July 2015 Green Fire Times by Sun Publishing

News & Views

from the

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

T he L egacy of V ictor V illalpando

T he L ong J ourney on E l C amino R eal T he M ĂŠxico within N ew M exico B ecoming a L eaner , G reener S chool D istrict July 2015

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Vol. 7, No. 7 • July 2015 Issue No. 75 Publisher Green Fire Publishing, LLC

Skip Whitson

Associate Publisher

Barbara E. Brown

Editor-in-chief

Seth Roffman

Art Director

Anna C. Hansen, Dakini Design Copy Editors Stephen Klinger Susan Clair Webmaster: Karen Shepherd Contributing Writers

Seth Biderman, Esha Chiocchio, Rebecca Darling, Tammy Harkins, Alejandro López, Andrew Lovato, Alexandra Nevárez, Vicki Pozzebon, Lisa M. Randall, Seth Roffman, Hilario E. Romero

Contributing Photographers Monica Caldas, Esha Chiocchio, Rebecca Darling, Anna C. Hansen, Steve Herrera, Alejandro López, Seth Roffman

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News & Views

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Sustainable Southwest

Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project

Contents

México dentro de Nuevo México / The México within New Mexico . . . . . . . . . . 7 End of the Long Journey on El Camino Real . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 9 Transmitting Pain into Power for Peace – The Legacy of Victor Villalpando . . . .12 Elvis Romero and the Cosmic White Corvette: Vignette 3–Cindy. . . . . . . . . . . 14 Inspire Santa Fe: Unlocking Inspiration through Mentorship. . .. . .. . .. . .. 18 SFPS: Becoming a Leaner, Greener School District . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 20 The Academy for Sustainability Education at Santa Fe High. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 21 Community as Classroom . . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 23 Reusable Bags – A Cottage Industry?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The Local Voice: Lessons on Localism . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 27

Cisco Whitson-Brown, Jenny Dixon

The Sustainable Business Roundtable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Advertising Sales

12th International Folk Art Market – Santa Fe . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 35

Skip Whitson 505.471.5177 skip@greenfiretimes.com Anna C. Hansen 505.982.0155 dakinidesign@newmexico.com

Newsbites . . .. . .. . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. 13, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 37 What’s Going On. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 38

Robyn Montoya 505.692.4477 robyn.greenfiretimes@gmail.com Lisa Powers, 505.629.2655 Lisa@greenfiretimes.com Albuquerque: Shelley Shilvock, 505-492-5869, ShelleyShilvock@gmail.com

Distribution

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

Circulation: 30,000 copies Printed locally with 100% soy ink on 100% recycled, chlorine-free paper

Green Fire Times

c/o The Sun Companies P.O. Box 5588, SF, NM 87502-5588 505.471.5177 • info@greenfiretimes.com © 2015 Green Fire Publishing, LLC Green Fire Times provides useful information for community members, business people, students and visitors—anyone interested in discovering the wealth of opportunities and resources in the Southwest. In support of a more sustainable planet, topics covered range from green businesses, jobs, products, services, entrepreneurship, investing, design, building and energy—to native perspectives on history, arts & culture, ecotourism, education, sustainable agriculture, regional cuisine, water issues and the healing arts. To our publisher, a more sustainable planet also means maximizing environmental as well as personal health by minimizing consumption of meat and alcohol. Green Fire Times is widely distributed throughout north-central New Mexico. Feedback, announcements, event listings, advertising and article submissions to be considered for publication are welcome.

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The Wheat Harvesters (detail from a monumental mural at the Palacio Nacional de México, Presidential Palace, México City). From the History of México by Diego Rivera (See The México within New Mexico, page 7)

COVER: M ural dedication for Victor Villalpando, the Española, New Mexico youth killed in a tragic police shooting in 2014. (See story, pg. 12) Photo by Seth Roffman Green Fire Times • July 2015

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México dentro de Nuevo México The México within New Mexico Story and photos by Alejandro López

ust as it is impossible to gain an understanding or appreciation for the spiritual and cultural depths of New Mexico without opening oneself to the wellsprings of the state’s diverse native peoples, so it is with its immense legacy from México. After all, Nuevo México, as its name denotes, was once an integral part of México before the United States appropriated it in 1846. Presently, it shares a lengthy border with northern México, a historically porous region through which streams of people have traveled north and south for thousands of years.

growing up, however, “all those things Mexican”—and Native American, for that matter—were in a state of intense competition, as they often still are, with all things American. It is common knowledge that New Mexico is in the throes of a profound cultural tug of war that has left few things in their original places.

Similarly, it is not easy to live in New Mexico without having to enunciate numerous place names such as Santa Fe, Santo Domingo and Las Cruces or, as one travels from place to place, to avoid the sight of descansos (roadside crosses), a testament to the pervasive presence of Mexican and Spanish Catholicism and culture. Often, the English language may have to yield to the Spanish of New Mexico or México, depending on the circumstances and whom one happens to meet. Studies reveal that a full 60 percent of Española’s residents, many from New Mexico and just as many from México, are speakers of Spanish.

As soon as we crossed the border into Ciudad Juárez, my seminarian friends let out whoops of joy and breathed easier in a country that is, paradoxically, many times more formal and more informal than the United States. On the one hand, because México—and Perú—was the principal seat of vice-regal Spanish power in the American hemisphere, to this day, the spoken courtesies of the Spanish court tend to roll off the tongue of nearly every Mexican person regardless of his or her social stature; on the other hand, an entire meal of corn, beans, chile and squash-based pre-Columbian foods can be prepared for you on a brazier by a woman operating a business nonchalantly on the street.

In 1967, at age 16, I accompanied five Mexican seminarians, who were studying for the priesthood at a Catholic seminary in Montezuma, New Mexico, on a long and arduous road trip to their homeland in central México. There, I felt that I, too, had returned home, although I had never before set foot in México. My own sense of homecoming arose from the fact that nearly all things Mexican, in some form or other, were deeply embedded in the Nuevo Mexicano culture and landscape in which I had grown up. During the time I was

During the two weeks I stayed in the states of Jalisco and Nayarit, in the midst of several highly social and deeply religious extended families similar to my own, I drank thirstily from the generous fountains of the deeply sonorous Mexican Spanish. Quickly, the New Mexican Spanish that we call “Mexicano,” which I spoke well enough, fused with Mexican Spanish, flowered, and took full possession of my senses, thought processes and emotional being. Equipped with the language and blessed with Mexican looks, I was free to go anywhere and

Many aspects of Nuevo Mexicano culture passed through the sieve of México.

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Top: Painting of Juan Diego and the Virgen de Guadalupe, Zacatlán de las Manzanas, Puebla, México; Corn vendor, marketplace, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México; First Holy Communion celebrants, Santa Cruz, Church, Santa Cruz, New Mexico; Regional dance, Zacatlán de las Manzanas, Puebla, México

immerse myself in the deep currents of a society that was both familiar and unfamiliar—a society that had been in the dual processes of formation and disruption for thousands of years, for México and Mexican people, if they

are anything, are fundamentally native to this hemisphere. The México that I encountered, though, was a postrevolutionar y continued on page 8

Green Fire Times • July 2015

Nuevo México

continued from page 7

country quickly shedding many of its traditional forms—common to both Nuevo México and México—including the omnipresent adobe architecture, ubiquitous milpas (cornfields), acequias, horses, goats, mules and donkeys, handwoven textiles, a profusion of pageantry, and even some aspects of the folk Catholicism that had almost become synonymous with our common culture. Operating at full throttle, contemporary México is intent on forging a modern outlook on the world, building an efficient infrastructure and competing in the world marketplace. Despite its enormous challenges—violence perpetrated by drug cartels and some civil unrest—México is still one of Latin America’s strongest economies, 15th among world nations. It is also one of the world’s most artistically creative societies.

México’s intellectual leaders have made a conscious decision to embrace, honor and celebrate its indigenous roots.

Postrevolutionary México’s intellectual leaders have made a conscious decision to embrace, honor and celebrate its indigenous roots. In a spirit consistent with its dual cultural inheritance— Native American and Spanish—México is able to acknowledge the destruction and dislocation wrought by the Spanish conquest while preserving the gems of its indigenous and Spanish colonial past as it forges a path to the future. It was a heady experience, then, to be among people who were a lot like me but, at the same time, were generally free of the conflict of having to choose American culture over Mexicano culture that resulted from the increasing social pressures that flooded our remote, formerly Mexican homeland. The conflict over identity that native Nuevo Mexicanos have had to endure for over 150 years has, in many ways, resulted in great damage to their psyche. At the same time, it has been the crucible that has forged the people into a powerful alloy and enabled them to accrue the benefits of the modern world and become equipped with tools for contributing greatly to their adopted country and beyond.

The forced acculturation of the Nue vo Mexic ano people by American society has nevertheless eclipsed the process of selfdefinition in favor of definition by the prevailing dominant culture. When the cause for New Mexico’s statehood went before the U. S. C o n g r e s s — repeatedly, in the late 1800s and early 1900s—the Mexicano people of New Mexico were cast by such people as Charles Lummis, advocate for statehood, as “Spanish” and not Mexican, in order to appease the intense prejudices many American people felt toward México. After statehood, promoters of the fledgling tourist industry met to adopt a plan for opening up the vast region of Nuevo México to visitors from the East Coast. Once again, Americans opted to eclipse the Mexicano identity of Nuevo Mexicanos in favor of the more palatable, European-sounding “Spanish” in all of their promotional literature. The Fiestas de Santa Fe in its present form, which highlights the Spanish reconquista and the conquistadores visà-vis the native peoples, originated early last century with transplanted Anglo cultural enthusiasts, who thought that such a spectacle would be a compelling draw to more money-wielding visitors. Unfortunately, this measure perpetuated two myths that may have done more harm than good. The first, that Nuevo Mexicanos are exclusively Spanish, tends to alienate them from other Mexicano people, native peoples and Latin Americans while bringing them no closer to the Iberian Spanish, who recognize little that is Spanish about them. Although many aspects of Nuevo Mexicano culture, from santos to plazas and governmental institutions can be traced back to Spain, it all passed through the sieve of México and later through another sieve in the form of vigorous interaction with the Pueblo Indian, Apache, Navajo, Comanche, Ute, French and ultimately, American peoples. When they reemerged, the people’s institutions,

Green Fire Times • July 2015

w o r l d v i e w, customs, speech and even physiology were distinctly different from those who landed on the shores o f Ve r a c r u z , M é x i c o throughout the Spanish colonial period f rom 1519 to 1821. The second myth is that that the original Spanish and their supposed Nuevo Mexicano progeny—to the exclusion of the English, Portuguese, French, Dutch or Americans—were the only brutal conquerors of this hemisphere and its native peoples. The emphasis on purity of bloodline and conquest has created points of friction between Native American

Top: Ranchito, northern New Mexico; musicians David García and Lorenzo Candelaria, northern New Mexico; Mexican folkloric dance, Española, NM; adobe construction process, Tesuque Pueblo, New Mexico

continued on page 33

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End of the Long Journey on El Camino Real La Ciénega and La Cieneguilla Pueblos and Land Grants Hilario E. Romero

rom the earliest times prior to the Spanish arrival in Nuevo México to the present, these communities were linked spiritually, culturally and physically. The trails along the watercourses allowed hunting, agriculture, wood gathering and trade among the ancient pueblos. After the arrival of the Spanish, the connection continued along what would be called El Camino Real. For both groups, this was the end of a long journey for those who followed the old Indian trails up the Río Grande and the beginning of a long journey for those who went south along the Río Grande to trade. The complex history of these communities has been investigated by archaeologists, anthropologists, historians and others, but now there is a chapter of a book that details the history of the pueblos and land grants of this immediate area. Chapter five of Malcom Ebright’s Advocates for the Oppressed: Hispanos, Indians, Genízaros in New Mexico (UNM Press, 2014) is an exceptional work that provides a comprehensive view. The commonality between these communities and their contribution to the founding and survival of La Villa Real de San Francisco de la Santa Fe is clear. As an ancestral Indian pueblo, La Ciénega was the first. One century later, its neighbor, La Cieneguilla Pueblo, was established. After the Spanish arrival it became a paraje (stopping place) and later a “ranchería.” La Cieneguilla Land Grant was authorized only a few months prior to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

La Ciénega and la Cieneguilla Pueblos

La Cieneguilla Pueblo

According to Nels Nelson, after his major excavation and report on the site in 1914, the early Pueblo people settled in 1200 A.D. on this picacho, an isolated rock outcropping formed between and above the Riito La Ciénega and the Río Santa Fe. It was later discovered that their ancestors built pit houses nearby and a century later moved closer to the picacho and built long roomblocks of basalt and adobe. La Ciénega Pueblo or Guicu—as it was originally called by the Pueblo people—was strategically located at the junction of these two water sources near rich bottomlands that were irrigated and farmed. Trails up and down the cliffs passed through hill slopes that might have been converted into terrazas for small gardens. This pueblo covered most of the mesa-top and had a substantial population.

Many Pueblo authors speak about this corridor as ancestral land.

It’s neighbor, La Cieneguilla Pueblo, was settled around 1300 A.D. Nearby pueblos Quemado and Pindi (today’s Agua Fría Traditional Village) traded with them. Trade between pueblos enabled these village populations and other pueblos like them to expand and prosper, according to Nels Nelson, an archaeologist who investigated the site in 1915. La Cieneguilla Pueblo was a Period IV Ancestral Pueblo Village and was larger than most in the area, according to an investigation by the Santa Fe Archaeological Society in 1956. Many trade expeditions went south from these villages to the Keres pueblos and further south to the Piro and

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Tompiro pueblos. Travel and trade along the Río Grande trails was common during this period until the arrival of the Spanish. This continuous line of pueblos from La Caja del Río de Santa Fe to the Tewa pueblos in the town of Santa Fe show that the river could support fairly large populations from the 1200s to the 1600s. Estimates quoted in Ebright’s chapter from Elimore Barrett’s book, Conquest and Catastrophe: Changing Río Grande Pueblo Settlement Patterns in the 16th & 17th Centuries, show there were about 800 people in three area pueblos, which included La Ciénega. Agriculture was also possible because of the rich volcanic soil in this area along the southwestern end of the Río Santa Fe. Many cold-water springs were found in abundance in this area, which, among Pueblo people, made the area sacred. Many Pueblo authors speak about this corridor as ancestral land. They were connected by a wide trail that was used for centuries. This trail would eventually become El Camino Real after the arrival of the first Spanish colonists.

