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Vol. 9, No. 1 •January 2017 Issue No. 93 PUBLISHER

Green Fire Publishing, LLC Skip Whitson ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

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News & Views

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OP-ED: Community Resilience in the Face of Adversity — Earth Care-New Mexico . . . . 7 OP-ED: Don’t Go Back to Bed — Tomás Rivera. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 9 OP-ED: Immigrant Activists Defeat Fear with Collective Action — Somos Un Pueblo Unido. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Santa Fe Dreamers Project Photo Portraits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 OP-ED: Threats from the President-Elect — Samia Assed . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 15

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The Santa Fe Refugee Collaborative . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .15

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OP-ED: The New Mexico Environmental Law Center’s Top Ten Environmental Issues to Watch in 2017 — Douglas Meiklejohn . . . . . . . . . .18 OP-ED: Conflicting Ideologies — Jack Loeffler . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 23

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GREEN FIRE TIMES c/o The Sun Companies P.O. Box 5588, SF, NM 87502-5588 505.471.5177 • info@greenfiretimes.com © 2017 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 northcentral New Mexico as well as to a growing number of New Mexico cities, towns, pueblos and villages. Feedback, announcements, event listings, advertising and article submissions to be considered for publication are welcome.

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Rally at Santa Fe City Hall in support of strengthening sanctuary policies for immigrant workers, families and youth. Dec. 14, 2016 Photo by Seth Roffman

Green Fire Times • January 2017

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OP-ED: COMMUNITY RESILIENCE in the FACE of ADVERSITY From Earth Care–New Mexico

We organize at the intersections because we recognize the connection between social and environmental issues, between systems of oppression, between upstream and downstream causes and impacts. Our work to help young leaders discover their unique paths requires diverse mentors and expertise. As a result, we work alongside and collaborate with many amazing community organizations and leaders—from social justice organizations to artists to farmers. It takes a village to raise a child, and it certainly takes a village to support the development of young leaders for social change. For a long time we’ve dedicated a subset of our work to the cultivation of these relationships and resources for our programs and for the wider community. We were proud presenters of the Sustainable Santa Fe Guide, which led to the development of Green Fire Times (GFT). We worked with the City of Santa Fe to host an online website, which is now housed on our own website. We send out monthly e-newsletters with Calls to Action and resources for local social and ecological justice work. Since the election, our work to inform our youth, and by extension, families and

The antidote to depression is action, and the solution to our world’s problems is to grow our grassroots movement and solutions for justice and sustainability from the ground up with leadership from those most directly impacted. For this reason, in this edition of GFT we have invited folks from frontline communities to share their thoughts on the challenges that lie ahead and their calls for solidarity and action. We now have an unprecedented opportunity and responsibility to confront the policies, sentiments and institutions of injustice that have a long history in our country and ultimately hurt us all. It will take deep internal work as well as courageous acts, standing up, speaking out and working together. As an organization, Earth Care is interested in working with the community to unpack the notion of standing alongside one another—because we don’t think it’s something we can take for granted. We know it will take a lot of work, attention, awareness, actual skill development and tools, as well as a shifting of power. We need to acknowledge that this broken system is harming some much more than others and that the fear, hate and bigotry of these times is, once again unevenly distributed—putting some in grave danger while others may see their lifestyles virtually unchanged. That is how injustice self-perpetuates—by granting privileges to some at the expense of others. We need to acknowledge that institutional oppression impacts our communities differently, and that our communities are in part shaped

As an organization, we work with young people—supporting their exploration of social and environmental issues impacting their lives, connecting them with resources they need to make a positive impact, and advocating for spaces where opportunities for their authentic and meaningful leadership in creating solutions is celebrated honored, and effectuated. Each young person we work with, like each of you reading this, has unique gifts and talents to discover and nourish—and a unique part to play in social transformation— the critical work of our time.

communities, of opportunities to stand together and take action, has never been so relevant and widely appreciated. We chalk that up to the fact that people know—in the face of fear and uncertainty—our community’s greatest strength is People Power and the commitment to stand alongside one another in solidarity.

Earth Care’s Youth Allies leaders standing in solidarity with Standing Rock Water Protectors against fossil fuel extraction.

Bianca Sopoci-Belknap

e at Earth Care are honored to partner with Green Fire Times to bring you this edition, focused on community resilience in the face of uncertainty and adversity.

Earth Care organizers at Santa Fe Climate Action event

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Earth Care is a community-based organization committed to social justice and youth-led social change. EC’s programs are based on a commitment to support leadership from those most directly impacted by the issues including youth who are disproportionately impacted by regressive policies and the grave environmental and social challenges of our time. Earth Care invites you to join in standing in support of young leaders and other frontline community members. To sign up for EC’s monthly Calls to Action or to learn more, call 505.983.6896, email info@earthcarenm.org or visit www.earthcarenm.org

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EARTH CARE—NEW MEXICO

Building Community Resilience and Power. Earth Care’s skills-and resource-sharing workshop, December 17, 2016

Green Fire Times • January 2017

Community Resilience continued from page

in relation to the struggle to overcome injustice or the privileges and comfort we have taken for granted. This relationship to power, struggle and privilege shapes our community identities along with the richness of culture and heritage we all carry. This means that we are not all the same. We are not all one. We are different. The diversity of culture across communities is a beautiful thing—something to

celebrate and cherish. The difference in rights, resources, safety, access and opportunity is extremely harmful, and it’s got to go. In order to understand the obstacles we face and come up with appropriate solutions, it is important that we organize in our communities. If we learn how to do so in a way that redistributes power to address inequity— we can then be called upon to stand alongside one another in true alliances based on mutual respect and dignity. ■

A SAMPLE OF EARTH CARE’S CALLS TO ACTION

• Jan. 7: Progressive Action Summit in Albuquerque • Jan. 8, 1-3 pm: Refugees Speak – Q&A panel discussion at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe. Hosted by the SF Refugee Collaborative • Jan. 8: Retake Our Democracy Planning Meeting • Jan. 10–11: Defund Dakota Access Pipeline Days of Action • Jan. 16: Earth Care Youth Action Network MLK Day of Action • Jan. 17: Chaco Lease Sale Protest at the BLM Office and the Legislature in Santa Fe • Jan. 20: Inauguration Day Pop-Up Actions culminating with Free Food Not Bombs Meal & Vigil at DeVargas Park in Santa Fe, 4:30 pm • Jan. 21: Women’s March on Washington at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe • Jan. 25: Coal and Nuclear Replacement Power Case Appeal. Oral Arguments at the New Mexico Supreme Court To sign up for Earth Care’s Calls to Action eblast, visit www.earthcarenm.org or for more information, visit: FB: EarthCareNM.

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OP-ED: DON’T GO BACK TO BED

An Activist’s Wake-up Call Tomás R ivera

almost didn’t get out of bed. My phone was buzzing and beeping. Radio alarms were blaring the sound of shock jockeys acting shocked. I did not turn them off or hit the snooze button. I just lay there, facing the choice of getting up or going back to bed. My mind cast its vote in favor of sleep, with desires to continue dreaming and promises of a world where I can fly if I believe I can. My body concurred and made its case with weariness, exhaustion. My eyelids pleaded to stay shut. But my heart didn’t fall in line. It responded to the alarms by keeping time with their rhythm. It beat stronger and faster. It filled my veins with nutrients and pushed blood into my muscles. It refused to accept the thought of pulling my comforter over my chest or pressing my face into my pillow. Of choosing unconsciousness over lucidity. Of lying down when I should be standing up. So I placed my hands under my shoulders and pushed. I opened my mouth to breathe in a new combination of gases. Held it for a moment. Let my lungs extract what they needed. Then pushed the rest out back into the atmosphere. My left foot was the first to touch the floor. I could only hope that it would support my weight as I shifted from the softness of my bed to the firmness of the ground. It had every other morning so far—even those that followed the darkest nights. And I stood, my body still pleading, my mind still aching. But my heart was pounding. My mind accepted that morning had broken and that a new day had arrived. A new kind of day. In a new world that is so similar to the old one, it is frightening. That night many people in this country were awakened from a beautiful dream they tried so desperately to believe was real. A post-racist United States. A shattered glass ceiling. A world without struggle. Or the need to struggle. But those of us who haven’t had a good night’s sleep in far too long have been sounding the alarms. We’ve been working to desegregate our cities and stop the spread of urban colonialism. We’ve been fighting the

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Chainbreaker members calling for renter protections in Santa Fe neighborhood at high risk for displacement separation of our familias and tearing down walls put up to stop our ability to move freely. We’ve been calling murder out for what it is and demanding our lives matter. We’ve been praying and holding the line to stop poison from being piped through our lands and legacies. We’ve been coming out of the closet and into the streets. We’ve been forming unions and workers’ committees. We’ve been exposing violations and atrocities. We’ve been organizing like our lives depended on it. Because they do. And always have.

Perhaps we should have prepared better for it. The policies of racism and misogyny have long been on the books. But the pages of those books were seldom read aloud in polite spaces. Now they are shouted with pride. A new day of an open and unapologetic politic of white supremacy and patriarchy has dawned. Our beautiful dream is now ending in a pool of sweat and a panicked gasp. Our minds are telling us that it can’t be over. That this is how dream l o g i c wo rk s . O n e minute you’re flying; the next, you’re falling. Who was once kissing you is now chasing you. “Stay in bed,” our minds are pleading. “Maybe the beauty will return.”

Our hearts have nearly broken before. And we got out of bed eventually.

O ur people have faced open racism and bigotry before, and our children have lived to hear the tales. Our movement has faced repression and backlash before. And new generations of organizers have been born. Our hearts have nearly broken before. And we got out of bed eventually.

But I can’t lie. It looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. The backlash to the first black president has begun in earnest. We knew it would come.

But our hearts know what must be done. We have to get up. Another dream is beginning. It’s starting off as a nightmare. Our hearts may feel broken, but they are still beating. The more of us that push through the fatigue of struggle and lure of sleep, the stronger our hearts will beat. As we move through

our day, they will pound in our chests. They will rush blood to our feet and hands and carry oxygen to our brains. They will remind us that our lives have always depended on our ability to organize. And we will respond to this nightmare with a beautiful reality. We will respond to yesterday with tomorrow. We will respond to oppression as we always have, with resistance. We will organize. And one day, we will overcome. And rest at last. No staying in bed this morning, compañeras. We’ve got work to do. ■ Tomás Rivera is the executive director o f C h a i n b r e a k e r, a membership-led economic a n d e n v i r o n m e n ta l justice organization with over 600 members. Chainbreaker has been working to expand civil rights and access to affordable transportation, housing and city planning for low-income communities in Santa Fe since 2004. 505.989.858, https://chainbreaker.org

Green Fire Times • January 2017

OP-ED: IMMIGRANT ACTIVISTS DEFEAT FEAR with COLLECTIVE ACTION From Somos Un Pueblo Unido Photos by Seth Roffman

n the winter of 2007, immigration agents raided the homes of dozens of immigrant families on the south side of Santa Fe. Children woke up to uniformed officers banging on their doors in a one-week enforcement sweep coldly dubbed “Operation Return to Sender.” About 30 workers and youth were taken away and eventually deported. To protect themselves, families locked their doors and hunkered down. Workers called in sick and moms kept their kids home from school. Attendance at local churches notably dropped the following Sunday.

There is a renewed call for turning communities across the country into places of “sanctuary.” The community’s reaction was decisive and swift. The city’s Immigration Committee organized a multi-organizational response to provide support to families. The public schools delivered thousands of knowyour-rights pamphlets to parents. Somos Un Pueblo Unido’s network of immigrant

activists triggered a citywide phone tree to inform each other about constitutional protections, and then they immediately started working with local policymakers to strengthen non-cooperation guidelines at the local police department. The raids indeed terrorized families, disrupted businesses and schools and upended a whole community. But Santa Fe’s values of inclusion and collective action shone through, and we persevered. The Trump administration has promised to deport 3 million people. This is not an implausible goal. President Obama managed to deport 2.3 million of our family members, most of whom were identified through formal and informal collaborations between local police, county jails and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). To arrest that many people, the federal government cannot do it alone—not without the help and resources of local law enforcement agencies and the continued criminalization of non-citizens. This is why there is a renewed call for turning communities across the country into places of “sanctuary.” There is no legal definition for “sanctuary”

IMMIGRATION COALITION FORMS

A bipartisan group of New Mexico community, industry and faith leaders has formed a coalition to call on federal lawmakers to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. who do not have a criminal record. The coalition, an initiative of a national organization called the New American Economy, also advocates sealing the U.S.-Mexico border while attracting workers who help grow the economy. The New Mexico Immigration Reform Steering Committee, one of a dozen statewide coalitions, supports a bipartisan bill called the Bridge Act, which would protect more than 700,000 young immigrants from deportation. Leaders of NMIRSC include Carla Sontag, president and founder of the New Mexico Business Coalition; Christina Medina, professor of political science at New Mexico State University; Kim Shanahan, executive director of the Santa Fe Area Homebuilders Association; and Justin Remer-Thamert, program director at New Mexico Coalition for Immigrant Justice. The construction, agriculture, tourism and other sectors hire many immigrants. New Mexico, where immigrants comprise 10 percent of the state’s population, relies heavily on immigrant labor.

