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S ustainable T ourism • P ueblo F east D ays T he W estern A daptation A lliance D ancing with la M adre T ierra E arth C are ’ s Y outh A llies T he M ystery S tone June 2014

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Sustainable Southwest

Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project

Contents

Pueblo Feast Days. . .. . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ..7 The Mystery Stone . . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ..8 Sustainable Tourism Ignites the Hearts and Minds of Northern New Mexicans. . .. . .. 9 Increasing Sustainability in Tourism . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 11 Santa Fe Hosts the Western Adaptation Alliance . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 15 Sustainable Santa Fe Monthly Update . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 16 The Georgetown University Energy Prize . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 16 Op-Ed: “SUNstainable” New Mexico. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 17 Earth Care’s Youth Leaders Champion Southside Sustainability Efforts . . .. . .. . .. . 18 Earth Care’s AmeriCorps Food Cadre Receives Federal Grant. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 19 Santa Fe’s Green Lodging Initiative – Phase II . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 20 Direct Public Offerings and Capital-Raising for Your Business . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 23 North Central Regional Transit District Links New Mexico Communities . . .. . .. . . 24 El Agua Es Vida: Acequias of New Mexico Exhibit at the Maxwell Museum. . .. . .. . . 26 A Dynamic Duo Do for Earth y Comunidad . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 27 Everyday Green: Backyard Foraging . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 29 Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 31 Our Land Is Worth More Than That . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 32 Op-Ed: Board of County Commissioners to Decide the Fate of La Bajada Mesa. . .. . . 35 Newsbites . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 10, 15, 17, 21, 29, 37 What’s Going On. . .. . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 38

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c/o The Sun Companies P.O. Box 5588, SF, NM 87502-5588 505.471.5177 • info@sunbooks.com © 2014 Green Fire Publishing, LLC Green Fire Times provides useful information for anyone—community members, business people, students, visitors—interested in discovering the wealth of opportunities and resources available in our region. Knowledgeable writers provide articles on subjects ranging from green businesses, products, services, entrepreneurship, jobs, design, building, energy and investing—to sustainable agriculture, arts & culture, ecotourism, education, regional food, water, the healing arts, local heroes, native perspectives and more. Sun Companies publications seek to provide our readers with informative articles that support a more sustainable planet. To our publisher this means maximizing personal as well as environmental health by minimizing consumption of meat and alcohol. GFT is widely distributed throughout north-central New Mexico. Feedback, announcements, event listings, advertising and article submissions to be considered for publication are welcome.

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The Santa Fe Tourism Expo on May 1 was designed to showcase area businesses and organizations that attract visitors and deliver an authentic experience. Monique Jacobson of the New Mexico Tourism Department and Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales, flanked by other officials and business people, presided over the ribbon-cutting. COVER: I mages of New Mexico: Las Brazos Range, Tierra Amarilla Land Grant; Rio Grande, south of Pilar; Earth Care AmeriCorps Food Cadre Project; El Rancho de las Golondrinas, La Cienega. Photos © Anna C. Hansen and Seth Roffman Green Fire Times is not to be confused with the Green Fire Report, an in-house quarterly publication of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. The NMELC can be accessed online at: www.nmelc.org

Green Fire Times • June 2014

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Pueblo Feast Days

Culture and Tourism

Matthew J. Martínez

The Tewa word for dance, shadeh, literally means to be in the act of getting up or waking up. To participate in dance is to recognize the role of humans with the surrounding natural world. This awakening, in a sense, renews relations with all living things. Most of the pueblo dances occur throughout the year, based on seasons that involve planting and hunting rituals. The most public of

Julie Bird and family at a pueblo feast day

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pueblo dances are known as feast days. With the exception of Zuni Pueblo, each of the villages has an annual feast day. The Franciscans, who missionized New Mexico in the late 16th and 17th centuries, named each pueblo for a different Catholic saint. It is believed that each of the patron saints was likely chosen for several reasons, including proximity to a specific date. Unlike other types of dances that may be closed to the public, feast days occur every year on the same date and are generally open to visitors.

The dance recognizes the role of humans with the surrounding natural world.