The Spanish Arrival and the Founding of La Ciénega and la Cieneguilla

Early contact with Spaniards occurred when expeditions made their way into the area with Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540 and Antonio de Espejo in 1582. The first documented Spanish arrival at La Ciénega Pueblo in 1591 with Gaspar Castaño y Sosa, reported that they were quite amazed to find canales for irrigation flowing. When the first Spanish settlers arrived at La Ciénega Pueblo in 1598, they were able to rest and receive food and drink. The menu was probably corn, squash, beans and domestic turkey. By 1598, the Oñate group passed though the area, with many more colonial settlers to follow. By the early 1600s, many Spanish families settled in estancias (cattle ranches). The first families who settled near these pueblos gradually intermarried with them, and a new culture emerged in the area. These mestizos built houses along the southwest side of the Riito La Ciénega. Soon, other wealthier “Españoles Mexicanos” like Alonso Varela de Losada settled there in the 1620s. He married Catalina Pérez y Bustillos, the widow of Pedro Márquez, who came with Oñate in 1598. The family of Ana Cabeza de Vaca settled on an estancia called “El Alamo,” according to Malcom Ebright. El Alamo, the early name for La Ciénega, shows up on the Miera y Pacheco map of 1779 in a location four leagues southwest of Santa Fe.

Detail from El Camino Real Official Map and Guide

Colonial caravans arrived one by one with goods from La Nueva España—later known as México—and the tired, worn travelers, “Españoles Mejicanos,” as they were called, would stop at the Spanish paraje of La Ciénega (the marsh). At this point, they realized they were close to the end of their difficult journey and were welcomed by those who had come before them. This “paraje de la Ciénega” was a way station between the Kiwa and Cochiti pueblos and Pueblo Quemado, later known as the village of Agua Fría. Close by was La Cieneguilla Pueblo, with a larger Queres population, strategically located along the Río Santa Fe. continued on page 10

Green Fire Times • July 2015

El Camino Real continued from page 9

La Ciénega Land Grant

Upon the return of Gov. Vargas in 1693, he passed through La Ciénega and found it abandoned. Governor Vargas gave a land grant to Miguel García de la Riva in 1701. He sold it in 1704 to his son, Juan García de la Riva, with expanded boundaries that were not in Gov. Vargas’ original grant, according to Malcolm Ebright in chapter five. Further on, Ebright writes about Miguel García’s daughter, who married a prominent general named Juan Páez Hurtado, from Villa Franca de Palacios, España. For the next seven decades, these families intermarried with powerful military and political families to acquire more influence and land. Felipe Rico de Rojas and María Roybal, widow of José Riano Tagle and Ana Cabeza de Vaca, show up in the 1750 census of La Ciénega. By the late 1700s, new families, led by patriarchs who were officers in the Spanish army, married into families that owned land. Some of those Spanish families were the Cabeza de Vaca’s (shortened to Baca), Romeros, Delgados, Hurtados and many others.

These communities were linked spiritually, culturally and physically.

Juan José Guadalupe Romero was a Teniente Coronel in the Spanish army and was stationed in Santa Fe in the 1780s. He retired from his post and established a large estancia near the Peñasco Blanco de las Golondrinas and extended his domain south to the Cañada de Guicu in 1788 with his wife, Ygnacia Cabeza de Vaca, whose family also owned land in upper La Ciénega. Juan José was born in Tomé, Nuevo México in 1766. They had nine children, four of whom were Vicente, José León, Miguel and Rafael. Miguel Romero y Cabeza de Vaca, son of Juan José, was my great-great grandfather and was born at the estancia on Sept. 29, 1797, according to baptismal and family records. He was baptized on Dec.13, 1797 (Santa Fe Baptisms, 456). He would later marry Josefa Delgado, daughter of Manuel Salustiano Delgado.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

This estancia was the former Miguel de la Vega y Coca estancia, known today as the Rancho de las Golondrinas, which was part of his wife Ygnacia’s inheritance.

The Herrera Family, 1870, La Cieneguilla By the late 1790s, many new families arrived, intermarried or purchased land in these areas. One such family was the Delgados. Patriarch Manuel Francisco Delgado and his wife, María Josefa García de Noriega, were married on March 22, 1779 in El Paso del Río Del Norte (today’s Juárez, México) as recorded in the Diligencia Matrimonial, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Dec. 5, 1778. Manuel’s parents, Antonio Delgado and Doña Juana Xaviera Chavarría, were from Real de Pachuca, where he was born. His mother died in Pachuca before he left for El Paso del Río del Norte. Doña Juana’s father was capitán of the militia in El Paso del Río del Norte. His name was José García de Noriega. Manuel received orders to report to the presidio in Santa Fe in 1780. Manuel and his wife lived in Santa Fe until he was mustered out of the presidio in 1790. In the late 1790s, he purchased a piece near the Estancia de los Romeros in upper La Ciénega near the house where Miguel Romero y Cabeza de Vaca was born. Manuel’s son, Manuel Salustiano Delgado, was my great-great grandfather from the female side of the Delgados. continued on page 33

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Transmuting Pain into Power for Peace The Legacy of Victor Villalpando

Victor’s death precipitated an intense process of soul-searching in the community. In the following weeks, Victor’s family and the community participated in several solemn services in his honor until his body was laid to rest on a knoll above the village of El Rito, where he had lived most of his brief life. Victor’s death precipitated an intense process of soul-searching in the community, not only over the hows and whys of his untimely departure but also regarding the mental and emotional well-being of our citizenry, the general lack of mental health services, and the all-too-common use of deadly force around the country. These same concerns would soon echo across our nation’s newspapers and find continual coverage on the evening television news, as people took to the streets nationwide to protest what was happening to young men of color.

In the mural, Victor is depicted as a colossal young man dropping corn seeds into the expectant earth as he straddles rows of planted crops while listening to music on his headset, as he often did. The image was meant to symbolize the good that may yet come of this tragedy and to remind us of things that Victor was known for: warmth, humor, spontaneity, and his love of performance, music and dance. Although the mural’s dedication contrasted greatly with last year’s intensely somber mood during the ceremonies held for Victor, some of the parents and children who spoke still cried or did their best to contain tears. Others expressed anger over what had happened, not just in Española but also in many other places. As the wind began to blow and dark clouds gathered, the instructors and students of Moving Arts Española, where Victor trained as a dancer and gymnast for 10 years, performed a tribute to him as a means of transmuting the pain of such a tragedy into personal and collective power for manifesting peace and positive social change. While the audience sat comfortably inside the large building looking out onto a parking lot through an open garage door, three female dancers, including Corina, Victor’s sister, performed a series of inspired movements in

On June 7, 2015, after months of planning by a core group of individuals who knew Victor, at least 80 people gathered at the base of an enormous mural on the outside wall of the former Hunter Ford building in the heart of

Española, the old part of the city along Oñate Street that recently has begun to show signs of life. There, in a space consecrated by fresh boughs strewn in a semicircle on the ground, with prayer flags flying overhead, the mural was officially bequeathed to the community.

Victor in a solo performance on Main Street, Española, 2014

Green Fire Times • July 2015

the driving rain. It was dramatic and poignant. Then, in response to pulsating music, a group of breakdancers that Victor had been part of—four young men and one young woman— became veritable dust de vils and other irrepressible forces of nature. Dancing for Victor, they seemed to push the limits of their energized bodies.

n June 8, 2014, the tightly knit community of Española, New Mexico, was severely traumatized by the sudden death of Victor Villalpando, a creative genius barely 16 years of age. After calling the police and informing them of his location and that “a person needed help,” a brief scuffle between Victor and the police ensued and, seconds later, Victor was shot. Was this Victor’s way of asking for help for himself?

The day of tribute culminated with a meditation exercise “El Senbrador” (The Planter) mural dedication, June 7, 2015; of grounding in Pilar Trujillo at the altar created for Victor Villalpando days after his death; Serena Rascón, Hope Orange and Corrina Shoemaker place, time and dancing in the rain for Victor at the memorial within. This was fate of our community, the welfare followed by a cathartic dialogue, of its youth, and the memory of a which lasted hours. Young people beloved individual was any indication, spoke convincingly about their general the change we are seeking was already disillusionment with existing power, beginning to take place. i leadership and educational structures. In response, some of the adults gently Alejandro López, northern Nuevo Mexicano pointed out that we must be the change writer, photographer and educator, was the lone we want to see happen, and that if the witness to a gymnastic dance performance Victor day’s outpouring of concern for the Villalpando gave on deserted Main Street in Española, three months before his demise.

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Alejandro López

César Chávez Cultural Tourism Conference aug. 1–2 old taos county courthouse and kit carson park

The Town of Taos will commemorate the work of farm worker/organizer César Chávez—while looking forward to a future of agriculture and cultural preservation—with a first-of-its-kind cultural tourism conference. Panelists at the free event will provide historical perspectives on current issues related to reestablishing self-sufficiency.

Ranchos de Taos

“This event will be a powerful commentary on how the history of our area shapes the present landscape and economic possibilities, uses of the land and social issues,” said Judi Cantú, Taos councilwoman and cocreator of the event. “It’s a must-attend for all involved with the farming industry and preservation of the unique cultures that have made Taos and northern New Mexico so great.” Councilor Cantú credits Community Cultural Committee president Arsenio Córdova for the academic design of the event. A sampling of the “Cultural Educational Tourism Incentive and Revitalization Intervention” themes to be discussed: • • • • • • •

La Cultura – Preserving a Way of Life (Money is not God) Acequia Struggles Past & Present (Water is the new gold!) Jardines – Returning to Agriculture to Revive a Way of Life Economic Development in Agriculture Health & Safety Issues of Farming Land Grant Struggles & Issues The Movement Transformed: Community Organizing Across Generations

There will also be a teatro (theatrical play), film screenings, musical performances, dancers and poetry, along with food and craft booths. A partial list of presenters and panelists: author/musician Arsenio Córdova; author/ historian Dr. Kathryn Córdova; UNM professor Dr. Tess Córdova; author/composer Juanita Domínguez; Diana Sandoval of the Guadalupe Credit Union; Michelle Roberts of the Environmental Justice and Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform; author/publisher Enriquetia Vásquez; author/journalist Bill Whaley; president of Los Alamos National Laboratory Major Subcontractor’s Consortium Liddie Martínez; Paul Anthony Martínez, Dr. César Gómez, Dr. Marisol Ruíz, Dr. Sophia Martínez, Richard Moore, Jaelyn de María and Rudy Gonzales. For more information: 575.779.9804, jcantu@taosgov.com or visit www. taosCesarchavezday.com

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Green Fire Times • July 2015

Elvis Romero and the Cosmic White Corvette

Vignette 3–Cindy Andrew Lovato

ike every child in America, school was an important part of Elvis’s life. First- through sixth-graders in his neighborhood attended a small Catholic school a few blocks away. The most valuable form of currency that kids could carry around in their pockets at Cristo Rey Elementary was an array of marbles. Every year with the coming of spring, the marble craze started up again, and Elvis was out on the playground with hordes of boys and a handful of girls kneeling in the dirt. “Hey, who’s in?” shouted Miguel, as he traced a crude circle with a broken tree branch. “Me and Elvis,” answered Rudy, as they came running up to the playground. The goal was to knock an opponent’s marble out of the circle. If you did so, you claimed the marble. However, if your marble ended up inside of the circle, you forfeited it. “Okay then, I’m shooting first,” Miguel declared, and he stuffed a plump, dirty hand into the front pocket of his jeans that was bulging with his stash. He carefully sorted through it until he found the lucky cat’s eye that always ensured victory.

think about were marbles lost and won in the heat of mortal combat. In another popular game, you could claim your opponent’s marble simply by hitting it with your own. This game could stretch all over the playground and sometimes lasted for hours. A more finessed type of competition consisted of drawing a line in the dirt with all of the players standing about 10 feet away. Rivals shot their marbles toward the line, with the goal of having their marble stop closest to the line without going past it. Whoever succeeded won all of the marbles that had been shot during the game.

Aside from juvenile inhumanity, Elvis’s little school was idyllic in many ways. Some marbles were considered more valuable than others. Cat’s eyes were common fare unless they were a unique color. A “cleary” was treasured more because of its transparent quality. “Boulders” were oversized marbles and considered quite desirable. A “steely” was made of shiny, silver metal and was identical to a ball bearing. A common conversation that might be heard on the playground sounded something like this: “I’ll trade you two orange cat’s eyes for a cleary.”

Marbles were lost and won in the heat of mortal combat.

Just then, skinny Vincent came running up and begged, “Have you guys started yet? Come on, let me in the game.” He peered pathetically at Miguel until Miguel grudgingly shrugged his shoulders indicating that Vincent was in. This is how it went day after day, recess after recess. All anyone could

“No way! This cleary is rare, vato. Look at the color when you hold it up to the sun. It has blue streaks. I never saw one like it.” “Okay, okay. Then how about two orange cat’s eyes and a boulder? Check this one out, man; it’s twice as big as the other boulders.” “I don’t know, ese. How about you throw in a steely?” “No way! This is my lucky steely. I wouldn’t trade this for 10 clearies.” This type of bartering went on constantly, and surely many future

Green Fire Times • July 2015

stoc kbrokers could tr ace their beginnings to transactions such as these. It seemed there was always a new fad or craze sweeping the tiny elementary school. For a while, the big thing might be yo-yos.The kids who could make their yo-yo “sleep” or “go around the world” or “walk the dog” were greatly admired. As hard as Elvis practiced, he could never enter into this exalted company. The next week, kids might all come to school with hula hoops and begin holding competitions to see who could swing their hips the fastest and make the hula hoop roll around their waists the longest. The swing set was an intense field of competition as well. A contestant’s goal was to swing as high as possible and, at the height of the ascent, jump off and fly through the air farther than anyone else. Daredevils measured their distance to determine the day’s champion. This game led to a fair share of skinned knees and even a few broken arms and ankles. However, reckless abandon took precedence over caution in the go-forbroke world of the playground.

spoonfuls of steaming food onto their waiting trays that were slid along a smooth surface. At each food bin, a new lunch lady portioned out a helping from each of the USDA’s essential food groups. There was always a main course that a particular day was named after. Wednesdays were “hamburger day” and Fridays were “fish day” because, as good Catholic children, they could not eat meat on Friday. Other days were randomly selected and given names like “pizza day” or “taco day.” The one day that Elvis did not look forward to was “chef ’s surprise day.” This usually meant that there was leftover foodstuff that had to be used up before it went bad, and it was combined into unrecognizable concoctions like “sloppy joes.” Along with the main course, lunch consisted of a small, wilted salad and a dessert choice of fluorescent Jello, yellow custard pudding, or hard fudge.

