December 2014 Green Fire Times

News & Views

G reen G ifting

December 2014

from the

S u s t ai n ab l e S o u t h w e s t

R enewing O ur T raditions R egional H oliday F oods G rowing Y oung L eaders

Northern New Mexico’s Largest Circulation Newspaper

Vol. 6 No. 12

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Vol. 6, No. 12 • December 2014 Issue No. 68 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 Editors Stephen Klinger Susan Clair Webmaster: Karen Shepherd Contributing Writers

English Bird, Susan Clair, Susan Guyette, Celerah Hewes-Rutledge, Alejandro López, Maceo Carrillo Martinet, Vicki Pozzebon, Sarah Pierpont, Lia Lynn Rosen, Seth Roffman, Matt Sherman, Teri Shore

Contributing Photographers

Anna C. Hansen, Tom R. Kennedy, Alejandro López, Michaela O’Brien-Norton, Seth Roffman, Loretta Sandoval, Teri Shore

PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANTs

Karen H. Strawn, Cynthia Trujillo, Azlan White, Cisco Whitson-Brown

Office Assistants

Franchette, Claire Ayraud

Advertising Sales

Skip Whitson 505.471.5177 skip@greenfiretimes.com

News & Views

from the

Sustainable Southwest

Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project

Contents

The Local Voice: How to Gift Green for the Non-DIYer in All of Us . . .. . 7 The Gift of Light, Warmth and Fire . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 8 Renewing Our Traditions with Ancient New Mexican Arts as Inspiration . . . 9 Everyday Green: Gifting Native Green . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 10 Advertorials . . .. . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 12 Views from the Field: Camino de Paz Montessori – Growing Young Leaders.17 Certified Beekeepers Apprentice Program . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 19 Regional Holiday Foods . . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 20 The Gift of Self: Edwina García Wood: For English, .

Press One; Para Español, Presione el Dos . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 24 Glenys Carl: Building an Army of Volunteers who Love and Care . . .. . .. 25 Thinking about Reducing Waste and Valuing Food over the Holidays. . .. . 27 A Campus Waste-Awareness Campaign at Santa Fe Community College. . .. . 28 National Wilderness Conference Invigorates Wilderness Warriors . . .. . . 31 Foreigners in their Own Lands . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 31 Newsbites . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 30, 37 What’s Going On. . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 38

Anna C. Hansen 505.982.0155 dakinidesign@newmexico.com Robyn Montoya 505.692.4477 robyn.greenfiretimes@gmail.com

Distribution

Barbara Brown, Susan Clair, Co-op Dist. Services, Nick García, Andy Otterstrom (Creative Couriers), Tony Rapatz, Wuilmer Rivera, Andrew Tafoya, Cynthia Trujillo, Skip Whitson, John Woodie

Circulation: 27,000 copies Printed locally with 100% soy ink on 100% recycled, chlorine-free paper

Green Fire Times

c/o The Sun Companies P.O. Box 5588, SF, NM 87502-5588 505.471.5177 • info@greenfiretimes.com © 2014 Green Fire Publishing, LLC Green Fire Times provides useful information for community members, business people, students and visitors—anyone interested in discovering the wealth of opportunities and resources in the Southwest. In support of a more sustainable planet, topics covered range from green businesses, jobs, products, services, entrepreneurship, investing, design, building and energy—to native perspectives on history, arts & culture, ecotourism, education, sustainable agriculture, regional cuisine, water issues and the healing arts. To our publisher, a more sustainable planet also means maximizing environmental as well as personal health by minimizing consumption of meat and alcohol.

Green Fire Times is widely distributed throughout north-central New Mexico. Feedback, announcements, event listings, advertising and article submissions to be considered for publication are welcome.

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Chile wreaths at the Taos Farmers’ Market

COVER: Christmas Tree, Inn and Spa at Loretto, Santa Fe

Photo by Loretta Sandoval

• Photo by Seth Roffman

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

Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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The Local Voice

How to Gift Green for the Non-DIYer in All of Us

Green Gifting

I don’t do crafts. I’m not really a DIY person who makes scrapbooks or crafts or Mason jars full of pretty, colorful stacks of beans as gifts for my friends. I’m much more practical in my gift giving. I like to think about what someone might really want but not necessarily buy or do for themselves.

And I usually try to keep it in my own budget. Gift giving can be a tough thing for a lot of people, especially those of us who don’t want to spend hard money on things that aren’t necessary or seem frivolous.

So, here, I offer some fun and practical solutions to giving in the spirit of being green for the holidays. But first, let’s define “green” as follows:

• Local (less carbon footprint in both purchasing and manufacturing, and the money I spend on it stays in my community) • Recycled or reused • Practical and fun • Less of a burden on our Mother Earth; that is, more conscious and responsible

I like to think about what someone might really want but not necessarily buy or do for themselves.

These are tried and true things I’ve done:

1. Throw a holiday party. Instead of exchanging gifts with friends and family, throw a party to celebrate your family and friends together. Try to buy everything for the party locally: food decorations and little gift bags of goodies to give your guests to take home. You can find fun things at second-hand stores, desserts at local candy and chocolate shops and interesting centerpieces made from local art. Get creative. Have fun with it. Play a round of appreciation, where each person chooses another’s name from a hat and writes down a few things they appreciate about that person.

2. Make something. I already confessed I’m not a maker; I’m a writer. Therefore, I’ve written poetry for people, found a fun frame and made it a wall-art piece, personalized just for them. Or I find inspiring poems or quotes and frame them as gifts. Do the thing you love to do, and turn it into a gift from your heart.

3. Donate to a nonprofit of your friends’ or family members’ choice.

Ask them, if they had $50, where would they donate it? Do it for them in their honor, and send them a nice handmade or locally made card to tell them.

4. Buy books. I love to browse my local, independent, new- and used bookstores for topic titles my friends and family might enjoy. A bundle of gently used books wrapped in a fun way will make a great gift for the reader types. I like that bookstores often have locally made gifts to go with my book purchases, too.

Hand-made local cards, photography and journals are always great gifts.

5. Buy food. I am a self-professed foodie. I like to share my local farmers’-market and local-product finds with people. I will often put together local-product gift bags for friends and family to taste and try things I want to share. New Mexico is rich with local products that come from all over the state. Check out your farmers’ market, local grocery store and co-op, and visit Delicious New Mexico for more ideas. There are

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dozens of holiday craft and food shows, too, and you’re sure to find some delicious treats there. Don’t forget sweet treats, pet treats, and body-care products, all handmade with local love.

6. Buy something arty. You can’t throw a rock without hitting an arty store or locally made craft store in my town.

Check them out for locally made things like earrings, scarves, clothes, hats, paintings—you name it. The Railyard Market on Sundays in Albuquerque is a great shopping spot. And, in Santa Fe, the Artisan Market at the Farmers’ Market Pavilion offers endless, locally made art choices.

7. G ive the gift of wellness. Give massage gift cards, yoga classes, gym passes, or a threeclass pass to their favorite fitness spot. Or give them the chance to try something new they might have suggested wanting to try.

Climbing? River trip? Ski lesson? And offer to go with them because falling down together is way more fun.

© Anna C. Hansen

T

rue confession:

© Seth Roffman (3) Santa Fe Railyard Park artisans

Vicki Pozzebon

8. A re you a great cook? Make some great dinners or soups to freeze and give them to busy friends or friends who have a cooking phobia or eat out a lot.

Put a little note on each dinner with a reminder that food is love.

9. G ive local gift certificates. These are an endless well of possibilities. Local restaurants, retailers, outdoor stores, you name it; they all have gift certificates in this day and age. Even local coffee shops have gift certificates. And if you think it’s too much to run around to each place, think about it the next time you are at your favorite restaurant or buying your clothes or coffee somewhere; grab a gift card while you’re at it, and put your friend’s name on it until the holidays.

10. G ive the gift of an experience. Make a cute card that says you’ll take them for dinner, movie, hike, swim—something fun that you can do together. Give it an expiration date, so they use it within a few months, and don’t forget or you’ll look cheap!

Most importantly, think about your own shopping and conscious consumer habits, and give gifts that you would want to share. Look for products that have a social mission, too. I like to find things that are benefitting women’s cooperatives in other countries where they make a fair wage for their beautiful products. I like to find things that have a story behind the product, too. Get creative, shop local, and have a very merry, happy holiday! i Vicki Pozzebon is the owner of Prospera Partners, a consulting company practicing bold localism. She is a BALLE Fellow and the author of the forthcoming book For the Love of Local: Confessions from the Heart of Community. Read her blog, The Local Voice, at www. prosperapartners.org and follow her on Twitter: @vickipozzebon

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The Gift of Light, Warmth and Fire

Alejandro López

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e are accustomed to thinking of gifts as coming from people but, in fact, it is nature that continuously gives us our greatest gifts and, usually, without charging a single penny. Among the most important gifts nature gives us this time of year—gifts that we can pass on to others—are the gifts of light, warmth and fire. In northern New Mexico, amid the rawness of a tough winter climate, those who came before us revered fire and kept fires burning in their hearths and hearts in many forms, be it a hot cup of coffee, a hot meal or a place next to a roaring fire extended to friends and strangers alike.

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In the summertime, fire is not what it is in the winter. In the summer, a fire may be what we decide to cook with outside on an outing or for a barbecue. Or it may be used to eliminate a pile of weeds that has accumulated in the yard. Fire may be what we use to transform the fragile walls of our uncooked pottery into vessels that, as if by magic, mimic stone and hold water. If we are not so lucky in the summer, whether because of human error or carelessness or as a result of prolonged drought and global warming, the words “wall” and “fire” may take on a different meaning, and we might find ourselves concerned about a wall of fire headed toward our communities.

In the winter, of course, fire both warms and illuminates. As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, bonfires mitigate the darkness, so that people can remain outside past five o’clock, as they do during the great Christmas processions at Ohkay Owingeh and Taos pueblos. In Nuevo Mexicano communities throughout northern New Mexico, la gente have traditionally lit farolitos to line the pathways leading from their homes to local shrines and churches, so the Christ child can find his way.

In recent years, this tradition has been taken up by multitudes of people who have moved here from other places. The spectacle of farolito-lined homes and galleries on Santa Fe’s Canyon Road is now an enormous attraction for visitors and residents alike. Those who originated this humble custom could scarcely have imagined that a brown paper sack partly filled with sand to hold a lit candle in place would be put to the service of so much holiday camaraderie and commercial fanfare.

It could be, though, that the most significant use of winter fires is for cooking meals, warming up our abodes and inviting into our homes and to our tables not only our family and friends but also those who are sick or alone or who have no home or food.

It is for these times that we bring out the candles, light them at the table, and settle in for a lengthy conversation in which we explore the meaning of this enigma that we call life and the hardships, victories and joys it deals out to us. We may offer up a toast of any kind of drink. Just remember that, in toasting, we need to hold the glass prism just so, so that the candlelight or the tongues of the roaring fire in the hearth recall the sun in all its splendor. This is the real source of fire, which, whether we know it or not, is already making plans to return to fully illuminate and quicken to life all of the northern hemisphere, sometime near the middle of March. Here’s to the fuego in us all! i

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Photo © Seth Roffman

At Taos Pueblo, as indeed in many of the pueblos, this custom is still kept alive by those who remember that joy in life comes from sharing with others that which we most relish ourselves.

Renewing Our Traditions with Ancient New Mexican Arts as Inspiration

Green Gifting

Lia Lynn Rosen

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s a center of creative and spiritually based arts and culture for thousands of years, how can our past in New Mexico inform this season of gift giving? How can our heritage of the handmade—at one time, the sole source of all material culture—transform a time of year when commercialism, a year-round focus on the mainstream culture, overtakes most aspects of public life, from relentless advertising to background Muzak®, now beginning at Halloween and continuing through the year’s end? As an alternative to this well-known excess, we may instead choose to be guided by a common root of generosity, gratitude and celebration with family and friends in the dark of the year, when our gifts may become lights for collective remembrance and revaluing of what is most important in our lives.

New Mexico’s heritage can serve as a model for our gifting and giving.

Fired pot photo © Alejandro Lopez

In New Mexico, as in locations with other ancient cultures, knowledge of the handmade and “creativity as necessity,” alongside agriculture and land stewardship, are mainstays and have remained a way of life, a tool for survival and identity and a deep expression of shared cultural values. As an artist-potter and educator who has learned a great deal from the ancient fine arts of our state, I’d like to suggest that this heritage can serve as a model for our gifting and giving, creating for those we love with the integrity of the human-made: baked, knit, written, molded, sculpted, strung, painted, sung and danced. These expressions are among the most personal and valued. Indeed, in a time of the “virtual” surpassing the real, we hunger evermore for fine crafts that are sincere expressions of timeless values.

I often say that each artist today operates as a “tribe of one,” working as an individual, yet carrying our own cultural values and norms and, with a good deal of experimentation and exploration, responding to materials with fresh ideas and innovation. This kind of approach is key to our work having unique expression and authenticity of our own time and place. Yet, as many of us quickly discover and can readily observe, subsequent commercial success of some of our work may cause it to become stale due to the repetition stemming from “fitting in” to the capitalist framework. It is up to each of us to determine how to balance our creativity, our work and the need to make a living, and how to respect the love and care that our own and others’ work, at its best, may contain. How we approach the holidays in our gifting—making and giving—may be inspired by those who came before; be it a grandparent, tía or the ancients. Our aware consideration of how we give can be a contribution to building a healthier alternative to the mainstream and create a culture that can contribute to an ongoing flow of art, expression, education and humanity in our times. i Lia Lynn Rosen is an artist-educator living and working on the Turquoise Trail with her business, Tierra Sagrada Pottery (TierraSagradaPottery. com). She has been working with clay, kids, families and community for over 40 years, studying ancient Southwestern pottery, history and culture for most of that time, cultivating a keen awareness of the history and importance of where we live.