Shadeh connects the human place to the movement in the sky, to the other simultaneous worlds below, and to the energies that embrace mountains, sky, plants and animals. Dance becomes the centered place—a centering within as well as outward to all life’s directions. The plaza or bupingeh is the “middleheart place.” It is often the central place where the community gathers to observe the various dances that involve asking for and receiving life. Having respect and an open heart during dances are important steps toward appreciating feast days and Pueblo customs. Feast day events vary across the pueblos but generally begin with activities such as village clean-up, food preparations, song and dance practices. Some pueblos, such as Ohkay Owingeh, begin the evening before their feast day on June 24 th with village races and a Buffalo Dance. Similarly, San Ildefonso Pueblo has short evening dances the day before its feast day. For all pueblos, the actual feast day includes a Catholic mass that is held in the morning. Because of historical, and often tenuous, relations with

Cloud Dance, Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo

the Catholic Church, all pueblos have a church located near the center of the village. Most Pueblo people practice aspects of both the Catholic religion and Pueblo belief systems. Some of the most favorite and unique food served at feast days includes baked bread, pies and cookies. These are commonly baked in outside ovens called hornos in Spanish or panteh in Tewa. What is not commonly known about these seemingly traditional Pueblo ovens is that the Spanish introduced the horno in the 1500s. These were originally derived in the Middle East and were carried into Spain by the Moors. Over time, the indigenous peoples and Hispano families of

New Mexico incorporated hornos as a staple in cooking local cuisines. It is important that visitors to the pueblo feast days inquire ahead of time regarding rules and regulations. For example, certain village activities may be closed to the public in preparation for the day’s events, and most pueblos do not permit recording or photography. In the event that photography is permitted continued on page 12

he sharing of food among family, friends and guests is one of the oldest practices of Pueblo people. Prior to European contact in the 1500s, there existed 100 villages. Indigenous peoples of the Southwest planted crops of corn and squash and hunted deer, elk and antelope, to name a few. Daily activities centered on praying for and cultivating good crops, so that all life would be healthy. These are some of the original forms of observances that the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico continue to practice as a way of life. Due mainly to warfare and disease, many of the original villages are not currently fully occupied but still remain part of the Pueblos’ remembrance to a larger collective ancestral history.Today, we have 19 pueblos that maintain a strong cultural tradition of dance and celebration.

Pueblo drums at a Comanche Dance

Green Fire Times • June 2014

The Mystery Stone

Karin Stangl t is a mystery in the desert hills near Los Lunas, New Mexico. It has puzzled experts for more than 50 years. It has been referred to by many different names, including Ten Commandments Rock, Mystery Rock, and Los Lunas Decalogue Stone. But it is most commonly known as the Mystery Stone. It is located on state trust land.

The stone is located at the base of

Hidden Mountain, about 16 miles west of Los Lunas. It is a boulder weighing an estimated 80 to 100 tons and is about eight meters in length. Nine

T he site was first

documented in 1938 when visited by anthropolog y p ro f e s s o r Fr a n k Hibben, f rom the University of New Mexico. Other reported visits prior to that are unconfirmed.

The most visited site on state trust lands Each year about 50 applications are submitted for recreational access permits to the State Land Office by school groups, hikers or the general public to visit the Mystery Stone. It is the most visited site on state trust lands.

rows of 216 characters were chiseled at a 150-degree angle into the north face of the stone. The characters resemble ancient Phoenician script. Like the rest of Hidden Mountain, the boulder is volcanic basalt.

There are several Anasazi petroglyphs in a nearby arroyo, which is the main route of access to the large Anasazi village on top of Hidden Mountain. About 10 meters to the southwest of Mystery Stone is a petroglyph that appears to be a mountain lion or other type of large cat. Other forms of more recent graffiti can be found on nearby

Los Lunas Mystery Stone by Donald N. Yates

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boulders. Three meters to the north of Mystery Stone, on the top of a flat boulder buried in the bottom of the arroyo, are the names “HOBE” and “EVA,” and the date is “3-19-30.”

N umerous inter pretations and

translations of Mystery Stone have been proposed over the years. Professor Robert Pfeiffer, of the Harvard Semitic Museum, believes it to be an ancient version of the Ten Commandments. Dixie L. Perkins, author of The Meaning of the New Mexico Mystery Stone, translated it as a 2,500-year-old tale left by the Greek explorer Zakyneros. Other interpretations define it as being the location of a lost treasure buried by ancestors of the Pueblo of Acoma, a message left by one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, a prank carried out by college students in the 1930s, or perhaps even a message of extraterrestrial origins. Whatever the case may be, the circumstances surrounding this inscription are mysterious, giving the Mystery Stone its well-deserved name.

For more information or to purchase a

$25 recreational access permit, which allows visitors access to all state trust lands for a period of one year, call 505.827.5724. i

Karin Stangl is with the New Mexico State Land Office.