Green Fire Times • January 2017

city or policy. It is generally understood to be a range of policies that protect the immigration status of residents and that deny the use of local government resources in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. These policies also aim to integrate mixed-status families into the civic, economic and cultural life of a community.

The fear of deportation under a Trump presidency, whether through raids or law enforcement collaboration, can impact so many aspects of an immigrant’s life. Buying a home, opening up a business, committing to training and educational programs—these are examples of longterm investments people make when they feel safe, secure and stable.

The current movement in New Mexico was actually born in the 1980s when faith groups mobilized to protect and assist Central American immigrants who were fleeing death, violence and poverty. In 1986, then-Gov. Toney Anaya declared New Mexico a “state of sanctuary.”

It is true that candidate Trump offered no substantive policy proposals or plans to implement them. It is also true that he plays fast and loose with his promises. But the rhetoric, the threats and his recent appointments to key federal agencies are enough to rouse fear and anxiety.

Somos, along with many faith and community groups, revived the concept locally in 1999 by helping pass a resolution that prohibits the use of municipal resources in discriminating against residents based on immigration status. That was just the beginning. Since then, New Mexico has made driver’s licenses, in-state tuition and financial aid available to all immigrants. Several cities, counties and campuses across the state have also created some of the most protective sanctuary policies in the country.

So what do we do in the face of this kind of overwhelming uncertainty? We organize! We come together to reject racist fear mongering. And we stand firm in our values of inclusion and respect.

Ten years after “Operation Return to Sender” rocked Santa Fe, immigrant activists and allies are joining forces once again to rally for a resolution reaffirming and strengthening our city’s sanctuary policies. Among several provisions, the resolution seeks to improve language access for nonEnglish speaking Santa Feans, institute a stronger confidentially directive to city employees about residents’ immigration status, and provide community education to families, youth, business owners and workers regarding constitutional rights.

The newly proposed sanctuary resolution, to be voted on in January, raises the bar for Santa Fe, New Mexico and the rest of the country. Contact your city councilors today to let them know that you stand with us. For more information, go to www.somosunpueblounido.org ■ Somos Un Pueblo Unido is a statewide immigrant-based worker and racial justice organization with membership teams in eight counties and offices in Santa Fe and Roswell.

This is not only a moral imperative but also a practical one. Approximately 15 percent of Santa Fe’s residents are foreign born. The majority are between 18 and 44 years of age, have resided in the state for more than 10 years and have children who were born here. We are Santa Fe’s young and are integral to the local economy.

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Sanctuary City rally at Santa Fe City Hall on Dec. 14, 2016 led by Somos Un Pueblo Unido. Center (l): Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales addresses supporters, onlookers and the media. The mayor has become a national spokesman for “sanctuary cities.”

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Green Fire Times • January 2017

THE SANTA FE DREAMERS PROJECT Santa Fe Juntos: “We love, support and protect our immigrant community.” For more information on how to show your support, go to http://www.santafedreamersproject.org

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OP-ED: SAMIA ASSED

THREATS FROM THE PRESIDENT-ELECT

s the results came in on election night and as we saw more and more states turn red on our TV screens in favor of Donald Trump, I experienced panic, fear and numbness. As a Muslim-American woman and mother, the thoughts and images of what actions his campaign will bring upon Muslims and women had me spinning to make sense of what had just happened. This unexpected, unrealistic bid for the most powerful seat in the world had become a nightmare reality for Muslim Americans. The threats of Trump’s campaign promise to hit home a thousand times over. The president-elect ran a campaign based on fear that has already encouraged many attacks on Muslim Americans and their institutions. I personally have been verbally attacked, spat on, stalked and chased by cars. Dozens of Muslim women have been attacked in supermarkets while holding their children’s hands. It makes me worry about my kids’ safety and that of my community. Through this hateful environment, I learned to appreciate and share the fears of black and brown mothers. Profiling, surveillance and always being suspect is a reality our sons face every day now. Hate and ignorance knows no color and has no shame! Many friends and fellow New Mexicans have reached out to us, assuring us of their love and support, which has been uplifting and inspiring. New Mexicans have marched against hate, held vigils, written letters of support and solidarity with Muslims, visited our local mosques, as well as participated in interfaith activities. Many have worn safety pins, and many organizations have joined the “Register me first” movement. These are all wellintended actions, but more needs to be done so that New Mexicans can be a factor in creating real change. Here are a few things you can do to stand in solidarity with the Muslim Americans, in New Mexico and nationally. 1. Step Up, Step Back! As a community activist and organizer, I know how important solidarity-building is. Now more than ever, we need our non-Muslim allies to step up and support us. But please understand the need to step back from a space of privilege and offer a platform to those communities suffering real

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threats. We need to listen and take leadership from organizations and activists that advocate for their communities. Being uplifting and giving space and agency will lead to real effective change and not just a feel-good, get-rid-of-your-guilt kind of action. Hate-free communities. Be an agent of change and pledge to never tolerate hate in your workforce, businesses, schools, religious institutions and community. Have conversations about who we are and what we stand for as a nation. Training in anti-Muslim racism and bystander actions are excellent tools. Please contact me about future trainings at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. Never underestimate local community power; be the change you want to see! Support Syrian refugees. There are over 350 organizations nationwide whose work is centered on resettling refugees. Two local organizations I know of are Catholic Charities of New Mexico and Lutheran Family Services-Rocky Mountains. Please help point out the facts to state officials and lawmakers. Refugees are not a threat! Donate time and get to know these families. It makes for a better community. Get involved in local politics, and hold your congressman accountable to any legislation. It is your tax money that will be used for policy change. Call and make sure your voice is heard. You have that right, to make sure to use this right before you lose it. Be a bridge to build trust and community. Get to know a Muslim, visit a mosque (ICNM), and open your heart and mind. Our country depends on it! ■

Samia Assed is a Palestinian-MuslimAmerican, an entrepreneur, human rights activist and mother of nine. She is currently the president of the board of Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. 505.999.8265, assedsamia@ g m a i l . c o m , abqpeaceandjustice.org/

Members from the Islamic Center of New Mexico, the Church of the Good Shepherd, Lutheran Family Services, Catholic Charities and the Santa Fe Refugee Collaborative came together to sort through donations for refugees provided by the Albuquerque and Santa Fe communities.

THE SANTA FE REFUGEE COLLABORATIVE

The Santa Fe Refuge Collaborative held its first community “Stone Soup” potluck-discussion in November. SFRC was formed to provide information and forge connections with the community at large to “channel energy, resources and compassion to foster a better future for some of our newest and most vulnerable families,” said Miraj Bukhari-Frayer, SFRC’s founder. “We connect individuals and organizations with families with specific needs, towards the goal of wellbeing, resiliency and dignity.” Families that the SFRC is assisting are from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Chad, Congo, Mozambique, El Salvador, Honduras and other countries. The collaborative has forged connections with local refugee resettlement organizations, such as Lutheran Family Services and Catholic Charities, and with the Islamic Center of New Mexico in Albuquerque, Dar al-Islam of Abiquiú, Masjid al-Rahma in Santa Fe; and interfaith communities including St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church and the Unitarian Church. SFRC has also formed alliances with Santa Fe Prep, Desert Academy, Santa Fe Community College, Salam Academy, and the University of New Mexico Muslim Student Association; as well as with the Santa Fe Council on International Relations, representatives of local government offices, and a variety of organizations committed to social justice. The SFRC has scheduled a series of “Refugees Speak” Q&A panel discussions. The first is Jan. 8 at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe. For more information, call 505.490.6575, email santaferefugeecollaborative@gmail.com, or, on Facebook: Santa Fe Refugee Collaborative.

Green Fire Times • January 2017

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NOT AFRAID TO LOOK

Charles R encountre

’m a traditional pipe carver, and I have been since I was a young man growing up in Rapid City, South Dakota. This was handed down to me in a strange and cherished way. My grandfather was a known carver by my Lakota community. When he died, my Aunt Ethel handed me his carving tools and a piece of pipestone that had been drawn on. I took my grandfather’s stone, studied it and began to work with one of his files, bringing out the eagle he’d drawn. By the time I was in my early 20s I’d carved many pipes and other small figures, and it became an extremely satisfying part of my life—studying and making carved figures and traditional pipes from my ancestors.Today we see their pipes and effigy figures in reference books and in Great Plains collections. Not Afraid to Look the White Man in the Face is a pipe that fascinated me from the first moment I saw it. On the prow of the pipe is a small Indian man carved in a sitting position that looks at (faces) the bowl of the pipe, which was carved into a much larger head of a white man facing the small naked Indian figure.

How much courage does it take to sit on the earth with no weapons, looking straight ahead into the eye of the storm with no fear? It is much like counting coup on an enemy in the sense that one only needs to touch the enemy, not take his life. Touching the enemy with your eyes, with your gaze, is the highest capacity of honor, courage and compassion. More than one unnamed Plains artist carved Not Afraid to Look the White Man in the Face during the time of Manifest Destiny.This era was also known as the Indian War period—a time when the United States government moved west and met my ancestors with their army, their munitions and expansionist determination. The archived collection of President Andrew Jackson, the quintessential leader of “westward expansion,” includes a rendering of Not Afraid to Look the White Man in the Face. Whether or not Jackson was informed of its symbolism, this pipe probably provided encouragement to Indian delegates in their diplomatic encounters with

Not Afraid to Look the White Man in the Face, a 19th century rendering from John Ewers book North American Plains Indian Sculpture

this particular Great White Father, a man renowned for his determined aggression towards the Indian people. I was inspired by Not Afraid to Look The White Man in the Face because it reminded me that I have nothing to be afraid of; every day is a good day to die. And fearlessness is a way to move through difficult moments and circumstances. I knew that one day I would make my own rendition of this piece. In collaboration with my partner, Alicia Rencountre-Da Silva, and our work to create art that addresses critical issues and community needs, Not Afraid to Look the White man in the Face became Not Afraid to Look—for racism and colonization are not the only threats to our communities, and injustice is a challenge for all people to overcome. The need to connect to our earth and face whatever the forces are that evoke despair, fear, anger, delusion and denial is universally shared. The piece reminds us of our power to endure and face what seems insurmountable, as my ancestors remind me that we can face even genocide and continue in good ways. Not Afraid to Look was first installed at the Institute of American Indian Arts’ Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in 2015. It is on loan there and remains today in the front courtyard, calling out to MOCNA visitors. The second monument was built just this year on-site at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the Cannonball district. In the summer of 2016 we heard the call for support from the Water Protectors of the Standing Rock Sioux. My people, the Lower Brule Sioux Nation, are part of the Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires. The people from Standing Rock are my relatives. We have nine grandchildren in South Dakota who depend on the Missouri River. Water is sacred to us as Lakota for many reasons. It is life for all beings who live and breathe upon this earth. As we witnessed the events becoming more strained, the importance of creating a tribute to the courage of the people became apparent. Working with volunteers, I spent a month of 12- to 14-hour days at the Sacred Stones Camp building the monument. Not Afraid to Look sits on a hill overlooking the Cannonball and Missouri rivers and the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site. As the brutality, violence and force of the Energy Transfer Partners and the State of North Dakota escalated in November and December, the piece was there to both bear witness to the history in the making and to

Green Fire Times • January 2017

endure the entire story with eyes open. The sculpture witnesses a repeat of history—an effort by those in power to ignore and even destroy my people and disrespect the integrity of the land that sustains all of us and a more powerful force—the people standing together, from many tribes—to defend the sacred. Not Afraid to Look, from Santa Fe to Standing Rock, will remain a physical reminder to everyone for years to come of what the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and the Water Protectors were willing to do for the people today and for the next seven generations. We, as human beings, have capacities to look past our historical differences and antipathies to come together for what is sacred and what is our right to respect and to protect. As artists, my wife, and I have visions to place Not Afraid to Look in places where we may need to look and to stand for something much greater than the things that have divided us. We believe that art that responds to and reflects and builds community and community voice and its truths is the way forward. We see art in relationship to community as part of the healing of what has gone unsaid and ignored. In the coming time it will be more important than ever to show up as artists and as human beings and be Not Afraid to Look. ■ Charles Rencountre, a Lakota artist, has worked

Not Afraid to Look on a hill overlooking the encampments and pipeline construction site at Standing Rock, North Dakota.

Not Afraid to Look in the courtyard of the IAIA’s Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe in sculptural mediums for over 30 years. He has worked on collaborative installations, designed symposiums and worked with communities, including on large-scale monuments and installations. He collaborates with his wife, Alicia Rencountre-Da Silva, on their international developing project, Not Afraid to Look.

Not Afraid to Look at Standing Rock. Charles Rencountre (r) with volunteer.