I live and work in the upper plain or llano of the Turquoise Trail, a traditional ranching area just east of the Cerrillos Hills, a now-rural residential area off Highway 14.

In this windblown, vast landscape, one of many pueblos of the Galisteo Basin existed for 400 years until the time of the Pueblo Revolt, when the inhabitants likely joined with another nearby pueblo.

San Marcos Olla Prior to that, San Marcos Pueblo, c. 1250-1680, was a major center throughout the Southwest for pottery-making production and trade. The people also engaged in the mining of fine metals (including lead, mostly used in glaze decoration) and stones, particularly turquoise, to fashion, as today, into the gorgeous jewelry our region is known for. In ancient times, clay, metals and minerals were respectfully mined and used to create culturally based artworks that transmitted and held shared, deeply rooted beliefs that expressed the core of those societies. We must also note the striking difference in this careful use of natural resources in contrast to the plundering-for-profit that came later in the 1900s, with the mining of turquoise in this area to its near-depletion.

Here, in New Mexico, as perhaps in no other place in the country, one can find evidence of carefully made native artworks on the land itself, all over our state: “shards” of a kind of intentional, necessary and mindful commerce (the root of “commercial”) and trade, but with a different intent and focus than the addictive mass marketing of today. How we learn from and honor this heritage of a saner model of giving, trading and producing can be a guide for all of us and especially those of us working as artists, growers, healers and educators.

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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EVERYDA Y GREEN

Gifting Native Green

Susan Guyette

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ifts from Mother Earth are plentiful at local tribal locations, and interpretation from the artists adds richness to holiday tradition. Among the Native American–made arts found locally, look for pottery (both micaceous and polychrome designs), turquoise, coral and silver jewelry, sculptures, paintings, Pueblo foods, musical instruments, pottery tree ornaments, beadwork, dreamcatchers, rugs and more. Local, unique, handmade gifts that also support cultural-retention efforts add extra meaning to gifting.

In the Native way, cultural meaning of the arts is complex and rich.

Advantages of buying from Native artists include having the opportunity to talk with artists directly about their work and the materials and the possibility of having an authentic experience close to home. You can add some adventure and stories to your shopping. Plus, the full price of the artwork goes directly to the artist.

Find the Native Unique

Starting from the northern region of New Mexico, experience cultural gems that provide over a dozen buying opportunities and shows. Here are a few: • At Taos Pueblo, over 30 Native-owned shops feature a wide range of pottery, baskets, jewelry, clothing, CDs and Native foods, as well as tours offered by the pueblo—seven days a week. www.taospueblo.com

© Seth Roffman

• The Poeh Winter Market will be held Dec. 5-7, 11 a.m to 7 p.m at the Buffalo Thunder Resor t main lobby, Pojoaque Pueblo.

Additionally, the Poeh Cultural Center Native Artists Showcase at Buffalo Thunder, 15 miles north of Santa Fe, features the work of Poeh Center instructors and advanced students, Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 6 p.m.

Look for contemporary jewelry, pottery, baskets, and regalia. www.facebook.com/ nativeartistsshowcase • At the Poeh Cultural Center and Museum location off Highway 285, Roxanne Swentzell’s Tower Gallery features internationally renowned bronze sculptures and Pueblo hospitality. www.roxanneswentzell.net • In the Picuris Gift Shop at the Hotel Santa Fe (in Santa Fe), owned by the tribe, artistic gifts such as micaceous pottery and paintings, directly from artists at Picuris Pueblo, can be found. 505.955.7853. www.hotelsantafe.com • The Jicarilla Apache Culture Center at the Jicarilla Apache Nation in Dulce, New Mexico, sells baskets and jewelry. 575.759.1343. Jicarilla Arts and Crafts sells world-renowned Jicarilla baskets. 575.759.4380; the Community Center is holding a preholiday bazaar on Dec. 11, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. 575.759.4376. www. A Question of Balance jicarillaonline.com for a community map.

by Roxanne Swentzell

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

Poeh Cultural Center and Museum showroom, Pojoaque Pueblo

• The Institute of American Indian Arts presents it annual holiday market on the campus (83 Avan Nu Po Road), Dec. 13 from 9 am to 4 pm. Over 50 noted and up-and-coming artists will sell their works. 505.424.2351, ericdavis@iaia.edu

• Kewa (formerly Santo Domingo) Pueblo will hold its annual bazaar featuring arts and foods on Dec. 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Santo Domingo Public School. 505.465.2214.

• Walatowa Visitor Center at Jemez Pueblo sells arts and crafts in the gift store.

Additionally, enjoy the sale of arts and crafts and traditional foods at Jémez Red Rocks, weekends, weather permitting. 575.834.7235. www.jemezpueblo.com • At the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, in Albuquerque, a wide range of tribal arts can be found in the Shuma Kolowa Native Arts store, and tribal vendors sell on weekends. Enhance your shopping experience viewing Pueblo dancing at noon on weekends. 505.724.3500, www.indianpueblo.org • The Arts and Crafts Fair at the Bureau of Indian Affairs office is another opportunity for finding Native arts, Friday, Dec. 19, at 1011 Indian School Road NW. Albuquerque. 505.563.5104.

• The Sandía Circle Arts & Crafts Fair will be held Dec. 20 at the Sandía Pueblo Wellness Center (just north of Albuquerque). 505.369.5957.

• At Acoma Pueblo, the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum is open weekends for winter hours, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Artists sell directly from booths, and the museum store features books, T-shirts, jewelry and pottery. Tours are available. www.acomaskycity.org • Zuni Tribe, one of the largest tribes in New Mexico, is renowned for exquisite inlay and petit point turquoise jewelry. At the Zuni Artists’ Pavilion adjacent to the Visitor Center, artists sell directly to the public. www.zunitourism.com Enjoy the catalog of the nonprofit Southwest Indian Foundation and the store in Gallup, New Mexico, for the arts of Navajo, Zuni and other tribes. Locally produced foods, jewelry, socks, books and CDs are featured. Profits bring food and wood stoves to low-income tribal families. www.southwestindian.com For maps, event listings and phone numbers to tribal locations, check the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center’s website http://indianpueblo.org/19pueblos/pueblomap/html and the New Mexico Department of Tourism website www.newmexico.org/events

Plan Ahead for 2015

Fascinating Native art shows are scheduled throughout the year. The major Native art event, Santa Fe Indian Market, to be held Aug. 22–23, around the plaza in Santa Fe, features over 1,000 artists. SWAIA also holds an Annual Winter Indian Market in late November. www.swaia.org. The new Indigenous Fine Art Market at the Santa Fe Railyard features Native contemporary arts and starts Aug. 21, the day before Indian Market.

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Buy direct from Zuni artists at the 3rd Annual Zuni Pueblo MainStreet Festival, May 9, 2015 and at the Zuni Cultural Arts Expo on Aug. 8-9, the same weekend as the Gallup Inter-tribal Ceremonial. Catch the fall art show Nov. 24-26, just before Thanksgiving.

Kewa (Santa Domingo Pueblo) Annual Arts Market is held from Friday through Sunday every Labor Day weekend.

Additionally, the Jicarilla Apache Nation sponsors the Little Beaver Celebration every third weekend in July in Dulce, New Mexico, featuring tribal dancing and artists’ booths.

Several of the pueblo feast days feature artists’ booths and Native foods. Held on the same dates every year, watch for these:

© Tom R. Kennedy

June 24 Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan Pueblo), Picuris Pueblo, Aug.10 Santa Clara Pueblo, Aug.12 Taos Pueblo, Sept.30 Nambé Pueblo, Oct. 4 Pojoaque Pueblo, Dec.12

Add Meaning to Your Gifting

Zuni dancers

In the Native way, cultural meaning of the arts is complex and rich. The process of art-making is integrated with everyday life activities and important to cultural-retention efforts. Symbolism ties to traditional activities, and many designs stem from thousands of years ago.

Buying from Native artists is a learning experience. Benefits of your support include authenticity; encouragement of culturalretention efforts such as teaching the arts in families and schools; and reinforcing Native language retention. Your interest and purchases stimulate the continuity of these time-honored traditions.

Make Christmas shopping a meaningful local adventure! i Susan Guyette, Ph.D., is of Métis heritage (Micmac Indian/Arcadian French). She is a planner specializing in cultural tourism, cultural centers, museums and native foods. She is the author of Sustainable Cultural Tourism: Small-Scale Solutions and Planning for Balanced Development and co-author of Zen Birding: Connect in Nature. susanguyette@nets.com

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Advertorials

Seventh Ray Skin Care 2019 Galisteo Street, N8, Santa Fe, 505.982.9865 • www.seventhrayskincare.com

Why Facials Make a Great Green Gift

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s many become more green-thinking in their lives and their gifting, gifts with a personal touch have become increasingly popular. Rather than another piece of stuff or another thing to dust, nurturing and healing have become recognized as ideal green gifts. Facials offer a healthy, stress-reducing, soothing and renewing personal experience that nurtures wellbeing and beauty.

Products that come from nature are more acceptable to our skin. We look to nature to stimulate processes for skin regeneration. For example, using a tiny sample from plant meristems, green biotechnology cultures stem cells without the need to harvest living plants.

Biodiversity is paramount for the future of skin science.

Forward-thinking companies have put emphasis toward sustainable practices in production, packaging and eco-friendly sourcing, which helps support agriculture in local communities. One of the companies we represent uses recycled packaging, vegetable-based inks for labeling and biodegradable cellulose packing peanuts. With each product purchased from EmerginC by ReNature, the company plants a tree and ships milkweed “seed bombs” (for the Monarch butterfly) in each order for us to distribute.

We use natural and or organic products with phytonutrients and custom-formulate products using organic bases and high-quality botanicals. Every facial is customized to our clients’ needs. We have a relaxed atmosphere with two hours scheduled for every client. It’s a great privilege to do business in a field that allows us to work in a holistic fashion to enhance the health and wellbeing of our clients.

We invite you to come to Seventh Ray Skin Care. After all, we would all love an hour or two of relaxing, focused care of our skin. Remember: “Drink water and wear your sunscreen.”

Real Deal Collection Luxury Handbags and Accessories for Sale, Consignment and Trade 223 West San Francisco St., Santa Fe www.RealDealCollection.com

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ince 2006, Real Deal Collection has bought, sold, consigned and traded gently used, authentic designer bags, shoes, accessories and luggage, including renowned brands such as Balenciaga, Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton. Highly sought-after limited editions and rare vintage items can be found here, as well as timeless classics at a fraction of retail, and they are always guaranteed to be the real deal.

After hearing stories from online friends who received counterfeit bags from supposedly reputable websites, Corey Palmer founded RealDealCollection.com to create a safe marketplace where bag enthusiasts from around the world can buy, sell and trade without worry. She then opened the Real Deal Collection boutique store, where Santa Fe locals and visitors alike can recycle their designer bags and accessories that may be sitting neglected in the back of a closet. Corey draws upon years of experience honing her authentication skills and networks with other skilled specialists throughout the world.

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

Cañon del Río Retreat and Spa Jemez Springs, New Mexico

575.829.4377 • tradingco@valornet.com www.canondelrio.com

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visit to Cañon del Río can make a perfect green gift for loved ones. This small retreat and day spa is nestled in the Jemez Mountains, along a river on five acres surrounded by national forest— perfect for hiking. The bed & breakfast has six private bedrooms and provides a healthy breakfast using produce grown on-site without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Similarly, green products are used in the facility’s maintenance.

The luxurious spa has colorful, spacious therapy rooms, a dry sauna and outdoor hot tub with breathtaking mesa views. Licensed therapists offer massage, stone massage, hydrating mud wrap and a “revival cota wrap” among their customized treatments. They use indigenous herbs and all-natural New Mexico products.

The facility has hosted yoga, art and writing retreats. There is also a gift shop featuring works from local fine artists, jewelers and potters. Further information about treatments, specials and gift certificates is available online.

Rainbow Ryders Hot Air Balloon Rides Makes Fodor’s Travel Top-10 800.725.2477 • www.rainbowryders.com

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odor’s Travel recently included Rainbow Ryders Hot Air Balloon Ride Co. on its list of 10 Best Hot Air Balloon Rides in the U.S. Writing about the Albuquerque, NM—based company, Fodors, a renowned national and international travel guide, says, “Rainbow Ryders operates balloon tours along the Río Grande almost 300 days a year. Guided by FAA-certified pilots, the balloons move using wind currents and shift directions by changing altitudes. With baskets that can fit up to 12, bring a group along to party in the cool air of the desert morning.”

“It’s an honor to receive national recognition for doing what we love to do,” said Scott Appleman, president of Rainbow Ryders, which has been in business for 31 years and has flown more than 220,000 passengers. “We’re in the business of having fun and helping our passengers check items off their bucket lists, make their dreams come true, or just have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We offer travelers a unique experience that creates lasting memories, and we hope to see more visitors from across the nation.”