505–888–2699 • minervacanna.com www.GreenFireTimes.com

Sustainable Tourism Ignites the Hearts and Minds of Northern New Mexicans Erin Sanborn

The conference began with a presentation by Cabinet Secretary Monique Jacobson of the New Mexico Tourism Department, herself a northern New Mexican, focusing on the recent New Mexico True marketing campaign and how it encompasses all that sustainable tourism is and can be. Business people were elated to learn how to better connect and utilize the resources at the New Mexico Tourism Department. People were also heartened by Secretary Jacobson’s love for New Mexico and her authentic commitment to celebrate each and every person and place as one of New Mexico’s treasures. Jacobson honored the conference participants in the same ways she honors New Mexico.

Experiences that enrich visitors and, at the same time, give back to people, planet and profit

“What is sustainable tourism?” was asked throughout the conference. Participants knew it included marketing, and yet requires a systemic look at tourism. It clearly includes ecotourism, agricultural tourism, cultural tourism, volunteer tourism and outdoor adventure tourism. It delivers on the authentic experiences within New Mexico True. It is a business and policy commitment to continuously monitor the impacts of tourism on land, water, wealth and community. It is also about consciously designing projects, initiatives, tours and experiences that enrich visitors and, at the same time, give back to people, planet and profit. Conference participants explored sustainable tourism while identifying infrastructure projects, their projected costs, the names of implementation partners, the priorities for every city and town, as well as the priorities for the Northern New Mexico corridor. In order to assist the 70-or-so participants, the dialogue was framed around the Five Capitals Model: a Framework for Sustainability. The Five Capitals Model provides a simple way of understanding the full range of economic wealth and how to generate capital for long-term profitability. The five capitals are natural, human, social, manufactured and financial. Most people are familiar with financial and manufactured capital. As participants looked at projects, other participants asked them how their project would concurrently enhance all five capitals. Minds were stretched. Hearts were opened. Creativity flowed. Sustainable tourism infrastructure projects were identified. Here are some of the project ideas suggested by conference participants:

strong commitment to tourism that has a net-positive impact on people and places was evident among the participants in the Sustainable Tourism: Infrastructure for a Solid Path Forward conference, held in Taos on May 19. Organized by the Taos and Santa Fe chapters of the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce, the conference highlighted a collaborative, inclusive dialogue among business owners, elected officials, and community members from Santa Fe, Española, Taos, Chimayó, Angel Fire, Red River, Chama, Costilla and Amalia.

Cabinet Secretary Monique Jacobson of the New Mexico Tourism Department answers questions at the Sustainable Tourism Conference in Taos , May 2014

• A regional, renewable energy-based transportation system • Forest restoration for watershed absorption and regeneration • Sidewalks • A toolkit to help hotels and restaurants to cut energy-, water- and wastemanagement costs • Sustainable tourism fund • Sustainable tourism councils throughout the northern New Mexico corridor The deep level of dialogue and the relationships built made this conference different from most conferences. Many projects were identified, and new collaborations were founded during the event. Business connections were made on behalf of these communities and the corridor. Funding resources were identified. A couple of communities realized they needed more stakeholder input on priorities and will apply the conference process and tools as they conduct sustainable-tourism summits in their communities. All in all, the first annual Sustainable Tourism Conference successfully launched a collaborative, corridorbased set of infrastructure projects. The Sustainable Tourism Conference final report will be posted by June 30 at www.nmgreenchamber.com. For more information, contact Erin Sanborn, executive director, Taos Green Chamber. i

Erin Sanborn

• Integrated walking, biking and hiking trail systems • Educational collaborations regarding sustainability • Zero-waste events and policies • Trip itineraries and booking systems for tourist and locals who travel the corridor

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Green Fire Times • June 2014

Habitat for Humanity Offers ‘VolunTourism’ Opportunity in Taos, New Mexico, Aug. 10–20 Habitat for Humanity of Taos is giving volunteers from across the country an opportunity to experience Taos while making a difference in the lives of those in need with “VolunTourism” opportunities through November, including Aug. 10–20. “VolunTourism” is a rapidly growing trend that combines vacation travel with volunteering, which tends to be most attractive among 35-to-54-year-olds. Habitat for Humanity of Taos is currently working on its 29th home built with adobe bricks handcrafted by volunteers. Unlike those in many New Mexico cities, the Habitat branch in Taos relies almost completely on out-of-state volunteers. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the average home price is above $299,000 in Taos County, and nearly 90 percent of the population cannot afford to buy a home.