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OP-ED: DOUGLAS MEIKLEJOHN

THE NEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER’S TOP TEN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES to WATCH in 2017

Trump and Martínez: A Double Whammy for New Mexico’s Environment and Communities

nvironmentally hostile administrations will be making decisions about New Mexico’s communities and resources this year. Coming to the White House is a president who likely will set back federal environmental protections by years, if not decades. In New Mexico, a fading gubernatorial administration is taking its last shots at remaining state-level environmental protections. Yet these problems will likely mobilize even more New Mexicans to protect the air, water and lands that are so important to us. Together with the state’s advocacy organizations and public-interest attorneys, we can defend the state we love. But we’ll need to work together to make it happen.

The Trump Administration Trump need look no further than New Mexico to find a blueprint for how to dismantle environmental protections and decimate the agencies tasked with protecting the environment. It took Gov. Susana Martínez less than a year to undermine much of the New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED’s) effectiveness: She appointed leaders intent on reversing the mission of the agency; shuffled managers out of their fields of expertise, and created a climate of fear and recrimination—all of which led to an exodus of many experienced regulators. As early as her first day in office, Martínez installed ideologues as decision-makers and began attacking environmental regulations and policies. Through tough response from public interest groups, her success has been spotty; however, we anticipate no change in her administration’s anti-environment trajectory in 2017. President-elect Trump already is following this scheme. His list of nominees is a who’swho of climate-change deniers and drillbaby-drillers. Once they are installed, we anticipate that Trump will target Obama executive orders and regulations such as the Waters of the U.S. Rule. Then he will work

San Juan Generating Station

As other states have aggressively moved forward with clean energy, New Mexico’s utilities, including PNM and its San Juan Generating Station, are fighting to keep burning coal.

Climate Change We live in a state where the impacts of climate change become more apparent every year: less snow. More heat. Record-setting wildfires. Bark beetles. And that’s just the start. In addition to pushing a fossil-fuel agenda, Trump likely will be successful in overturning many of the regulatory strides made by the Obama administration toward addressing climate change, including the Clean Power Plan and the Methane Rule. Those which he cannot overturn, he may seek to defund, such as provisions mandated by the United States’ participation in the 2015 Paris climate change agreement (which requires a four-year withdrawal process). While efforts in states like

Green Fire Times • January 2017

Pumpjack in Lea County, New Mexico

Drilling will be a priority for both the new federal administration and existing administration in the coming years.

“Energy Independence” Will the Trump administration lead to a return of drilling in our state in 2017? Perhaps. Given campaign promises and Trump’s environmental nominees, we anticipate a wholesale rollback of regulations. Oil and gas drilling is an inherently dirty business. The EPA recently confirmed longstanding public fears that fracking contaminates groundwater. Drilling and pipelines also pollute air, contaminate soil, leak greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, threaten sacred places (like the lands surrounding Chaco Canyon) and poison wildlife and livestock. Public lands, state lands and private lands with split estate (mineral rights belonging to someone other than the surface owner) could all be affected by a Trump-inspired drilling boom. But will a potential boom last? Trump may be used to getting his way, but he may soon discover that he cannot will global markets into defying market forces for long. We expect that if there is an expansion of coal mining in New Mexico, it will be short-lived. While it is still a significant energy source in the state, progress made toward retiring coal-burning plants, the economy of natural gas, and a move by global financiers away from coal-related infrastructure makes it unlikely that the coal industry will rebound significantly. Finally, Trump is signaling that he is

President-elect Donald Trump

Here are 10 issues that the attorneys at the nonprofit New Mexico Environmental Law Center will have their eyes on as 2017 begins.

with Congress to circumvent landmark environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act by financially starving the agencies tasked with enforcing those laws. Next up will be a U.S. Supreme Court appointment who will keep the court majority firmly in far-right ideological territory. We expect the country’s highest court to hand down decisions that will damage our environment—and the ability of activists and attorneys to undertake fights for the public interest—for years to come.

looking to prop up America’s aging nuclear power infrastructure. Whether or not this has any impact on New Mexico’s uranium industry remains to be seen; however, it is unlikely that, without massive investment in new nuclear plants, the near-term global market will recover enough to resuscitate the mining industry.

California will ensure that some progress is made in our country toward addressing this global crisis, New Mexico will remain part of the problem, instead of part of the solution, in the short-term.

Wildlife Watching, Río Grande del Norte National Monument Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, is leading an effort to urge the Trump administration to rescind national monument designations, including status for the Río Grande del Norte in northern New Mexico and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument near Las Cruces.

Public Lands Designations Increased drilling and mining are not the only threats to our public lands under Trump. Our public lands allies are gearing up for a fight to preserve Río Grande del Norte and Organ MountainsDesert Peaks National Monuments, federal sites that have become significant economic engines in their respective regions. They will have a tough fight on their hands not only to preserve these special places, but to preserve the very idea of permanent national monuments in the future. With the nomination of Ryan Zinke as secretary of the Interior Department, New Mexico Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn may be foiled in his bid to grab lands from the federal government, but Trump’s unpredictability means that our allies will be constantly on their guard.

Federal Facilities Outside of hundreds of unreclaimed uranium mines, some of the most toxic and radioactive waste in New Mexico has been leaked into our soil and water by federal facilities, including Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Kirtland

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White Rock Canyon showing fall colors on the banks of the Río Grande A plume of contaminants, including chromium, is moving from LANL toward wells that pull drinking water from the Río Grande for the City of Santa Fe.

Air Force Base—sites of tremendously toxic and/or radioactive contamination. Other federal facilities with ongoing cleanups in our state include Sandia National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP), which is seeking to store high-level radioactive waste on its surface. New Mexico also has 20 contaminated sites on the Superfund list, including several large abandoned uranium mines and mills in northwestern New Mexico. At all these sites, cleanup has been slow and funding has been low.

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The president-elect’s picks to head the agencies that are involved with cleanup do not inspire confidence that Trump’s government will do what is necessary to protect New Mexicans and our resources from its messes. • Rick Perry, former Texas governor, has been tapped to head up the Department of Energy; if he is confirmed, he will soon be in charge of LANL and WIPP. The Texas Tribune stated in 2011, “Perry has been particularly hostile to environmental concerns—that is when he’s showing any interest at all.” At LANL, a toxic plume of chromium is migrating towards the Río Grande and the drinking water infiltration wells for the City of Santa Fe. • The Justice Department, which is currently negotiating with NMELC and its clients over the cleanup of the massive Kirtland jet fuel spill, could soon be headed by Jeff Sessions, who made pro-environment votes just 7 percent of the time in his career as a U.S. senator. Kirtland leaked an estimated 24 million gallons of jet fuel into Albuquerque’s drinking water aquifer; a plume of carcinogenic ethyl dibromide is moving toward wells that deliver 20 percent of the city’s drinking water. • New Mexicans living near Superfund sites reside near major contamination that affects their health, air quality, water quality and quality of life. They will not have an ally in Scott Pruitt, who has been nominated to lead the EPA, and who has made his reputation trying to cripple the very agency he may lead.

Surface Water Quality In 2017, we will closely be monitoring what happens to surface waters in New Mexico. Our rivers, streams and lakes are regulated by the EPA. With more lax oversight, fewer regulators and probably more private contractors, it is possible that we will see more Gold King mine-type disasters in our future. More likely, however, is that our surface waters will experience a more insidious, widespread degradation of quality. So if you fish, watch waterfowl, rely upon an acequia, or just appreciate rivers, prepare for your surface water to be a little—or a lot—worse next year.

Freeport McMoRan Chino copper mine, Grant County In 2016, public interest groups went to the state Supreme Court to get the Martínez administration’s “Copper Rule” overturned; the rule allows for pollution of groundwater at all copper mines in New Mexico, and could set precedent for other industries to pollute aquifers.

Groundwater Quality More than 80 percent of New Mexicans get their water from underground aquifers, which are regulated by the state. 2017 will see a major state Supreme Court ruling on the “Copper Rule,” a Martínez regulation that allows the copper industry to pollute groundwater and could allow other industries to follow suit if it is upheld. Martínez-administration agencies also continue to work to gut existing regulations as well. A case in point: born from a “hit list” developed by

The Santolina Project Southwest Organizing Project and community members protest the Santolina development

Los Alamos National Laboratory NMED already relaxed deadlines and forgiven hundreds of millions of dollars in fines in 2016 for cleanup at LANL; 2017 will likely see a reduction in cleanup funds.

NMED staffers are proposed amendments to the state’s groundwater and surface water quality regulations. The amendments would include several illegal provisions that would eliminate public participation and notice in permitting proceedings. The hearing on these amendments will be held in spring 2017, and it will be a chance for New Mexicans who depend on groundwater to voice our displeasure at the Martínez administration’s efforts to curtail water protections.

The Augustín Plains Basin The Augustín Plains Basin is the site of the most highly contested water grab in New Mexico’s history.

Water Grabs Throughout the U.S., private companies are acquiring water rights and water systems in the realization that clean water is one investment that will pay off. Thus far, New Mexico has escaped many of these problems due to public-focused water laws. But even these laws may be in jeopardy under the Martínez administration. In westcentral New Mexico, an Italian billionaire who owns Augustín Plains Ranch, LLC is attempting to privatize more than 17 billion gallons of water a year— more than half the annual consumption of Albuquerque in 2014. Although the ranch’s scheme was defeated in 2012, it has been reopened by current State Engineer Tom Blaine, who is likely to grant the ranch a new hearing on the illegal proposal. Will 2017 deliver a windfall for the ranch? While water rights fall within state jurisdiction, will the ranch benefit from Trump’s plan for massive publicprivate partnerships? Will its owners reap massive profits while sucking Datil dry and dumping major infrastructure costs on New Mexico taxpayers? (If you think this is unlikely, take a look at Santolina, a new 90,000-resident city proposed for western Albuquerque. Santolina just persuaded Bernalillo County commissioners to approve $1 billion in taxpayer subsidies for this Phoenix-like development.)

Environmental Justice The formal concept of “environmental justice” (EJ)—that every person has a right to healthy, sustainable environments in which to live, work, and play—was born in part in New Mexico when groups

(including NMELC client/ally,the SouthWest Organizing Project, or SWOP) penned a letter to national environmental organizations in 1990, calling out racism on the part of national environmental groups. Twenty-six years later, the grassroots EJ movement is strong, but community advocates remain marginalized by decision-makers at the local, state and federal levels. While the Obama administration addressed EJ on paper, it did little in the way of making concrete strides toward mitigating environmental harm in communities of color. And while the EPA opened an investigation into a civil rights complaint filed by SWOP and NMELC over discriminatory air quality permitting by Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, it has done little else in the way of policing state and local jurisdictions that failed to address inequities. But it’s about to get worse. Given racist rhetoric from the campaign trail and Trump’s nomination of an attorney general who once was denied a federal judgeship because of racism, we can only anticipate that even the lackluster federal EJ enforcement will melt away entirely for the next four years, as it has at the local and state level under the administrations of Gov. Martínez and Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry. That makes these fights even more critical at the local level, where vigorous community advocacy can still sway outcomes.

The nearly-last hurrah at the Roundhouse 2017 will inc lude Gov. Martínez’s last 60-day legislative session (2018 will have a 30-day session that is limited to fiscal matters and bills she endorses). We anticipate that the upcoming session could be larded with last-ditch efforts by industry lobbyists to check off client wish lists: Bills prohibiting local jurisdictions from regulating oil and gas are perennial favorites that may arise again this year. Or perhaps not: Progressive Democrats at the helm of both houses of the state Legislature may dampen industry efforts in New Mexico in 2017. No matter what happens, your voice is important—calls to legislators do make a difference. CONTINUED ON PAGE 21

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Top Ten Environmental Issues 19

continued from page

New Mexico Environmental Law Center Executive Director Douglas Meiklejohn, (l) is a stalwart defender of New Mexico’s environment and communities during legislative sessions. Here he speaks with Rep. Roger Madalena during a 2014 legislative committee hearing.

What can you do to take a stand for New Mexico’s environment? • Be loud. Urge elected officials at all levels to do what is right by our state’s communities and environment. Find personalized contact information (using your zip code) using this handy tool hosted by the League of Women Voters: http://hq-salsa.wiredforchange. com/o/5950/getLocal.jsp • Be present. Decisions that affect us all

are made in administrative proceedings and legislative committee hearings. Your participation and/or thoughtful comments are important to the process. Check with your favorite environmental organizations to be notified about proceedings that will impact places and issues that you care about. • Support local enviro groups. Speaking of advocacy organizations, New Mexico’s homegrown environmental groups and local chapters of national groups are doing the work that protects our local resources and communities. They can do a lot with your support. • Keep informed. New Mexico has some great investigative reporters and citizen reporters covering environmental and political beats. Keep reading the Green Fire Times and support these outlets financially so they can keep doing their work. • Write. Decision-makers read letters to the editor and op-eds. If you are passionate about an issue, write to your local paper(s), and get your friends to write as well. If you’re new to this, here’s a great guide by the Union of Concerned Scientists: http://www.ucsusa.org/action/ writing-an-lte.html#.WFL8yrIrKJA

You can find out more about the Law Center at its website, www.nmelc.org. ■ Douglas Meiklejohn is founder and executive director of the New Mexico Environmental

Law Center. He has spent more than 40 years as an attorney working for the public interest, with a focus on representing New Mexicans whose communities are impacted by environmental injustice.