Cassie’s Fitness Boutique

Where Fitness and Fashion Meet 505 Cerrillos Road, Luna Center Courtyard, Santa Fe • 505.983.0647 www.cassiesboutiquesantafe.com

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assie’s Boutique, a locally owned Santa Fe business, provides personalized service and a wide selection of stylish fitness attire and activewear for women and men who want to look and feel great before, during and after workouts. Cassie’s has leggings, flare-leg and capri-length pants, skirted leggings, tank tops, long and short-sleeve workout tops, sweatshirts, shorts and jackets for yoga, dance, Pilates, tennis, running, Zumba, biking, spinning or for just working out at the gym. In addition, Cassie’s carries a large selection of LUCY Activewear and many other brands, many made in the USA, including several that are organic. Fitness accessories at Cassie’s include headbands, ToeSox, Great Soles sticky socks, leg warmers, yoga mats, cork blocks, hemp straps, fun yoga mat bags and a lot more. Gift certificates are available. Park in the Luna lot at Cerrillos & Manhattan, north of Sage Bakery.

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Southwest Green Home Center 6300 San Mateo NE, D3, Albuquerque, 87109 • 505.821.6259

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outhwest Green Home Center can provide for all of your green product needs from nontoxic milk-based paints to corn and potato starch biodegradable “plastic” flatware. Let Cathy Kumar and her friendly staff help you find ways to live a more comfortable and balanced life. For this holiday season, give a gift with extra value. A gift from SWGHC shows that you care about the person you are giving to and that you also care about our environment.

Some of SWGHC’s popular and affordable gifts include: ChicoBags – They are available in several styles, functions and sizes.

Eliminate the single-use plastic bag.

Recycled Glass Suncatchers, coasters and ornaments – Made in the USA.

Santa Fe Motor Sports Organic pillow and sheets – Bedding and sleep accessories for a healthy night’s sleep

James Kallas Jewelers

2594 Camino Entrada

505-438-1888

www.SantaFeMotorSports.com Financing available

2801 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, 87507 505.986.1955

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ames Kallas Jewelers is a local exper t jewelr y repair shop and retail jeweler. The business specializes in restoring and repairing antique and fine jewelry. All repairs and custom work are done on-site.

CAD/CAM technology is employed, which helps make possible the creation of unique, intricate designs.

A laser welder is used for delicate jobs, and cast work is also done inshop. You can bring in pieces that are collecting dust at the bottom of your jewelry box and be helped in designing something brand new that you’ll love to wear.

The store is cozy and eclectic, featuring one-of-a-kind designs from each employee. There is no such thing as a “salesperson” here. The three people who work there are all jewelers and wear many hats. You will find a friendly and unaggressive atmosphere where the advice you get is sound.

James Kallas has been running this business for 20-plus years. He has become the go-to jeweler for locals and well-informed tourists alike.

The store may be slightly off the beaten path, but it maintains the highest level of craftsmanship and customer satisfaction.

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Scottish Rite Center Space available: • special events • weddings • meetings

Tierra Sagrada Pottery Sacred Earth on the Turquoise Trail

Connecting communities through clay & culture for 40 years Offering residencies, weekly classes & weekend workshops

Lia Lynn Rosen, MA, Clay Artist & Arts Educator

505.982.4414

Secretary@NMScottishRite.org

505.428.0668 LiaRosen@Earthlink.net TierraSagradaPottery.com

Advertise in GFT Support a more sustainable world.

Anna Hansen: 505.982.0155 Skip Whitson: 505.471.5177

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Views from the field

Growing Young Leaders Camino de Paz Montessori School Alejandro López

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In addition to assistant teacher Yvonne Aivaliotis, interns Abby Lundrigan and M’Adele Miller and Pedro Medina, the groundskeeper, the “faculty” includes the goats, with names such as Hercules, Pancake and such, Annie, the resident dog, and two magnificent Belgian workhorses, Chuck and Charlie. It is no exaggeration to include these animals among the faculty because, through observation and interaction with them, as well as with a diversity of plants and other sentient beings, the children come to intimately know, connect with and appreciate the wondrous world in which we live.

No doubt, this thriving biological oasis would make the early20th-centur y Italian holistic educator, Maria Montessori, the school’s guiding light, molto felice.

Montessori posited that the garden environment, with its profusion of flora and fauna, water, soil, flowers and fruit, is the ideal environment for the development of human beings. For young children, the farm is an endless source of

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© Anna C. Hansen (2)

At Camino de Paz Montessori School, located on nine acres of farmland next to the Río Santa Cruz, in Santa Cruz, New Mexico, the wonders of creation and the richness of life are once again back at the center of young people’s lives. No doubt a reflection of the wisdom, insight and real love and concern for children that founders and teachers, Greg Nussbaum and Patricia Pantano, possess, the school’s site feels more like a nurturing home than an impersonal institution. Outside of an old, rambling adobe home with a beautiful large portal, a big apple tree with thick, powerful boughs provides shade for two large picnic tables where the school community can relish a meal. That meal, more than likely, would have been produced by the youth, from start to finish. It might include a variety of greens—bok choy, ruby red lettuce, arugula—grown in the three greenhouses, eggs from the chickens, and cheese or yogurt from the many goats one sees munching contentedly in a nearby pasture.

© Alejandro López (3)

hen, in the late 1800s, the Navajo — formerly free to traverse the length and breadth of the North American continent, ride their horses, herd their sheep and conduct their ceremonies—were defeated by the American Army and forcibly sent to government schools, only with great reluctance and sadness did they accept what they called “paper education” as a substitute for the wonders of creation and the richness of life itself.

sensorial richness, from the auditory perks of birdsong and crunching dry leaves to the visual delight of a peacock’s open plumage, the olfactory experience of fragrant roses and the tactile delight of water or sand. Here, nature provides endless biological lessons. Experiences such as the germination of seeds and the birthing of goats are among the most memorable for the youth.

In addition to all the traditional academic disciplines, the students are engaged in the real world of earth stewardship.

For adolescents, the garden comes alive in other aspects, especially those having to do with opportunity, responsibility and economy. After all, the farm is a place of productivity. Fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, meat and dairy are for consumption and for trade, barter and sale. As a result, the facility demonstrates ways in which humans can partner with nature to provide for their own and others’ survival needs.

Goat care and turning goats’ milk into cheese, yogurt and even soap, as well as the marketing of these products, have become important, character-building learning processes. Each year, the students and their support staff produce approximately 10 tons of food. Their products can be found in 14 regional stores. Profits from sales go toward class trips.

Both the day-to-day reality and the values that undergird the farm comprise the heart and soul of this intriguing school for adolescents, grades seven to nine, as well as determine the processes carried out throughout the days, weeks and seasons.

By 8:30 on a pleasant fall Friday morning, after a brief planning meeting for the day’s work and study, 12-year-old Kristyn and 13-year-old Orlando, from Santa Clara and Tesuque pueblos, respectively, map out the plants still growing in the greenhouses. Kristyn carries a large ledger to note what is growing where and at continued on page 18

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Eco-Delivery Services • 505.920.6370

Young Leaders continued from page 17

what stages of their life cycle. The two students express great interest and awe in their findings—delicate little beet seedlings, a lone forgotten carrot still in the ground and an oddly shaped turnip, which Orlando studies for a long time. They amicably inventory two greenhouses and note their findings, pausing to consider the odd, correct spelling of the word “lettuce.”

On the same morning, 12-year-old Justin takes his task to heart. He sits on a stool beside Abby, milking one of the goats with great skill. Although certainly capable of play and lightheartedness, in these surroundings and at this work, Justin conducts himself like an adult. They decide to do a somatic cell count on the milk, using a Petri dish and a solution that turns the milk a light lavender color and makes it gelatinous in the presence of certain organisms. Justin conducts the process carefully and interprets the results, checking in with Abby and Patricia Pantano to make sure that he is correct. He articulates his findings with the clarity and sophistication of a biologist.

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Nussbaum cites these qualities as the true fruits of this approach to education and personal development. “Here, the youth are treated and respected as adults,” he explains. “In addition to all the traditional disciplines of history, language, music, art, math and science, they are engaged in the real world of earth stewardship, such as soil building, animal husbandry, production and processing of food, marketing and retail, strategic planning, accounting and economics. The only difference here is that subjects such as science are taught within a living context that the youth can touch, feel, see, taste and even digest. In the coming months as the goats begin to birth, the students’ knowledge and understanding of genetics will be put to the test when their predictions will either be substantiated by the traits that the newborn kids exhibit or are proven wrong.”

Each year, Camino de Paz students make an extended field studies trip to the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, where they study coral reefs, kelp forests and salt-water estuaries and where they have been privileged to work with professional researchers.

Not long ago, the youth of the school sang in Swahili at the Tanzanian Embassy in New York before the Tanzanian ambassador and his staff. As practitioners of the arts of subsistence, the students also serve as teachers and mentors to scores of people from all over the world who come to Camino de Paz to see what a “farm school” is and to learn about responsible, benevolent earth stewardship.

Pantano says, “These young people will prove to be the solution to many of our problems and the catalysts for a caring, kind, peaceful and cooperative society of the future.”

For more information on Camino de Paz School & Farm, call 505.231.2819 or visit www. www.caminodepaz.net i Northern New Mexican writer/photographer Alejandro López has a Masters in Art Education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. As a project-based experiential educator, he has taught in a variety of settings using the arts, agriculture and building. López is the author of Hispanic Folk Arts and the Environment of the Río Grande, a bilingual curriculum for K-12 students developed under the auspices of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe.

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Certified Beekeepers Apprentice Program A First in New Mexico Susan Clair

he Certified Beekeepers Apprentice Program, new in 2014, launched in May and ended in August. All 24 adult students successfully completed the seven allday sessions of year one. The two-year program was developed with assistance from the New Mexico Beekeepers Association, the city of Albuquerque Open Space Division and Washington State Beekeepers Association and was held at the Open Space Visitor Center in Albuquerque.

The enrolled students included experienced beekeepers intending to expand their knowledge, novices with less than a year of experience and others who did not own hives but wanted to learn about honeybees and beekeeping before deciding whether to pursue their interest and invest in the necessary equipment.

“When I started the class, I had no idea what I was in for,” said Albuquerque resident Marlene Brown, one of the 24 first-year students. About two years prior to enrolling in the Certified Beekeepers program, Brown built a top-bar bee hive in a class offered in the community, but she didn’t have any bees for the hive. Twice, a friend brought her a swarm, but neither swarm stayed. In a determined effort to get her hive started, she bought a package of bees but still didn’t know how to manage them. She spoke with long-time Albuquerque beekeeper T.J. Carr, who encouraged her to participate in the new program. At first, she didn’t realize she had signed up for an intensive program that would span several months of two years. “Once I found out more about the classes, I was excited to be part of the program.

I went from being scared around the bees to being comfortable. It has been a great experience learning about

bees and talking to folks about their different experiences. I now have two hives and have done a trap-out. I’m looking forward to next year’s classes.”

Allan Emord, another student in the program, was impressed with the “immense amount of information that was presented by very knowledgeable and experienced beekeepers.” Classes were taught by local beekeepers and instructors in related fields.

Instructors demonstrated tools and equipment, showed descriptive slides, recommended books and explained the best practices of urban beekeeping.

Students learned about Langstroth and top-bar hives, types of honeybees and their respective characteristics, protective clothing and equipment, establishing hives in an urban neighborhood, seasonal hive inspection and management, botany and pollinators, hive pests and diseases, queen-bee rearing, honey production and har vesting, wax processing, marketing and selling honey, and beevenom therapy, known as apitherapy.

In addition to the required classroom instruction, each session included supervised hands-on time with the live hives at the Open Space Visitor Center bee yard.

To become certified, students are required to complete 40 hours of volunteer work in community service.

They may choose to volunteer at the Open Space Visitor Center for special pollinator events, work the exhibit table at the New Mexico State Fair, teach elementary schoolchildren about honeybees, assist in a trap-out or a cut-out or find other related volunteer opportunities.

The eight members of the programplanning committee—all volunteers— generously dedicated ample hours,

© Michaela O’Brien-Norton

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energy and creativity into developing a beekeeping education program worthy of certification. They established curriculum requirements, planned the schedule of sessions that spanned three months, developed a fullcolor, comprehensive handbook that included instructive photographs and illustrations and recruited experienced instructors.

Developing healthy hives suitable for an urban environment The program was developed to achieve six specific objectives: consistent training in the best practices of backyard beekeeping; development of healthy, gentle hives suitable for an urban environment; community education and outreach; mentoring access for beekeepers; volunteers for community hives; and a streamlined approach for managing swarms.

After the classes of the seventh session, students and members of the planning committee held a celebratory party, so students could receive their “Year 1 Certificate of Completion” and enjoy

a delicious lunch provided by the committee and taste samples of honey from many personal hives.

The 2015 Certified Beekeepers program is scheduled to start in early spring.

Year 1 students will follow a curriculum similar to the 2014 program. Saturday sessions are planned for March 28, April 18, May 9, May 30, June 13, July 11 and Aug. 1.

Year 2 students will spend most of their program time working at live hives, with supervision, in the bee yards of experienced beekeepers. Flexible scheduling will include core content and elective classes for students to focus on their particular areas of interest as they relate to honeybees.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Certified Beekeepers Apprentice Program may visit the New Mexico Beekeepers Association website at www.nmbeekeepers.org or contact Susan Clair, program coordinator, at clair@nmia.com i Susan Clair, MCRP/ M PA , h a s b e e n a beekeeper for six years. She coordinated the f irst NM–based

© Seth Roffman

Certified Beekeepers Apprentice Program, launched in spring 2014, under the New Mexico Beekeepers Association. She leads workshops on wholefoods and plantbased nutrition.

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Regional Holiday Foods New Mexico has had a vibrant local food economy for centuries.