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“Habitat for Humanity of Taos invites everyone from corporate groups to college students to church groups looking to make a difference to join our ‘VolunTourism’ opportunity in one of the most beautiful areas in the country,” said volunteer coordinator Susan Nuss. “Many people come to Taos because of its ability to inspire and transform, so, combined with a chance to help another person, it’s not uncommon for volunteers to say that ‘this experience changed my life.’” Licensed plumbers, electricians and construction supervisors oversee the jobs. Volunteers help in all aspects of new construction including: digging foundations, framing, roofing, installing windows and doors, appliances, insulation, sheet rock, painting and finish work. Previous work experience is not required. The organization’s Habitat ReStore accepts donated building materials such as windows, doors and cabinets, which are resold to the public, with all proceeds benefitting Habitat’s building program. Donations are tax deductible.

For more information, call 575.758.7827 or email taoshabitat.org.

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INCREASING SUSTAINABILITY IN TOURISM Hospitality, coming from a genuine respect for tradition Susan Guyette

ustainability, in essence, is about interdependence. Balance in cultural, economic and ecological relationships is central for maintaining harmony. And hospitality— sharing food, appropriate information, and cultural arts—coming from a genuine respect for tradition, indicates the wise use of resources. When well planned and managed, cultural tourism can foster retention of those diverse cultural traditions so precious in New Mexico. In the sustainable development process, local-level planning is important for reducing negative impacts and increasing positive benefits, such as job creation. Planning and development involves the community, visitors or potential visitors, as well as local government, to create a direction and a general guideline for tourism. After the planning, a culturally and socially harmonious tourism approach involves continually increasing internal capacity, marketing, developing local businesses, and evaluating success. Nationally, entrepreneurs provide 80 percent of jobs in the tourism industry, pointing to the potential for small-scale tourism in New Mexico. What is needed to foster entrepreneurs and an appropriate scale for tourism? Assistance with planning, visitor etiquettes developed within traditional communities to guide visitors on respectful visitation, more selling venues, training in product development as well as business skills—in addition to more marketing and promotional assistance—all would support entrepreneurs while furthering land retention in rural communities. Cultural value-based planning and development takes into account family, community, generosity, ecosystem stewardship, and the continuity of traditions—i.e., profit and large numbers of visitors are not the primary motivation. Experiential and authentic experiences benefit communities, as well as meet the primary interests of cultural tourists. Working within a cultural framework grounded in nature is an approach likely to be sustainable in the longer timeframe. Sustainability is more than a matter of doing no harm, but rather is restorative action.

SUSTAINABILITY FACTORS

As a concept related to tourism, sustainability is frequently used in reference to reduced environmental impacts. Although this view of sustainability is meaningful to rural and traditional communities, cultural criteria are also intertwined and integral. Guiding principles for sustainability reflecting the “Three Es”—ecology, economy and equity—are valuable for integrating cultural and social concerns.

Tourists at San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico

1. Stewardship—Maintain integrity and biodiversity. 2. Respect for limits—Live within nature’s means. 3. Interdependence—Respect ecological relationships as well as economic and cultural ties at the local, regional, and international levels. 4. Economic restructuring—Expand employment opportunities while safeguarding ecosystems. 5. Fair distribution—Integrate social justice and equity in areas such as employment, education and healthcare. 6. Intergenerational perspective—Use a long-term rather than a short-term view to guide the critical choices facing society. 7. Nature as a model and teacher—Acknowledge the 3.5 billion years of evolution of living systems and the rights of all species. Cultural values regarding people as being a part of nature underlie actions and care of the environment, whether on the part of visitors or the host community. Sense of place, with a cultural basis, connects communities in nature.

When well planned and managed, cultural tourism can foster retention of cultural traditions.

For example, the need for access by Native Americans to wilderness areas for tending wild plants and harvesting plants or cultural art-making materials comes from a view of being in VolunTourism, rather than with VolunTourism or connected to, nature. In many instances, protection of privacy for activities such as the gathering of medicinal plants or pottery clays, is seen as a necessity to protect traditional practice. Why the secrecy? Experience has taught these communities that most other cultures do not understand the concept of “take only what you need” for personal use. These resources become depleted when accessible to the public. Also, resources are to be used with respect and ceremony, and not merely as objects. Respect to plants, animals, rivers, clay, and even stones is extended in an internal, all-encompassing and related way. Following local and cultural traditions for land stewardship is one aspect of maintaining eco-cultural sustainability through the long-term. As stewards of their ecosystems, traditional and indigenous cultures hold ecological knowledge and caring for their environments. Additionally, their methods hold promise for educating other cultures.