THE NEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER

In 2017, the Law Center celebrates 30 years of fighting for the well-being of New Mexico communities and environment. The Law Center is a nonprofit law firm that provides free and low-cost legal representation to New Mexicans throughout the state; its clients advocate for environmental protection, public health, and community quality-of-life. The Law Center does not accept government funding and is supported through donations from individuals, local companies and foundations. Major cases on the Law Center’s docket include: • Working with Diné (Navajo), Pueblo and Anglo communities to prevent new uranium mining that would have adverse health and environmental impacts and advocating for the cleanup of Cold War-era mining contamination. • Advocating for the cleanup of the Kirtland jet fuel spill, estimated to be twice the size of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The plume is moving towards Albuquerque’s most productive drinking water wells. • Opposing efforts to approve the 90,000-resident Santolina development near western Albuquerque. • Fighting the Augustín Plains Ranch water grab, which if approved, could lead to wide-scale privatization of water in New Mexico. • Advocating for meaningful cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory. NMELC and its clients are advocating for the cleanup of Cold War-era contamination, including a plume of carcinogenic chromium that is moving toward the Río Grande and drinking water supplies (including Santa Fe’s). • Working at the Roundhouse to advocate for adoption of environmentally sound legislation and to prevent the adoption of laws that would be harmful to New Mexico’s communities or its natural resources.

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OP-ED: CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES

Survival through moderation, or extinction through overindulgence? Jack Loeffler

e, the human species, have been around for a couple hundred thousand years. For most of our timespan, we’ve lived as hunter-gatherers in relative balance with our biotic communities. But around 10,000 years ago, when the planet warmed up at the end of the last Ice Age, we began to practice agriculture and thereafter collectively morphed into hierarchical societies that spread around the planet. Social hierarchy and economics became inextricably interlinked, and thus recent human cultures can be viewed through time as “haves and have-nots,” masters and slaves, privileged classes served by serfs, and divinely anointed monarchs lording it over entire populations and their habitats.

areas. He summed up his thinking as follows:

At this point in the 21st century, the “Divine Right of Kings” has transmogrified into the corporate right of first refusal. Economics based on endless, continuous growth empowers our cultural paradigm. Most of us are still serfs, although we have gained the right to vote, at least in nations that are ostensibly democracies. But in the main, it seems to me, most of those who run for public office dance to the endless drumbeat of a system of economics that so deafens them that they—and we—evade the profound reality that endless growth in a world of finite resources cannot be eternally sustained. Thus, ecological collapse is inevitable. As Ayn Rand pointed out, “We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality.”

If you look at the human race, not as the consciousness of the Earth, but as the cancer of the Earth—that we’re a disease ecologically—maybe Nature has evolved some of us as antibodies. That’s the only way I can explain why some of us love wilderness and other people have no conception of it at all. And so, our role in the future, I think, is to try to preserve as many areas of natural diversity as possible... And hopefully also develop the ethics and the potential for a human society that can live in harmony with the rest of the planet after this industrial madness burns itself out. Those are the two things I’m trying to do in the long-term. One is to lay the groundwork for a human society in the future that is ecologically based, and the other is to preserve as much natural diversity now as we can.

Gary Snyder

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Members of Earth First! were greatly inspired by Edward Abbey, whose literary

On New Year’s Day 1983, Ed and I returned from a camping trip in the Superstition Mountains to his writing cabin in the Sonoran Desert, where I recorded him thinking out loud: I think by virtue of reason, common sense, the evidence of our good five bodily senses and daily experience, we can imagine a better way to live, with fairly simple solutions. Not easy—but simple. Beginning here in America—we should set the example. We have set the example by pillaging the planet, and we should set the example for preserving life, including human life. First, most important, reduce human numbers, gradually, by normal attrition, letting the senile old farts like you and me die off. Reduce the human population to a reasonable number—for the United States something like 100 million, or even 50 million, should be plenty. And then, second, simplify our needs and demands, so that we’re not preying to excess on other forms of life—plant life and animal life—by developing new attitudes, a natural reverence for all forms of life.” These perspectives were voiced over 30 years ago by men who had become actively engaged in protecting homeland. Early 20th-century America luxuriated in the fruits of the Industrial Revolution. But the stock market crash of 1929 was followed by the Great Depression that lasted until 1942, when the USA fully engaged in World

War II. Sixteen years of cultural “tightened belt” set Americans up to sanction an economically dominated paradigm. World leaders met in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944, just before the end of the war, to create an economic system that was to result in the World Bank and the Global Economy. In 2013, I recorded Jerry Mander, author of The Capitalism Papers: Fatal Flaws of an Obsolete System. He told me: Consumerism is what was going to save the economy. That was a conscious statement made during the 1950s postBretton Woods. Consumerism was going to be the answer. More and more products, more and more resources. There was not even the beginning of a thought about any limits to that potential. The environmental movement hadn’t really even begun yet in any meaningful way.There were individuals like Edward Abbey and people like that who were talking in environmental terms, but there was no movement, there was no conscious sense of limits to any of that. And it was all about economic growth and individual consumption and getting ahead and competition and investment and advancement in the corporate world. About that time, the counterculture happened. First hundreds, then thousands of young Americans reacted against the consumer-based economy. Many moved into urban neighborhoods and followed Timothy Leary’s maxim “Turn On, Tune In and Drop Out.” Myriad experiments, both social and drug-induced, reshaped countercultural consciousness. Many were inspired to leave

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

Over three decades ago, I recorded Dave Foreman, a founder of Earth First!, who had previously worked for many years with environmental organizations to save wilderness

I basically came to the conclusion that we were being co-opted by the establishment, that having influence a n d a l l m ad e u s m o d e r a t e. We compromised more, thought about pragmatic politics instead of biocentric ethics. And so with several other people who had worked for the Friends of the Earth or the Wilderness Society, or who were active Sierra Club members, we decided that the time had come for an environmental group that wouldn’t compromise, that would base itself on ethics rather than pragmatics, and that would take strong action to try to stop the destruction of wilderness...

works Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang invigorated a subculture to react against turning habitat into money, a prevailing tenet of the corporate will.

Edward Abbey

Dave Foreman

Green Fire Times • January 2017

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Conflicting Ideologies continued from page 23 the cities and either live in newly founded communes or pursue life as individuals whose active imaginations far exceeded the parameters of the economic paradigm that dominated mainstream culture.

Gary Snyder emerged early on as a talented poet whose work was far more “naturistic” than urban-oriented, as were the works of his citified contemporaries Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and others of the Beat Generation. Snyder was and remains a great voice in behalf of an ecologically motivated system of attitudes. In 1969, he wrote a piece of prose inspired by his understanding of Nature’s flow, and the imminent jeopardy to earthly habitat. Four Changes was first published in 1970 and addresses four major issues: Population, Pollution, Consumption and Transformation. It appears in Snyder’s various books, including Turtle Island, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1975. Between Snyder’s Four Changes and Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, two new pillars of perspective changed the face of social activism by introducing protection of the natural environment into the stream of countercultural consciousness in America. Thence environmental activism became a reality. Radical environmentalism became a factor as small groups or even cells of hardcore activists went to work. Radical environmentalism is indeed hard work. It challenges the status quo to the limits. Scientists have provided the world public with a hard truth—namely that we’ve overloaded the atmosphere with carbon dioxide to the extent that our planet’s climate must inevitably change, resulting in growing risk to our species and many others, too many of which have already gone extinct as a result of human folly. Environmentalists are now pitted against the corporate/political/military/ industrial complex, itself dominated by leaders with apparently zero understanding of the imminence of eco-disaster that is even now befalling our biotic community. What’s to be done? The grass roots is the place to start with habitat-based expanding cadres deeply rooted and well educated to the nature of respective watersheds and bioregions. Decentralization of political and corporate power is essential. We are governed by those whose unbridled economic interests pose deadly expense to habitat. They must be thwarted through imagination, not force. This means invoking an enormous shift of attitude in mainstream culture. The so-called millennial generation is the inheritor of what has gone before. This generation is savvy to digital media in a way heretofore unknown. Digital social media

is a path to revolution using imagination and perseverance. A recent election was won by trumping the truth with deceit on many fronts. Social media can be used as a powerful force to reveal the truth and counter those forces that would bring us to ecological ruin. However, we must retain recognition of our rootedness in the flow of Nature, while expanding intellectual and intuitive scope. We must invigorate a Nature-based gestalt of such magnitude that it overwhelms the current economic cultural paradigm. We must induce a new cultural attitude based on compassion for our planet, this tiny watershed floating in space that spawned us and sustains us. We must run counter to the cultural continuum that threatens life as we know it. That’s a lot of expostulations in a row. But we are now engaged in a battle between conflicting ideologies, one of which is based in economic growth for its own sake, and the other founded in a system of ethics that honors life and consciousness within the biotic community that sustains us. This is not necessarily a contest between good and evil, but rather a collective choice between survival through moderation, or extinction through overindulgence. To turn the juggernaut requires understanding exactly what is at stake and why, and thereafter becoming individually and collectively active. Intelligent civil disobedience will undoubtedly become a necessity. Reacting against legislation that violates natural order becomes imperative, first by clearly articulating the issues, and if that is insufficient, then through civil disobedience. Reciprocity with the biotic community is paramount and therefore trumps legislation passed by politicians subject to corporate will. We are poignantly reminded of this as we regard our Indian brothers and sisters at Standing Rock, who valiantly stood down minions of wrongly legislated law as they defended homeland against interlopers. We are poised on many edges of jeopardy. This is not the time to despair but rather react with courage and conviction based on fully understanding the consequences of what we choose to do or not to do. Consciousness is Nature’s gift to our species. Let us not squander this great gift on paltry endeavors, but rather use it in behalf of the greatest good for the biotic community. And stay relentless. ■ Jack Loeffler is an aural historian, author and radio producer whose perspective includes bioregionalism and systems thinking. He has recently completed a 10-part documentary radio series entitled “Encounters with Consciousness.” www.loreoftheland.org

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OP-ED: 100 PERCENT RENEWABLE ENERGY PLAN for NEW MEXICO

David Van Winkle

here is no question that the window to address climate change is closing and that the need for emissions reductions and the shift to renewables is urgent. Given the recent appointments by the incoming administration, it is clear that climate justice work will have to shift to the state and local levels. The good news is that New Mexico is in a position to lead the transition to a just and sustainable energy future—both because our abundant solar and wind resources make it technically viable to do so and because growing awareness and public demand combined with recent victories and upcoming opportunities for state offices make it politically possible. Our first opportunity to advance this transition is in the electricity sector. Seven hundred megawatts (MW) of solar and 1750 MW of wind can meet the demand needs of the 500,000 New Mexican customers served by the state’s largest utility, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), within 20 years. Not only is this renewablesbased resource portfolio feasible and cost-effective, it will cost less than PNM’s current plan to continue its heavy dependence upon coal and nuclear generation. It will be cleaner, emitting essentially no pollution. It will provide jobs in New Mexico to build and operate these utility-scale solar and wind generating facilites.

2015 Energy Mix Solar

Nuclear

Coal

Solar Wind Natural Gas Nuclear Coal Solar Wind Natural Gas Nuclear Coal 3% 7% 3% 7%

12%

17% 17%

44%

50% 31%

29% 29%

2025 Energy Mix 2025 Energy Mix

2023 Energy Mix 2023 Energy Mix Solar Solar

Wind Wind

Natural Gas Nuclear Nuclear Coal Coal Natural Gas 7% 7%

Solar Solar

Wind Wind

11% 11%

21% 21%

Natural Gas Natural Gas

Nuclear Nuclear

Coal Coal

11% 11%

21% 21%

36%

In simple terms, to achieve high levels of renewable energy, 1) the utility (PNM) needs to ramp down and stop using coal and nuclear to generate electricity and 2) replace it with clean energy sources.

The transition looks like this: The key steps in this process are: • Retire all the remaining units of the coal-fired, San Juan Generating Station at the end of the current coal contract, mid-2022. • Retire 200 MW of the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant by 2025. • Withdraw from PNM’s share, 402 MW of capacity, at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station by 2030. • Add solar and wind capacity, 1200 MW in the next 10 years, and another 1200 MW in the following 10 years. • Utilize cost-effective storage by 2030 or earlier.

Natural Gas 5%

New Mexico is in a position to lead the transition to a just and sustainable energy future.

The key steps to make the first 10 years of this roadmap happen are technically and financially feasible today. PNM could be producing more than 50 percent of our energy from renewable energy and eliminate coal-produced electricity, reducing it from 50 percent to zero in 10 years. Economic storage will certainly be available within 15 years and will support 80 percent renewable energy, and in 20 years, by 2035: 100 percent renewable energy.