Celerah Hewes-Rutledge – Delicious New Mexico

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his holiday season many of us have two things on our mind: shopping and food. While we are continually subjected to the pleas of national retailers to spend money with them, take advantage of sales and get holiday shopping done earlier and earlier in the year, I would like to suggest that you stop! Take a deep breath, and think about food. We spend much of the holiday season sitting around the table with loved ones, shopping for ingredients, whipping up that traditional family food in the kitchen and, of course, eating. Why not consider how you can extend that warm, full feeling you get this time of year as you shop for gifts? At Delicious New Mexico, we encourage you to take another step and think about how you can give the gift of food while supporting local businesses. If you aren’t making it in your kitchen, isn’t the next best thing having it made right down the street?

Buying local food gifts is a great way to support local food entrepreneurship in your community.

© Seth Roffman (2)

New Mexico has had a vibrant local food economy for centuries. Our roots are deep in a tradition of agriculture, livestock and food production. We are proud of our many local restaurants and are starting to have an increased awareness of where the products they use come from. In recent years, we are also seeing a boom in local value-added food businesses, due to the increased

demand for local products in stores.

Whether it is the local co-op or a chain grocery store, you are now much more likely to find local products on the shelves than you were only a few years ago, and the selection of products has increased as well. In addition to our many local salsas, you can now find a variety of sauces, baked goods, meat products and cheeses that were made right here in New Mexico.

A great idea for a food product begins long before the product makes it to the shelf or into your home. It starts with family and friends eating many versions until it is just right, and then moves forward with the encouragement of our community to get the food to the public. Only then does it make its way into a kitchen and onto a store shelf.

Some of these local food businesses get off the ground by taking advantage of the few commercial kitchens in the state.

These allow new food entrepreneurs to make their products in a top-ofthe-line commercial facility while they grow their business at a fraction of the cost it would take to start a kitchen of their own. In addition, they are able to comply with FDA regulations and receive support from peer networks and partner organizations to get their product out to the public.

Some of your favorite local products may have started in a commercial kitchen like The Mixing Bowl in Albuquerque’s South Valley, headed by the dedicated Ernie Rivera. This includes products like Heidi’s Raspberry Jam, Tío Frank’s Chile Sauce, Villa Myriam Coffee, Celina’s Biscochitos and others.

Because of the success of products like these, we are seeing more aspiring entrepreneurs looking for commercial kitchens. In 2015, the newest of these kitchens will open in Española, allowing more rural and local food producers to have access to a commercial kitchen without having to cover the expense of doing it on their own.

Tío Frank’s natural chile sauces — a family business

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At Delicious New Mexico, we are passionate about helping these food businesses get their p ro d u c t s t o yo u r table, and we do this by creating greater access to the tools local food businesses need to thrive. As you think about gifts this season, think about these food products as items that were made by your neighbors, community leaders and friends. They are not only gifts that are delectable; they also give back to the New Mexico economy. Studies have shown that local businesses give back to the community by donating their goods and services 350 percent more than national chains. They also are more involved in local activities and causes, helping to create a more diverse and vibrant New Mexico.

If you would like to give the gift of local food but do not want to hunt down local food products, there are lots of other ways to give. You don’t need to buy that gift card to the chain restaurant; local restaurants offer gift certificates too, including many you can even purchase online. A cookbook on local or regional cuisine also makes a fantastic gift. Delicious New Mexico just released Dishing Up New Mexico, authored by Dave DeWitt, a renowned New Mexico cookbook author and founder of the Fiery Foods Show. Dishing Up New Mexico features profiles and recipes from many local food businesses across the state.

If you have children you need to shop for, Cooking with Kids in Santa Fe offers a variety of classes. Old Windmill Dairy offers cheese-making classes at its farm, just south of Moriarty—what a great way to spend a Sunday! If you want to give the gift of local produce all summer long, consider gifting a CSA (community-supported agriculture) membership from a local farm. Amyo Farms, Erda Gardens and Skarsgard Farms are a few of the options in central New Mexico. Going to someone’s house for a holiday party? Bring along a pie from New Mexico Pie Company or another local bakery in your area.

If you are looking for a gift for someone who likes to give back, consider making a donation to a food-related nonprofit in your area. New Mexico Agri-Cultura Network, The Mixing Bowl and Delicious New Mexico are just a few nonprofit organizations working every day to boost local food production in New Mexico and build our economy.

While you are budgeting for your holiday shopping, making out those last minute lists and sitting around the table eating, the team at Delicious New Mexico hopes that you will think about the many people who make the food and products you enjoy and hope that you will discover that buying local food gifts is not only easy and fun but is also a great way to support local food entrepreneurship in your community. i Celerah Hewes-Rutledge is the executive director of Delicious New Mexico. She can be contacted at Celerah@ deliciousnm.org.

You can purchase Dishing Up New Mexico locally at deliciousnm.org

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Photos by Anna C. Hansen and Seth Roffman

TOP (l-r): Santa Fe Farmers’ Market: Nina Yozell-Epstein and Lauren Clausen with Milk & Honey lotion products; Pilar Ababia and daughter Ana Maria Sopyn with wreaths and arrangements; Camilla Trujillo with herbal body balms; gourd art by Aminita Thorp; pine needle and rosemary baskets

by Victoria Adams; seed sets from Zulu’s Petals Organic Farm; BOTTOM: Taos Food Center showcase: Micah Roseberry, owner of the Farmhouse Café and Bakery (l) and Aspen Dawn Mirabal (r), Matt Thomas of Matt’s Bakery; handmade herbal soaps from Wildhood Farm and delectable baked goods

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Thank you Green Fire Times...!

James H. Auerbach, MD Supporting Independent Media

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Advertise in the Think Local First Guide Bernalillo County’s 3rd Annual Smart Guide to Local Green Business This premiere directory with a glossy cover focuses on the economic benefits of buying from locally owned businesses.

Separate your business from the pack and let everyone know your commitment to sustainable business practices.

Circulation: 40,000

Readership: 160,000

An additional 15,000 copies will be placed at the ABQ Sunport, other Bernalillo County locations and Green Chamber events.

Ads run from $249 to $549. Call for details: 505.244.3700 or email: Info@nmgreenchamber.com Advertising Deadline: December 19; Publish Date: January 21, 2015 Sponsored by The Alibi, NM Green Chamber of Commerce and Bernalillo County

505-244.3700

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Edwina García Wood For English, Press One; Para Español, Presione el Dos Alejandro López

I slept and dreamt that life was joy I awoke and saw that life was service I acted and understood that service was joy

— Rabindranath Tagore

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hen I look around and think of people who make a difference in the lives of others on a daily basis, I think of Edwina García Wood. She is a woman whose mission in life is to assist immigrant women in Santa Fe make the transition from their native language—usually Spanish—to English. For these vulnerable women, who have left their homes, families and countries far behind to make a new life in the bewildering colossus of the north, García Wood functions as a most sensitive, informed and linguistically savvy guide on their often-precarious personal journeys. Going beyond what most guides or teachers would do, she accompanies these women along the bumpy road of familiarization with the unruly American offshoot of the Germanic family of languages (English), as well as with the new set of challenges and complexities that they meet in an unfamiliar and quirky New Mexico. Filled with a real appreciation for what the women are going through and an irrepressible sense of appreciation for our region’s complex multicultural reality, she happily leads her “sisters” from fear and dread to confidence and from wistfulness and isolation to community and full civic participation—a tall order for a rather short woman.

García Wood was born in Belén, New Mexico, around World War II and grew up in a Spanish-speaking family in the tiny Española of that time. After working for Los Alamos National Laboratory for many years as a financial administrator, she one day brought to completion all of her tasks, left the “hill,” and never looked back.

She began her new life by taking a trip through México with her daughter, Stacie, who, although having grown up speaking only English in Los Alamos, became fluent in Spanish owing to a job that she took as an engineer in a U.S.-run maquiladora (assembly plant) in Ciudad Juárez. As mother and daughter made their way through the cities, towns and villages of this extraordinary country that once cradled Nuevo México, García Wood came to the realization that, although her half-Anglo daughter could communicate effortlessly in the mercado (market), she herself could not go beyond a rigid and insipid tourist Spanish and connect with the hearts of the people.

It was at the Villa Therese Children’s Clinic that she became aware of the need for young immigrant mothers to learn to speak English. She could see the disadvantages they experienced, the fear on their faces, and their dependency on their 5- or 6-year-old children to translate medical information and prescription dosages for their infants that the doctor or nurse was giving them in English.

Soon thereafter, she learned about the English as a Second Language (ESL) tutoring program operated through the Volunteer Literacy Program at Santa Fe Community College and enrolled in one of their trainings. After successfully completing the program, an excited García Wood, always the student but now the teacher, was provided with teaching materials, classroom space and a half-dozen women, mostly from México, with whom to begin the slow, careful process of the demystification and deconstruction of the dreaded, elusive English language. Almost immediately, her instructional methods bore positive results, combining as she did the best practices of her own best instructors of, ironically, Spanish. ¡Qué esmarte! (How smart! Classic New Mexico “Spanglish.”)

She happily leads her “sisters” from fear and dread to confidence.

Although she had never been an “official” teacher, García Wood was able to instill her natural spontaneity, exuberance for life and love of adventure in her adult students. She makes use of some grammatical guides, but García Wood relies more heavily on lots of deeply relevant conversation and level-appropriate literature such as The Diary of Anne Frank, which all of the women have taken to with a vengeance. She challenges the women to use their newly acquired linguistic abilities in situations that formerly would have terrified them but are now a source of interest and pleasure.

Aware that the big wide world is the best possible textbook, García Wood, in the last five and one-half years of teaching ESL, has taken her students to an ice-skating rink to learn how to skate—and fall—in perfect, graceful English, on memorable excursions to the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos, to historic downtown Santa Fe sites and restaurants, the alpine wilderness of Los Cañones near Chama, to farmlands in the Española Valley and to the classic A Christmas Carol performance at UNM’s Popejoy Hall.

As it so happened upon her return, one day as she sat sipping her morning coffee and perusing the paper, an ad for a weeklong Spanish-language intensive class for native Spanish speakers at a local college caught her eye. It took a certain amount of courage to register, show up and brave the first few all-day classes. Only after a cathartic outburst of tears and painful sharing of unhappy childhood memories that fostered her fear of speaking Spanish was she able to clear the psychic debris of the past and begin to consciously and joyously rebuild her linguistic abode, where a few warm embers still burned.

Edwina García Wood with her students Having met with some measure of success during this first course, for several years afterwards, she took every conceivable opportunity that came her way to increase her fluency, particularly availing herself of more classes. She also began to visit the Spanish-speaking elderly of her community and volunteered at Santa Fe’s Villa Therese Children’s Clinic, which serves primarily Spanish-speaking families. Beyond this, she helped organize Spanish-language courses for others and traveled to various Spanishspeaking countries, where she often enrolled in month-long language institutes. By opening herself up to all of these experiences, in addition to cracking open the language, she experienced the rich kaleidoscope of el pueblo and la cultura hispana, which left her a much-changed and fuller person. After eight years, García Wood emerged as a fluent speaker of her native language, barring a few pesky irregular verbs and the genuinely sonorous rr sound of río and perro.

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A watershed event for many was their recent participation in an ongoing exhibit on immigrants and immigration at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, where Mildred Rodríguez, the daughter of one of her students, is proudly exhibiting one of her poems. In the realm of the practical, her students often report their recent English-language successes in obtaining a driver’s license or a health-insurance plan, paying a bill, speaking with their children’s teachers, making medical or dental appointments or a hotel © Alejandro López reservation—each an enormous hurdle. One of the things that she is most proud of is that one of her long-term students, Isabel Garrido, formerly from Mexico City, was recently selected as the first student member on the English-speaking board of the Santa Fe Literacy Volunteer Program.

García Wood’s ability to relate to adults trying to learn a new language stems from her own self-imposed barriers in speaking Spanish in the early part of her life.

Her newfound vocation of ESL tutoring during this, the final third and perhaps most interesting stage of her rich and fulfilling life, is pure joy. And it began with her own search and then passion to master her buried-away Spanish. ¡Bravo!, Edwina García Wood. i Alejandro López, northern New Mexican writer, photographer and educator, was Edwina García Wood’s first Spanish-language instructor.

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Glenys Carl Building an Army of Volunteers who Love and Care

The gift of self

Alejandro López

And that is not all, for the unrelenting Carl is currently pursuing the resources to build and train a corps of veterans free of PTSD who themselves have come home to, at best, a befuddling, precarious existence. She intends to train them to go out and work beside other veterans less fortunate than they—offering their comrades not only the physical assistance that they might need but, just as importantly, helping them to replenish their diminished spirits in the face of often insurmountable difficulties. More than a few lack limbs, while many face incurable diseases and conditions and live lives of quiet desperation.

Dividing her time almost equally between administrative duties and direct service to individuals, the indefatigable Carl, who is in bed by nine and up by six, also dreams of establishing a “hospice respite home” where patients can graciously be cared for by volunteers for any length of time so their families might get temporary relief from what are often extremely rigorous regimens of round-the-clock caretaking that can last for many years and sap a family’s strength. In a sweet and endearing voice like that of a child asking for a simple Christmas gift well within anyone’s capacity to give, she makes her dream known to the universe: “I want a hospice respite

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home really, really badly—just a little one. However, I know that after I’ve managed to build the first one, I’ll want a second little home.”