Elvis marveled at the girls who strapped their sweaters around the monkey bars and spun in circles at breakneck speed for amazing stretches of time without ever getting dizzy or sick. He couldn’t imagine how they did this, especially right after lunch. Lunch hour at Cristo Rey was typical fare for the 100 or so students. The lunchroom was a large, boxy prefab metal building with large windows. About 20 gray, Formica tables filled the room, with cooks situated on the far end of the building behind shiny, steel counters with glass partitions. Students were herded in lines according to grade, with the first-graders eating first and the sixth-graders receiving their meals last. Elvis and his classmates began lunch by picking up brightly colored plastic trays and silverware. Then, they trekked to the next section for a napkin and a carton of milk. Finally, they approached the metal counters, where lunch ladies heaped

Our fate is written In a book that none can see Titled Destiny

Overall, the effect of this dining experience led to quite a few upset stomachs and kept the school janitor quite busy during the afternoons, sprinkling his magical green flakes onto the school floors, which allowed him to incomprehensibly sweep up vomit with a push broom and never even have to get on his knees to clean up the mess. Perhaps the main culprit responsible for student digestive problems was

continued on page 16

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Green Fire Times • July 2015

Elvis Romero

continued from page

the merry-go-round. The inventor of this piece of recreational equipment had surely envisioned well-behaved, laughing children spinning around at a moderate speed, with cooperation being the rule when fellow riders wanted to hop off or climb aboard. However, in reality this was not exactly how things worked at the school. The “unmerry-go-round” quickly became an instrument of sadism and torture, especially for the biggest bully at Cristo Rey—a big, fat, sixth-grader named Eugene.

The “unmerry-goround” became an instrument of sadism and torture. He delighted in tormenting kids smaller and younger than himself. Unfortunately, this included just about everybody. One of his favorite pastimes was inflicting what he called “Indian sunburn.” He would grab his prey and force him or her to hold out an arm; then, he would wring the screeching child’s wrist or sometimes the forearm if the victim was younger and smaller (he did not discriminate according to age or gender). The friction caused by this act, which resembled opening the lid of a jar that was stuck, left a red, stinging welt and delighted Eugene to no end. He also was particularly fond of ears, especially in cold weather. A red, exposed ear was the perfect target for his vengeful forefinger, which he flicked with the power of a steel spring. This inevitably sent the unfortunate soul into painful hysterics. His ringing guffaw could be heard echoing across the playground. Whenever kids heard this sound, it was a signal that someone was suffering. Eugene was the Marquis de Sade of the merry-go-round. Unhappy victims, who happened to be caught in the spiraling web of cold, hard steel, were twirled around faster and faster until the merry-go-round was flying at warp speed, with terrified, pleading passengers holding on for dear life, shutting their eyes and hoping against hope that they would not lose their sweaty grip and go catapulting from the wheel of tears.

“Have you had enough yet?” he loved to ask his captive riders. They pleaded, “Yes, yes, please stop!” He would snort and reply, “Well, let me think about it. Nah, I don’t like the way you asked me. Try it again, and call me sir.” “Please, sir, stop! I think I’m getting sick!” “That’s better, but I still don’t feel like you really mean it.” This usually went on for quite some time until Eugene got arm-weary or a child actually tumbled to earth and Eugene turned away in disgust. Where the nuns were—supposedly patrolling the playground while all this was happening—was always a mystery. They always seemed to be hovering around whenever someone else was guilty of the slightest infraction but nowhere in sight when Eugene was committing mayhem. Another cruel playground trick that was sure to illicit shrieks of laughter but, thankfully, was beneath Eugene’s dignity, was for children to jump off their end of the teeter-totter when they reached the bottom of their descent, causing victims on the other end—at the top—to plummet to the ground with a startling impact that made sitting on a hard wooden desk an ordeal beyond description for the rest of the afternoon. Aside from juvenile inhumanity, Elvis’s little school was idyllic in many ways. This did not mean that they were immune from the inevitable twists and turns of fate. For the majority of students at Cristo Rey, the passage of time was marked by a steady progression of grade levels and other signposts such as the baseball World Series or national events like NASA space flights and presidential elections. However, not everyone was fortunate enough to have such a carefree destiny. One of Elvis’s classmates was a vivacious, green-eyed girl with long, brown hair named Cindy Valdez. She was an extraordinary student in just about every way. The daughter of a dentist, she was perennially at the top of her class. She was sensitive and kind beyond her years. She led schoolbook drives for poor children in Latin

Green Fire Times • July 2015

America, started a Cristo Rey Humane Society Chapter and was consistently her homeroom teacher’s right-hand assistant. Elvis had a secret crush on this radiant, pixie spirit, but he was too shy to ever let on. Whenever he was around her, he became flustered and ran away as quickly as possible. However, Elvis had his eye on Cindy and found himself gazing in her direction during warm spring afternoons. Elvis was surprised and a little concerned when, during the winter of third grade, Cindy was absent from school for a couple of weeks. Every morning he would disappointedly scope out her empty desk at the front of the room. He was too self-conscious to inquire why Cindy had disappeared, but he hoped she hadn’t moved away. One morning about a month after she had stopped coming to school, Sister Marion announced, “I want all of you to go to the art-supply box and gather some construction paper, scissors and crayons. We’re going to be making get-well cards for Cindy. She’s in the hospital, and the cards will help cheer her up until she’s ready to return.” Elvis diligently went about the business of constructing a card. He abandoned his usual reserve and added a few hearts at the bottom. However, Cindy never came back to school that year. Life went on, but every now and then he thought about her and wondered about how she was doing. After summer vacation, Elvis and his classmates returned to school as fourth-graders, filled with energy and anticipation. Brother Marvin was their new teacher, and he was considered by everyone to be the best teacher in the whole school. He stood in stark contrast to the strict, doleful nuns. Classes came alive with his cheerful, vibrant personality. He realized that children needed to move and be engaged in learning. His teaching method included lots of games, field trips and classroom participation. On the first day back, Brother Marvin appeared somewhat somber as students walked into the classroom and sat at their assigned homeroom desks. After they had settled down, he asked them to bow their heads for a moment

of silence. He spoke in a deep and resonant voice: “Dear Father, please bless us as we begin a new school year. Look over and protect us, and always remind us of the perfection of your will. Let us never forget that our purpose is to worship and obey you and accept our destiny as part of your great plan. Lord, bestow a special blessing on one of our own, who passed away this summer after a courageous battle with cancer. Cindy Valdez has joined you to become one of your angels. Have mercy on her eternal soul. In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.” The class answered with a hushed “Amen.” They sat in silence in stark contrast to the cocky exuberance they’d displayed a few moments earlier. Elvis felt a hard lump in his throat as he sat trying to gather his bewildered thoughts and emotions. He couldn’t understand. How could Cindy be gone? She was too full of life, too real, too much a part of his reality. He could see this happening somewhere else or even to someone else—but Cindy? It wasn’t possible. She did everything right. She was better at everything than any of them. People like Cindy didn’t die! The day proceeded, and Elvis gradually shook off his grief and shock and engaged himself in the excitement of being a fourth-grader. However, the feeling was bittersweet. For a long time, he thought about Cindy. Every day, he half-expected her to walk into the classroom and laugh the way she used to, with her sparkling green eyes, and tell them it was all a big joke. i [Part 3 of an intermittent series] Through his writings, native Santa Fean Andrew Lovato, Ph.D., walks readers through an exploration of Hispanic and New Mexico cultures of yesterday and today. An associate professor at Santa Fe Community College, Lovato is the author of Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town; The Year Zozobra Escaped: Featuring Zozobra’s Great Escape; and a contributing author of four other books. Andrew.lovato@sfcc.edu

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Green Fire Times • July 2015

Inspire Santa Fe: Unlocking Inspiration through Mentorship

Seth Biderman

These young people’s eyes lit up when they described their interests to us and even more so when we told them they could start exploring their passion

Intergenerational learning and transmission of knowledge and skills

Launched in September 2014, with significant support from Mayor Javier Gonzales and the city of Santa Fe, Inspire Santa Fe is a collaborative program facilitated by two nonprofits: the Academy for the Love of Learning, whose founder and president is Aaron Stern; and Siete del Norte, which is affiliated with the Arizona-based Chicanos por la Causa and headed by Santa Fe native Todd López. During the 2014–2015 school year, with support and vision from educator and scientist Christián Casillas, local photographer Mónica Caldas and Santa Fe Prep senior Martín Soto, Inspire Santa Fe matched 46 young people—we call them “protégés”—with adult experts in fields that the protégés wanted to learn. Protégé and mentor met two hours each week to explore the field together: Adrián with local architect Christian Alba; Michael with varsity baseball coach Jesse Bartlett; and Zayra with computer whisperer Nelson López of Santa Fe Computer Works. Mentors gathered for occasional workshops to explore what the mentoring meant to them and how they might reach their protégés more effectively. On May 1, at the Farmers’ Market Pavilion, with some

Michael Hernández (leaping) with his mentor, Jesse Bartlett

Green Fire Times • July 2015

Many of these young people had been waiting, it seemed, for someone to ask. Adrián, a senior at Santa Fe High, was eager to learn about architecture; he’d grown up in a family of construction laborers and wanted to know about the design side of building. Michael, a middle-schooler f rom Mandela International Magnet School, at first declared he wanted to learn about civil engineering, but when we dug a bit with his family, we learned of his zeal for baseball. Janney wanted to learn about horses. Zayra wanted to learn how to fix a computer, partly because she loved taking things apart and partly because she had friends and neighbors with broken computers and not enough money to repair them. Fabiola wanted to learn about painting and art, Oscar about law, Noah about special education, Sofía about music composition.

today—not in college or after college— through a new citywide mentoring program called Inspire Santa Fe.

Protégée Alyvia Hogan with mentor Catherine O’Brien of Peas ’n’ Pod Catering

ast fall, my colleagues and I visited public and private schools across Santa Fe and asked teenaged students a question many of them had not been asked in years, if ever. Our question was not what they wanted to be when they grew up or what they hoped to study someday in college. We didn’t ask them what class they liked best or what electives they hoped to take. Instead, we went beyond school and jobs and struck a human chord by asking, “What do you want to learn?”

Mentor and protégés share their learning’s with community members at the Farmers’ Market Pavilion in the Santa Fe Railyard.

300 community members as witnesses, the protégés presented what they had learned through displays, performances, websites, speeches, a working aquaponics tank and more. Although Inspire Santa Fe is a new program,mentorship is an age-old concept, an organic vehicle of intergenerational learning and transmission of knowledge and skills that predates classroom-based learning by thousands of years. More recently, interest-based mentorships have flourished in New Mexico through the work of education guru Paquita Hernández, who created and ran the statewide Celebrate Youth! Mentorship program in the 1990s and helped found the still-flourishing mentorship program at Santa Fe’s Monte del Sol Charter School. Other schools such as the Master’s Program, an innovative state-chartered school at the Community College, have offered robust mentorship programs as well.

Inspire Santa Fe learned from these recent programs. We also drew from our own expertise: Siete del Norte has a long history of successful social programming in northern New Mexico, and Aaron Stern and the Academy for the Love of Learning have fashioned a transformative learning practice and a host of programs that help people of all ages come to life as learners. The two nonprofits work well together, with Siete setting up and facilitating the mentorships, and the Academy providing workshops and events to highlight the learning. The program is proof that one need not create a separate nonprofit to bring a new idea forward. With one year under our belt, we are looking to grow in 2015–2016. Mayor Gonzales is encouraging us to facilitate 100 mentorships in this next school year. In that number, we hope to include more youth who lack basic family support, and to that end look to collaborate with

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and learn from the Juvenile Justice Board and nonprofits like Youth Shelters and Youthworks. The promise of this program is enormous. The feedback from protégés, parents and mentors alike speaks to the vitality and relevance of mentorship as an inspiring form of education in this community. Young people not only won a chance to explore a field they’d long been interested in, but they also got a chance to be seen in a different way by caring adults outside of school. Parents saw new sparks of joy, dedication and aliveness in their children. And mentors came to us with stories of learning more about themselves and the field, satisfied they had found a meaningful way to be part of the “village” that must educate the children.

Innovation and Discovery in Energy and Water high desert discovery district and SFCC — Aug. 11-12 New Mexico’s first privately led high-technology start-up accelerator, the High Desert Discovery District (HD3), and Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) will co-host Innovation and Discovery in Energy and Water: HD3 Discovery Day™ on Aug. 11 and 12 at the SFCC campus.

“Energy and water are core to the New Mexico economy and to the entrepreneurial economy,” said Michelle D. Miller, founder and CEO of HD3. “HD3 hopes to identify the most promising innovations that can be commercialized into growth companies.”

At the Santa Fe Institute, mentor Sam Scarpino explores complexity with protégés Megan Hill and Sergio Mata.

“Innovations in energy and water are some of the more intriguing and forwardfacing developments taking place in New Mexico today,” said Randy Grissom, president of SFCC. “We are very excited to host Discovery Day, as SFCC has become an innovation station for water management, aquaponics, solar, biofuels and other renewables—advancements that are critical to the future.” Discovery Day will provide a forum to energy and water innovators with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories and Air Force laboratories located in New Mexico, as well as faculty, graduate-level and undergraduate students in New Mexico universities and trade and community colleges, and any other New Mexico entrepreneur with a strong market-based discovery. Innovators from all over New Mexico are invited to apply to present their innovation, discovery or start-up opportunity to a highly experienced group of business achievers, entrepreneurs, management experts and investors. Each presentation and discussion is limited to 30 minutes, and all presentations are conducted in a private setting to allow for the maximum of sensitive and proprietary business and technological information to be shared. All discussions remain confidential.