Many cultures have internal methods for mediating decisions regarding sustainability. To the extent that planners and technical assistance providers appreciate and foster these internal discussions, then offer information on potential consequences of alternatives— forward movement is generated from within a community. In the worldview of our traditional communities, value judgments inherent in the concept “primitive economy” Tourists at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, La Cienega, south of Santa Fe

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continued on page 12

Green Fire Times • June 2014

Feast Day

continued from page 7

calendar listing of feast days and etiquette, visit the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center’s website at www.indianpueblo.org Feast days and community celebrations are times of the year for families and friends to share in life’s beauty. As one enters the village on a feast day, the heartbeat of the Earth is physically felt when the plazas vibrate with moccasined feet moving on earth to the beat. Pueblo people thus honor the passing of time and seasons by dancing as a reminder to awaken and to participate in the connected flow of life around them. This is a blessing for everyone, so that all things living can be healthy and balanced. i

Pueblo Comanche Dance

at one of the pueblos, please see the proper tribal officials for permits before proceeding with pictures. For a complete

Matthew J. Martínez, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Pueblo Indian Studies and director of the Northern Pueblos Institute at Northern New Mexico College in Española.

Sustainability in Tourism continued from page 11

come from inaccurate opinion about complexity in these cultures and are considered offensive. Listening carefully to cultural interpretations of progress is useful for guiding planning in relation to culturally-based form, smaller scale, and timing according to community readiness. Small, traditional communities perceive the destruction of the past 50 years in terms of environmental impacts, cultural loss, and the need for immediate action. Protecting community access to sacred areas is seen as essential. The very practice of culture, spirituality, and seasonal rituals depends upon access to these sacred sites. If a lifeway imbedded with the wisdom of connectedness and conservation is to continue, these issues must be addressed. Fortunately, the potential match of conscious travelers seeking to learn about diverse ways of relating to ecosystems, agriculture, land stewardship, family cooperation, and community support networks, is growing. The role of culture in sustainability of small-scale tourism is often not seen, yet is pivotal. Culture guides actions, whether related to following traditional land stewardship practices or the formation of tourism policy—and even the decisions of whether to participate in tourism or not to participate. For this reason, the first question is not, “How many visitors before environmental impacts are seen?” but rather, “Does an intrusion affect both cultural practice and ecological integrity?” When cultural appropriateness and connections underlie motivation in a community, then tourism may become a stimulus for teaching and retaining culture through recognition of cultural arts and practices. Including the entire community by providing entrepreneurial opportunities, training, and access to resources, sustains a communitysupportive effort. Culture is the cornerstone of sustainability! i Susan Guyette, Ph.D. is of Métis heritage (Micmac Indian/Acadian French) and a planner specializing in cultural tourism, cultural centers, museums and native foods. She is the author of Sustainable Cultural Tourism: Small-Scale Solutions; Planning for Balanced Development; and the co-author of Zen Birding: Connect in Nature. susanguyette@nets.com, www.susanguyette.com

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Santa Fe Hosts the Western Adaptation Alliance

An Exploration of Food Systems and Urban Water Management Katherine Mortimer

ust as the federal government was releasing the 2014 National Climate Assessment (NCA) on May 6, Santa Fe was hosting 13 communities that make up the Western Adaptation Alliance (WAA) for a gathering to explore the interrelationship of regional food systems and urban water management. Santa Fe’s team included both city and county staff, as well as community members involved in a range of food and water organizations. The NCA response section summarizes strategies to reduce emissions (mitigation) and to adapt to a changing climate. Adaptation is an emerging specialty within the larger climate-change planning field.The WAA is a leader in developing a deeper understanding of climate adaptation challenges of particular importance in the intermountain Southwest, as well as developing strategies for addressing its unique challenges.

Strategies for addressing climate adaptation

Cities across the country are coming to realize that climate change will have farreaching impacts. The NCA describes actions communities need to take to adapt to climate change and acknowledges that

“many of these actions can also improve public health, the economy and quality of life.” As the effects of climate change are being felt around the world, the arid intermountain West is experiencing extreme flooding, less snowpack, earlier snowmelt and extended drought. Cities here are looking for ways to secure water sources for urban uses as a result of the uncertainties that climate change is creating. At the same time, people are looking at expected increases in food transportation costs and climate extremes affecting crops, and how we can build more robust local food systems to assist with food security. Given this dichotomy, the trend of agricultural water rights being sold for urban development can be seen in a new light. The WAA meets annually on topics critical to this region related to climate change. This year was the first time that two topics and their complex interrelationships were explored together. Emerging challenges and opportunities were identified, as well as relationships built between government employees, citizen advisory bodies, nonprofit organizations and individuals in and among all 13 communities.