It seems very likely that Carl, who was born and raised in Dale, a tiny hamlet in Wales that sits next to the North Sea, will indeed obtain exactly what she wants, or rather, what she needs for others. She always has, ever since she found herself overwhelmed with the implacable caretaking needs of her beloved son, Scott, who, after a fouryear struggle, succumbed to the injuries he sustained during a bungled burglary attempt by a stranger while living in Australia. “At a loss to know what to do by myself in those awful circumstances where, with a sudden change of fortune, we both became illegal aliens in a country that was not ours, she recalls, I literally took to the streets as just another human being in great need and distributed leaflets openly calling for volunteers to help us. I especially needed support in the caring for my son, who was in a deep coma for four months and severely incapacitated for many years thereafter.”

Her carefully trained army of volunteers helps make the difference between destitution and dignity for hundreds of people.

A virtual groundswell of people, young and old, lay and professional, did come to their aid and surrounded them with unceasing and unconditional love, care and devotion. “Curiously,” she says, “our situation, as dire as it was, became the catalyst for the association and bonding, over time, of what amounted to hundreds of people who had been strangers to one another. Enveloped in this tight, caring community utterly transformed my situation and returned to my once-athletic, exuberant son some quality of life, for which I will always be grateful. When he awoke from the coma he, in turn, took the gift of people’s love and gave his caretakers, including myself, a glowing example of a valiant spirit and, toward his

assailant, whoever he may have been, an attitude of total forgiveness and loving kindness.”

Shortly after Scott’s death and the ensuing wave of grief that overcame her, Carl received an invitation from a friend to come live in Santa Fe. Almost immediately upon her arrival to this “high-desert paradise,” she was called back into service by the AIDS epidemic that was raging out of control. “During this period of the early ‘90s,” she said, “I attended to literally scores of individuals who, as they were meeting their end, were overcome by uncontrollable bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. One simply had to do the only thing humanly possible in situations like those, and that was to change and comfort them, which I did not mind at all.”

Following the worst of the AIDS epidemic, Carl recognized that New Mexico’s population is, on the average, getting older, living in single-person households more and more, while oftentimes foregoing the kind of assistance that people need, particularly when they become ill. “Many elderly who, for example, break a hip, have to return home to an empty house, where they fall for a second time and break the hip again,” she said. In the face of this growing crisis, Carl decided to turn her full attention to the elderly and also to those individuals with serious disabilities and illnesses. This often translates into all-day and all-night in-home care every day of the week for months and years on end.

When she speaks of all of the things that she has learned from this lifelong experience of caring for others, which she has documented in a riveting book called Hold My Hand, she is quick to say that medical insurance and government agencies, by and large, do not cover or provide the level of care that most individuals need to keep body and soul together. “In general,” she says, “neither can they give what people need most — deep levels of love and understanding. But neither can many families provide this to their own. In a highly mobile society such as ours,” she says, “family members can be spread out across the entire nation

© Alejandro Lopez

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istening to the mild-mannered Glenys Carl speak, I got the sense that if somehow she were given the reigns of the country’s armed forces, she would take them and unhesitatingly redirect their efforts, not only toward peace but to the caretaking of the legions of elderly and disabled, together with the multitudes of the lonely, forgotten and despairing amongst us and that our world would be all the better for it. After all, as founder and executive director of Coming Home Connection in Santa Fe, she is already responsible for the daily mobilization of a couple hundred mostly unpaid volunteers who disperse daily to the four directions and who, by six in the morning or midnight, are at the bedsides of people who are either too infirm or too elderly to take care of themselves.

Glenys Carl

and because of employment, familial or financial constraints, not be able to see one another for years at a time.”

This is where her carefully trained army of volunteers comes into the picture and, on a daily basis, helps make the difference between destitution and dignity for hundreds of people.

With the help of charitable organizations such as the Con Alma Foundation, the McCune Charitable Foundation, New Mexico Community Foundation, Santa Fe Community Foundation, the Rotary Club, PMS and Ambercare, as well as through the generosity of particular individuals, Carl is able to sustain the Coming Home Connection. She does pointed outreach to high school seniors and first-year college students at Santa Fe Community College, where she gets most of her volunteers. Following the recruitment and selection process, Carl, a nurse herself, personally trains the volunteers in the delivery of quality care to patients. In exchange, the volunteers gain real-life experience, which often opens up a career track for them and always leaves them changed human beings—more aware, sensitive and responsive to the needs of marginalized people.

Carl is the first to say that without the will and effort of the many volunteers that step forward, her work would come to naught. She could also say the same about the partnerships continued on page 27

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SERVICES

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Thinking about Reducing Waste and Valuing Food over the Holidays English Bird and Sarah Pierpont

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t’s time for all of us to make a commitment to reduce waste, especially food waste, over this year’s holiday season. In the United States, an extra 5 million tons of household waste is generated during November and December. This includes a 300 percent increase in the amount of food wasted during the holidays (World Watch Institute, EPA). Unfortunately, this added waste results in a 25 percent increase in the waste stream for these months.

Make a commitment to reduce food waste over this holiday season.

Celebrations don’t have to negatively impact our environment. There are simple actions the average resident can take to reduce his or her carbon footprint this time of year. These include reusing and recycling wrapping paper, making your own decorations and gifts, unplugging holiday lights when not in use, buying items with minimal packaging, regifting items, composting or mulching your Christmas tree, using reusable items when hosting, buying rechargeable batteries, and the list goes on.

The New Mexico Recycling Coalition recently launched a complementary program to assist businesses and entities that handle food to better manage this valuable resource by 1) reducing food waste in the first place; 2) donating food to the hungry; 3) feeding animals; and 4) collecting food waste for composting. These resources can be found online at www.recyclenewmexico.com/foodwaste.htm Individuals can work to reduce waste by utilizing meal-planning and wastereduction apps such as those developed by the Love Food Hate Waste organization.

Additionally, the World Waste Institute offers the following tips to reduce food waste over the holidays:

• Be Realistic: You can estimate what ideal portions would be for shared meals. Use the Love Food Hate Waste app to help you.

• Plan Ahead: Stick to a planned shopping list.

• Smaller Plates, Serving Utensils and Portions: Provide smaller serving spoons and utensils as a way to control portions. The American plate has grown 36 percent over the past 50 years; using smaller plates helps control portions.

• Store Leftovers Safely and Wisely: Store leftovers in smaller containers for future portions.

• Compost Food Waste: Now is a great time to start a home composting system.

Choose to become a Master Composter, start your own backyard compost pile, or use a compost bin. Learn more about home composting in New

Glenys Carl

continued from page 25

and collaborations her organization enjoys with Cristus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, which supplements the care her volunteers provide, and with Kitchen Angels, whose heroic personnel deliver meals to homebound individuals throughout a vast region. Without the coordinated services of these agencies, many people would find themselves forced to leave the comfort and security of their beloved homes and would have to resign themselves to living in a state-run home for the elderly. This would rob them of the warmth, beauty and comfort of their home, neighborhood and community.

New Mexico is certainly fortunate to have someone like Glenys Carl, who has the rare ability to focus on each and every person she encounters, as we grow old and disabled. Carl gives her unbridled love and attention and gently holds our hand.

Anyone interested in volunteering may call 505.988.2468. Carl’s book, Hold My Hand, a Mother’s Journey, is available through Amazon or from the offices of Coming Home Connection. Gifts or donations may be made to Coming Home Connection, Visit www.cominghomeconnection.org i

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Mexico with online resources at http://bernalilloextension. nmsu.edu/mastercomposter/ • Create New Meals: The Love Food Hate Waste app provides guidance on how some food scraps can be used to make new meals.

• Donate Excess: Food banks and shelters welcome canned and dried food donations where labels are intact and legible. Find a local feeding organization at www.rrfb.org • Give Gifts of Food with Thought: Ensure your gift is something enjoyed by the folks you are gifting it to. Avoiding highly perishable foods can help reduce waste.

Tips for a Greener Holiday Season:

• Invite friends and family to make this holiday as waste-free as possible.

• Regift—Pass on something useful that you no longer need or use.

• Cook and make holiday gifts—Consider making cookies, bread or a meal as your gift.

• Choose gifts that are an experience rather than something material.

• Buy recycled-content.

• Compost or mulch your tree; use a living tree or use a tree in your yard to decorate.

• Use creative gift wrap: Use the comics, paper from the recycling bin, or just put your gift in a recycled cardboard box that can be readily recycled or reused.

• Choose rechargeable batteries.

• Use reusable shopping bags.

• Plan meals carefully—40 percent of food is wasted from production to plate each year (USDA); store and share leftovers.

• Donate items kids have outgrown or other household items to a local charity.

• Recycle old and defective holiday lights—Most Ace Hardware stores have a program.

• Get off mailing lists—As the holiday catalogs roll in, call to cancel or go to www.dmachoice.org to opt out online • Save gift wrap and packaging for reuse.

View the full list at http://www.recyclenewmexico.com/holidays.htm i English Bird and Sarah Pierpont are with the New Mexico Recycling Coalition.

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A Campus Waste-Awareness Campaign at Santa Fe Community College Matt Sherman

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n an effort to make at least a small impact in response to climate change, raising awareness about sustainable concepts is crucial and urgent. Like the plastic bag ban in Santa Fe or the sortable waste stations seen in proactive places, trying to do this effectively at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) and other schools means reaching out to youth and the community to get them to think about the impacts of their purchases.

Will SFCC continue to walk-the-talk?

The waste-station prototype, which was inexpensive to build, allows resources to be sorted, recycled, composted and sent to the landfill. I developed this design as part of a community effort, with support from the student government, student ambassadors, faculty and the Staff Senate, as well as Dean Camilla Bustamante of the Trades and Advanced Technologies Center (TATC), Brenden Crumm, the Tutoring Center and the entire Plant Operations Department. The YouthBuild Group, led by Paul Motsinger, constructed the prototype.

Unfortunately, plans for sortable waste stations at SFCC are currently on the shelf, due to financial issues.

A large portion of what goes to the landfill at SFCC is compostable post-consumer waste and waste from the cafeteria. (The Culinary Program already composts.) This can change

Matt Sherman with the Sortable Waste Station prototype

with some additions to infrastructure, new employees in Plant Operations, and getting state certifications for recycling and composting. Establishing campus plans to increase composting would show compliance with the SWANM. Although that statute is not currently enforced, it is a reasonable goal and could become SFCC policy.

the governing board, SFCC President Randy Grissom said that a recycling awareness campaign will start in January. It is essential that policies be established to make the Plastic Bottle Reduction Initiative and the Zero-Waste Resolution effective.

Beverages in plastic containers

Last semester, when the Plastic Bottle Reduction Initiative was passed by

© Seth Roffman (2)

The Solid Waste Act of New Mexico (SWANM) c alls for rec yc ling, composting and educational materials and sets a standard of goals for post-secondary institutions. Taking SWANM’s cue, the proposed sortable waste station and an awareness campaign at SFCC would help students understand what the college is doing in this area and set an example of best practices for a better future. Locations such as waste stations, water stations

and vending areas are ideal sites to include in this campaign because they are point-of-purchase and distribution into the waste-stream areas.

should be replaced with beverages in aluminum cans. Recycling aluminum cans has environmental benefits over plastic and returns more money that could go toward beneficial investments such as scholarships for students studying sustainability. Incentives to walk-the-talk at SFCC would help, such as competing in Recyclemania.

Hopefully the new administration under President Grissom will establish some progressive policies. i Matt Sherman, former president of the Biofuels Club, has taken SFCC classes on biofuels, solar-photovoltaics and solar hot water, greenhouse management and computer-assisted design.

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San Miguel County Restricts Oil & Gas Drilling

As a federal judge was questioning the constitutionality of Mora County’s oil and gas development ban last month, in an effort to protect the region’s scarce water supply and the health and safety of residents, San Miguel County Commissioners unanimously voted to impose strict requirements on hydrocarbon exploration and drilling. As a result, such activities are now restricted to a sparsely populated stretch on the eastern side of the county, and drilling companies will have to pay steep application fees, pay for pre-drilling assessments and post bonds, among other things.

Oil and gas groups and private mineral rights owners may file legal challenges.

Nearly one-third of New Mexico’s general funds come from taxes and royalties paid by oil and gas companies. An oil and gas lease on the western boundary of the Santa Fe National Forest netted $4 million in October. Conservation groups have threatened to sue over that sale. Also last month, the federal government declared oil and gas drilling mostly off-limits in the George Washington National Forest, west of Charlottesville, Virginia, a region that provides drinking water to nearly three million people, includes top agricultural counties and supports recreation and tourism.

ISC Approves Gila River Diversion

On Nov. 24, the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, appointed by the governor, decided to move forward with a controversial Gila River diversion project, ending 10 years of studies and meetings to decide on how to utilize federal funding and the water. The move could free up $62 million from the Arizona Water Settlements Act, some of which could go toward municipal conservation efforts. The water would be diverted into a storage system and then piped to as yet unspecified uses.

The issue is now in Gov. Martínez’s hands. She can accept or overturn the diversion and instead use the allotted funding for alternatives some say would meet the needs of cities and farms in southwest New Mexico at a fraction of the cost without saddling taxpayers and harming the river’s watershed and ecosystem.

Opponents, including Norman Gaume, the commission’s former director, who filed suit, alleging improprieties in non-public commission deliberations, say that the project will only yield a small amount of water, and the actual ongoing cost would overwhelm the ability of the state and local communities to pay for it.

A state consultant has projected that cost at $575 million; an independent federal review projects it at $1 billion. The commission must now deal with permitting, endangered species and financing issues.

