.
com/SaveLaBajadaMesa.html
Feb. 21, 5-8 pm
Edible Art Tour (EAT)
Members of the SF Gallery Association
team with local restaurants; stroll from
doorway to doorway or take shuttle buses
between downtown and Canyon Road; EAT:
$35; EAT and Fashion Feast dance party $70.
505.603.4643, artfeast.com
Feb. 27-March 2
Real Food Challenge
SF University of Art & Design
1600 St. Michael’s Drive
This retreat is an opportunity for student
leaders from around the region to build community, participate in workshops about the
food system, and develop leadership and
organizing skills for projects and campaigns
to further local, sustainable, fair food efforts on campuses. $35. Info: 505.501.5826
or [email protected]. To register: http://realfoodchallenge.org/programs/
trainings or https://www.facebook.com/
events/557966964285034
March 1-2: Workshop;
March 3-4: Tour
Finding Our Creative Spirit:
Dreaming Awake
SF Community Convention Center
“Contemporary expression of practical
wisdom of the seer of ancient Mexico.”
Workshop on Carlos Castaneda’s Tensegrity taught by his direct students. Followed
by a tour of Chaco Canyon for workshop
participants. Sponsored by Cleargreen,
the organization Castaneda founded. Info:
March 10, 6 pm
Living Life to the Fullest
with Native Humor
Hotel Santa Fe
SW Seminars lecture by artist, humorist,
filmmaker Ricardo Cate (Pueblo of Kewa).
$12. 505.466.2775, southwestseminars@aol.
com, SouthwestSeminars.org
March 27-28, 8 am-5 pm
SW Jémez Mountain
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project
Santa Fe Community College
Jémez Rooms
3/27: All-Hands Monitoring Presentations
will showcase results from 2013 activities.
3/28: Implementation Workshop will use
information from monitoring to develop
implementation strategies in the project area
for 2015. Info: 505.438.5431, pashmead@
fs.fed.us
April 26, 12-4 pm
Earth Day at the Railyard
Railyard Park
Large-scale collaboration of local groups
involved in education, conservation, multiarts, environmental and social justice, and
creative community engagement. Procession, music, poetry, visual arts, storytelling,
performances, community participation.
earthdaysantafe.info
First Saturday of Each Month,
10 am-12 pm
SF Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Natural Grocers, Community Room,
3328 Cerrillos Road
“Creating political will for a livable world.”
[email protected]
Santa Fe Recycling
Make 2014 the year to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as you can. City residential curbside customers can recycle at no additional
cost and drop by 1142 Siler Road, Building
A to pick up free recycling bins. At least 50
percent of curbside residential customers
recycle now. Let’s take that number to 100
percent. For more information, visit http://
www.santafenm.gov/trash_and_recycling or
call 505.955.2200 (city); 505.992.3010 (county); 505.424.1850 (SF Solid Waste Management Agency).
HERE & THERE
Through March 28, M-F, 9 am-5 pm
Contemporary Handwoven
Art Exhibition
Taos Town Hall
400 Camino de las Placita, Taos, NM
Taos Arts Council and Weaving Southwest
present a weaving and tapestry exhibition
featuring more than 18 northern NM fiber
artists. The show is funded in part by NM
Arts, a division of the Dept. of Cultural Affairs and the NEA. 575.779.8579, pcf1947@
yahoo.com,
http://taosartscouncil.org/
weaving-southwest-at-taos-town-hall/,
www.weavingsouthwest.com
Feb. 2, 11 am-2 pm
6th Annual Soup-R-Bowl Party
Thome Domínguez Community
Center, Los Lunas, NM
Fundraiser for UNM-Virginia Casados
Scholarship Fund. Handmade bowls for
$10. Includes homemade soups, breads and
desserts. Event directly across from and
hosted by Tomé Art Gallery, 2930 Hwy. 47.
505.565.0556
Feb. 10-11
Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference
Washington, D.C.
“Where Jobs and the Environment Meet” Informative workshops led by issue experts, state
and local government officials, agency officials,
business and industry representatives. Workshops include: Climate Resiliency and Adaptation; Creating Good, Green Jobs: Repairing