Wind

2018 Energy Mix 2018 Energy Mix

36%

22% 22%

46% 46%

25%

Solar Solar

2030 Energy Mix 2030 Energy Mix

Wind Wind

Natural Gas Natural Gas

Nuclear Nuclear

2035 Energy Mix

2035 Energy Mix 2035 Energy Mix

Coal Coal

20%

20% 20%

18% 18%

20% 20%

Solar Solar Solar Wind Wind Wind Natural Gas Natural Gas Natural Gas Nuclear Nuclear

Nuclear

80%

80% 80%

62%

Coal

Coal Coal

62%

CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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Green Fire Times • January 2017

ÂŠ Anna Christine Hansen

James H. Auerbach, MD and Staff support Green Fire Times in its efforts to bring about a better world by focusing on the people, enterprises and initiatives that are transforming New Mexico into a diverse and sustainable economy. SoMe oF THe TopicS GreeN Fire TiMeS SHowcASeS: Green: Building, products, Services, entrepreneurship, investing and Jobs; renewable energy, Sustainable Agriculture, regional cuisine, ecotourism, climate Adaptation, Natural resource Stewardship, Arts & culture, Health & wellness, regional History, community Development, educational opportunities James H. Auerbach, MD provides dermatology services in Santa Fe, NM (Sorry, we are no longer accepting new clients.)

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100 Percent Renewable Energy Plan

FACEBOOK RE CONTRACT COULD BECOME A TEMPLATE

Will this roadmap be cost effective for customers? Yes, already wind and solar costs per kilowatt-hour (kWh) are significantly less than coaland nuclear-produced energy. PNM received quotes for wind and solar energy in early 2016 that clearly demonstrate this fact. Wind quotes were 3.3 cents/kWh and solar cost 4.2 cents/ kWh. Also, Facebook and PNM recently agreed to a price cap of 4.7 cents/kWh for solar. At the $/kWh same time, coal and nuclear costs are 6-8 cents/kWh.

The energy for the facility will primarily be generated by three solar facilities built by Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM). Facebook will reportedly pay PNM up to $31 million a year for electricity.

continued from page

Cost of Electricity Generation Wind Solar Gas fuel Coal Nuclear

Much of the solar energy added should be “rooftop” solar to provide local jobs and reduce the need for transmission costs.

3.3 4.2 3.8 7.4 8.5

Bruce Thorne, an attorney hired by Facebook to advise the social media giant on negotiating with Public Service Company of New Mexico and to guide it through the state regulatory process, says that Facebook’s $250-million data center being built in Los Lunas could trigger a “sea change” for renewable energy (RE) in the state.

Thorne said that Facebook’s green-energy tariff, or green rider, which governs the amount of renewable energy the company wants to use to power the facility, could act as a template for other qualified companies and organizations to secure special rates with utilities for new renewable resources. Establishing such rates, he said, could attract businesses to the state and add additional solar and wind facilities to the grid. “The tariff could be a way— without using state or even utility money—to fund utility infrastructure. Improvements to the system resulting from the added facilities are the financial responsibility of the customer,” he said.

The Transition Will Only Thorne spoke in December at the monthly meeting of Santa Fe Sustainable Everything Take Place with Public Demand and Political Will Associates. He made his presentation as a private attorney and not on behalf of Facebook. Currently, more than 80 percent of the energy produced by PNM comes from coal and nuclear. PNM, and utilities in general, prefer investments in large facilities such as coal and nuclear because they require significant ongoing capital expenditures each year to maintain these large thermal units to keep them operational and meet pollution and safety requirements. These ongoing capital expenditures increase the rate base asset each year and thus increase PNM’s profits without adding new capacity. Additional costs associated with these large facilities include decommissioning, coalmine reclamation, stranded assets, Wind: Levelized fromand PNM nuclear Compliancepower filing in 13-00390-UT, PNM Appendix 2, Table 3, litigation risk, health and the environment. Bothcostcoal plants require Line 1 (Includes wheeling cost) huge amounts of water. Each of the Solar: coal Levelized and nuclear plants consumes multiples cost from PNM mentioned Compliance filing in 13-00390-UT, PNM Appendix 2, Table 2, Line 1 (Includes wheeling cost) of the water used by Santa Fe. Gas fuel: Levelized cost: Fuel cost from PNM 9/22/16 2017 IRP presentation, Pace documents, page 16; Heatrate from PNM 2017 IRP, Working document dated 11/10/2016, page 2 of 10, Line 8, 85MW Aeroderivative

This renewables-based portfolio will cost less than PNM’s current plan, it will be cleaner and will provide jobs.

Coal: Levelized cost from: 13-00390-UT, Van Winkle Direct Testimony 9/25/15, Exhibit DVW-58 (Sept 2015)

Nuclear: Levelized cost from: 15-00261-UT, Van Winkle Direct Testimony 1/29/16, page 20, The reality is that PNM’s dependence on coal and nuclear has led to a steady increase adjusted to valuation of $1306/kW instead of $2500/kW and for 43% escalation of nuclear costs per in rates—which we can expect to climb even higher in the21-1 coming years.pages Since PNM Exhibit BR October in 13-00390-UT, 1 &2, line 8 early 2008, the cost of electricity/kWh provided by PNM to its retail customers has increased by approximately 50 percent, while New Mexico’s real median household incomes have declined by 6.4 percent since 2008. (Further, on Dec. 7, 2016, PNM requested another rate increase of $99 million, or another 11 percent.) Meanwhile, PNM’s ongoing earnings have increased by 461 percent from 2008 to 2014. When actual 2014 residential rates are compared to the PNM’s regional peers (investorowned major utilities in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona), it shows that PNM’s residential rates were the highest in the region, and above the U.S. average. PNM residential rates were 37 percent higher than Southwestern Public Service and 41 percent higher than Farmington municipal utility.

In addition to the financial cost, the environmental cost of coal and nuclear is no longer something we can afford. By comparison, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar have very little ongoing capital expenditure needs (as well has very little maintenance and no fuel costs). With 700 MW of solar and 1750 MW of wind, New Mexicans can power our homes, businesses and communities while drastically cutting our state’s emissions, protecting and preserving our water supplies and reducing air, water and soil pollution. The transition will require steady investment in new infrastructure, which will create an economic surge in our poor state as well as a new, sustainable base for our economy. Solar and wind jobs are familysupporting jobs that New Mexico’s young people are already preparing to fill and that experienced engineers and technicians can be re-trained to assume. ■ David Van Winkle was an executive with Texas Instruments for 30 years, leading large business units and analyzing complex business and technical challenges. For the past eight years, Van Winkle has analyzed multiple renewable-resource plans of New Mexico utilities and has led the development of strategies for organizations including the New Energy Economy, Sierra Club and the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE). He has testified on numerous occasions before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission as a financial and energy expert. He is the chair of the Board of Directors of New Energy Economy. www.NewEnergyEconomy.org

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LA BAJADA from EARLY SETTLEMENT to the DAWN of the 20th CENTURY Ancient Pueblo, Permanent Campsite, Spanish/Mexican-era Land Grant, U.S.-era Farming and Ranching Enclave Hilario E. Romero

Introduction In recent years, a great deal of attention has been focused on the area surrounding La Bajada, largely because of a persistent gravelmining proposal reviewed by the Santa Fe County Commission, most recently in 2015. The public outcry, particularly from citizens living in and around the area, convinced the commissioners to decline approval and also to create an ordinance outlining a new process for mining applications. Predictably, the developers have filed a suit in District Court in Santa Fe, challenging the county’s decision. In addition to its fascinating geography, L a B a j a d a’s r i c h h u m a n h i s t o r y encompasses the pre-European/ ancestral pueblo, the Spanish colonialera village of La Bajada, subsequent developments during the brief Mexican era (1821-1846) and land struggles in the Territorial era (1848-1912).

San Miguel de La Bajada Church, ca. 1870s. La Tetilla is visible on left side of the church. Center for Southwest Research, UNM Photo Archives #000-527097

The early history laid the foundation for eventual loss of land and rights-of-way for native pueblos and Spanish-era settlements and for the evolution of the historic Camino Real de Tierra Adentro—from a Native American footpath to a corridor for Spanish explorers and settlers to a caravan road in the late Spanish colonial period, to a wagon road and then a highway for motorized vehicles. A comprehensive history of this evolution has yet to be written. What follows traces its outlines. Early Pueblos Looming above El Cañón de las Bocas are volcanic-capped mesas and high, fluted rocks known as Peñasco Blanco or, more currently, La Bajada Mesa—where abundant springs and productive soil allowed a large pre-European pueblo village to prosper. Once known as Tzenatay, most likely a Queres-speaking pueblo, it was later referred to as Pueblo Quemado (Burnt Pueblo), like so many abandoned sites in the region.

Wagons climbing the Camino Real at La Bajada Hill west of Santa Fe. 1872–1878. Photo by Henry T. Hiester. Museum of New Mexico Photo Archives. Neg. #038014

Green Fire Times • January 2017

While excavating the northwest quarter of La Bajada Pueblo (known as Tse-nahteh in Tewa) in 1915, archaeologist Nels Nelson located black-on-white pottery related to pueblos in the Santa Fe region that dated to the late 1200s and early 1300s. The room blocks he excavated

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Los Cerrillos

La Boca

El Camin

o Real

totaled 500. His finding indicated that nearby sandy grasslands had been put to agricultural use early on. He also noted another agricultural area on top of the mesa above the pueblo, which had been abandoned about A.D. 1400, then temporarily resettled prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in 1540. In order to irrigate their crops, pueblodwellers diverted the river and dug ditches (the Spanish would call them acequias), utilizing both shores of the stream. They may have also used a series of check-dams to distribute the water that flowed down from the mesa during rainstorms. Above the mesa they built waffle gardens similar to those at Zuni Pueblo, which depended solely on rainfall. As the pueblo grew, so did its agriculture. Its location was also blessed by cold-water springs situated near what would eventually be called El Río Santa Fe, scarcely two leagues east of El Río del Norte (Río Grande). La Bajada was the southernmost pueblo of a series that extended further upstream. Trade flourished amid the mutual protection of several nearby pueblos. The presence of the springs made it a sacred place. Cochití and Santo Domingo villagers acknowledge their abandoned ancestral pueblo near the village of La Bajada. Spanish Exploration and Colonization After a century and a half, explorers from the south appeared: the scouting party of the Coronado expedition. Passing through the area between 1540 and 1541, they confronted the difficulty of scaling the massive escarpment. Taking their chances, they entered El Cañón de las Bocas and moved upstream through the canyon until reaching Tzeguma and Guicú pueblos—the upriver location of today’s La Cieneguilla and La Ciénega. Abandoned to the elements, the remains of the early pueblo would have been visible to the Spanish explorers, who likely camped on or near the site. Explorer Antonio de Espejo came through the area in 1582; prospective settler Gaspar Castaño de Sosa in 1590. Espejo’s journals of 1582 mention both occupied and unoccupied pueblos near the mesa. According to Schroeder and Matson in A Colony on the Move: Gaspar

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a ajad B La llage Vi Río Santa Fe

Looking east at the La Bajada area. March 2014. Google Earth photo.

Castaño de Sosa’s Journal, 1590-1591, they came close to this site. Juan de Oñate’s expedition of 1598 arrived at La Boca at the beginning of August and might have camped there before deciding whether to go upriver through the narrow canyon, or head north to Po’Wo’Gue’Owingueh (San Ildefonso Pueblo) along La Cañada Ancha through what was later the Caja del Río Land Grant eastern boundary. Having glimpsed the vast plains below the looming mesa capped with volcanic rock, the Oñate expedition chose the easier route. After exiting the canyon, the exhausted party followed the trail north along La Cañada Ancha to its final destination, Okeh’Owingueh Pueblo, north of today’s Española. The Early Colonial Period For the next eight decades, Spanish caravans from the south passed through this area as they approached the end of their protracted journey. A paraje (permanent campsite) near La Boca (the mouth of the Río Santa Fe) likely offered fresh water before carts, mules, oxen, cattle and herds of smaller domestic animals were herded through the canyon into La Villa de Santa Fe, founded by 1610. Before long, mule teams began to scale the mesa, following a faster, less dangerous route to Santa Fe via La Majada’s grassy mesa to the top of La Bajada Mesa at La Boca. Whether they took the mesa or the river canyon routes, they still passed through the pueblos of Tzenatay, Tzeguma, Guicú, Pindi and Pueblo Quemado de las Cieneguitas.