Teams from the 13 intermountain west communities gathered in Santa Fe last month to explore how climate change will affect the interrelationship between food systems and urban water management.

up on the work started last year in Phoenix when the topic addressed was urban water alone. While water is clearly a keystone resource needing careful consideration for us here, others include fortifying our delicate ecology; reducing wildfire risk and extent of devastation; food and shelter during extended extreme weather events or utility interruptions; and community health risks associated with all of the above.

agricultural basin to an urban use. But then we grow water-intensive crops like alfalfa and pecans and ship all that embodied water to China. In turn, we then import the vast majority of the pine nuts we consume here from China, even though they are a native product here.The whole system seems turned on its head. But how can we dictate a more logical system where food is grown as close to where it is consumed as possible? Such

Santa Fe’s team has committed to continue to work together and to follow

EPA Gains Legal Backing to Fight Climate Change The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-2 ruling, has upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to limit power-plant emissions that cross state lines. Cities and states downwind from coal-fired plants have argued for years that these power plants have prevented them from meeting air pollution standards. Utilities estimate the costs of implementing the EPA rules at about $800 million a year, but health and environmental costs from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide from burning coal force states to spend tens of billions each year. The ruling sets the stage for EPA’s new regulations, which will be released this month to fight global warming. States will likely be directed to craft their own plans for meeting clean air standards. That could include reducing energy demand by requiring greener buildings and forcing power plants to take responsibility for their emissions. The ruling also affirms that the Clean Air Act doesn’t require the EPA to give states a second chance at coming up with their emission reduction plans. The EPA has offered support for the state of New Mexico’s plan for shutting down two of PNM’s coal-fired units at the Four Corners Power Plant. PNM and the other owners of the San Juan Generating Station near Farmington are also planning to shut down two of the four coal units at the San Juan Generating Station and have been ordered to install pollution control systems. In addition, PNM is planning to build a natural gas pipeline and peaking-station in the Four Corners area. Governor Martínez is also looking to position the state “to take full advantage of exciting economic development opportunities in the Mancos Shale.”

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Western Adaptation Alliance leaders from the 13 member communities

While most of us are still absorbing the information from the gathering, there were some key takeaways that were noted. For example, one Santa Fe team member noted that, here in New Mexico, we react strongly when a proposal is considered to transfer water rights from one basin to another, especially if it’s from an

decisions are those of private businesses that respond to market signals, which have nothing to do with developing strategies for a climate that isn’t here yet. In discussing the benefits of urban agriculture, I came to realize that those benefits are vastly different in areas where continued on page 22

Green Fire Times • June 2014

Sustainable Santa Fe

Georgetown University Energy Prize

John Alejandro

Monthly Update

he Sustainable Santa Fe Commission works to implement the Sustainable Santa Fe Plan, passed by the Santa Fe City Council in 2008, through policy recommendations, progress tracking and community engagement campaigns and initiatives, including the annual Sustainable Santa Fe Awards. Starting this month, you’ll be hearing from the commission through our monthly column, as we provide updates and articles about our community’s efforts to reduce our carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions, reduce our ecological footprint and promote social equity throughout Santa Fe. The Sustainable Santa Fe Plan was created through a series of public forums in collaboration with local experts in transportation, renewable energy, urban planning, food security, ecological adaptation, water conservation, green building and waste reduction. It outlines programs and policies that can help the city achieve its commitment under the Climate Protection Agreement from the U.S. Conference of Mayors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels. Like many communities in the United States, Santa Fe has not yet met this goal. The commission works to coordinate efforts between community groups and city departments to advance policies, projects and campaigns that address sustainability objectives. The commission has taken a leadership role in projects such as the Convention Center’s design as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold-rated building, residential green building codes, and the reusable bag ordinance. The commission co-hosts the website http://sustainablesantafe. wordpress.com, which includes articles about sustainability efforts in Santa Fe, model projects/best-practices from around the country, and a resource section to connect community members with local organizations and initiatives. The commission, which currently has one vacant seat, meets on the third Tuesday of every month from 2:30–4:30 p.m. in the Council Conference Room in City Hall. Meetings are open to the public, and community members are encouraged to participate in subcommittees. Interested community members should contact the commission staff, Katherine Mortimer, at kemortimer@ci.santa-fe.nm.us