Our Economy; Repairing and Transforming
Our Energy Systems; Repairing Our Workplaces, Communities and the Environment;
Repairing and Transforming Our Manufacturing Base; Repairing Our Democracy; Repairing Our Schools and Communities to Be
Healthy and Safe; Water and Pipes: Repairing
the Infrastructure Under Us. $225/$125. www.
greenjobsconference.org/
Feb. 14 Application Deadline
Northern New Mexico
Conservation Opportunity
Rocky Mountain Youth Corps is hiring young
women and men 18-25 for seasonal, full-time conservation programs. Applications and program
descriptions: 575.751.1420, www.youthcorps.org
Feb. 18 Public Comment Deadline
Río Grande del Norte National
Monument Management Plan
The BLM is accepting suggestions on what
issues and concerns it should consider as it
develops the plan for the 380-square-mile
area to ensure protection of cultural, ecological and geologic assets. Input may be
submitted by mail to BLM Taos Field Office,
226 Cruz Alta Rd, Taos, NM 87571; or email:
[email protected]
Feb. 18-20
GreenBiz Forum
Montelucia Resort, Phoenix, AZ
This forum brings together GreenBiz Group,
the Sustainability Consortium, and ASU’s
Global Institute of Sustainability. Noted
thinkers and influential leaders will provide
an in-depth look at the key challenges and
opportunities facing sustainable business
today. Workshops and networking opportunities. www.greenbiz.com/events/greenbiz
forum/2014/02/arizona
Feb. 26
Composting Made Easy
Pajarito Environmental Education
Center, Los Alamos, NM
With certified arborist Laural Hardin. $8/$6.
[email protected], 505.662.0460
March 3, 6:30-8 pm
Local Food Summit
Denver, Colorado
Mile High Business Alliance presents this
2nd annual summit focused on connecting
Colorado’s food system to create a healthy,
resilient food economy. This conferencestyle event will provide industry-specific
opportunities for engagement, community
building, education and problem solving.
https://milehighbiz.org/civicrm/event/
info?reset=1&id=174
March 5, 7 pm
Celebration of Albuquerque’s
Wildlife Federation’s Centennial
Center, Los Alamos, NM
Kristina Fisher and Phil Carter of AWF will
talk about the group’s history, show photos and documents, and information about
current ecological restoration across NM.
www.PajaritoEEE.org
March 26-27
Sustainability Summit and Expo
Wisconsin Center
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Implementing sustainable business models,
supply chain innovation, freshwater challenges – global and local, sustainability opportunities in global markets, sustainable
food supply, the efficiency and nutrition revolution, sustainable energy, climate: the global
challenge. www.sustainabilitysummit.us
March 26-28
GLOBE 2014
Vancouver, BC, Canada
13th biennial conference and trade fair on business and sustainability. Speakers include Amory Lovins, Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain
Institute; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman
of the board, Nestle; Hans Engel, CFO, BASF.
400 exhibitors from North America, Latin
America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
604.637.6649, www.GLOBESeries.com
March 26-28
2014 National Food Hub
Conference
Raleigh, North Carolina
“Building capacity for healthy regional food
systems” www.ngfn.org/
March 29, 10:30 am
Earthquakes in Our Backyard
Center, 3540 Orange St.
Los Alamos, NM
Class for kids and adults to learn how, where
and when earthquakes occur around Los Alamos. Advance registration required. $10/$8.
www.PajaritoEEE.org
39
40

February 2014 PDF Edition

Transcription

Similar documents

10x10 Oct 11 Newsline Ad Santa`s Arrival

PASADENA`S NEW LUXURY HOTEL

Retail Space for Lease 1911 Wilshire Boulevard Santa Monica, CA

City Design Tour

View the Event Flyer

`Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the city, the Santa

HUT Internacional

GRAN CLUB SANTA LUCIA ***

open pdf file - Neighborhood Christian School

With Madhvi and Asim Mehta`s Group

New Mexico`s AcequiAs: wAter: ? !

Acequia Governance Handbook - New Mexico Acequia Association