In August 1680, the Pueblo Revolt halted all activity along El Camino Real. Governor Otermín and approximately 2,000 Spanish and mixed-race settlers made their escape south along—or parallel to—“La Bajada” en route to El Paso del Río del Norte, where they would struggle for survival until the 1692 scouting expedition and the 1693 resettlement effort—the second Pueblo Revolt, instigated by Gov. Diego de Vargas. La Merced de La Majada de Domínguez Land Grant With the return of the Spanish to New Mexico in 1693, caravans of supplies and settlers began moving north once again. On Feb. 10, 1695, Gov. Diego de Vargas granted Jacinto Peláez La Merced del Ojito (the little cold spring land grant). Conferred as a majadal (pasturelands for stock) La Majada (corral for stock near the majadal) in compensation for services rendered as a soldier during the reconquest campaign, the property was bounded “on the north, by a line running from east to west one league north of the spring on said tract known as El Ojito de la Laguna de Tío Mes, on the east by Las Bocas de Senetu; on the south by the northern boundary lines of the Indian Pueblo of Santo Domingo, and on the west by El Río Grande” ( J.J. Bowden, Private Land Claims of the Southwest, 1969, p.385-389). Three years later, Jacinto Peláez had to petition Gov. Pedro Rodríguez Cubero for a revalidation of the original land grant ( J.J. Bowden, Vol. II). In December of 1698, the governor validated the grant

and ordered the mayor of Bernalillo to give Peláez possession of the land, but Peláez died before taking possession. Part of the northern portion of the grant was subsequently given to Nicolás Ortiz and Jacinto Sánchez, with a portion of the southern boundar y ceded to Santo Domingo Pueblo. The extensive grassland plains were still intact on Jan. 10, 1710 when Ensign Ygnacio de Roibal, guardian of Peláez’s minor daughter María, petitioned Gov. José Chacón to override the concessions made to Sánchez and Ortiz in favor of María (The Majada Grant, No. F-224, Miscellaneous Records of the Surveyor General of New Mexico, 1895). In 1728, Juan Fernández de Pedrera, husband of María Peláez, filed a protest on behalf of Jacinto Peláez’s minor daughter, María, complaining that the Indians of Cochití Pueblo were trespassing on the grant. As mentioned above, the Cochití recognized ancestral ties to the area, and even though the former pueblo had been abandoned for several centuries, they likely continued to conduct traditional ceremonies in the area. There was no indication of a resolution to this protest. Favored by springs, river water, fertile soil, grazing land for stock and protection from the escarpment, the village at La Bajada would continue its slow growth. Settling at the base of the large mesa at Las Bocas del Cañón shortly thereafter, families protected the ojito frío, dug acequias and built their houses, thereby creating a permanent village at the former paraje site. In 1737, CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Green Fire Times • January 2017

La Bajada

continued from page 29

with the help of Franciscans, they built a small church dedicated to San Miguel de Domínguez de La Majada (uncatalogued papers at the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe).

Looking north from La Bajada Village at mesa ridge and La Tetilla Peak

It was during this period that the royal horse herds belonging to the Santa Fe Presidio were grazed on La Majada Mesa near Las Bocas by order of Gov. Enrique de Olavide y Michelena (Linda Tigges, “The Pastures of the Royal Horse Herd of the Santa Fe Presidio, 1692-1740,” in All Trails Lead to Santa Fe: Anthology for the 400th Anniversary of Santa Fe, 2010). These official orders made it difficult for the villagers of San Miguel de La Majada de Domínguez to graze enough stock for their own subsistence. Meanwhile, the caravans came and went, offering villagers continual opportunities to trade. Sixteen years later, Gov. Joaquín Codallos y Rabal granted a request from Bartolomé Fernández, who claimed that his father, Juan Fernández de la Pedrera, had given him possession of his interest in La Majada Grant, and was seeking permission to sell it. Once his request was granted, he sold his interest to Paulín Montoya. The location of San Miguel de La Majada de Domínguez near Cochití Pueblo helped the villagers deal with raiding parties that moved through the area during the 1700s. At times the village was abandoned because of raiding and drought, replicating earlier indigenous pueblo experiences. Apachi, Nabaju and Comanche raids along El Camino Real caused the yearly caravans to and from Chihuahua to cease. Two archbishops from Durango—Benito Crespo, who passed through La Bajada in 1730, and Martín de Elizacoechea, who came through in 1737—most likely were camped/lodged at La Bajada.

Santa Fe National Forest Map, 1924. Map Collection, New Mexico State Records Center and Archives

Green Fire Times • January 2017

In 1742, La Caja del Río Land Grant, overlapping the northern portion of La Majada de Domínguez Land Grant, was given to Nicolás Ortiz in reward for 49 years of service as a soldier and officer in the Spanish militia. When Gov. Tomás Vélez Cachupín arrived in 1750, he set out to protect the caravans that sought to make yearly trips from Santa Fe to Chihuahua. In 1760, Archbishop Pedro Tamarón y Romeral passed through La Bajada village en route to Santa Fe. La Majada Land Grant went through more changes as prominent individuals became interested in the area. In November 1785, Bartolomé Fernández the younger conveyed his interest in the grant to Manuel Ortiz. The following year, Juan de Abrego,

husband of Juana Fernández, the daughter of Bartolomé Fernández junior, conveyed her interest in the grant to Manuel Ortiz. On behalf of his father, Paulín Montoya, Francisco Montoya petitioned for a judicial partition of La Majada Grant in February of 1804, approved the next year by Gov. Fernando Chacón. La Majada Grant was consequently divided into four tracts owned by Paulín Montoya, Miguel Otero, Pedro Gonzales and Juan José Silva. Manuel Ortiz claimed interest in the grant, which he estimated to contain 20,000 acres, because he was one of the legal representatives of the original grantees. Developments under the United States of North America In 1854, six years after the conquest of New Mexico by the United States of North America, the Surveyor General’s Office conducted surveys of all the land grants in the newly acquired territory. Meanwhile, El Camino Real continued to be used as the principal road between Santa Fe and Chihuahua, and caravans continued to pass through La Bajada. By 1883, however, its course above La Bajada village was altered. On the U.S. General Land Office map of 1895, it was renamed “La Bajada to Santa Fe Road.” La Majada Land Grant was not surveyed until after it was validated by the Court of Private Land Claims on Sept. 24, 1894. In October of 1895, Deputy Surveyor Albert J. Easley surveyed the grant at 54,404.10 acres ( Journal 231, Miscellaneous Records of the Court of Private Land Claims). Clear title suits were brought before the Santa Fe District Court in 1903 because the Santo Domingo Pueblo, Cochití Pueblo, La Majada and Caja del Río grants overlapped in the survey made by the Surveyor General’s office. Heirs to La Caja del Río Grant relinquished 1,221.58 acres of Cochití Pueblo Land. A patent covering lands within La Majada Land Grant was finally issued on Oct. 26, 1908. The residents of San Miguel de La Bajada continued to struggle; their story will be recounted in the February edition of Green Fire Times. ■ Hilario E. Romero, a New Mexican mestizo (Spanish/Basque/Jicarilla Apache/Ute), is a former New Mexico state historian. He spent the past 42 years in higher education, as an administrator and professor of History, Spanish and Education at the Community College of Denver, Northern New Mexico College, University of Colorado-Denver, New Mexico Highlands University and UNM.

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THE CULTURA of LA LEÑA or FIREWOOD

A lejandro López

ecently, while driving through northern New Mexico, I spotted a large troca carrying an enormous load of firewood to some unknown destination. I exclaimed, “Wow, there must still be a few hombrotes left in these parts! The leñeros responsible for this load must still be able to muster the fuerzas to cut, load and haul fallen dead trees from high up in the mountains to some home in the valley below. Nowadays, very few hombres remain who are capable of carrying out such demanding jale. ¡Qué bárbaros!” I turned around, followed the troca into a nearby parquiadero, engaged the tired leñeros and negotiated a price for the precious bounty, which I have grown either too old or too soft to procure myself. We settled on $500 and I was only too happy to give it to them, as much for the quantity of fuel the load represented as well as to honor them for the feat that they had accomplished in an age where pressing keys on a keyboard is considered to be the height of respectable work.

Going for firewood deep into the forested mountains has for many generations of IndoHispano youth been almost a rite of passage. When I paid them, I found out that this crew of four men from Chimayó and Nambé Pueblo were descendants of Doña Sostena Sherwood, an old-time friend of my parents who used to visit our family a mere 50 years ago, when I was a child. She would entertain us with lavish historias of uncommon common events, as well as with her all-too-colorful personalidad. A history of the newly discovered family friendship instantly sealed the trato between us and it was not long before an impressive pila de leña appeared in front of my house. Going for firewood deep into the forested mountains of northern New Mexico has for many generations of Indo-Hispano youth been almost a rite of passage that catapults them straight into responsible manhood. Yendo por leña is hardly a task for the faint of heart since it usually involves madrugando, maneuvering through rugged terrain and a full day’s worth of strenuous cutting, carrying and stacking. Furthermore, it requires that a person

be strong and deft in the handling of a power saw as well as versed in teamwork. Woodcutting and hauling is best carried out with others rather than by oneself. A leñero worth his weight in sal must strive to know the forest, trees and leña intimately if he is to make his investment of a long trip into the sierras pay off. Aside from wood, many leñeros also collect trementina, an old-time sealer for certain objects, and ocote, for starting fires. He must also possess a thorough knowledge of the terrain, the various stands of trees— piñón, cedro, sabino and pinabete, as well as an understanding of the mechanics of his serruche, other tools, and the carrying capacity of his truck. If he is a good and responsible leñero, he will exercise good judgment and respect for what trees should and should not be harvested. Such an attitude, though not shared by everyone, safeguards the health of the forest and puts him well within the legal limits imposed by the U.S Forest Service, which granted him his compulsory wood-gathering permiso. After several hours of exhausting but satisfying toil and a good lonchcito, of course, the crew will have succeeded in filling the troca to capacity and securing the load with ropes or straps bien tite, as they say. As might be expected, the now heavy vehicle drives very differently than before, and the driver must exercise due caution in maneuvering on his descent. Once the load has been piled high in the yarda of the happy buyer, it becomes the object of other kinds of labor before being used as fuel. If the leña has been brought down in large trozos, the wood must now be split into pieces that can easily be carried and placed into a fogón or outdoor adobe horno for cooking and baking. If the wood’s owner does not employ a motorized wood splitter, then he or she will have to have on hand a well-sharpened hacha and possibly a metal cuña with which to cut the wood into manageable pieces. The cuña is used to split the upright trozo with the blows of a marro when it is placed in a crevice on the surface of the wood. It helps if one has a good aim with the hacha and a sense of where the wood is most vulnerable to being split. It is a judicious move on the part of the woodcutter to put on safety goggles to protect the eyes from a dangerous missile that might be inadvertently launched with a powerful blow of the hacha. As mundane as the act of partiendo leña might seem, I have found it to be one of the most satisfying tasks I have ever done, especially when the blade of the hacha falls just so and the once resistant trozo splits

Green Fire Times • January 2017

cleanly in dos. Additional satisfaction is felt when the montoncito that began as just a couple of chopped logs grows into a veritable mountain of wood commensurate with one’s stick-to-it-ness and love of real jale. The visually arresting, ever-growing montón de leña is proof enough that “life is good” and that the wealth that people possess can actually be the result of their own efforts. Quite often that wealth manifests itself in neatly stacked rows of firewood or other artistic arrangements. In the case of one of my late uncles, Tío Willie López of Las Truchas, his entire garage had, by virtue of his relentless efforts, morphed into a winter wonderland of endless stacks that rose clear up to the ceiling and filled every available space. An important byproduct of partiendo leña is the supply of kindling produced when palitos fly off the trozos and begin to litter the wood-splitting floor. Years ago, when everyone still burned wood, when familias were large and children were not beholden to so much electronic gadgetry, it was always the responsibility of the youngest children to go out and pick palitos every evening. The palitos were used as kindling for lighting the morning fires. The older children followed suit by carrying in wood for the evening. Lighting of the fires was reserved only for la gente grande who knew what they were doing, for la lumbre is indeed an awesome power that humanity has learned to tame, but only at a very high price. Once una buena lumbre has been achieved inside the fogón, one can gradually feel the chill being dispelled from the surroundings and un calorcito bien suave beginning to seep into the living spaces and deep into the marrow of one’s bones with reassuring comfort. It was around such fires that not long ago, the majority of our families and friends used to gather around and spend the evening conversing and telling stories. These days, in instances when the walls of my bedroom glow with the rich dancing amber light of the flickering flames inside of the fogón, I am deeply grateful for my cherished pila de leña and supply of palitos, to say nothing of my own ability to go for leña if I had to. I am equally thankful for the long line of antepasados and for contemporaries such as the Sherwood men for the body of knowledge, the technologies and the immense piles of wood they have gathered. All of this has gone into making la cultura de la leña one that provides the much coveted warmth and security of una buena y muy cozy

lumbrita during the challenging wintertime cuando hace un frío perro. ■ Alejandro López, whose family originated in Las Truchas, one of New Mexico’s highest and coldest villages, grew up steeped in la cultura de la leña. He is the author of Hispanic Folk Arts and the Environment of the Río Grande, a folk arts curriculum for children and youth K-12, produced under the auspices of the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS SOME COMMON TO NEW MEXICO ONLY

Leña — Firewood Leñero — Woodcutter Hombrotes — Hard workers ¡Qué bárbaros¡ — What amazing fellows! Jale — Work Troca — Truck Parquiadero — Parking lot Historias — Stories Personalidad — Personality Trato — Deal Pila de leña — Pile of wood Madrugar — To get up early Sal — Salt Trementina — Pitch Ocote — Pitchwood Cedro — Cedar Sabino — Juniper Pinabete — Ponderosa pine Serruche — Saw Lonchecito — Lunch Tite — Tight Yarda — Yard Trozos — Chunks Fogón — Stove Hacha — Ax Cuña — Wedge Marro — Sledgehammer Partiendo leña — Spliting wood Montón(cito) — Pile Tío — Uncle Palitos — Kindling Gente grande — Adults La lumbre — Fire Un calorcito bien suave — A delicious warmth Antepasados — Ancestors Cuando hace un frío perro — When it gets fiercely cold

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A crew of leñeros from Chimayó and Nambé Pueblo, New Mexico

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NEWSBITEs NEW MEXICO HAS 12th HIGHEST INCOME INEQUALITY RATE

around the country will receive about $225 million. Nearly $18 million of that will be allocated to projects in New Mexico, including repairs to centuries-old acequia irrigation systems that are integral to the traditional cultures and regional food systems in the northern part of the state. The federal funding is expected to also generate significant spending by state, local and private partners.