Tools and resources from national energy experts

he newly created Santa Fe Alliance for Clean Energy (SFEACE) has announced its intent to compete in the Georgetown University Energy Prize on behalf of the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County. The prize is a national, multimillion-dollar competition that challenges cities and counties with populations between 5,000 and 250,000 to create and implement energy-saving strategies to reduce their per capita consumption of gas and electricity over two years. During the current phase of the competition, SFEACE will work with residents, businesses, city and county government officials and energy efficiency and clean energy experts to develop a long-term, energy-efficiency and clean-energy plan that will not only deliver to residents and businesses the benefits associated with saving energy but will also help make Santa Fe more sustainable. Communities will be judged in part on their ability to • D evelop best practices for working with residents, businesses and other energy stakeholders to create and implement effective plans to reduce energy consumption; and, • Educate the public about why saving energy is important. • At the end of the competition, one community will win $5 million in prize money for use in continuing the energy-efficiency and clean-energy programs it has implemented. • Although it is a competition, cities don’t necessarily need to finish first in order to win. By simply participating in the competition, communities are provided with a host of tools and resources such as counsel from national energy experts, access to federal funding, and technical assistance that can help residents and businesses save energy, save money and become greener. “Many homes, schools, businesses, governments and individuals have already begun to do their part in reducing energy consumption, but it’s not enough,” says Dr. Francis Slakey, executive director of the Georgetown University Energy Prize. “In order to fully realize the benefits of energy-efficiency initiatives, we must commit to addressing our national energy problem together, one community at a time.” According to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the United States wastes more than 50 percent of the total energy produced in the country, due to energyinefficient homes and businesses, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales (center) discusses ideas with the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission

505- 690-6272

Green Fire Times • June 2014

More information about the competition can be found at www. GUEP.org. John Alejandro is the founder of the Santa Fe Alliance for Clean Energy. JAlejandro@SFEACE.org

New Mexico classic fencing for our high desert climate Excellent privacy fencing

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Op-Ed: “Sunstainable” New Mexico

Gary Vaughn

ou may have heard that Arizona basks in more solar energy than any other state, and that poor old New Mexico comes in second. And that’s true if you only count total sunshine. But there’s more to solar energy than “raw” sunshine. The wind blows from highpressure areas (highs) to low-pressure areas (lows), just like the weather reports talk about. Unequal heating on the surface of the Earth causes those highs and lows, and that heat comes from the sun. So wind energy is really solar energy—in disguise. Arizona has relatively poor wind resources, while New Mexico is ranked 12th nationally for its windpower potential. So, if you add New Mexico’s solar energy resources to its “solar-in-disguise” (wind) energy resources, then New Mexico wins the total solar-energy contest by a comfortable margin. But you can’t just put photovoltaic (PV) panels or concentrating solar collectors or wind generators anywhere; geography and land availability have to be considered. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado has already done a study documenting solar and wind “achievable energygeneration resources,” and the result is that New Mexico blows Arizona completely out of the sandbox. We have far more solar energy and “solar energy in disguise” than we know what to do with. And it’s all clean, renewable, “sunstainable” and free.

A last-stand pushback against clean, renewable energy is happening all across the country.

New Mexico doesn’t win a gold medal very often, but in this case it’s no contest. So what, exactly, are we doing with this amazing gift, this bountiful and extremely valuable “sunstainable” and renewable natural resource? Yes, New Mexico has a respectable singledigit ranking for installed PV capacity per person (although our rating has suffered lately as other states pass us), and New Mexico ranks 12th for installed wind-generator capacity.

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Both of those notable achievements are the results of the renewableenergy (RE) mandates and incentives passed by previous state and federal administrations. These subsidies were supposed to encourage the adoption of renewable and “sunstainable” energy sources and drive PV and wind system prices down—and that’s exactly what they’ve done. But, compared to New Mexico’s awesome solar-energ y potential, we’re still way, way behind the power curve. It doesn’t help that the current state administration has rolled back building energy-efficiency standards and environmental standards and is trying hard to roll back our RE standards, or that the New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission (PRC) recently attempted to cut New Mexico’s mandates for PV electricity in half and geothermal power by two-thirds, by issuing a surprise “royal edict” without public notice and in violation of the PRC’s own rules. And it doesn’t help that our state’s largest electric utility, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), routinely exaggerates the costs and misrepresents the benefits of solar and wind power. Don’t believe everything you see and hear in those glitzy PNM ads. PNM is preparing to gut the thriving residential and commercial rooftop solar industry in New Mexico and put a stop to community solar PV projects, as well as to city, school, tribal and small village solar PV projects. If you talk to a PNM VP or any other smiling PNM representative, you’ll learn that by purchasing and installing a PV system with their own hard-earned money, and by supplying clean “sunstainable” electricity to the PNM grid during peak summertime demand periods, New Mexico’s homeowners and businesses and towns and schools are ripping PNM off, and PNM is getting ready to start charging those cheaters for that. Surely, our governor or attorney general or PRC commissioners will step in and put a stop to this PNM nonsense, right? Not likely. A last-stand push-back against clean, renewable, “sunstainable” energy is happening all across the country,