Martín “Tino” Gonzales-Sherwood at his auto technician mentorship with Marianna Martínez of AutoCare 2000

Financially speaking, Inspire Santa Fe is a lean program. Mentors volunteer their time, and the overhead costs— coordination, insurance, screening of mentors, workshops, events, etc.—have been covered by city funds, payments from the schools, the operating budgets of the Academy and Siete, a foundation grant and small donations from local businesses. As we grow, the cost per mentorship decreases slightly, and this year we will be looking for local businesses and philanthropists to contribute and help us to Inspire Santa Fe. Learn more at www.inspiresantafe.org i

The application deadline to participate is July 24. For application criteria, see www. hddd.org. For more information, contact Michelle Miller at 505.310.5711 or Luke Spangenburg at 505.795.2081.

Help support a more sustainable world. To advertise, please call: Anna Hansen: 505.982.0155 • Robyn Montoya: 505.692.4477 Lisa Powers: 505.629.2655 • Skip Whitson: 505.471.5177

Santa Fe native Seth Biderman is a cofounder and cocoordinator of Inspire Santa Fe. He was formerly assistant director of the mentorship program at Monte del Sol and now manages the Institute for Teaching at the Academy for the Love of Learning. seth@aloveoflearning.org

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Green Fire Times • July 2015

Santa Fe Public Schools

Becoming a Leaner, Greener School District Lisa M. Randall

t the start of school year 2010– 2011, Santa Fe Public Schools began building its Energy and Water Conservation program. Using ideas and models from other school districts and organizations around the country and customizing strategies to meet our own specific building portfolio, we focused on electricity and natural gas in year one and water, waste and recycling in year two. All of those areas continue to be at the forefront, and we’ve added foodwaste composting, renewable-energy infrastructure, cradle-to-grave zerowaste electronics diversion and more sustainable building design. Becoming an environmentally responsible organization is an ever-evolving goal and arguably a very high priority.

Steering our SF Public School District toward a carbon- and waterneutral reality

With the constantly increasing price of utilities paid out of the annual operational budget, 86 percent of which goes to employees and their salaries and benefits, we knew that spending less on energy, water and refuse could mean spending more in the classroom. SFPS’s conservation program was born out of the 2008 crash and subsequent recession and several years of cutting millions out of the operational budget. As many are aware, the annual budget is funded by the state of New Mexico, using a formula called the State Equalization Guarantee, or SEG. Individual students and their particular educational needs and grouping beget “unit values” of funding, and this funding basically determines our budget. Allotments are

given for expenses like utilities within this SEG funding, so minimizing use and expenditures on utilities not only has a positive environmental impact but a positive effect on teaching and learning. Since our conservation efforts began in fiscal year 2011, we’ve reduced our electrical usage by 11 percent, natural gas usage by 23 percent and water usage by 43 percent. As can be imagined, 14,000 students and nearly 2,000 employees create a lot of demand for resources and, in turn, are a powerful force for change. SFPS chose to focus on the built environment first in our initial resource-reduction efforts. We wanted to walk our talk and lead by example, rather than put the burden of change on the shoulders of our already extremely hard-working staff. In conjunction with the many building retrofits and upgrades, we now have “sleep-mode” expectations for all staff, asking them to unplug, powerdown and turn off everything possible whenever possible. While we encourage participation and strive to make it easy to comply with conservation expectations, much of the behavioral change is a matter of consciousness and, mirroring the rest of the planet, there are varying levels of commitment across the district. Waste diversion and redefining our waste have been areas of much-needed change. When I began as Energy and Water Conservation program coordinator in August 2010, our recycling rate was a dismal 6.7 percent, and there was no district point-person to educate and provide coordination. As of March 2015, our recycling rate is 26 percent, we’ve reduced our waste-to-landfill by 30 percent, and we divert nearly 1,700 pounds daily of cafeteria food waste to commercial

Capital High students with their solar array. With state and federal funds, the SF school district plans to add $4 million worth of solar to four schools, which will save over $750,000 annually in power costs. The district already has arrays at eight schools.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

composting rather than the landfill. Twelve of our 28 school sites now collect daily food waste, and our composting p a r t n e r, R e u n i t y Resources, transports that waste to Payne’s Nursery’s commercial composting operation. We also recycle metal from broken furniture, cardboard from technology and furniture installations and use the only R2-certified, zero-waste-tolandfill electronics recycler in the state, Albuquerque Recycling. The first few years, we implemented projects and changes that would reduce waste, no matter what the resource was. We now look from conservation to generation and, to date, have installed nearly half a megawatt (MW) of solar PV (photovoltaics) on eight different school campuses. Gonzales, Santa Fe High, El Dorado, Amy Biehl, Capital High, Nina Otero, El Camino Real and Piñón all have grid-tied solar PV arrays on site, and we’ll be adding arrays at Acequia Madre and Atalaya in the late summer. Another 1.2 MW solar PV package is in design now for Santa Fe High, Ortiz, Ramírez Thomas, and César Chávez, which we hope will be funded through Qualified School Construction Bonds and Clean Energy Revenue Bonds. This funding combination, if approved, could be the first of its kind in the state, with the energy savings paying for the monthly debt on the solar installations and no added burden on the taxpayer. We will continue to seek creative ways to fund both conservation and generation projects as fiscal resources become tighter and more in demand. Other than individual teacher- or schoolbased environmental or sustainability projects, embedding this curriculum into the everyday lives of our students is still a critical missing link in the program. We have developed the job expectations for a Sustainability Programs coordinator and are currently seeking outside funding for this position because teaching our students real-world skills

Recycling Club students

Food waste for composting

and strategies to respond to and mitigate climate disruption is crucial for them to be prepared for the challenges they face. Offering our staff meaningful and authentic professional development to help empower our students to develop innovative and relevant responses to very real climate challenges is not mandated at the federal, state or local level, so it is up to us to integrate environmental literacy into our classrooms, projects and organizational systems. We have many partners already assisting us in this endeavor and many ready to come on board as soon as we open the door. There is no higher moral imperative in my eyes, no greater social-justice issue, than supporting our students in efforts to address real-world environmental challenges and steering our Santa Fe Public School District toward a carbonand water-neutral reality. The time has come, and there is much work for us to do, both individually and collectively. i Lisa Randall is the Energy and Water Conservation program coordinator for Santa Fe Public Schools. She manages the district’s conservation program, renewable-energy projects and recycling and wasted i v e r s i o n p r o g ra m s . lrandall@sfps.info

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The Academy for Sustainability Education at Santa Fe High Come Be an Activist for Sustainability Tammy Harkins

hhh, the milagro! And the irony. In a year in which a new battery of standardized tests was added to several existing ones, within a highly unsustainable climate of testing frenzy, it was a miracle that a real-world, hands-on, problem- and project-based learning community of 12 teachers and about 300 students was able to launch Santa Fe High School’s first sustainability academy with some pretty impressive accomplishments. Amidst walk-outs, teachers leaving mid-year and a completely new administrative team carrying forth a

Dana Richards, resurrected SFHS’s Building Trades program by giving it a green makeover through teaching sustainable design and construction. He and his students are midway through building Santa Fe’s first solar charging station and a portable solarPV trailer that will provide energy to a new student-built, solar sound studio. In addition, his classes are refurbishing the old amphitheater to encourage conscientious and educational “artivism”—art combined with activism. The hope is that next year’s students will begin creating and performing engaging music, music videos and, possibly, a radio station with live performances that promote al l things sustainable. A mural/poetry project at the amphitheater, led by social-science teacher Jake Zgela and English teacher Tammy Harkins, has new and emerging murals and poems on its walls that display studentcreated art related to social and environmental justice. One wall will be dedicated to celebrating the natural beauty of New Mexico in both poetry and photography.

Science teacher Ty Middleton has taken her wildlife biology, botany and environmental Freshman Irie Charity after the trout release in Pecos sciences into the world of River in her waders combining aqua- and mandate to decrease dropout rates and hydroponics and has installed an increase student engagement through aquaponics lab in the greenhouse. a new “academy model,” a team of Fish waste will feed the plants in a dedicated teachers at the Academy for hyper-efficient, closed-loop system Sustainability Education (ASE) had that demonstrates how pesticidean ambitious goal of taking on many and soil-free agriculture can yield projects and field studies that would higher production, as well as an overall demonstrate how to create a more healthier and more sustainable way of sustainable world. Mostly located at growing food that reduces water use SFHS’s South Campus, these projects and energy waste. Middleton invited are well on their way to becoming part students and teachers to a heartening of a “Green Trail” learning lab where release into the Pecos River of trout students will become docents and that had been raised all year in her teachers, inviting other schools and classroom. community members to tour, volunteer Automotive technology teacher, Eloy and participate in the academy’s Varela, helped his students finish a activities and vision. new street-legal electric car, which was ASE’s main fundraiser and lead teacher, funded by a Perkins grant two years

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Victoria Ochoa Gutiérrez, Mariela Erives, Dakota Torres and Sam Jácquez finish making a bench for the Río Grande restoration project in the new Sustainable Construction and Design class at ASE.

ago. With the help of Dan Baker, the power for the car will come from the solar charging station.

Transforming the conventional, stay-in-a-classroom, learn-in-a-vacuumfrom-a-textbook model

Teachers Tracy Akers, Daniel Rock and Bret Bernard have designed—for future installment—a small, on-campus wind turbine. The actual Green Trail will have signage for all these projects. Transforming the conventional, stayin-a-classroom, learn-in-a-vacuumfrom-a-textbook model, ASE teachers have taken kids into the real world on

numerous field studies and engaged them in community activism. These teachers have interfaced with the Sustainable Trades and Technology program at Santa Fe Community College and participated in events such as River Source’s “Securing our Climate and Water Future Summit,” which annually brings together students and teachers from schools statewide to participate in learning about public policy, lobbying at the Roundhouse, and networking to gain momentum in the world of sustainable education and community organizing. The Center for Contemporary Arts hosted several viewings of Chasing Ice, with discussions from oceanographer Steve Rudnik, awakening the perception of climate disruption’s reality in many students. continued on page 22

Science teacher Ty Middleton setting up the ASE aquaponics lab with students Dakota Torres, Sam Jácquez and Torrie Martínez

Green Fire Times • July 2015

The Academy

continued from page 21

Teachers Tracy Akers, Scott Binkley and Tammy Harkins and their students held meetings with Santa Fe Mayor Gonzales and forums with community agencies regarding sustainable practices for the city. They participated in rallies and citizenactivism events, even testifying publicly at school board meetings,trials and committee meetings with state legislators to encourage practices in support of renewable energy and water conservation, and they have begun to draft ideas for better climate literacy among youth. Many of these decision makers, including judges and state and federal senators and representatives, want to continue to help build the capacity of the students to write bills and influence policy that promotes healthier and more robust community. Truly participating as a citizen is a far cry from simply memorizing facts about democracy!

All the new electives in ASE are dual credit and provide the beginnings of college or career pathways in renewable energy, green design and construction, green transportation and natural-resource management.

C ommunit y

involvement and

support needed this summer

This summer, many students will begin participating in a program with local community agencies and colleges related to green building. In an effort to promote more early-college programs that provide a step toward earned certificates and associates degrees, Dana Richards has brought an impressive group of local woodworkers as volunteers into his “shop.” Richards is reaching out to the Santa Fe community of builders and related trades to recruit more adult volunteers and elders to help students build an actual clean and green house that will be located across the street from SFHS near Chaparral Elementary.

This is a Herculean task for one teacher to take on. It will be to the students’ benefit if more community members get involved in ASE’s Sustainable Construction and Design Social Science teacher Tracy Akers with her U.S. History class discussing sustainable practices for projects, which will be unveiled in the fall as part of the Green Santa Fe with Mayor Gonzales Trail learning lab. If you’d like Unfortunately, the nearly 30 days of to help empower youth and support standardized testing and scheduling education toward a sustainable future, snafus disrupted plans for studentemail Richards at darichards@sfps.info or sponsored events like a green car show, Tammy Harkins at tharkins@sfps.info i an eco-fashion show, an organic food fest and more live student performances. Maybe next year. The general demographic of students in ASE comprises mostly those who have expressed how disengaged they feel with conventional public education and want something that connects them with the real world and experiential education. This is a trait that labels many of them as “at-risk” or “hard-to-reach” by traditional educators. However, the proof is in the pudding, and all the teachers involved have reported success stories, with students saying things like, “I would have dropped out if it hadn’t been for ASE,” or “this kind of education should happen all over the place!” and, “I normally hate school, but I actually learned something that is important for me and the world.” Funny how a focus on sustainability and positive youth empowerment can spark the love of learning in all of us, ¿qué no?

ASE teachers (top): Brian Smith, Jake Zgela; Dana Richards, Tammy Harkins Tammy Harkins has been teaching for 28 years in California, Arizona and New Mexico as an English teacher, environmental educator and advocate for authentic, realworld learning that brings together schools and communities to build a more sustainable, just and empowered world.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

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Community as Classroom

Rebecca Darling and Alexandra Nevárez e ask our children to absorb all that they can to pass the next exam, go on to the next grade and move on to the real world. All the while, fieldtrips are becoming folk tales, and textbooks can often be outdated by the time they reach students’ hands. Although classroomcentered education has reigned for decades, community-based learning is an option that provides a valuable and enriching opportunity to bring learning to life and life to learning.

When the community IS the classroom, everyone is a teacher. The Community Learning Network is a New Mexico nonprofit dedicated to providing hands-on learning experiences for groups of students and young adults. Tailored to fit a school’s curriculum while simultaneously

suppor ting the needs of loc al communities, these unique service- and educational-immersion programs shine light on the rich cultures and beauty of New Mexico while bringing students to the region from high schools and colleges all over the country. This past month, we served as interns and were fortunate to work with a group of 24 high school seniors and four teachers from San José, California, who immersed themselves in a week of real-life learning in real-life places with real-life people. At Tesuque and Taos pueblos, the group concluded a semester class on Ethics, Justice and Native American Culture by putting their lessons into action. Unlike typical tourists, the students came to learn and serve. They met, ate and worked with local community members and did labor-intensive work on communitydriven projects including farming, irrigating and adobe plastering.