According to the report, income inequality has been dramatically worsening in New Mexico for decades. The gap between the rich and poor has been expanding nationwide as well. The average income for the richest 5 percent of households is at least 10 times greater than the bottom 20 percent in every state.

COLORADO RIVER WATER ALLOTMENTS ENDANGERED

Income inequality is worse in New Mexico than 38 other states, according to a new study by the nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The top 5 percent of households earn 19 percent of the state’s income, an average of $254,000, while the bottom 20 percent make an average of $17, 064 per year.

A Census Bureau study in September found that New Mexico’s medium household income slipped from 43rd to 45th among states between 2014 and 2015, and medium income had grown only 1.2 percent. The study also found that 20.4 percent of the state’s residents live below the poverty line, ranking New Mexico 49th, just ahead of Mississippi. New Mexico’s rural population has the highest poverty rate in the country—21.9 percent—according to Census Bureau statistics. New Mexico is one of six states where income inequality is greater for rural households than for urban households. At 6.7 percent, New Mexico also has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, according to figures released in December by the U.S. Labor Department.

WIND GENERATION in NEW MEXICO to INCREASE

Thanks in part to significantly decreasing costs, improvements in technology and federal subsidies, more than a gigawatt (GW) of wind capacity is now under construction or planned for the gusty eastern plains of New Mexico. Energy companies are expected to double the generating capacity over the next few years with 20 wind farms. That would be enough power to supply nearly 700,000 homes in New Mexico and other states, assuming new transmission lines are built, according to a PNM spokesman. Five large-scale transmission projects are currently in different stages of development. Massive wind farms are currently being built in Curry and Torrance counties, including two interrelated projects near Clovis totaling 497 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity. The 298MW, $500-million El Cabo Wind Farm near Moriarty— the state’s largest—will open this year. Three other projects are planned. Utilities can now produce wind-generated electricity at prices lower than natural gas. The federal production tax credit, which currently pays 2.3 cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity from wind farms, has been a factor in the wind farms’ deployment. That subsidy is scheduled to start decreasing this year and phase out by 2020. A total of nearly 75GW of wind capacity were installed nationwide in 2015, according to the American Wind Energy Association, which touts the fees developers pay to farmers who host turbines on their land and the jobs the industry creates.

JAN. 20 DEADLINE to APPLY for SF’S VERDE FUND

The City of Santa Fe is accepting proposals from those interested in providing solutions at the nexus of climate change and poverty, two challenges that Mayor Javier Gonzales considers major threats to Santa Fe’s way of life. “We introduced the Verde Fund because we believe that climate change and poverty are interconnected and growing challenges,” said Mayor Gonzales. He added, “If preserving a community of opportunity is important to us, we have to take steps now to mitigate the devastating impact of climate change on the people who will be hit the hardest— those living in poverty or the working class.” The Verde Fund will invest in community-based sustainability initiatives that reduce poverty and/or help the city reach its goal of being carbon-neutral by 2040. The initiatives may impact areas such as long-term housing, healthcare, education, transportation, food and employment opportunities for at-risk families and individuals, while reducing energy use and lowering carbon emissions. The deadline to apply for the initial funding round is Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. For more information, call Alexandra Ladd of the city’s Economic Development Department at 505.955.6346 or visit http://www.santafenm.gov/bids_rfps/detail/1727p

$18 MILLION PLEDGED for DROUGHT RELIEF in NM

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service announced that about 36 projects aimed at reducing the effects of drought in the West and restoring watersheds that provide drinking water to communities

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Reductions of the water that the Colorado River supplies to Arizona and Nevada could be in place as soon as January 2018, according to research by the Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment at the University of Colorado. Millions of cities, farmers, tribes, businesses and recreational users depend on that water. The Colorado River Future Project surveyed 65 water managers, municipal and agricultural customers, conservationists, as well as tribal, state and federal officials. The study pointed to the continuing 16-year drought and concluded that more river water has been promised to interests in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming than is available. The study recommends finalizing contingency plans and the extension of water-use agreements such as the Lake Mead share-the-storage pact signed in 2012 between the U.S. and Mexico, which expires in December. The pact allows Mexico to “store” water at the lake, which boosts the surface level of the Colorado River behind Hoover Dam. The lake has recently been at 37 percent of capacity, barely above the point that would trigger a shortage declaration that would cut 11.4 percent of Arizona’s and 4.3 percent of Nevada’s allotments, potentially affecting 625,000 homes. The Central Arizona Project would then cut water supplies to farmers by half.

GREEN LODGING INITIATIVE GRADUATION In Dec. 2012, the Santa Fe Watershed Association (SFWA) launched the Green Lodging Initiative, an eco-certification program aimed at hospitality properties that sought to be more sustainable in their practices and overall business plans. The initiative had a particular focus on water conservation and stewardship. Twelve lodging properties received the Bronze certification in 2014 as a result of the program by Hospitality Green (HG). HG Santa Fe Green Concierge Certification® provides an on-site assessment for performance-based improvements in resource use, conservation, employee engagement and environmentally conscious waste minimization practices. The certification process is structured in three tiers (Bronze, Silver and Gold).

L-R: Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales with awardee Roland Richter, chef and co-owner of Joe’s Dining, and Evadne Giannini, CEO of Hospitality Green, LLC.

2016, SFWA and its partners, the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce and HG, enrolled 23 properties. The initiative, fully funded by the city, attracted lodging, restaurant and food service properties to participate in the one-year monitoring program. The property was responsible for assigning a staff member to collect and log relevant data and work with the Green Hospitality representative, who helped assess the property on a monthly basis. The Green Lodging Initiative provided no–cost, on-site technical and employee training assistance, business-to-business resources, certification guidance and validation. Santa Fe Community College’s Energy $mart Academy provided training for all participating properties in using Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager, an online tracking tool for benchmarking facility energy and water use. In Dec. 2016, Mayor Javier Gonzalez presented awards to hospitality properties that successfully completed Phase II of the initiative. The hotels and restaurants at the Silver level are Drury Plaza Hotel, Casa Cuma Bed and Breakfast, Inn of the Governors, Inn on the Alameda, La Fonda on the Plaza, Santa Fe Sage Inn and Silver Saddle Motel. Bronze-level awardees are Del Charro Saloon, Inn and Spa at Loretto, Joe’s Dining, La Plazuela at La Fonda, Rooftop Pizza, Draft Station, Sweetwater Café, Tune-Up Café, Tecolote Café, La Casa Sena, Derailed at Santa Fe Sage Inn, Blue Corn Café, Blue Corn Brewery, María’s, Río Chama, and 35 North Coffee.

Green Fire Times • January 2017

WHAT'S GOING ON! Events / Announcements ALBUQUERQUE

JAN. 7, 9 AM–4 PM PROGRESSIVE ACTION SUMMIT Central NM Community College WorkforceTraining Center 5600 Eagle Rock Ave. NE A full day of discussions on issues, organizing skills, workshops and conversations with candidates and elected officials. $15–$25. carlos@progressnownm.org, www.actprogressnownm.org JAN. 12, 7:30–9:30 AM GROW NM 2020 ABQ Convention Center 401 2nd St. NW Economic Outlook. Find out what you need to know to grow your business and navigate the NM economy. Presented by ABQ Business First. $45. 505.348-8326, tficklin@bizjournals.com, www.bizjournals. com/albuquerque/event/160072/2017/ grow-nm-economic-outlook JAN. 19–22 LOS BUFONES Natl. Hispanic Cultural Center, ABQ Jnl. Theatre, 1710 4th St. SW World premiere brings Velázquez’s paintings to musical life. Thursday to Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2 pm. Tickets: $12, $17, $22 with $2 discount for students, seniors and NHCC members. 505.724.4771, www.nhccnm.org JAN. 24, 6–8 PM BIONUTRIENT FOOD SYSTEMS La Plazita Institute and Organic Gardens, 831 Isleta Blvd. SW Free introductory lecture about increasing quality in the food supply. Principles of Biological Systems and the Implications by Dan Kittredge, farmer and executive director of the Bionutrient Food Association. (www.bionutrient.org). JAN. 28, 1:30–3:30 PM PEOPLE’S STATE OF THE UNION 2017 NHCC, Domenici Education Bldg. 1701 4th St. SW Story circles. Free. All ages, including families, are welcome. Presented by Artful Life and the Tiaso Artist Co-op, along with the U.S. Dept. of Arts and Culture (a people-powered movement). www. artful-life.org, facebook.com/artful.life.org, usdac.us/psotu FEB. 2 AIA–ABQ OPEN HOUSE American Institute of Architects– ABQ. See design boards of the 2016 Architecture Awards. 505.242.9800 FEB. 17–18 NM ORGANIC FARMING CONFERENCE Marriott ABQ Pyramid North 5151 San Francisco Rd. NE Farmers, ranchers, researchers and exhibitors from around the SW share their experience and expertise. 2/17, 7 am–8 pm; 2/18, 7 am–5 pm. Presented by NM Dept. of Agriculture, NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, Green Tractor Farms & Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute, NM Farm & Livestock Bureau Federation.

$110/$70. Discounts available for organized student groups. Registration: www. nmofc.eventbrite.com. Info: 505.490.2822, sagefaulkner@yahoo.com SATURDAYS, 1 PM WEEKLY DOCENT-LED TOURS National Hispanic Cultural Center 1701 4th St. SW Tours of different exhibits and themes in the Art Museum. $2-$3, free with museum admission. 505.246.2261, nhccnm.org DAILY, 10 AM–6 PM WILDLIFE WEST 87 N. Frontage Rd., Edgewood (just east of ABQ) 122-acre park/attraction with educational programs dedicated to native wildlife and ecology. $7/$6/$4/children under 5 free. www.wildlifewest.org DAILY OUR LAND, OUR CULTURE, OUR STORY Indian Pueblo Cultural Center 2401 12th St. NW Historical overview of the Pueblo world and contemporary artwork and craftsmanship of each of the 19 pueblos; Weekend Native dances. 866.855.7902, www. indianpueblo.org FIRST SUNDAYS NM MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 1801 Mountain Road Museum admission is free to NM residents on the first Sunday of every month. 505.841.2800 MONDAYS THROUGH MID-JAN., 5:30–8 PM GROW THE GROWERS Bernalillo County Extension Office, 1510 Menaul NW Farm training program and business incubator for beginning and experienced farmers. Presented by Bernalillo County and NMSU’s Extension Service. $10/class or $50 for six or more classes. 505.243.1386, garlisch@nmsu.edu, http://aces.nmsu.edu/ county/bernalillo/farmranch/farm-businesstraining-.html ABQ 2030 DISTRICT A voluntary collaboration of commercial property tenants, building managers, property owners and developers; real estate, energy, and building sector professionals, lenders, utility companies; and public stakeholders such as government agencies, nonprofits, community groups and grassroots organizers. Property partners share anonymous utility data and best practices. Professional partners provide expertise and services. Public partners support the initiative as it overlaps with their own missions. Info: albuquerque@2030districts.org

SANTA FE

JAN. 6 APPLICATION DEADLINE SF ART INSTITUTE EQUAL JUSTICE RESIDENCY PROGRAM Sept. 2017–July 2018 program addressing how art and creative processes can impact social and racial equality. 505.424.5050, residency@sfai.org

Green Fire Times • January 2017

JAN. 7–14, 6 PM IAIA WINTER READERS GATHERING 83 Avan Nu Po Rd. Noted authors Andre Dubus III and Ross Gay, filmmakers Sterlin Harjo, Sydney Freeland and many others including IAIA MFA faculty. Auditorium in the Library and Technology Center. Iaia.edu/about/visit JAN. 12, 5:30–7:30 PM CULTURE CONNECTS: SANTA FE Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle Unveiling of Culture Connects Santa Fe: Cultural Cartography, a navigational tool for shaping our community’s future through culture. RSVP: www.CultureConnectsSantaFe.org

State leadership panel, National and international travel writers and editors panel. Presented by the NM Hospitality Association. Agenda, pricing: newmexicohospitality. org/2017TRENDS JAN. 24, 12–2 PM BIONUTRIENT FOOD SYSTEMS SFCC Boardroom #223 6401 Richards Ave. Free introductory lecture about increasing quality in the food supply. Principles of Biological Systems and the Implications by Dan Kittredge, farmer and executive director of the Bionutrient Food Association. (www.bionutrient.org).