Residents Defeat campbell ranch Water Grab

On Nov. 14, the state engineer denied the company Aquifer Science LLC the right to pump hundreds of acre-feet of water annually from the Sandía Underground Water Basin. On behalf of dozens of landowners in the area, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) successfully argued that there was not sufficient unappropriated groundwater available to satisfy the application for water to develop a proposed 4,000-home residential community and 18-hole golf course in the East Mountains area near Albuquerque.

“We are thankful that State Engineer Scott Verhines agreed with our experts and the decisions of prior state engineers,” said Bruce Fredrick, NMELC staff attorney and lead counsel on the case. “The application was submitted by a corporation that was formed and controlled by the Vidler Water Company—a company that speculates in water rights, owned by Pico Holdings of La Jollla, CA. This win shows that with strong public advocacy the people can protect New Mexico’s most precious resource.”

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National Wilderness Conference Invigorates Wilderness Warriors

Teri Shore

Former President Jimmy Carter, in a videotaped address, reminded us of the important scientific, ecological, educational, recreational, spiritual, cultural and intrinsic values of wilderness to all Americans. He urged action on the wilderness areas that were proposed but never designated inside places as iconic as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. Only Congress can designate wilderness through federal legislation. The Wilderness Act has successfully protected 110 million acres of public land in the United States as designated wilderness since it was enacted. But at least another 200 million acres of “forgotten” wilderness that qualify remain at risk inside national parks, refuges, forests and other public lands.

A who’s who of today’s wilderness heroes—far too many to name—joined together in the largest gathering of the wilderness community since the Act was signed in 1964. The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, Orion magazine and key federal resource agencies, along with many other partners, helped spearhead the jamA field trip to San Lorenzo Canyon and the Sevilleta National packed marathon.

In other highlights, U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell recounted recent backpacking trips, and astronaut Joseph Acaba gave us a glimpse of life in outer space. I asked how we might protect wilderness in space as it gets increasingly commercialized.

Threats to wild lands from fracking, mining and oil drilling are rising.

New Mexico is home to 25 wilderness areas, totaling 1.65 million acres. While it has some of the wildest public lands, it contains far less designated wilderness than other western states.

New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich shared his passion for wild lands. He is the first elected official in a long time to talk so clearly and confidently about protecting our wild lands. He, along with Sen. Tom Udall, was instrumental in convincing President Obama to designate the Organ Mountains-Desert Senator Heinrich Peaks National Monument in southern New Mexico. continued on page 33

Wildlife Refuge south of Albuquerque

Foreigners in Their Own Lands

A Tribute to the Wilderness Act Maceo Carrillo Martinet

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his year marks 50 years since both the Wilderness Act and the Civil Rights Act were signed into law. Some have suggested that there are powerful connections between these two acts, which free humans and land. “We have this chance, right now,” says Rue Mapp, founder of Outdoor Afro, which reconnects African Americans to natural spaces, “to think about how wilderness helps enhance people’s quality of life and how access to those places—and recognizing the barriers to accessing those places—has an impact on how people are able to live the fullest lives possible.”

Increasing the diversity and access to nature is not the end goal; it’s learning how to culturally reconnect to nature that is a struggle. Letting the Wilderness Act define how we relate to nature is like putting on unicolor shades to describe

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a rainbow. What follows is an attempt to briefly take these blinders off and see wilderness (nature) in a different cultural light than the dominant perception. The following italicized excerpts are taken from the Wilderness Act. [Wilderness is] an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.

The late Juan Estévan Arellano, an Indio-Hispano elder whose family and knowledge of northern New Mexico stretched back over 300 years, explained to me one crisp fall morning that there is no concept of wilderness because “everything has a purpose. We see every part [of the watershed] as something that contributes to our existence.” And it’s not just about physical existence but cultural existence.

At the National Wilderness Conference, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the

Does everyone in America get all nostalgic for the adventures of pioneers?

Wilderness Act, held this past October, very few sessions were dedicated to exploring different cultural perspectives of wilderness. In one of those rare sessions, Ilarion Merculief, an Aleut Native from Alaska and director of the Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways, told a packed room, “Because we live the way we do, we don’t have a word for wilderness. No Alaska Native peoples have a word for wilderness. As we understand it, wilderness means

separation, a place where humans do not live; they visit on occasion, and they enjoy it.” If we don’t understand the land and our relationship with it, we will erroneously think, as Mr. Arellano wrote in his recent book, Enduring Acequias, “that being good stewards of the land means doing nothing.”

[Wilderness can provide] solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation.

Countless personal stories attest to the power that nature has in opening one’s sense of self. However, there is something missing here. Victor Masayesva, Hopi director of a short documentary called The Color of Wilderness, touched on this by writing, “Those privileged to access [wilderness] areas today appear to me to embody this idea of ‘wilderness’ as an continued on page 33

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© Anna C. Hansen

© Teri Shore

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ldo Leopold famously wrote in his foreword to the Sand County Almanac that “there are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot.”

About 1,200 of those who cannot converged on Leopold’s one-time hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the National Wilderness Conference in midOctober, to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. The location was fitting given that, at Leopold’s insistence, the high mesas, rugged mountains and steep canyons of the Gila Wilderness in southern New Mexico became the first designated wilderness area in the United States— four decades before the 1964 Wilderness Act.

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Throughout the conference, wilderness advocates, Native Americans, naturalresource managers, land stewards, academics and politicians shared compelling perspectives on wilderness successes, threats and challenges ahead. The program

featured stimulating keynote speakers, panel discussions, workshops, trainings and field trips to the nearby desert, mountains and Río Grande.

Many of us visiting from outside New Mexico learned the word “bosque” for the first time as we observed tall cottonwoods along the river peaking in yellow and sandhill cranes landing for the winter.

Memorable Moments

One of the most memorable moments was when Dave Foreman told how a musk ox charged and chased him across the Alaskan tundra on a recent expedition. Now, that’s wild! Foreman pointed out that many rivers within wilderness areas are not designated wild and scenic, leaving them open to dam building and diversions as water becomes scarce and populations grow. In New Mexico, the Gila River is currently threatened with water diversion (ProtectTheGila.org). Foreman’s activist history is featured in a new, must-see documentary about his late mentor Edward Abbey, titled Wrenched (http://wrenched-themovie.com).

Utah-based author Terry Tempest Williams moved many of us to tears with her powerful testament to wilderness. She asked, “How serious are we?” about protecting wilderness, as she catalogued the rising threats to wild lands from fracking, mining and oil drilling.

Gwich’in activist Sarah James drummed, sang and chanted. She urged us to help protect the “sacred place where life begins,” where porcupine caribou breed in the coastal plains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The story of the struggle is told in a new film, Gwich’in Women Speak (http://www.mihoaida.com).

As a keynote speaker, Sierra Club President Dave Scott recalled the “17 years of blood, sweat and tears” that culminated in the Wilderness Act. The Sierra Club worked closely with the Wilderness Act author Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. Scott reminded us that Sierra Club’s legacy of wilderness protection dates back more than 100 years to John Muir. Looking forward, he urged a broader, more diverse wilderness community and the need to tackle climate change in order to “leave for future generations the beautiful, wild and livable planet that is their birthright.”

The very notion of wilderness is under attack by those who think that the wild has no place in the modern world.

World-famous oceanographer Sylvia Earle wowed the wilderness crowd with her impassioned call for blue wilderness in our oceans. A hero to many and sometimes called “Her Deepness,” Earle showed amazing underwater photos as she spoke eloquently and passionately for conservation of sea life and underwater wilderness.

Later, a panel discussed marine wilderness and suggested that the Wilderness Act may be a legal mechanism for designating ocean wilderness. I hope that Earle’s vision sparked the beginning of a beautiful friendship between the land- and sea-wilderness movements.

Wilderness at Risk

Most wilderness leaders agreed that wilderness is more important than ever, but that wilderness places and the idea of wilderness are more vulnerable than ever. Not only is wilderness threatened by extractive industries and motorized recreation, but many seasoned wilderness warriors warned that the very notion of wilderness is under attack by those who think that the Anti-wilderness protestors outside the National continued on page 35

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Wilderness Conference in downtown Albuquerque

Foreigners continued from page 31 individual experience and not one embraced by community.

Wilderness preservation over the years seems to be the preservation of what ‘I’ like about myself…It seems to me to be an individualistic American value imposed on an ecosystem.”Mr. Masayesva goes on to explain that we need to go beyond the relatively new concept of nature as wilderness and get back to a much older perspective that sees all nature “as a broader cultural landscape.”And this is exactly what is happening around the world. For example, in 2008, the government of Ecuador, under indigenous leadership, added several chapters to its constitution, explicitly The Jicarilla Apache Cultural Center in Dulce, NM was protecting the right of Mother represented on Civic Plaza in Albuquerque during the Earth to be herself and the Wilderness Conference. right of indigenous people as The national conference was touted as cultural stewards. a celebration of “our wilderness frontier cultural heritage and its continued role in shaping our national character and identity.” But who is the “our” referring to here? Does everyone in America get all nostalgic for the adventures of pioneers?

Does everyone subscribe to “conquering” [Wilderness is] land retaining its primitive the frontier? During a panel discussion character and influence, where the imprint on race, culture and wilderness, Mr. of man’s work [is] substantially unnoticeable.

Masayesva rightfully asked, “Whose wilderness are we celebrating?”

Dr. Carolyn Finney, author of a new

A sustainable society is based on ways that people are connected to nature.

book called Black Faces White Spaces, which explores the African-American experience in nature, told me during a phone interview, “Terms like ‘primitive’ are actually quite insulting to a lot of black and brown people in this country because we have been associated with the primitive for a long time. There is some dissonance between the good intentions behind the Wilderness Act and the realities of different kinds of people and their histories here in this country.”

This dissonance forms a geological rift when one realizes that the whole idea of a wild, pristine, untouched land is a myth. In a prominent 2010 textbook on conservation and human culture, the authors unequivocally write that “there is no such thing as wilderness.” This is what Native peoples have been saying all along.

[The Wilderness Act is] to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.

Kicking people out of nature is part of the reason we are so disconnected. A sustainable society is based not on ways to keep people out of nature but on ways that people are connected to nature.

Reconnecting means retraining people as land stewards, and it means seeing nature everywhere as important to our existence—again. After being expelled from their grassland homeland in the name of conservation, an African Maasai elder said that his people now feel like “foreigners in their own lands.” Both people and the land are now foreigners to each other. i Maceo Carrillo Martinet, P h . D. , i s a N e w Mexico-based ecologist/ educator working on ecological restoration and community-based environmental education. conuco8@yahoo.com

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© Anna C. Hansen

Wilderness Conference continued from page 31

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Wilderness Conference continued from page 33

wild has no place in the modern world. Even worse, natural-resource agencies are marring wilderness by using heavy equipment and trampling the landscape.

Activists also pointed to border patrols devastating wild lands with roads and construction of the barrier along the México border to keep people from crossing, which has resulted in increasing the human death toll.

“The greatest violators of the Wilderness Act are the public agencies themselves,” said Louise Lasley, president of Wilderness Watch, citing how agencies are too quick to make exceptions for the use of chain saws and trucks in wilderness. “We need to stop being embarrassed about wilderness,” scolded Chris Barns of the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center in Montana. He is Bureau of Land Management (BLM) representative on the multiagency center. He said that resource agencies are “trammeling” the wilderness through acts of omission and commission, and that there are no consequences to anyone’s agency career by “throwing wilderness under the bus.” Barns accused NGOs of being complicit and wanting to make wilderness “palatable” to everyone in order to maintain alliances with special interests and the public. “Wilderness areas are places of the no-self versus the selfie,” he said. “Don’t soft-pedal wilderness; it is a desirable thing, good to give, and it is not just about me.”

What next?

“Most Americans love the idea of wilderness,” said George Nickas, executive director of Wilderness Watch. He and others concluded that we need to reignite America’s passion for wilderness. As Kenneth Brower stated, we need to “resell” the idea of wilderness to Americans, as his father David Brower did 50 years ago in partnership with Howard Zahniser. The wilderness movement must now mobilize young people to watchdog the Wilderness Act for the next 50 years. As a first step, 14 young activists were given full scholarships to attend the conference. And many more participated in the Wilderness Youth Leader Summit.

Another key step is for wilderness lovers to get active locally to identify and pass

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new wilderness bills. There are 33 wilderness bills pending before Congress right now, according to The Wilderness Society. But only one has passed in the past five years. The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance is working to establish new wilderness areas with the Columbine Hondo Wilderness and areas within the new Río Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks national monuments. In California, two new wilderness bills are pending to protect more lands along the central coast and in the desert. Bills to protect wild lands in Washington, Idaho, Montana and other states are also pending. Most will be reintroduced in the new 114th Congress.

These bills will provide timely opportunities to protect additional wild lands and inspire wilderness lovers in 2015 and beyond.

To reinvigorate the wilderness idea in America, we must remind our friends, families, allies and decision makers about the many benefits of wilderness protection and mobilize them to support wilderness through organizing, letter writing, social media and just getting out into the wild. As Ed Abbey said, “Wilderness needs no defense, only more defenders.” i Here are some resources for wilderness lovers: Wilderness 50 – http://www.wilderness50th.org/ New Mexico Wilderness Alliance – http://www.nmwild.org/ Wilderness.net – http://www.wilderness.net/ Sierra Club, Río Grande Chapter – http://nmsierraclub.org/ Wilderness Watch – http://www.wildernesswatch.org/about/ staff.html Teri Shore on top of South Sandía Mountain before the wilderness conference. Shore is a Sonoma, Californiabased wilderness activist and backpack leader.

Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

Green Fire Times is available at many locations in the metropolitan Albuquerque / Río Rancho area!