Anna (17) isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty helping the community.

The students worked hard on a pueblo farm.

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Estéban (17) helps clean the San Francisco de Asís chapel.

With limited exposure to where our food comes from and the work that goes into it, we gained a much greater appreciation for the food cycle, water conservation, seed preservation and waste mitigation. Plus, we learned the importance of sharing a meal. The students worked on community garden projects in both pueblos, learned about acequias and helped build a traditional Zuni waffle garden at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe. We were also able to help prepare the Santa Fe Rodeo grounds for the upcoming rodeo and participate in the tradition of resurfacing the adobe at the San Francisco de Asís Church in Ranchos de Taos, where we worked with community members of all ages, as has been done annually for 200 years.

Seeing, feeling and actually doing what they read about in books was truly transformative for the high-school visitors. One of the students said that he felt as if he “lived in the San José bubble,” and this trip allowed him to be able to see outside it. Similarly, another 17-year-old student said, “I believe it is extremely important, especially for privileged and somewhat-sheltered students like myself, to learn about and immerse ourselves in a different culture and open our eyes beyond our own small world.” To learn more about service- and community-based learning and educational immersion opportunities in the Southwest or to volunteer, visit www. communitylearningnetwork.org i

The students who visited New Mexico experienced a different, new way of life and learned valuable lessons about sustainability and appreciation for the earth. We also discovered that when the community is the classroom, everyone is a teacher. When sharing across generations and cultures, we found, too, that we grew to understand each other better and were able to respect and appreciate one another. From our experience, it was apparent that human beings were not created to simply sit at desks all day and get fed just enough information to pass a test. Rather, we were made to be in relation with one another and to be part of a community. The Community Learning Network provided the students a chance to get out of their comfort zones and tangibly explore and discover the world.

Alexandra Nevárez, Rebecca Darling Rebecca Darling is a student at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. She hopes to join the alternative learning community as a teacher when she graduates. Alexandra Nevárez attends the University of Texas, McCombs School of Business, in Austin. She is currently on a quest for balance between her love for art, her interest in marketing and her fascination with human interconnectedness.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

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Nursery Chosen to Run SF City/County Composting Program Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency has selected Payne’s Nurseries and Greenhouses, Inc. to develop and implement a composting program for both the city and county. Payne’s has been producing compost from green waste, horse manure, food waste and cardboard since 2010, and has worked closely with local Whole Foods stores.

This program gives area residents a simple way to be part of an important environmental conservation effort. And it allows the city and county to recycle as much waste as possible while producing a usable product. Compost and mulch improve soils by helping them to hold moisture, reduce compaction as well as providing a healthy environment for soil microbes. Green waste and horse manure will continue to be collected at the Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station (BuRRT), ground into smaller pieces and taken to the Caja del Río landfill where it will be incorporated into the composting process, which takes 12 to14 months. It is an aerobic (with oxygen) process that does not produce greenhouse gasses and minimizes possible odors. Payne’s is making premium quality soil conditioners available to the general public, landscaping companies and large wholesale customers. Compost and mulch products will be available in bulk form at Payne’s Organic Soil Yard at 6037 Agua Fría and in bags at Payne’s retail stores.

New Mexico Recycling Coalition News

The New Mexico Recycling Coalition (NMRC) is a nonprofit, member-supported organization that works with communities, businesses, schools and grassroots activists to help build sustainable and efficient recycling and composting programs. “From high levels of contamination in recyclables collected to falling prices in the commodity market, it’s no secret that recycling is facing its share of challenges,” says English Bird, NMRC’s executive director. NMRC (www.recyclenewmexico.com) was recently awarded a $5,000 Think Green® grant from Waste Management, a Houstonbased environmental-services company. Cosponsored by Keep America Beautiful, the grant supports the development of sustainable solutions that improve a community’s environment and address local needs. NMRC will use the grant to develop strategies that will increase recycling in New Mexico to 50 percent. NMRC’s 2015 New Mexico Recycler of the Year Award Winner: • Jill Holbert, associate director of the city of Albuquerque’s Solid Waste Dept. Holbert worked to create an Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan to serve as the master plan for managing waste and recycling with diversion as its top priority. She then steered the city to seek a public-private partner to build the largest recycling processing facility in the state in order to roll out a comprehensive curbside residential cart system to approximately 178,000 customers. Other NMRC 2015 Award Winners: • Reunity Resources, Public-Private Partnership in the Diversion Sector of the Year Reunity Resources acts as the city of Santa Fe’s agent to market, educate customers and perform commercial compost collection. In its first year, the company diverted more than 100,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill, an atmospheric CO2 equivalency factor of approximately 540,000 pounds. Reunity also trained over 5,000 K-through-6 students in composting practices. This diversion saved $111,858. • South Central Solid Waste Authority, NMRC Distinguished Member Recognition The South Central Solid Waste Authority provides solid-waste services and recycling to Las Cruces and Doña Ana County, serving a population of more than 250,000. Additionally, SCSWA services Sierra County, Sunland Park and Anthony. SCSWA has become a model for recycling and diversion innovation, successfully going above and beyond with programs like tire shredding, the recently launched glass-collection and crushing program, green-waste diversion and electronics recycling. • Steven Porter, city of Ratón – E. Gifford Stack Lifetime Achievement Porter spent a career in solid-waste management and diversion. Before he passed away in 2014, he served as the city of Ratón’s recycling coordinator. The program grew by leaps and bounds. Porter wrote a long-term recycling plan. He was a strong advocate of the R3 Marketing Cooperative and brought Ratón on as one of the co-op’s earliest members. His efforts included extensive outreach to the business community.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

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Reusable Shopping Bags: A Cottage Industry? Global Warming Express and Adelante Program

Esha Chiocchio

The kids’ mission is to reduce waste, preserve the planet and create a sustainable lifestyle for all residents.

During the discussion among the council members that followed the public comment period, Councilor Ron Trujillo voiced his concerns that the 10-cent fee would create a financial hardship for lower-income families and said he did not feel that the plastic bag ban adequately addressed the plastic waste issue because it still allowed vendors to provide thicker plastic bags to their customers. Hearing this, the kids from the Global Warming Express (GWE), an afterschool program that teaches elementary

school kids about climate science and sustainability, decided to address Councilor Trujillo’s concerns head on. During the next GWE class at Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences (SFSAS), Deedee Jansen suggested that the GWE make reusable bags to distribute throughout Santa Fe so that everyone has a bag and can avoid the 10-cent fee. Having studied the importance of local sourcing, both to support the local economy and to reduce the carbon footprint, the kids designed a project that would produce bags as locally as possible. With the help of GWE instructors Genie Stevens and myself, as well as Sustainable Santa Fe Commissioners Kim Kelly and Glenn Schiffbauer, designer Nao Sadewic of Positive Energy Solar and sponsors Tai Bixby, associate realtor with Keller Williams, and Marlin McKenna, the kids were able to produce the first round of bags during the Green Festival on May 16.

L-R: Genie Stevens (executive director, Global Warming Express), GWE board members Esha Chiocchio and Leslie Lakind, and Sustainable Santa Fe Commissioner Kim Kelly with Wood Gormley Go Green Club student Jayden Sánchez

To create the designs for the bags, each of the five GWE classes in Santa Fe— at Acequia Madre, Wood Gormley, César Chávez, Ramírez Thomas and SFSAS—submitted letter designs that were then put into an arrangement by the SFSAS students to read “Reduce Reuse Recycle.”

Don’t Forget Your Bags! on june 28, the 10-cent paper fee went into effect in santa fe.

Santa Fe’s Reusable Bag Ordinance went into effect on June 28, requiring retail stores to begin charging a 10-cent environmental service fee for every paper bag provided to customers. Due to the negative environmental impacts of both plastic and paper bags, the ordinance is intended to encourage the use of reusable shopping bags. The city is offering free reusable bags at public events across the city and is also distributing the bags to the elderly and people with disabilities. Stores are not required to charge the 10-cent fee to any person with a voucher or electronic benefits card issued under Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, or the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). One cent of the 10-cent fee collected for every paper bag provided will be retained by retail establishments for administrative costs incurred by the collection and reporting of the fee to the city. The remainder of the fee goes to the city, to be used for educational efforts and for the free reusable tote bags the city is giving out in the interest of shifting consumer behavior toward more environmentally friendly practices. For more information, go to: www.SantaFeNM.gov/reusable_bag_ordinance

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hen the Santa Fe City Council opened the floor for public discussion concerning a plastic bag ban last year, several elementary school kids took to the podium to express their support. The ban was passed— minus the desired 10-cent tax for paper bags, due to a technicality. So, when the 10-cent fee for paper bags was reintroduced on April 29, the kids were ready to address the City Council again in favor of continuation of the plastic bag ban and the addition of a 10-cent fee.

Bags drying after being silkscreened; Las Mujeres de Adelante, a women’s cooperative, sewed the locally sourced bags.

The GWE contacted Las Mujeres de Adelante, a women’s cooperative that is part of the Adelante program of the Santa Fe Public Schools, to have the bags sewn from fabric purchased from Santa Fe Fabrics and donated by Kim Kelly. During the Green Festival, we set up a workspace where David Sloan of Warehouse 21 silkscreened the bags, and women from Las Mujeres de Adelante sewed them. With only two weeks to pull the project together, the team was able to locally source and produce about 100 bags during the event. The GWE would

Skylar Bixby, a student in the GWE Go Green Club at Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences, silkscreens one of the GWE bags during the Green Festival in Santa Fe.

like to expand the project to support the kids in their mission to reduce waste, preserve the planet and create a sustainable lifestyle for all Santa Fe residents. i If you would like to learn more and/ or support this effort, visit www. theglobalwarmingexpress.org

Green Fire Times • July 2015

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.) 26

Green Fire Times â&#x20AC;˘ July 2015

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What’s Working Locally: Lessons on Localism

Vicki Pozzebon

’ve just returned from a whirlwind convening of the annual Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) conference of localists in Phoenix, Arizona. I say whirlwind because I got swept up in the energy and excitement of this year’s theme, “What’s Working Locally.” This was my ninth year attending the conference, and, every year, it does not disappoint. The localist movement is growing, and it’s not just about locally owned businesses anymore. It’s about investing locally in businesses that grow the local economy; it’s about equality and growing a truly equitable economy; it’s about knowing how your food is grown; it’s about the relationships we have to each other, our business owners and from one business to another. It’s also about walkable districts, policies and financing. It is about employee ownership and community capital. The local economy movement is an ecosystem that we all can take part in. Allow me to share my favorite moments and take-away lessons from the BALLE 2015 conference:

Healthy Soils = JobS—The conference opened with a dialogue on healthy soils in honor of International Year of the Soils, acknowledging that healthy soil and holistic land management are job creators because healthy land requires people to manage it. Farmer Joel

Salatin brought down the house with a reenactment of microbes and his talk on how soils and worms grow healthy food and can clean up our climate, too. As funny as Farmer Joel is, what he says is of utmost importance: “Our entire agricultural/governmental system is funding land degradation.” And this: “If we just increase soil health by 1 percent, we will reverse all carbon damage since we started emitting.” He closed by urging us to “be environmentalist by participation, not abandonment.”As I wrote in my May Local Voice column, we need to know how our food is grown, not just where.

The local economy movement is an ecosystem that we all can take part in.

Next Gen Localists—I had the good fortune of being a mentor at this year’s conference, setting up 30-minute sessions with localists who wanted guidance in their work. I met more young localists than ever before who care deeply about their place, their communities and doing business for good. Most of these were young women under 35, each ready to take on their community’s most pressing needs and solve them with innovative business solutions. One woman came to me with a plan for a repair-shop incubator that would bring together all the businesses we overlook in our consumable culture: leather repairs, sewing, watch repairs, small appliance repairs. These are things we have learned to toss instead of repair and, therefore, are losing hands-on skills and local jobs. Creating an incubator business like this that helps older-generation craftspeople transfer skills and knowledge to a new generation not only creates jobs with skills but also preserves our sense of community and keeps money right in our neighborhoods. Creativity in planning a business is driving these young localists to do good. D o i n g B u s i n e ss w i t h Kindness—Compassion in business is not something we often discuss. But imagine if we were thinking through our business plans with compassionate

Conference vision session speaker Van Jones

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L-R: Carrie Hamblen and Leah Messina of Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce; Celerah Hewes-Rutledge of Delicious New Mexico; Alex Merlino of Partnership for Responisble Business at the BALLE conference

The Sustainable Business Roundtable

A small group of business leaders—all members of the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce—has been meeting monthly to explore the meaning and significance of a “green” chamber, “doing business better” and “local living economy.” Its core purpose is to cultivate the vital connections between business, the environment and community. Facilitated jointly by three members of the Green Chamber board, the Santa Fe S u s t a i n a b l e B u s i n e s s Roundtable met monthly from September 2014 to May 2015. First on the docket was to unpack the meaning of sustainability as it relates to doing business. To better understand sustainability as a system, 10 broad principles were chosen as umbrella topics: responsibility, wholeness, interrelatedness, authenticity, valuing, restraints, integrity, leadership, symbiosis and evolution. Participants used The Top 50 Sustainability Books, annotated by Wayne Visser (2009), to prime the pump. Facilitating the process were Robb Hirsch of Energy, Sustainable Development & Leadership (EDL) Consulting, Bob Mang of Regenesis and The Partnership for Responsible Business, and Chris Putnam of Putnam-Pritchard Interiors and NUBU Design. Santa Fe Green Chamber Executive Director Glenn Schiffbauer joined as board liason. Participating in the pilot program were Sam Gerberding of Inn of the Governors, Mark Giorgetti of Palo Santo Designs, George Gundry of Tomasitas and Atrisco Café & Bar, Sheila Nixon of Joe’s Dining, Karen Paramanandam of Positive Energy Solar, Jake Rodar of Reynolds Insurance and Steve Wiman of Good Water Company. Now networked, the group aims to continue to learn by sharing best practices, insights, successes and frustrations. The roundtable examined dynamic models of companies outside Santa Fe, as well as dipping into seminal writings from leading authors in the field of sustainable business. This process helped build a network of deeper business relationships and a mutually created platform as a foundation for providing authentic, sustainable business leadership, locally and beyond. The program caught the interest of Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales. The group concluded its initial work by meeting with him to discuss and pursue connections between the Roundtable’s deliverable capacity and the city’s sustainability aims. Member businesses interested in participating in a future Roundtable are encouraged to contact Glenn Schiffbauer (glenn@nmgreenchamber.com) or any SFGCC board member.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

business practices and sourcing, finding other businesses that are fair-trade manufacturers, practice equality and humanely source and raise food.These are just some compassionate ways forward in local business. Sharing our best practices with one another is good business. Judy Wicks, founder of the White Dog Café and author of Good Morning, Beautiful Business, built her business on these values and founded BALLE, too, so that we all may learn from each other that “it’s not the coin that counts; it’s the warmth of the hand that gives it. Business isn’t about money; it’s about relationships.”