JAN. 13, 4 PM WILL WILSON WITH AMY SCOTT Peters Projects 1011 Paseo de Peralta “Auto Immune Response” post-apocalyptic photography exhibit by the Navajo artist. Free. On display through Feb. 18

JAN. 30, 6 PM ARCHEOLOGIES OF RESISTANCE Hotel SF, 1501 Paseo de Peralta SW Seminars lecture by Joseph “Woody” Aguilar (San Ildefonso Pueblo) on Pueblo Mesatop Refugees and DeVargas’ Reconquest. $12. 505.466.2775, southwestseminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org

JAN. 16, 6 PM ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN LOS ALAMOS Hotel SF, 1501 Paseo de Peralta SW Seminars lecture by Dr. Sean Gregory Dolan on Tewa Pueblo Fieldhouses. $12. 505.466.2775, southwestseminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org

FEB. 5, 2–4 PM CACAO: THE ART OF CHOCOLATE 3201 Richards Ln. Workshop on craft chocolate. Make chocolate drinks. $49. 505.989.1316, slowfoodsantafe@gmail.com, http://www. cacaosantafe.com/

JAN. 20–29 UPSTART CROWS El Museo Cultural 555 Cam. de la Familia Three casts of actors, ages 10–18 in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. 7 pm Friday and Saturday; 6 pm Sundays. $5 advance, $10 at the door. 505.466.3533 or www. upstartcrowsofsantafe.org

FEB. 11, 5 PM 12TH ANNUAL SWEETHEART AUCTION SF Convention Center Benefits the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico. Cffnm.org

JAN. 21, 11 AM–2 PM WOMEN’S MARCH ON WASHINGTON – SANTA FE NM State Capitol, 490 Old SF Trail A march in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington, D.C. in support of women’s rights, safety, health, families and the value of diverse communities. Begins north of the Bataan Memorial Bldg. on W. DeVargas St. Rally at the Capitol at noon. newmexicolocal@gmail.com, https// wmwsf.net/, Facebook: Women’s March on Washington – Santa Fe

FEB. 13 SLOW FOOD DINNER AND A BOOK Slow Food-Santa Fe “The Triumph of SEEDS: How Grains, Nuts, Kernals, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History.” By Thor Hanson. 505.989.1316, Slowfoodsantafe@gmail.com

JAN. 23, 6 PM RESTORING TEWA PUEBLO CULTURAL HISTORY Hotel SF, 1501 Paseo de Peralta SW Seminars lecture by Dr. Bruce Bernstein on “The People’s Pottery.” $12. 505.466.2775, southwestseminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org JAN. 23–25 HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM TRENDS CONFERENCE Eldorado Hotel

FEB. 13, 6 PM CURRENT RESEARCH IN THE GILA NATIONAL FOREST Hotel SF, 1501 Paseo de Peralta SW Seminars lecture by Dr. Fumiyasu Arakawa on Northern Mimbres Archaeology. $12. 505.466.2775, southwestseminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org

FEB. 20 2017 FOOD AND FARMS DAY NM State Legislature Starts with 9 am press conference at the Capitol Rotunda. 2nd annual Farm to School Awards. NM Farmers’ Markets, NM School Nutrition and other groups will make presentations. Info: 505.660.8403 or pam@ farmtotablenm.org, www.farmtotablenm.org FEB. 25, 5:30 PM ARTSMART NM: YOU WILL BE SERVED Eldorado Hotel 309 W. San Francisco St. Dinner by renowned chefs and silent auction of ceramics and paintings created by SF Public School fifth-graders and a chance to be mentored by author Anne Hillerman. $200. 505.992.2787, artfeast.org

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MARCH 2–4 MOUNTAIN WEST SEED SUMMIT Hotel Santa Fe The vanguard of a burgeoning movement to reclaim seed sovereignty in local communities and create a sustainable food future. Lee-Ann@rockymountainseeds.org, www.RockyMountainSeeds.org THROUGH MARCH 5, 2017 LOWRIDERS, HOPPERS AND HOT RODS NM History Museum 113 Lincoln Ave. Car Culture of Northern NM. 505.476.5019, www.nmhistorymuseum.org SUNDAYS, 10 AM-4 PM RAILYARD ARTISAN MARKET Farmers’ Market Pavilion 1607 Paseo de Peralta Local artists, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, live music. 505.983.4098, Francesca@santafefarmersmarket.com, artmarketsantafe.com SAT., 8 AM-1 PM SF FARMERS’ MARKET 1607 Paseo de Peralta (& Guadalupe) Northern NM farmers & ranchers offer fresh greenhouse tomatoes, greens, root veggies, cheese, teas, herbs, spices, honey, baked goods, body care products and much more. www.santafefarmersmarket.com SAT., 8 AM–4 PM RANDALL DAVEY AUDUBON CENTER 1800 Upper Canyon Rd. Striking landscapes and wildlife. Bird walks, hikes, tours of the Randall Davey home. 505.983.4609, http://nm.audubon.org/ landingcenter-chapters/visiting-randalldavey-audubon-center-sanctuary SAT., 10:30 AM–12 PM MEDITATION CLASSES BODY of SF, 333 W. Cordova Rd. Modern Buddhist meditation classes to increase happiness and contentment, reduce anger and suffering. Vibrant, insightful teachings. Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28, Feb. 4. Info: 505.292.5293, www. meditationinnewmexico SUNDAYS, 11 AM JOURNEY SANTA FE CONVERSATIONS Collected Works Books 202 Galisteo St. 1/8: The Crisis in Foster Care Programs in Northern NM with Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA), plus book launch of Kit Coyote: A Brave Pup with author Rosemary Zibart; 1/15: Sen. Peter Wirth on the upcoming NM Legislative session; 1/22: Democratic Majority Leader Brian Egolf with a legislative update; 1/29: Ken Mayers of Veterans for Peace-NM; 2/5: Author Pen LaFarge on the importance of historical review boards. Hosts: Alan Webber, Bill and Ellen Dupuy. Free. www. journeysantafe.com REGISTRATION OPEN MEDICINAL PLANTS/HERBAL MEDICINE Milagro School of Herbal Medicine Foundations of Herbal Medicine Certificate Program begins April 18. Includes study of local plants, medicine making, therapeutics and more. info@milagroherbs.com, www. milagroschoolofherbalmedicine.com SANTA FE RECYCLING Reduce, reuse and recycle. City residential curbside customers can recycle at no additional cost and drop by 1142 Siler

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Road, Building A to pick up free recycling bins. For more information, visit http:// www.santafenm.gov/trash_and_recycling or call 505.955.2200 (city); 505.992.3010 (county); 505.424.1850 (SF Solid Waste Management Agency). SUSTAINABLE GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR SF COUNTY Hard copies $70, CDs $2. Contact Melissa Holmes, 505.995.2717 or msholmes@santafecounty.org. The SGMP is also available on the county website: www.santafecounty.org/ growth_management/sgmp and can be reviewed at SF Public libraries and the County Administrative Building, 102 Grant Ave.

TAOS

JAN. 23, 6–8 PM BIONUTRIENT FOOD SYSTEMS TILT, 215 La Posta Rd. Introductory lecture about increasing quality in the food supply. Principles of Biological Systems and the Implications by Dan Kittredge, farmer and executive director of the Bionutrient Food Association. (www. bionutrient.org). Free. Info: 907.738.5333 FEB. 27 HOMESCHOOL ART Harwood Museum of Art Homeschool families are invited to a special program to create art as part of the Art in the Schools curriculum. 575.758.9826, harwoodmuseum.org THIRD WEDS. MONTHLY TAOS ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORK Taos County Courthouse Mural Room, Taos Plaza Networking, presentations and discussion. Free. FARMER-TO-FARMER TRAINING Taos County and Española Valley Learn to be an organic acequia farmer. 2017 yearlong training program is being started by the NM Acequia Association. Includes farm and business planning, season extension, fertility and soil health, equipment maintenance, planting & harvesting, organic pest management and more. 505.995.9644, pilar@lasacequias.org ONGOING HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL HEALTH SUPPORT HCH Community Wellness Center (lower entrance), 1397 Weimer Rd. 575.751.8909, mariam@taoshospital.com, TaosHealth.com

HERE & THERE

JAN. 11, 8 AM–4 PM NM COTTON GROWERS CONFERENCE Ruidoso Convention Center 111 Sierra Blanca Dr., Ruidoso, NM Cutting-edge info related to cotton production and economics. $25. 575.646.2571, jidowu@nmsu.edu, http://aces.nmsu.edu/ ces/ifcpm/documents/conference-registration-form-2017.pdf JAN. 13, FEB. 10 NAVAJO RUG AUCTION Crownpoint Elementary School, Crownpoint, NM Hundreds of handmade rugs are auctioned. 505.362.8502, crownpointrugauction.com JAN. 13, 5 PM APPLICATION DEADLINE RECYCLING AND ILLEGAL DUMPING

FUND GRANTS The NM Environment Dept. is accepting applications for grants for scrap tire management, illegal dumping abatement and recycling projects. Municipalities, counties, solid waste authorities, cooperative associations, land grant communities, pueblos and tribes are eligible for funds totaling $800,000. Grants will be awarded July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. 505.827.2653, neal.denton@state.nm.us, http://bit.ly/1Xh9yF1 JAN. 13–15 JOANNA MACY WORKSHOP Ghost Ranch, Abiquiü, NM The Work that Reconnects in a Time of Great Challenge: An Introduction. Workshop that empowers activists in movements for peace and global justice. $225–$450. Includes tuition, course materials, lodging and meals. www.ghostranch.org JAN. 17 APPLICATION DEADLINE LANL FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP FUND Supports high school seniors and undergraduates from Los Alamos, SF, Mora, Río Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval and Taos counties pursuing 4-year degrees in all fields. $1,000–$20,000. www.lanlfoundation.org JAN. 19, 6–8 PM NAVIGATING TAXES FOR SMALL FARMS Valencia County CES Office 404 Courthouse Rd., Los Lunas, NM Free workshop on how to manage income and expense flows to minimize the tax burden. No reservations necessary. 505.565.3002, jnewton3@nmsu.edu JAN. 31–FEB. 1, 9 AM–3 PM 12TH ANNUAL CAREER CONNECTIONS FAIR Corbett Center Ballrooms, NMSU Campus, Las Cruces This event brings employers and candidates together. Discover career info ranging from internships and co-ops to summer or permanent full-time positions. 1/31: Focus on Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education (non-teaching) and Health and Social Services. 2/1: Focus on computer science, engineering, life/physical sciences, mathematics and technology. No registration required. 505.646.1631, rbensley@nmsu.edu FEB. 15 APPLICATION DEADLINE CREATING HUMANITIES COMMUNITIES National Endowment for the Humanities grants support grassroots humanities programs by encouraging partnerships and collaborations among institutions or organizations in a town, county or region. Applications welcome from small and midsized institutions and tribal organizations. http://www.grants.gov/view-opportunity. html?dpp=1&oppId=289891 FIRST MONDAYS EACH MONTH, 3–5 PM SUSTAINABLE GALLUP BOARD Octavia Fellin Library, Gallup, NM The City of Gallup’s Sustainable Gallup Board welcomes community members concerned about conservation, energy, water, recycling and other environmental issues. 505.722.0039. MON., WED., FRI., SAT., 10 AM–4 PM PAJARITO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER 2600 Canyon Rd., Los Alamos, NM Nature center and outdoor education

programs. Exhibits of flora and fauna of the Pajarito Plateau; herbarium, live amphibians, butterfly and xeric gardens. 505.662.0460, www.losalamosnature.org TUESDAYS, 6–8 PM FAMILY NIGHT PEEC, Los Alamos, NM The second Tuesday of every month. Games, activities experiments or crafts at the Nature Center. 505.662.0460, www. losalamosnature.org WEDNESDAYS, 10 AM GREEN HOUR HIKES Los Alamos Nature Center Los Alamos, NM Kid-centered hikes. Free. Losalamosnature.org FIRST 3 WEDS. EA. MONTH, 6–7 PM SOLAR 101 CLASSES 113 E. Logan Ave., Gallup, NM Free classes about all things related to off-grid solar systems. No pre-registration necessary. 505.728.9246, gallupsolar@ gmail.com,Gallupsolar.org SPIRIT OF THE BUTTERFLY 923 E. Fairview Land, Española, NM Women’s support group organized by Tewa Women United. Info/RSVP: Beverly, 505.795.8117 BASIC LITERACY TUTOR TRAINING Española area After training by the NM Coalition for Literacy, volunteer tutors are matched with an adult student. 505.747.6162, read@raalp. org, www.raalp.org/become-a-tutor.html RÎO GRANDE RETURN Locally produced salsas, jams, honey, chocolates, soaps, lotions, incense and more. Supports local farmers, producers and the conservation of the Rîo Grande. 505.466.1767, toll free: 866.466.1767, www.riograndereturn.com

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Green Fire Times • January 2017

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