For the location nearest you, call Nick García at 505.203.4613 www.GreenFireTimes.com

NEWSBITEs PNM Renewables Plan Approved by the PRC

On Nov. 26, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission unanimously approved PNM’s renewable energy (RE) procurement plan, which will add 40 megawatts of utility-scale solar to the grid in 2015. The photovoltaic facilities will be constructed in central New Mexico at a cost of $79.3 million. PNM will also increase by 2 MW its subsidy program for customer-owned solar installations for institutional and business consumers that install 100-kilowatt to 1-MW systems. PNM’s customers pay a fee to offset the utility’s costs for RE development. That will rise to $3.63 per month in 2015.

The state’s public utilities are required to procure at least 15 percent of their electricity from RE sources by 2016. When the new facilities come online, PNM will be able to power about 40,000 homes from solar. With its wind, solar and geothermal projects, the utility expects to provide power for 150,000 average residential customers in 2016, a relatively small percentage of the company’s energy portfolio. PNM’s plan continues to rely heavily on coal, natural gas and nuclear generation.

Santa Fe Climate Action Summit

Last month Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales convened the city’s first-ever Climate Action Summit, bringing together members of the Climate Action Task force and cleanenerg y experts to examine the city ’s progress in the areas of water, energy efficiency, renewable energy and transportation. Several new initiatives were announced, including a water conservation program targeted at commercial users, continued implementation of energyefficiency technologies and additional solar arrays at city facilities, the installation of EV (electric vehicle) car chargers around the city and a potential bike-sharing pilot program.

The audience let out a loud cheer when Mayor Gonzales announced that the city will look into options to own, design, install and administer its own electric utility and institute a community solar program. “I want to deliver affordable, renewable energy to Santa Feans who are renting homes, low-income homeowners, small businesses and those in historic districts where architectural demands present a challenge to installing solar systems,” the mayor said. “We can’t wait for others to take action on climate change.” At the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in June, which Mayor Gonzales attended, the nation’s mayors renewed their commitment to make their cities more resilient in the face of climate change by promoting energy independence and efficiency and developing renewable energy.

Los Alamos Board Strikes Down Net Metering Charge

The Los Alamos Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has struck down a controversial proposed net-metering surcharge for residents powering their homes with renewable energy (RE). The action sets an important precedent for RE in New Mexico, a first step toward what clean-energy proponents hope will become a statewide movement that would recognize RE as an economic engine for jobs in New Mexico and a valuable resource for electric utilities. A recent study from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada found that rooftop solar and other clean-energy systems installed will deliver $36 million in net benefits to Nevada ratepayers through 2016.

Residents, business owners and citizens turned out en masse at public hearings to protest the $12 monthly fee. The charge would have doubled the time to recoup the capital investments made by homeowners with solar. Los Alamos resident and member of the Los Alamos Sustainable Energy Network, Thomas Shankland, said, “It was a timely decision of the board to view residential solar and distributed generation on the Los Alamos County grid as an asset to the community and not a burden. By striking down a fee perceived as unfair, the BPU and the Department of Public Utilities in partnership with the community can secure progressive solutions to problems that face us all in modernizing and maintaining our power grid.”

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Mazria Introduces Architecture 2030 District Model to Albuquerque

On Nov. 20, the Urban Land Institute of New Mexico presented a luncheon featuring keynote speaker Edward Mazria, architect, planner and founder of the internationally renowned, Santa Fe-based Architecture 2030 organization. Before an audience of building managers, property owners and developers, innovative business people, entrepreneurs and university students, Mazria introduced the national 2030 District model—a business case for sustainability—and discussed its successful impacts across the country.

Laurie Tarbell, Edward Mazria

Mazria’s research has reshaped the dialogue on how the building sector can reduce its carbon emissions. Urban environments emit 75 percent of global emissions.

Mazria said there will be more than 900 billion square feet of new and redeveloped buildings constructed in cities worldwide by 2030. “We have a problem that needs to be solved—global warming. We need to phase it out from the urban built environment or all hell will break loose.” Mazria went on to say that, as electricity prices rise and solar prices decrease, solar is driving the trend of increased energy efficiency and decreased consumption. “Albuquerque, with the advantage of its solar potential, will be a disruptive district and lead the way,” he said.

Following Mazria, fellow architect Laurie Tarbell, a board member of the urban revitalization nonprofit, Downtown ABQ MainStreet, and chair of the Albuquerque 2030 District Exploratory Committee, discussed Albuquerque’s emergence as a 2030 District, joining cities such as Seattle, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Denver and, most recently, Dallas. The program is voluntary and engages a city’s public and private building sectors.

Clean Economy Summit Jan. 31–Feb. 1 in Albuquerque

The Carbon Economy Series will present the second annual Clean Energy Summit on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at Sandía Preparatory School, 532 Osuna Road NE. The summit will focus on sustainable living, how to shrink our carbon footprint and other climate change-related issues. It will be geared toward individuals, property owners, businesses, nonprofit groups, government and educational facilities that want to become more sustainable.

The weekend will offer a condensed version of the CES’s diverse programming, featuring local experts discussing and demonstrating regenerative agriculture and local farm-to-table food, raw and enzyme-rich food preparation, aquaponics, seed saving, beekeeping, greening the desert, Permaculture design, zero-waste practices, water stewardship, the “genius” grid, sustainable tourism and more. The cost is $99 per day. Some scholarships are available. For more information, call 505.819.3828 or visit www.carboneconomyseries.com

Navajo Junk Food Tax Approved

After two years of lobbying by the Diné Community Advocacy Alliance, on Nov. 21, Navajo tribal president Ben Shelly signed legislation that imposes a 2 percent sales tax on junk food such as cookies, chips and sodas purchased on the reservation. The changes go into effect in 2015. Money generated by the tax will fund projects such as farmers’ markets, vegetable gardens and exercise equipment in tribal communities.

IAIA Awarded USDA Funds to Help Build a Performing Arts Center

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe has been successful in its application for financial assistance from the USDA Rural Development Tribal College Initiative Facility Grant program. Dr. Ann Bartuska, deputy under-secretary for Research, Education and Economics, presented a certificate of obligation for $145,302 to the school to help build a multipurpose fitness and performing arts center.

Dr. Bartuska traveled to New Mexico and Arizona to visit Native schools and discuss with educators the instruction of future Native agricultural leaders. The IAIA is the nation’s only four-year fine arts institution devoted to contemporary Native American and Alaskan Native arts. In the last eight years, USDA Rural Development has provided over $1.6 million to IAIA to build other construction projects at the school, including the new science and technology classrooms and the new welcome center.

Green Fire Times • December 2014

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What's Going On! Events / Announcements comfortable and energy-efficient while shopping for your natural, green and organic needs.

Dec. 7, 4-8 pm Bosque Bash Tortuga Gallery, 901 Edith Blvd. SE

ALBUQUERQUE

Dec. 2, 6:30 pm Years of Living Dangerously Deciding NM’s Energy Future Panel JCC, 5520 Wyoming Blvd. NE

Screening of Showtime Episode 6: Winds of Change on methane leaks, fracking, the promise of renewable energy and state efforts to repeal RE standards. Followed by Deciding NM’s Energy Future panel discussion: Spin or Reality: PNM’s San Juan Power Replacement Plan.

The panel: Chuck Noble, attorney for Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy; Jason Marks, former PRC commissioner; Dr. Bernie Zak, retired Sandía Labs climate scientist; Tweeti Blanchett, Farmington area rancher. Presented by 350.org, Environment NM and Interfaith Power and Light. Info: 505.715.8388.

Dec. 3, 9 am Santolina Development Hearing City Hall, Vincent E. Griego chambers (downstairs) County Planning Commission meeting.

Dec. 3, 6-8 pm Green Chamber Fundraiser Hotel Andaluz, 125 Second St. NW

Holiday party. Silent auction and raffle. Network with people interested in local business, clean energy and green opportunities in our communities. centralNM@nmgreen chamber.com, www.greendrinks.org

Dec. 4, 6 pm Defend the Gila Tortuga Gallery, 901 Edith Blvd. SE

Former Interstate Stream Commission director Norman Gaume and Steve Harris, executive director of Río Grande Restoration, will discuss the planned Gila River Diversion and current litigation against the ISC. Followed by a screening of the Patagonia film Damnation. $12. This event benefits the Gila Wild Defense Fund, sponsored by the NM Community Foundation. 505.847.5860, http:// gilawilddefensefund.org, Protectthegila.org

Dec. 5 Application Deadline Business Accelerator Program Central NM Community College

Startups and early-stage business owners can apply for an intensive 12-week program (on Fridays) that begins in January. $250 entrance fee. tdarling@cnm.edu, Stemuluscenter.org

Dec. 6, 11 am-4 pm Recycled Holiday Crafts Party ArtBar, 2nd & 119 Gold Ave.

Make elegant and rustic holiday decorations, creative gift wrapping and small crafts from recycled materials. Bring any scrap materials such as magazines, colored paper, old clothing, empty containers, etc. Presented by the Old School. Free.

Dec. 6, 12-4 pm Energy Efficiency Summit SW Green Home Center 6300 San Mateo Blvd. NE

Current C Energy Systems will conduct this event. Learn how to make your home more

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An evening of food, fun, community and music. Suggested admission/donation: $10.

Supports the Bosque Action Team, which is working to keep the bosque natural. www. savethebosque.org/the-team

Local experts discuss and demonstrate local farm-to-table food, greening the desert, renewable energy, zero-waste, aquaponics, seed saving, sustainable tourism, etc. $99/ day. Some scholarships. 505.819.3828, www. carboneconomyseries.com

Feb. 20-21 NM Organic Farming Conference Marriott ABQ Pyramid North

Agricultural producers and restaurateurs will meet to discuss how to get more local food in NM restaurants. Organized by the Río Grande Farmers Coalition and Edible Santa Fe. RSVP: http://ediblesantafe.com/fieldtofork

The SW’s premier conference for organic agriculture. Producers and researchers will share their experience and expertise. Mark Smallwood, executive director of the Rodale Institute, is the keynote speaker. $100 includes Saturday’s luncheon. Organized by Farm to Table, the NM Dept. of Agriculture’s Organic Program and NMSU Cooperative Extension Service. 505.473.1004, ext. 10, le@farmtotable. org, www.farmtotablenm.org/programs/newmexico-organic-farming-conference

Dec. 13, 10 am-12:30 pm Home Composting Basics Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors Blvd. NW

Through May 31, 2015 El Agua es Vida: Acequias in Northern New Mexico Maxwell Museum of Anthropology,UNM

Dec. 8, 9-11:30 am Local Food Production & Planning Workshop MRCOG offices, 809 Copper NW

Learn the science, materials and methods of drought-proofing your garden soil in order to grow vegetables, fruit and berries. Registration: 505.897. 8813, register@nmcomposters.org

Dec. 13, 1-3 pm Valle del Oro Open House Valle del Oro National Wildlife Refuge, 851 2nd St. SW

An hour-long walking tour of the refuge from 2-3 pm. Meet at the main entrance. Free.

Presented by the Bosquitos, a kid- and community group associated with the Bosque Action Team. Learn how to care for the bosque, its plants and animals. 505.288.8713

Dec. 13- March 17, 2-5:30 pm LEED-EB Operations & Maintenance CNM Workforce Training Center

Groundbreaking, multidisciplinary exhibit.

Free. 505.277.4405, maxwellmuseum.unm.edu

SANTA FE

Dec. 3, 11:30 am-1 pm Presentation on PNM’s Fuel Request to the PRC SFAHBA, 1409 Luisa St.

New Energy Economy’s executive director, Mariel Nanasi, will address the SF Green Chamber of Commerce and discuss the upcoming PRC hearing that will decide on PNM’s request to increase the use of nuclear and natural gas, along with relatively smaller increases in RE. Lunch is $15 for SF Area Homebuilders Association and NMGCC members, $20 for non-members. To reserve a spot, email Raquel@sfahba.

Whole-building cleaning and maintenance, recycling programs, exterior maintenance and systems upgrades. Focus on effective management and data collection to assist in green building operations. Learn techniques for smooth operation of green buildings in a variety of sectors, both private and public. $899. 505.224.5200, www.cnm.edu/wtc

Dec. 4, 5:30 pm A Night of Art, Poetry and Truthtelling Verve Gallery, 219 E. Marcy St.

Dec. 14, 11 am-4 pm Holiday Market at the Rail Yards

Dec. 4, 5:30-7:30 pm Calligraphy, Handwriting and a Gift of a Card SF Public Library, Southside Branch, 6599 Jaguar Dr.

Vendors, live music and more. Food & clothing donations accepted. Presented by Downtown Growers Market and Rail Yard Market.

Downtowngrowers.com

Through Dec. 20 Fall 2014 Exhibitions UNM Art Museum UNM Center for the Arts

David Maisel/Black Maps, American Landscape and the Apocalyptic Sublime; Luz Restirada: Latin American Photography;The Gift, woodcuts by John Tatschi. $5 suggested donation.

Jan. 17-18 ABQ Home Remodeling Show Expo NM - NM Fairgrounds

Green & Living well featured area. www.

Abqremodelingshow.com

Jan. 31-Feb. 1 Clean Economy Summit Sandía Preparatory School

Green Fire Times • December 2014

Features Poet Laureate of Albuquerque Hakin Bellamy. Benefits New Energy Economy’s legal challenge to PNM’s energy plan.

505.989.7262, www.NewEnergyEconomy.org

Hands-on workshop for adults presented by teacher, artist and professional calligrapher Sherry Bishop. Tips and techniques for hand-addressing holiday envelopes and making simple heartfelt cards. Bring your address book. All supplies provided. Free.