L o c a l A r ts a s L o c a l Economy—I was fortunate to be interviewed by a localist colleague from Durango, Colorado, who has been on a research path to integrate the arts into the local economy and educate communities on how the arts are an economic driver.

The conference featured talented Phoenix spoken-word poet, Myrlin Hepworth, who reminded us that the arts are the heart of our economy. We must consider all artists as business owners and the arts as a viable sector in our local economies and treat them with as much respect as economic-development departments treat large corporations they try to recruit into a community. We must include long-time, multigenerational artists who have been marginalized by the so-called new “creative class.” These artists have been here a long time. Calling ourselves a creative economy on the backs of those who came before us without acknowledging them is marginalization. Artists of all kinds create communities— and have done so for centuries! People want to live in these cities and towns because they are culturally vibrant. Great civilizations revered their artists as the greatest thought leaders in their

communities. We must return to this way of thinking to ensure our local economies are diverse and vibrant places. Black Lives Matter in Local Economies—Equity and equality are not the same thing. Think about that. We need to take a stand for black lives, understand where racism exists in our economy and learn what it means to marginalize people to the edges of the economy, where they are forced to sell cigarettes on the streets and end up incarcerated or dead because of economic crimes.This is not OK with me and should not be OK with you. Former green-jobs adviser to President Obama and now CNN political correspondent and all-around brilliant activist, Van Jones, closed out the conference with this: “We’re not going to accept trickle-down economics, and we’re not going to accept trickle-down justice.”

It was a jam-packed localist idea-fest, and I can’t wait for the year ahead. I’ll sum up with this from my friend and inspiration, author David Korten, whose new book Change the Story, Change the Future: A Living Economy for a Living Earth has just been released: “Localism is the leading edge of responsible business and new-economy thinking.” i For more information on BALLE, visit: www.bealocalist.org Vicki Pozzebon is a localist, writer and cultivator. She is a BALLE Fellow and author of the forthcoming book For the Love of Local: Confessions from the Heart of Community, publishing Spring 2016 by Leaf Storm Press. Read her blog, The Local at vickipozzebon. com and follow her on Twitter : @ vickipozzebon

NEWSBITEs

SNAP Participants Get More for their Buck this Season at New Mexico Farmers’ Markets

New Mexico has one of the highest hunger and poverty rates in the nation. More than onefifth of the state’s residents participate in the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as basic food stamps. The program and helps communities by increasing access to healthy foods and helps vendors increase their revenue. SNAP participants now have the opportunity to stretch their purchasing power for New Mexico-grown fruits and vegetables at more than 30 farmers’ markets across the state.The Double Up Food Bucks program (www.doubleupnm.org) provides a one-to-one match for purchases up to $50 each market day. For example, when a customer scans $20 from a SNAP EBT card, he or she will receive an additional $20 in free match that can be spent on locally grown fresh produce. In 2014, the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute raised enough from private contributions and foundations and $20,000 from the city of Santa Fe to run the program year-round. Each year has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people signing up. Other partners include the Community Leadership Team facilitated by La Familia Medical Center, Feeding Santa Fe, Cooking with Kids, One Santa Fe, NM Farmers Marketing Association and Kitchen Angels. Gov. Martínez’s Human Services Department is renewing its efforts to require (with some exceptions) parents of children older than 6 and teenagers not in school to do up to 80 hours a month of specified activities such as community service work in order to receive food assistance.This would be in addition to job searches and training programs currently required of most able-bodied SNAP recipients.

Squash Blossom Local Food from nonprofit to social enterprise For years, a wide array of nonprofit organizations has been advocating for New Mexico’s land, water and farmers. Those enterprises based on community service, along with a monetary exchange for goods and services, have tended to last.

A new organization is operating from that premise. A spinoff of Santa Fe’s Farm to Restaurant program, which operated for seven years as part of the nonprofit Farm to Table, Squash Blossom Local Food is aiming for high social impact with low environmental impact. Farm to Restaurant went from promoting the concept of eating and buying local in 2008 to piloting a local produce-to-chef distribution system in 2010. On June 1, 2015, it was launched into Squash Blossom Local Food, Inc., a stand-alone for-profit business.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

Founder Nina Yozell-Epstein says, “I am confident this work can be part of a long-term solution towards reclaiming our local food system in northern New Mexico.” Squash Blossom will continue wholesale operations to restaurants in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. This fall, the business will launch retail sales of local harvest boxes with fresh fruit and vegetables, local kimchi, bone broth, breads, cheeses and other edibles. Squash Blossom was selected as a finalist in this year’s BizMix start-up competition, sponsored by the city of Santa Fe’s Economic Development Department, the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce and others. For more information, visit www. squashblossomlocalfood.com or www.facebook.com/squashblossomlocalfood

Prairie Partners

new yields for old fields: new ideas in nm agriculture The annual meeting of the Northeastern New Mexico Prairie Partners, organized by El Llano Estacado Resource, Conservation & Development Council, is held in Tucumcari each December. The Prairie Partnership is the product of over 12 years of relationship, building among landowners, state and federal agencies in eastern New Mexico and the western Panhandle of Texas.The meeting attracts about 60 attendees from around the state, who listen to speakers and share ideas of interest to landowners and agriculture producers.

Developed by Tish McDaniel and Robert Martin of The Nature Conservancy and Christopher Rustay of Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV), the idea for a collaborative effort was based somewhat on work done by the Malpaís Borderland Group in southwest New Mexico and the Quivira Coalition. The intent was to develop a cohesive group of producers, resource managers and conservationists who are interested in the integrity of the short-grass prairie, the health of its working landscapes and the future of its rural economies. The Prairie Partnership encourages proactive conservation of prairie and playa habitats and promotes the sustainability of the land-based human communities. The PLJV describes playas as “relatively small, temporary wetlands found at the bottom of large watersheds. They support many kinds of wildlife and function to recharge aquifers beneath the western Great Plains.” The partnership’s first meeting, in December 2009, addressed issues including Managing Land to Improve Carbon Storage, Playa Ecology and Conservation, and Wind Energy and Wildlife. In 2014, the meeting focused on New Yields for Old Fields: New Ideas in New Mexico Agriculture. Some of the ideas presented were old ways that are making a comeback. Presentations also included “Honeybees: Unwitting Partners to Agriculture”; “The Ongoing Journey of Rancho Alma Linda (Beautiful Farm)”; and “Where’s the Soil?” Plans are underway for the 7th Annual Northeastern New Mexico Prairie Partners meeting. Email: elllanoestacadorcd@gmail.com

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The Local Voice continued from page 27

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

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Green Fire Times • July 2015

Marissa Muller is traveling across the county on her solar-powered bike. She stopped in Santa Fe and met with Mayor Gonzales. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This adventure will not only re-balance my personal wellness but also will provide an opportunity to engage businesses and the public sector.â&#x20AC;? She plans to visit ten states, engage locals and take action on improving physical, mental, social and environmental well being. www.marissamuller.com

The Zanjeras continued from page 25

Green Fire Times â&#x20AC;˘ July 2015

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Home Grown New Mexico’s Kitchen Garden & Coop Tour – July 26

Home Grown New Mexico’s 5th annual Kitchen Garden & Coop Tour, in Santa Fe, is on Sunday, July 26, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The self-paced tour, which features kitchen gardens, backyard chickens, beehives, goats, greenhouses, fruit trees, rainwater catchment systems and more, will be showcased on these five properties: •L isa Sarenduc, owner of Suitable Digs, has green vacation lodgings on her solar-powered property, which features fruit and nut trees, raised vegetable and berry gardens, greywater system, dome greenhouse, rainwater catchment system and a swimming pond. • Amelia Moody’s home has mixed plantings of raised vegetable gardens, native plants, fruit trees, flowers, composting area and a meadow. The medium-sized lot features a combination of flowers and edibles. • Deb Farson’s home is a good example of what one can do within a small space. Her home includes raised vegetable beds, an herb garden in pots, cactus garden and water catchment system that waters her gardens and the small community garden behind her property. Being a Certified Master Composter, she has interesting examples of composting and vermicomposting. •B ert and Mari Tallant’s home features traditional raised vegetable gardens, chickens, espalier fruit trees, a large raspberry patch and water catchment system with a gravity-fed drip system. •T he Tomato Lady, Jannine Cabossel, who sells heirloom tomatoes at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market, features her artisan farm, which includes vegetable gardens, garden art, 31 varieties of tomatoes, fruit trees, flowers, grapes, raspberries, beehives, chickens, goats, terraced herb garden, greenhouse, cold frame, composting, Koko the horse, and a place to rest called the Tea House. Homeowners and Master Gardeners will be present to answer questions at each site. Tickets are $25. Children under 12 are free. Location addresses and a map will be posted at Home Grown New Mexico’s website the week before the tour. For more information call 505.983.9706; to purchase tickets, visit www.homegrownnewmexico.org

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Home Grown New Mexico is a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to provide education and connections for home gardeners and urban farmers, who want to learn sustainable gardening methods. This fundraising event will help support its programs and classes.

Greenhouse Grocery’s Happenin’ in the ‘Hood

Look to the lower Siler District in Santa Fe for what’s new in art, food, agriculture and community. Greenhouse Grocery, a community food cooperative, is one of the key elements in the emergence of this neighborhood center. With a green, water-efficient building designed by Lorn Tryk Architects, the Grocery will be neighbor to the arts collective Meow Wolf, Duel Brewing, Awesome Harvest, which makes modular grow systems for home and urban gardening, and other enterprises—as well as the historic village of Agua Fría. Member owned and operated, Greenhouse Grocery will celebrate local agricultural traditions. Family-friendly and culturally sensitive, with cooking, nutrition and gardening programs, it is being created as a community resource for singles and families, youth and seniors, immigrants and multigenerational residents. BJ Pheiffer, founder and president, sees the grocery as an engine of economic development and resilience, “improving quality of life through food equity, safety and security.” The grocery will provide affordable, healthy food options on the Southside, where, amidst the high-density of fast food restaurants and convenience stores, 43 percent of the area’s children have little direct access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Greenhouse Grocery is to be a true cooperative, where members can shop and anyone can join. Its facilities and programs will be open to the public. There will be Membership Matching and Membership Plus programs to ensure equal access. The cooperative will be easily accessible via public transportation. The grocery currently has 342 members and has raised $4.2 million. Slated to open in July 2016, the grocery needs to reach 550 members and raise $5.2 million to secure financing and begin construction. Community support is actively being sought. For more information, call 505.466.2665, email info@greenhousegrocery.coop or visit www.greenhousegrocery.coop

Green Fire Times • July 2015

giggle. wiggle. groove. An eclectic mix of informative and entertaining programs await you on KUNM – your passport to the worlds of news, music, community and culture. Publicly supported. Publicly responsive. KUNM is an essential part of New Mexico’s day. KUNM 89.9FM | STREAMING LIVE 24/7 AT KUNM.ORG

Green Fire Times • July 2015

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continued from page 8

and Nuevo Mexicano people that did not exist while both communities were helping each other survive prior to the advent of the Americans. It should come as no surprise, then, that a people who have been alienated from their roots and made to feel bad about their culture and identity would, in turn, tend to treat recent Mexican immigrants with indifference, at best, and even see them as “other,” which happens all too often in New Mexico. Perhaps, the wedge driven between these two communities—borne of closely related histories and cultures—is most acutely experienced in public schools and the workplace. In both settings, individuals coming from a community whose Mexicano culture has been highly distorted and suppressed are obligated to interact with those whose cultural identity, language and traditions are mainly intact and whose hearts swell with pride at the mere mention of the word “Mexicano.” No doubt, a kind of sadness and deep sense of loss lingers in the hearts of many Spanish-surnamed Nuevo Mexicanos for whom their

El Camino Real

traditional culture is but a faint memory rather than a source of ongoing pride.

It is common knowledge that New Mexico is in the throes of a profound cultural tug of war.

During a recent trip to southern México, I enjoyed a long and intriguing conversation with Don Julio, who speaks Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. By answering my questions, he shed light on how Nuevo Mexicano people and their worldview were shaped by this language, which recent Mexican immigrants, though brimming with many contemporary and idiomatic terms unfamiliar to Nuevo Mexicanos, come speaking as well, for Nahuatl is deeply embedded in Mexican Spanish. Interestingly, several Nuevo Mexicano words associated with intimate physicality and procreation come from Nahuatl. No name for twin exists in the Spanish of the Nuevo Mexicano except for the Nahuatl word cuate; no name for

last born except for the Nahuatl word, chocoyote; no name for the female breast other than the Nahuatl word chichi; and there is no name for wet nurse other than the Nahuatl word chichigue. As pertains to food, the traditional Nuevo Mexicano table offers more lessons in Nahuatl and other native languages. The food that accompanies people at the beginning and end of their lives is, of course, atole, a blue corn-meal gruel. Chile, maíz, calabacitas and papas are our staples. Quelites (wild spinach), capulín (chokecherries), chicos (parched corn) and posole (hominy) are all examples of Nahuatl food terms that Nuevo Mexicanos use. In the realm of earth, the Spanish word lodo has gone the way of the metal coat of armor and, instead, the Nahuatlderived word zoquete has replaced it. In Nuevo México Spanish, there are no buhos (owls), only tecolotes. Nor are there tinas (tubs), ruecas (spindles), or cuerda (string); instead, they are referred to as cajetes, malacates and mecate, respectively, all words that come directly

from Nahuatl or Mexicano, as many Nahuatl-speaking native people refer to their language. Curiously, Mexicano is what our elderly, who spoke no English, called our people, our language, our food and even our herbs and home remedies until they were exposed to American culture. This fact alone speaks volumes and reflects the depth of the relationship that ties Nuevo Mexicanos to México and to other Mexicanos. It also supports the notion that, yes, México is over there—across the border—but también, it is over here, in our hearths, hearts and hectares and will be forever. i Alejandro López, a Nuevo Mexicano photographer and educator, visited and interviewed scores of Mexicano-speaking elderly in northern New Mexico in the mid-1970s. He has lived and traveled extensively t h r o u g h México and has taught in the Chicano Studies Department at the University of New Mexico.

continued from page 10

La Cieneguilla Land Grant

Just before the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, Gov. Otermín granted land in La Cieneguilla to Sergeant Major Francisco Anaya Almazán, only to lose it when hostilities commenced. When he returned with Gov. Vargas, he petitioned the governor for land. Governor Vargas gave him the same amount as before. Almazán’s heirs would eventually expand this grant from nine acres to 3,200 acres. After his first wife died, he married Felipa Cedillo Rico de Rojas. In 1714 Almazán died, but before his death, he asked Gov. Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollón to revalidate his grant because the document was partially eaten by mice. He asked for more land than he owned. Mogollón figured that out and validated the same amount. Almazán’s heirs would eventually expand this grant from nine acres to 3,200 acres. They deeded the grant to Andrés Montoya. For the next two centuries, land speculation and lawsuits between new arrivals and the settled residents ensued. Those who first settled, the Pueblo people, left after the 1680 revolt and many of the mixed castas, through oppression, were gradually pushed out. Part Two of this article will make the final connections to this last leg of El Camino Real before it reached La Villa Real de San Francisco de la Santa Fe. The complicated history of this corridor needs to be presented in order to understand the importance of agriculture and trade in the early history of Nuevo México. i Hilario E. Romero, a New Mexican mestizo (Spanish/ Basque/Jicarilla Apache/Ute), is a former New Mexico state historian. He has spent the past 40 years in higher education, as an administrator and professor of history, education and Spanish at the University of New Mexico, Highlands University and Northern New Mexico College.

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1951 Santa Fe County Map

Green Fire Times • July 2015

©Mar Martinez

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Green Fire Times • July 2015

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12th International Folk Art Market – July 10-12 If the world is indeed becoming a global village, then Santa Fe’s Museum Hill will be one of its great marketplaces. The largest event of its kind in the world, the International Folk Art Market–Santa Fe will include the work of more than 150 master artists from 57 countries. Last year’s market drew close to 20,000 visitors. The market provides a chance for buyers to collect one-of-a-kind pieces, meet the artists and hear the stories behind their work. Each year a committee of experts, including representatives from leading international museums, chooses the artists from a deep pool of applicants. The event will have a ripple effect both close to home and around the globe. Ninety percent of the artists’ sales go home with them, and that money has a direct and often great impact on the lives of the artists and their communities, from basic food and clothing to new health clinics and wells for fresh drinking water, to the empowerment of oppressed women. The majority of the artists come from countries where yearly income is between $250 and $1,500 and where the people struggle daily with social, environmental and political challenges. Last year the market sold $3 million in art, with average sales of $19,440. For the market schedule, which includes music and dance performances, events and workshops, or for tickets, call 505.992.7600 or visit folkartalliance.org

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Green Fire Times • July 2015

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Green Fire Times • July 2015

Green Fire Times is available at many locations in the metropolitan Albuquerque / Río Rancho area! For the location nearest you, call Nick García at 505.203.4613 www.GreenFireTimes.com

NEWSBITEs Joint Powers Agreement for Gila Diversion Reached

Last month the Interstate Stream Commission approved a joint powers agreement to move forward with the controversial diversion along the upper section of the Gila River. The agreement’s wording makes it clear that local entities are expected to take on some of the financial burden. It also authorizes signing of an agreement with parties represented by the newly formed Gila San Francisco Water Commission, the governing body in charge of financing and operating the diversion. Those parties constitute the New Mexico CAP (Central Arizona Project) entity that would design and build the project to divert Gila water for use in Catron, Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties. The CAP team is to include county and municipal governments, irrigation ditch associations and soil and water conservation districts. Estimates of the project’s cost range from $300 million to $1 billion; $128 million in federal funding is available. Two UNM researchers say that the state water managers made their decision to pursue the diversion and storage project based on studies that lack credibility. In a letter to the Bureau of Reclamation, Jim Brooks and Dave Propst outlined their concerns. They also allege that the commission’s studies were planned, proposed and presented behind closed doors, and there wasn’t a transparent peer review. The commission has defended its decision, saying there were 200 public meetings on the proposed diversion and that the research was exhaustive. The diversion would permanently take 14,000 acre-feet of water—4.5 billion gallons per year—from the last remaining stretch of the wild Gila, which flows through the Mogollón Mountains, box canyons of the Gila National Forest—the nation’s first federally designated wilderness area—and across the arid Cliff-Gila Valley. The river’s ecosystem is dependent upon the nutrients the river spreads and the groundwater it recharges during seasonal floods. The U.S. Secretary of the Interior must approve the agreement by Nov. 26.

State Supreme Court Asked to Review Copper Rule

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has asked the state Supreme Court to review a Court of Appeals decision that will allow “widespread pollution” without ensuring whether groundwater in certain areas has a current or future use. Cleanwater advocates Amigos Bravos, the Gila Resources Information Project, Turner Ranch Properties and a former state Groundwater Bureau chief also filed petitions seeking a review of the Copper Rule, which sets the standard for water discharges from mines. New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn, who also serves as chairman of the Water Quality Control Commission, has endorsed the Copper Rule as written. The rule’s supporters say that, if the court overturns the rule, it could threaten the viability of copper mining in New Mexico, which employs about 1,500 workers and has an estimated impact of $326 million, according to an industry website. Waste stockpiles of rock are also said to be a threat because chemicals used to leach ore can make it into the groundwater below, along with heavy metals. “We are concerned that migration of pollution will impact New Mexico communities,” said Amigos Bravos Interim Executive Director Rachel Conn. Freeport-McMoRan, which owns New Mexico’s three major copper mines, paid the state $13 million in fines in 2011 for contaminating 31 square miles of groundwater. Water advocates say that a years-long public process over groundwater protection involving stakeholders, industry players, experts and the Environment Department was discarded by the department ahead of the Copper Rule’s creation. They also allege that the rule violates the New Mexico Water Quality Act.

Groups Work to Save Chaco Area from Drilling

Northwest New Mexico is being besieged with truck traffic, oil tanks, pipelines, flares and fracking equipment. A coalition of Native American and environmental groups has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to issue an injunction to stop the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the New Mexico Energy and Natural Resources Department’s Oil Conservation Division from approving more oil and gas drilling permits in the Mancos Shale formation near Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The groups say that horizontal drilling from wells drilled miles from Chaco can reach under the park, endangering the water supply and possibly the geologic stability of the UNESCO World Heritage site. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and Rep. Ben Ray Luján have sent a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, requesting that the escalation of fracking in the area be monitored. Udall pointed out that energy development on public and tribal lands increased by 81 percent between 2008 and 2014. A U.S. Geological Survey report released in April concluded that manmade earthquakes in New Mexico linked to oil and gas exploration have increased by about 4,000 percent in recent years. The report says that in the first 13 years of this century, 16 earthquakes were measured at magnitude 3.8 in New Mexico, compared to only one quake of that size in the preceding 32 years.

New Mexico Tops List for Methane Gas Pollution on Public and Tribal Land

New Mexico tops the nation for the amount of methane pollution (almost 34 billion cubic feet) that escapes from oil and gas drilling on federal and tribal land, according to a new in-depth analysis conduced by ICF International. The report (online at http://www.edf.org/energy/study-finds-substantial-loss-natural-gas-us-federaland-tribal-lands) says that natural gas worth more than $100 million a year is being wasted in New Mexico. New Mexico has not created rules to curb gas leaks and flaring for developers working on state-owned and private land. This summer, the Bureau of Land Management plans to release a draft of new rules for venting, flaring and other waste. Researchers have been studying the largest methane bloom ever detected in the U.S., over the Four Corners region. Scientists have said the source is likely from established gas, coal and coalbed methane mining and processing.

Four Corners Power Plant Settlement Reached

A total of $6.7 million to benefit Navajos living near the Four Corners Power Plant in northwestern New Mexico is part of a settlement reached in federal court among owners of the coal-fired plant on the Navajo Nation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and clean-air advocates. The settlement, announced on June 24, also requires about $3.2 million to be spent to improve energy conservation of the local community and the creation of a fund to compensate people in the area for medical expenses related to respiratory healthcare. The settlement doesn’t include an admission of guilt that the companies violated the Clean Air Act. Arizona Public Service Co., operator and primary owner of the plant, allegedly ignored rules for permits and didn’t have adequate pollution controls. To comply with the settlement, it will cost the plant’s owners an estimated $160 million for pollution controls beyond what the EPA already mandated in a regional haze rule. There are 15 national parks in the region. A judge must sign off on the settlement after a 30-day public comment period.

If the Supreme Court agrees to review the petition, a decision could take years.

Santa Fe Below 100 Gallons Per Person Per Day in Water Use

City of Santa Fe water customers have decreased average daily water use from 101 gallons per person per day (GPCD) to 95 GPCD, a decline of 6 percent and the first time the city has ever fallen below the 100-GPCD threshold. Despite four of the driest years on record, Santa Fe now has the lowest usage in the Southwest, substantially lower than the national average of about 150 gallons.

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CORRECTION: In the June 2015 GFT, the mosaic tile Agua Fría monument on page 13 should have been credited to artist and Agua Fría resident Michael Bergt. The photo is by Tamara Lichtenstein. The monument is located on a bank of the Santa Fe River overlooking an area where artesian springs once flowed.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

What's Going On! Events / Announcements ABQ Museum of Art 2000 Mountain Rd. NW

Story circles where you can share 5 minute stories with your fellow ‘Burqueans. Neighborhood association and organization tables. Free. valerie@littleglobe.org

ALBUQUERQUE

July 1, 5:30-7 pm Green Drinks Hotel Andaluz, 125 Second St. NW

Network with people interested in doing business locally, clean energy alternatives and creating sustainable opportunities in our communities. Presented the first Wednesday of each month by the ABQ and Río Rancho Green Chamber. info@nm greenchamber.com, www.greendrinks.org

July 6, 10-11 am Wildlife Habitat Garden Tour ABQ Garden Center, 10120 Lomas NE

Tour presented by the Xeric Garden Club of ABQ. Free. Children’s activities. www.xeric gardenclub.org

July 10-Aug. 6 NM Jazz Festival Albuq. and Santa Fe

10th year of local as well as world-renowned artists and jazz masters. www.newmexico jazzfestival.org

July 11, 5-11 pm NM Women in Film Guild Cinema

Film Fiesta. Narrative, documentary, music video, commercial, experimental, animation. $15. Nmwif.com

July 15, 10 am-12 pm Home Composting Basics Bear Canyon Sr. Center, 4645, Pitt NE

Learn the science, materials and methods of improving your garden soil. Free. Registration: 505.767.5959, register@nmcomposters.org

July 18 Route 66 Summerfest Central Avenue between Washington & Girard

Outdoor family event features music & dance entertainment, car show, food, arts & crafts, children’s activities. 505.768.3556, rt66central.com

July 18, 2-3 pm Composting with Worms Taylor Ranch Library, 5700 Bogart NW

Use red worms to turn organic waste into high-quality compost and reduce the volume you send to the landfill. Free. Registration: 505.767.5959, register@nmcomposters.org

July 28, 6-7 pm NM Solar Energy Assn. ABQ Chapter Meeting REI, 1550 Mercantile

Aug. 23, 11 am-3 pm Tomato Fiesta ABQ Garden Center, 10120 Lomas, NE

Classes and garden tips from Master Gardeners and tomato experts. Trade fair, music, kids’ activities. 505.292.7144, www.albuquer quetomatofiesta.com

Sept. 12 Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Gala 2401 12th St. NW

Annual fundraising dinner/auction. Art, food, dance, history. $150. Sponsorship opportunities available. 505.724.3539, ccanfield@indianpueblo. org, indianpueblo.org/gala

Sept. 26 NM Solar Energy Assn. Solar Fiesta CNM Workforce Training Center 505.246.0400, info@NMSolar.org

Daily, 10 am-6 pm Wildlife West 87 N. Frontage Rd., Edgewood (25 miles 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

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

SANTA FE July 1, 6:30-8:30 Solarize Santa Fe Frenchy’s Field Barn

Campaign to inform homeowners and businesses about cost-effective solar energy options. Speakers from the state, county, city, public schools, Sierra Club and others. 505.992-3044, cohare@ santafecountynm.gov, www.facebook.com/ events/471853056309514/

July 4, 25, 26 SF Concert Band Santa Fe Plaza

Free and open to the public. 505.917.5074, jim.desjardins@affordable-solar.com

Free concerts. 7/4, 8 am on the SF Plaza. 7/25, 4 pm at the Southside Library, corner of Jaguar Dr. and Country Club Rd. 7/26, 2pm at the Federal Building lawn downtown.

Aug. 16, 12-4 pm Neighborhood Day at the ABQ Museum

July 4-5, 9 am-4 pm Young Native Artists Show & Sale NM History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave.

Green Fire Times • July 2015

Children and grandchildren of artists with the Palace of the Governors’ Portal Program. Free. 505.476.5200

July 7- Aug. 28 Santa Fe Bandstand SF Plaza and San Isidro Plaza

Free nightly outdoor performances. 75 concerts include jazz, mariachi, folk, bluegrass, funk, salsa, country & western/swing, reggae, world, Americana, hip hop, Latin, urban, indie, blues, pop, spoken word, rock and more. www.santafebandstand.org

July 7, 3-6:30 pm Southside Farmers’ Market SF Place Mall (across from JC Penney)

Runs every Tuesday through Sept. 29. 505.550.3728, lani@santafefarmersmarket.com

July 8, 5:30-7 pm Green Drinks

Network with people interested in doing business locally, clean energy alternatives and creating sustainable opportunities in our communities. Speakers have included innovative leaders and business people. Presented the second Wednesday of each month by the SF Green Chamber. glenn@nmgreenchamber.com

July 8, 6 pm Indian Feast Benefit SF Residence

Local celebrity chef Shibana Singh will create a gourmet meal to benefit the SF Animal Shelter. $65. 505.983.4309, ext. 232, gamster@ sfhumanesociety.org, www.sfhumanesociety. org under Events.