Registration: 505.955.2820

Dec. 4, 6-8 pm Santa Fe River Greenway Restoration Presentation Nancy Rodríguez Community Center 1 Prairie Dog Loop

SF County is preparing to restore the SF River between Frenchy’s Field and Siler Rd. next year. This meeting is a public presentation of the entire greenway design. County staff and the project team will answer questions. skaseman@santafecountynm.gov

Dec. 4, 7 pm Cowspiracy Whole Foods Community Room, 1090 S. St. Francis Dr.

Free screening of an award-winning film about animal agriculture. Presented by Wild Earth Guardians, Project Coyote, Thai Vegan and Trap Free NM. 505.988.9126

Dec. 4-8 Nurses Storytelling Workshop

Discover your unique story about being a nurse. Writing exercises, discussion and skill development guided by “storyhealers” Mary Rives, M.S. and Sally Fox, Ph.D. 12/4-5, 6-9 pm; 12/6-7, 10 am-4 pm; 12/8, 7 pm: Community performance. Endorsed by the NM Nurses Assn. Sponsored by Bread for the Journey of SF. 505.428.0184, mary@thriveandshine.com, www.thriveandshine.com/nurses-speak

Dec. 4-Jan. 3, 5-8 pm; Sat., 5-9 pm Glow SF Botanical Garden, Museum Hill

Winter lights event. Dazzling, extravagant displays, music, beverages. $8/$5, 12 & under free. 12/3, 5-8 pm preview party. 505.471.9103, info@santafebotanicalgarden.org, www.santa febotanicalgarden.org/events/glow/

Dec. 5 Entry Deadline City of SF Water Conservation Poster Contest

This year’s theme: How Water Connects Us. Public, private, charter and home-schooled students in grades 1-6 invited. The winning poster will be displayed on the back of a city bus and on a calendar cover. Other winners will be included in the calendar. 505.955.4225, www. savewatersantafe.com/conservation-classroom

Dec. 5-6 2nd Annual Southside Quality of Life Initiative Symposium Dec. 5, 12-6 pm: SFCC Jémez Room 6401 Richards Ave.

Education, Engagement, Empowerment, Equity. Panel discussions with community leaders to build upon ongoing work. Q&As, roundtable lunch, reception.

Dec. 6, beginning at 9:30 am: Zona del Sol, 6601 Jaguar Dr.

Southside Youth, Teen and Family Summit.

Community members can engage with one another and elected officials. Food and recreational activities.

Dec. 5-7, 11 am-7 pm Poeh Winter Market Buffalo Thunder Resort 15 miles north of Santa Fe

Art show featuring Poeh Center instructors and advanced students. Also, Poeh Cultural Center Native Artists Showcase is held regularly Fridays and Saturdays from 4-6 pm.

Dec. 5-7 Recycle SF Art Festival SF Convention Center

The country’s oldest recycled art market.

Artwork consists of a minimum of 75% recycled materials. Friday 7 pm Trash Fashion and Costume contest tickets: Tickets santafe.com, Info: 505.603.0558, skpier pont@yahoo.com, Recyclesantafe.org

Dec. 6, 9 am-4 pm SFPS Native American Student Services Annual Arts & Crafts Fair DeVargas Middle School

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1720 Llano St.

Over 40 vendors, silent auction, holiday treats, Indian tacos. 505.467.2644, ndavis@sfps.info

Dec. 6, 11:30 am-1:30 pm Economic Democracy Discussion Collected Works Bookstore

Join food activist Deborah Madison and a panel of notable social entrepreneurs to discuss how the new cooperative Greenhouse Grocery contributes to a healthy, resilient food system and a strong local economy.

505.466.2665, info@greenhousegrocery.coop

Dec. 6, 2-4:30 pm Tibetan Buddhist Workshop on Developing Compassion Seret & Sons Gallery, 121 Sandoval St.

Compassion-based meditation can have significant effects on mental, physical health and well-being. Presented by Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Ph.D. $45 suggested donation. info@clearlightbooks.com

Dec. 6, 3 pm Intl. Drug Trafficking, Terrorism and the Impact on Society, including NM SFUAD, 1600 St. Michael’s Dr.

Council on Intl. Relations presents this talk

by Michael S. Vigil, former DEA chief of Intl. Operations. $20/$15. Students, teachers and law enforcement officers may attend free.

Registration: 505.982.4931, www.sfcir.org

Dec. 7-8, 13-14 Spanish Language Intensives

Intermediate level Spanish language intensives with a cultural component. Presented

by Alejandro López of Somos el Maíz.

505.410.0959, alej@cybermesa.com

Dec. 8. 2-3 pm Honeybees & Native Pollinators SF Women’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail

Lecture by Master Gardener Ken Bower of Eldorado Windy Farm. Presented by the SF Botanical Garden. $10. Free to SFBG members.

Registration: https://50919.blackbaudhosting. com/50919/Flowers-Pollinators-and-theSanta-Fe-Garden

Dec. 8, 6 pm Enchanted Lands and Peoples of the American West Hotel Santa Fe

Southwest Seminars lecture by Craig Varjabedian, photographer and author of Landscape Dreams, A NM Portrait and other books. $12. 505.466.2775, Southwestsemi nar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org

Dec. 10, 6:30 pm Holiday Entertaining Event Savory Spice Shop, 225 Galisteo

Join Slow Food and Kate Wheeler, who will share recipes for baked good and other treats. $35. Slowfoodsantafe@gmail.com

Dec. 13, 10 am-4 pm Young Native Artists Holiday Show & Sale Washington Ave. Doors

NM History Museum Children and grandchildren of the Palace Portal artists. Get on the ground floor of collecting from the next generation of Native artists. Free admission.

Dec. 13, 4-7 pm Kindred Spirits Animal Sanctuary Holiday Celebration 3749A Highway 14

Kindred Spirits provides hospice care to dogs, horses and poultry. 505.471.5366, kind redspiritsnm@earthlink.net, www.kindred spiritsnm.org

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Dec. 13-14 8th Annual Gift Fair SF Woman’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Tr.

Jan. 5, 9:30 am-5 pm PRC Hearing PERA Building

Dec. 14 Hope: A Soul in Song Scottish Rite Temple 463 Paseo de Peralta

Feb. 5 Water Policy Day NM State Capitol

Local artisans. Free admission. Popup santafe.com

A Lifesongs intergenerational performance.

A culmination of months of creative exchange among artists, community members, elders, youth and people in hospice. 4:30 pm: concert; 6 pm: reception. $10/children free.

505.995.1860

Dec. 15, 6 pm NM’s Cultural History Lesson to the World

SW Seminars lecture by Dr. Tom Chávez. $12. 505.466.2775, Southwestseminar@aol. com, Southwestseminars.org

Through Dec. 15 Safety Training Classes SF Community College

Certified Renovator, Certified Renovator Refresher, OSHA Construction Standards.

505.428.1866, www.sfcc.edu/environmen tal_health_and_safety_training

Dec. 17 Whirling Dervish Event Scottish Rite Temple 463 Paseo de Peralta

Info: José Montaño at 505.982.4414

Dec. 19, 6 pm The Grandeur of Water Location TBA

Presentation by James McMath, music and movie. A fundraiser for the Santa Fe Global Water Festival. 505.770.1228, http://water awarenessgroup.wordpress.com

Dec. 20, 2 pm Celtic Christmas Party Scottish Rite Temple 463 Paseo de Peralta

Family-friendly event. Food, music and exciting dance. The SF Men’s Camerata, Coleman Academy of Irish Dance, Order of the Thistle Pipes and Drums, and more.

Underwritten by IATSE Local 480.Tickets: $20/$10. 505.988.1234, TicketsSantaFe.org.

Dec. 22, 6 pm Dr. N. Scott Momaday Hotel Santa Fe

Southwest Seminars lecture by the distinguished author. $15. 505.466.2775, Southwest seminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org

Jan. 1-31, 7:30 am-4 pm Tree Seedling Sales

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, in cooperation with the NM State Forestry Division, will be offering applications for low-cost seedlings. Applicants must own one acre of land or more and plant seedlings for windbreaks, reforestation, Christmas tree sales or wildlife plantings. Sponsored by the Santa Fe-Pojoaque Soil and Water Conservation District. 505.471.0410, ext. 3

Jan. 3-4, 8 am-4:45 pm Tire Amnesty Buckman Rd. Recycling and Transfer Station, 2600 Buckman Rd.

Dispose of tires for free. Limited to 8 per day. 505.820.0208, ext. 420, www.SantaFeRe cycling.org

HERE & THERE

Public Regulation Commission hearing on PNM’s San Juan Power Replacement Plan

Join New Mexico First to advocate during the legislative session the recommendations from the 2014 statewide water town hall. The platform calls for commonsense changes to water funding and planning, watershed restoration, including forest tree thinning, long-range drought planning, resolution of legal issues, protection of environmental resources and exploration of new water sources. http://nmfirst.org/_blog/Legisla tive_Updates/post/water2015/

Sundays, 10 am-4 pm New Mexico Artisan Market Farmers’ Market Pavilion www.artmarketsantafe.com

TAOS

Dec. 4, 4-6 pm Festival of Trees and Wreaths Children’s Party El Monte Sagrado

Holiday arts & crafts and snacks. Taos chamber.com

Dec. 5-14, 10 am-4 pm Nutcracker Holiday Artist Market Taos Art Museum at Fechin House, 227 Paseo del Pueblo Norte

Affordable, high-quality, handmade gifts by local artisans. Works in wood, tin, jewelry, pottery, photography, prints and fiber. www. taosartmuseum.org/events.html

Dec. 6, 8 pm Taos Feeds Taos Taos Mesa Brewing

Local band Last to Know and Jack Lorang.

Free admission with five cans of food or other non-perishable food items. Taosfeedstaos. org

Dec. 7, 5:30-7:30 pm “Just This” Gala Farmhouse Café, 1405 Paseo del Norte

Film’s cast and crew will attend. Food, prizes, raffle. www.justthisdoc.com, http://farm housecafeandbakery.com/

Dec. 13, 12-7 pm Bonfires on Bent Street

John Dunn Shops and merchants host this holiday celebration. Bent Street will be open to foot traffic only and lit with farolitos and luminarias. Cookies, hors d’oeuvres, beverages, raffles and prizes. Aztec dancers midafternoon followed by the Guadalupe Choir and the Taos Community Chorus. John dunnshops.com, taos.org

Dec. 27, 8 pm Songs and Stories III KTAOS Solar Center

Taoseño singer-songwriter Max Gomez along with Americana singer-songwriter John Fullbright. $22 advance; $25 day of show. ktao.com, taoslifestyleproductions. com. Info: 575.770.6033

Through Feb. 28, 2015 Art through the Loom Weaving Guild Show Old Martina’s Hall, Ranchos de Taos

Dec. 5 Application Deadline 2015 Sandoval County Master Gardener Training Program Sandoval County Extension Sandoval Court House, Bernalillo, NM

16-week certification course begins Jan. 6 and ends April 21. 1-5 pm. Volunteer program to educate and assist Sandoval County residents in all aspects of gardening. $125.

505.867.2582, sandovalmastergardeners.org

Dec. 6-7, 10 am-4 pm Wool Shed Christmas Sale Maple Winds Farm, Stanley, NM

Handmade hats, socks, yarns, fiber, wool, alpaca, angora, wool & silk blended yarns and more. Hot chocolate & cookies. Regular hours 10-4 on Mondays. 505.201.6127, Victorias-Mountain-Yarns.com

Dec. 10, 11, 1-3 pm Holiday Eco-Crafts Pajarito Environmental Education Center, Los Alamos, NM

Children can unleash their creativity and make ecologically friendly gifts. Advance registration required. $20/$16 PEEC members per child.

505.662.0460, Programs@PajaritoEEC.org

Dec. 12, 4 pm Application Deadline Demonstration Urban Forest Project Cost-Share Program

The NM Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Dept. Forestry Division is seeking applications to develop sustainable urban and community forestry demonstration projects, including planting on public property or on private land that has public benefit as a means to improve community tree cover and display. 1:1 match required. Non-federal governmental entities, urban forestry consulting firms or consultants with expertise and qualified nonprofit organizations may apply. Contact Jennifer Dann: 505.476.3332

Dec. 13, 10:30 am Children’s Book Reading Los Lunas Library, 460 Main St. Los Lunas

Award-winning author Nasario García will read Grandma Lale’s Tamales. Free. Book signing, 1 pm at The Little Store, 3590 Hwy. 47, in Peralta. 505.344.9382, lpdpress@q.com

Dec 13, 2-6 pm 18th Annual Electric Light Parade/Christmas on the Plaza Española Plaza

Arts show, plaza festivities, visit Santa at 3 pm, parade starts at 6 pm.

Dec. 13, 5-8:30 pm Light Among the Ruins Jemez Historic Site 18160 State Hwy. 4, Jemez Springs, NM

Gisewa Pueblo and The Jemez Mission Church will be decorated with hundreds of farolitos. Native American flute music and dancers. Free wagon rides from Jémez Springs Park to and from the site.

575.829.3530, nmhistoricsites.org

Río Grande Return Gifts from the River

Locally produced salsas, jams, honey, chocolates, soaps, lotions, incense and more. Supports local farmers, producers and the conservation of the Río Grande. 505.466.1767, toll free: 866.466.1767, www.riograndereturn,com

www.artthroughtheloom.com

Green Fire Times • December 2014

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Green Fire Times • December 2014

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