July 9, 5:30 pm YouthWorks Graduation Railyard Park (behind W21)

Dinner and refreshments. RSVP: 505.989.1855, ash@santafeyouthworks.org

July 9, 8:30 pm “A Fierce Green Fire” Screening Railyard Park, Guadalupe & Paseo de Peralta

The battle for a living planet. Free screening of a documentary on the environmental movement. 505.989.7262, www.afiercegreenfire.com

July 10-12 International Folk Art Market Museum Hill

More than 150 artists from over 50 countries. One-of-a-kind treasures. 7/10, 6:30-9 pm opening party: $225; 7/11, 7:30-9 am: Early Bird Market includes Sat. admission: $75; Sat. and Sun. market 9 am-5 pm. Sat: $20, Sun: $15, 16 & under no charge. 505. 886.1251, Online tickets: www.folkartalliance.org

July 10-12, 11 am-6 pm Art Santa Fe SF Convention Center

15th annual contemporary arts fair. National and international artists. 7/9, 5-8 pm: gala, tickets $100. One-day ticket: $10. 505.988.1234, 7/11, 6:30 pm: Keynote lecture by Don Bacigalupi. ticketssantafe.org, www.artsantafe.com

July 11, 10 am-12 pm SF Citizens’ Climate Lobby La Montañita Co-op Community Room

“Creating political will for a livable world.” Usually meets the first Saturday of each Month, santafe@citizensclimatelobby.org

July 11, 5-11 pm NM Women in Film Jean Cocteau Cinema

Film Fiesta. Narrative, documentary, music video, commercial, experimental, animation. $15. Nmwif.com

July 12, 1-4 pm Heart & Soul Animal Sanctuary Benefit SF Tennis and Swim Club 1755 Camino Corrales

Photos and other artwork for sale. Food. Puppies. Benefits Heart and Soul Animal Sanctuary. www.animal-sanctuary.org

July 14, 4-6 pm Eldorado/285 Recycles

Eldorado area recycling advocacy group monthly meeting. All welcome. 505.466.9797, eldorado285recycles@gmail.com

July 15, 6-7:30 pm NM Solar Energy Association Chapter Meeting Whole Foods Community Room 753 Cerrillos Road

SF Sustainable Everything Advocates’ mission is to make living sustainably the accepted norm and to establish SF and NM as leaders in this effort through outreach, education, participation and volunteerism in organizations and events. SFSEA meets the 3rd Wed. each month. Claudia@solarlogicllc.com, www.nmsolar.org

July 21, 28 Behind Adobe Walls Home & Garden Tours Local Residences

Bus departs from Hotel SF, 1501 Paseo de Peralta, at 12:10 pm and returns at 4:45 pm. $75. 800.283.0122, terry@westwindtravel.net

July 23, 4-7 pm Open House SF Higher Education Center (HEC) 1950 Siringo Rd.

Discover opportunities including earning a BA degree from IAIA, NMSU, NMSU and UNM without leaving SF.

July 23-26 Wilderness Skills Intensive Pecos Wilderness, SF National Forest

Renew and grow resilience through your love of nature. Four-day backpack, including peak climb and overnight solo. All skill levels welcome. Permitted with SFNF since 1989. www.wildresiliency.com.

July 24, 10 am NM Acequia Commission Meeting Bataan Memorial Bldg., Rm. 201 (corner Don Gaspar & S. Capitol)

Info: 505.603.2879, molinodelaisla@gmail. com. Agendas: 505.827.4983, www.nmace quiacommission.com

July 24 Application Deadline Innovation and Discovery in Energy and Water

Discovery Day, organized by HD3, will take place at SFCC, Aug. 11-12. Chosen applicants will present ideas to entrepreneurs and investors. Applications are being sought from engineers, computer scientists, students and garage inventors. Energy innovations can focus on fossil fuel, renewable energy, battery storage, conservation and other topics. Water projects can focus on desalination, irrigation, water treatment, etc. (See sidebar, pg. 19) www.hddd.org

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July 25, 1-3 pm Earthen Architecture-Past, Present and Future NM History Museum, SF Plaza

A discussion with Cornerstones Community Project program director Jake Barrow, Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority Director Tomacita Duran and artist Nicasio Romero. nmhistorymuseum.org

July 25-26, 8 am-5 pm Traditional Spanish Market SF Plaza

More than 200 adult and youth artists. Live entertainment, food court. Free. 505.982.2226, ext. 109

July 25-26, 8 am-5 pm Contemporary Hispanic Market Lincoln Ave.

More than 130 booths. Free. 7/24, 5:30-8 pm preview at the SF Convention Center. www. contemporaryhispanicmarketinc.com

July 26 Kitchen Garden and coop tour (See page 31)

Through July 26 “Fire Season” NM Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace

Photography exhibition $9/$6/under 16 and NM residents on Sunday free. 505.476.5072, nmartmuseum.org

July 28, 6-7:30 pm Wireless Technology and Health Issues La Montañita Co-op, 913 W. Alameda

Is your cell phone making you sick? Free solutions and mitigating products to combat electronic pollution. Free. 505.780.8283

Aug. 6-9 Santa Fe Yoga Festival

Well-known instructors and local yogis lead more than 108 classes and workshops. Daily meditations, dharma talks, hikes, farm to table dinners, musical performances, pool parties. www.santafeyogafestival.org

Aug. 7, 6 pm “Wars, Revolts and Defining Collective Memory re: Pueblo Revolt” NM History Museum, SF Plaza

Presentation by archaeologist/author Jason Shapiro. nmhistorymuseum.org

Aug. 8, 10 am-4 pm Kindred Spirits Art Show 3749A Hwy. 14

Fundraiser for animal sanctuary/hospice for dogs, horses and poultry. Visit with the animals, meet the artists. Free. 505.471.5366, kindredspiritsnm@ earthlink.net, www.kindredspiritsnm.org

Aug. 14-16, 21-23, 11 am-6 pm Haciendas Parade of Homes

8/21: Free twilight tour. 505.982.1774, SFAHBA.com

Aug. 18, 6 pm Chefscapades Clubhouse at Las Campanas

Some of SF’s executive chefs collaborate to create a 4-course dinner. Live auction of vacations, art, jewelry. Benefits Pete’s Place Interfaith Shelter for the homeless. $150. 505.795.7494, www.interfaithsheltersf.org

Aug. 20-22 Indigenous Fine Art Market SF Railyard Arts District

More than 400 traditional and contemporary artists. Live entertainment. Indigefam.org

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Aug. 22-23 Indian Market SF Plaza

94th annual gathering of Native artists including many events leading up to and occurring during the market. swaia.org

Aug. 29, 12-4 pm Neighboring Faiths Fiesta St. John’s United Methodist Church Old Pecos Trail at Cordova Rd.

Booths from SF congregations of all faiths. Meet your “neighbors in faith.” Celebrate diverse traditions. Food, music, entertainment, clothing drive for school uniforms for kids and adult winter clothes for Interfaith Shelter. SF Interfaith Alliance. 505.699.6049, www.ilasantafe.org

Aug. 31, 7:30 pm Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell SF Opera

The singer/songwriters perform in support of the SF Animal Humane Society. Tickets begin at $31. 505.885.1251, ampconcerts.org

Sept. 13, 4:30 pm Stewart Udall Legacy Dinner National Park Service Building

Celebrate SF Conservation Trust’s conservation legacy. $175. Sponsor or purchase tickets: 505.989.7019, www.sfct.org

September 17-20 Soul Renewal Wilderness Retreat SF National Forest

Renew your soul and spirit for an evolving world. Basecamp with customized 24-hr. solo options. All skill levels welcome. Permitted with SFNF since 1989. Co-hosted by www. leadfeather.org and www.wildresiliency.com.

Tuesdays and Saturdays, 7 am-1 pm Santa Fe 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

Santa Fe Recycling

Make 2015 the year to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as you can. City residential curbside customers can recycle at no additional cost and drop by 1142 Siler Road, Building A, to pick up free recycling bins. At least 50 percent of curbside residential customers recycle now. Let’s take that number to 100 percent. For more information, visit http://www.santafenm.gov/ trash_and_recycling or call 505.955.2200 (city); 505.992.3010 (county); 505.424.1850 (SF Solid Waste Management Agency).

Sustainable Growth Management Plan for SF County

Hard copies $20, CDs $2. Contact Melissa Holmes, 505.995.2717 or msholmes@santa fecounty.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

July 10-12 Taos Pueblo Pow Wow Pow Wow Grounds

30th annual. Admission and camera fees. Gourd dancing, dance competitions, arts & crafts and food booths. 7/10, 7 pm: Grand entry. 7/11, 1 pm, 7 pm: Grand entry. 7/12, 1 pm: Grand entry. 575.741.0181, taospueblopowwow@gmail.com, www.taospueblopowwow.com

July 28-30 ASES 2015 Solar Conference Penn State University, PA.

July 31-Aug. 2 César Chávez Cultural Tourism Conference Old Taos County Courthouse, Kit Carson Park

Annual conference of the American Solar Energy Society. http://solar2015.ases.org

(See newsbite, page 13)

August 1, 9 am-4 pm Taos Home & Garden Tour

Four venues highlight integration of architecture and gardens. See local artists at work at each home. LJTaosNM1942@gmail.com, www.gardencluboftaos.org

Aug. 20-23 Taos County Fair Juan I. Gonzales Agricultural Center

Livestock exhibits, watermelon and pie eating contests, live music. 575.758.3982, taoscountyfair.com

HERE & THERE

July Through September “Under the Tuscan Sun” Expo Galleria Italia, 2874 Hwy. 14 N., Madrid, NM

July 31-Aug. 9 Las Vegas Heritage Week Various Locations, Las Vegas, NM

100-horse Cowboy Reunion Parade, cowboy quilt exhibit, rodeo, self-guided tours of historic homes, more. 505.425.8803, lvcchp.org

Aug. 5-9 Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial Red Rock State Park, Gallup, NM

Dancers, artisans, musicians, vendors and families from tribes across the U.S. and México. 505.863.3896, gallupceremonial.com

Aug. 5-9 Native Film Series Gallup, NM

Third annual. Native filmmakers. 505.870.1124, lightlanguagestudio@q.com

Aug. 9 Pueblo Independence Day Jemez Pueblo Plaza, NM

M-S 9:30 -5:30, 714.887.9131

July 8, 15, 22, 29, 9:30 am Green Hour Hikes PEEC, Los Alamos, NM

Meandering hikes where kids set the pace and decide the activities. Free. All ages. 505.662.0460, www.losalamosnature.org

July 9, 5:30-7 pm Green Drinks/NMSEA Little Toad Pub 200 N. Bullard St., Silver City, NM

Monthly meeting of the Southwest NM Green Chamber of Commerce and the NM Solar Energy Association-Silver City Chapter. Held every second Thursday of the month. 575.538.1337, swGreenChamber@gmail.com

July 9-12 Española Valley Fiesta Española, NM

7/9, 6-10 pm: teen dance; 7/10, 3 pm: torch runners, 6 pm: procession to plaza with mariachis, 6:30 pm: opening ceremonies; 7/11, 11:30: kids parade; 2:30: Llegada de la Reina arrives at the plaza, 2:45 pm: Entrada de Oñate arrives; 3:30: introduction of Fiesta Council, 6 pm: Gran Baile at Ohkay Casino, 8 pm: dance; 7/12, noon: parade starts, 4:30 pm: plaza meet & greet, 5:30 pm: closing ceremony

July 10, Aug. 14 Crownpoint Navajo Rug Auction Crownpoint Elementary School Crownpoint, NM

Hundreds of handmade rugs will be auctioned off. 505.879.9460, crownpointrugauction.com

July 11-12 Lavender in the Valley Festival Hwy. 84 btwn. mile markers 210 and 211, Abiquiú, NM

Lavender fields, products, art, food and more at the Purple Adobe Lavender Farm. 505.685.0082, www.purpleadobelvenderfarm.com

July 15-19 The Secret City Unlocked Los Alamos, NM

13-mile pilgrimage run from the plaza to Jemez Historic Site kicks off events commemorating the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Native food, dances, arts & crafts. Free. nmmonuments. org/jemez

Aug. 21-22 Cowboy Music & Poetry St. James Hotel and Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarrón, NM

Western Music Assn. event. Performed by those who live and work in the West. 575.376.9207, CimarronCowboyGathering.com

Aug. 21-23 Amigos Bravos Fundraising Float Trip Río Chama

A mostly gentle float punctuated by easy rapids down the wild & scenic river. Valet service with luxury camping accommodations. $1,720. Partially tax-deductible. 575.758.3874, rconn@amigosbravos.org

Aug. 26-30 Dancing with Nature Retreats Sulphur Springs Ranch, La Veta, CO

Each retreat, designed by four professional women, is unique. Horses, yoga, visioning, creativity, self-nourishment, healthy food. 415.377.5424, www.DancingwithNature.us

Through Sept. 30 Ancient Native Farming Techniques Exhibit Colorado Plateau Intertribal Learning Center, Tuba City, AZ.

Exhibit showcases efforts by elders and community leaders from 12 tribes across the Colorado Plateau to preserve dry farming practices that have allowed native peoples to flourish for thousands of years. Open by appointment. alicia.tsosie@ foodcorps.org, www.grandcanyontrust.org/blog/ preserving-our-seeds-and-farmer-knowledge

Oct. 23-24 Traditional Agriculture & Sustainable Living Conference Northern NM College, Española, NM

LosAlamosScienceFestival.com

July 16-18 Southern NM Festival of Quilts Alamogordo, NM

Quilting classes, workshops and vendors. 575.443.5284, snmfq.com

10th annual. International keynote speakers, panels, workshops, hands-on activities, vendors, info booths, heritage seed exchange. 518.332.3156, fourbridges@live.com, http://4bridges.org/ educational-programs/annual-conference/2015conference

Green Fire Times • July 2015

Green Fire Times â&#x20AC;˘ July 2015