even right here in sunny New Mexico. The phrases that pop up in recent reports about RE versus “traditional” electric utilities like PNM tell the story: “disruptive challenges”; “distributed energy defectors”; “stranded costs”; “grid defection”; “grid price parity”; “erosion in sales”; and “solar plus storage”—all bad news for electric utilities. Te s l a , t h e s u c c e s s f u l e l e c t r i c car company, may locate its new “gigafactory” for manufacturing stateof-the-art, high-capacity batteries here in New Mexico. Our sagging state economy could certainly use an electric jolt from Tesla. But PNM VPs are having nightmares about what that means for their bonus checks. Tesla’s batteries are already being used in residential and commercial “solar-PVplus storage” systems in other parts of the country. PNM has used its federal and state taxpayer-subsidized “Prosperity Energy Storage Project” to bolster its claim that PV and wind are “unreliable” and that affordable energystorage options won’t be available any time soon. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the battery factory that proves PNM completely wrong is located at Mesa del Sol, just south of Albuquerque? On

a clear day, PNM VPs might even be able to see the Tesla “gigafactory” from their headquarters boardroom. When New Mexicans have the option to choose electrical-energy “liberty and freedom,” instead of electrical-energy “indentured servitude,” by simply deciding to generate and store their own electricity, while at the same time significantly reducing their electricity bill compared to what PNM wants to charge them, do you suppose some of New Mexico’s families and businesses will become “Ex-PNM energy users” (PNM-Xers)? An idea that’s bound to catch on, don’t you think? i G a r y Va u g h n i s a professional engineer and president of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association. GVaughn@q.com

NEWSBITEs Southern Power and Turner Acquire New Mexico’s Largest Solar Facility

Southern Company subsidiary Southern Power and Turner Renewable Energy have announced the acquisition of the largest solar facility in New Mexico–the 50-megawatt Macho Springs Solar Facility. Located on about 600 acres in Luna County, Macho Springs was built and is being operated by First Solar, which has a 20-year power purchase agreement with El Paso Electric. The facility is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 18,000 homes. Ted Turner, owner of Turner Renewable, teamed with Southern Company in 2010 to form a strategic alliance to pursue development of renewable energy projects in the United States. The partnership has primarily focused on large-scale solar-PV projects in the Southwest.

“SunShot” Offers Funding for Solar developement

The U.S. government’s SunShot initiative, a program to drive down the cost of solar energy, create more jobs, reduce carbon pollution and boost economic growth, is offering $15 million to help U.S. communities develop innovative communitybased plans for homes and businesses. The Department of Energy said that with the average price of solar photovoltaic power at 11 cents per kilowatt-hour at the end of 2013, solar is now comparable in cost to conventional power, and communities are starting to deploy more solar to meet their electricity needs. As of last year, 13 gigawatts of solar power projects had been linked to the nation’s electrical grid.

Green Fire Times • June 2014

Earth Care’s Youth Leaders Champion Southside Santa Fe Sustainability Efforts

Janet Gómez

Youth Allies Bike-a-thon riders rode across Santa Fe on a very windy day.

When you are doing something for a good cause, it’s easier to be willing to struggle. The world’s problems aren’t going to be fixed through comfort and ease; they are going to be fixed through hard work and sacrifice, and we’re going to have to realize that our comfort and ease are sometimes coming at the expense of animals, land and people. We can stand up and take action on the things we care about. That’s what I’ve learned in our leadership training at Earth Care Youth Allies, and that’s what I experienced through our Bike-a-thon. The “cause” in our case was actually several causes. In January, after learning about global environmental and social-equity issues and completing training in leadership and social action, we decided to do a project that reduced our environmental footprint, called for action on climate change, and also raised awareness about the need to make sustainability and green resources available to all parts of the community, regardless of income.

Taking action to be part of the solution to climate change

“First and foremost, we wanted to do something about climate change and to be part of the solution. As young people, we feel like it’s our future at stake. So, solarizing our building, particularly in this part of town, is a huge success that proves that change can happen. This project was also about bringing sustainable resources—like alternative transportation, renewable energy and green living—to all Santa Feans,” said one of my fellow organizers, Josue Martínez. With help from the renewable energy advocacy group New Energy Economy, we won a grant through Positive Energy, a New Mexico solar company that sponsors an annual competition for nonprofits to win a solar system for their building. “Positive Energy Solar shares these youths’ vision for clean, affordable, solar energy for all New Mexicans,” said Regina Wheeler, Positive Energy’s CEO. “It is an honor for our company to participate in this community project and to showcase what’s possible for all of Santa Fe and other cities.” We needed to raise the matching funds for the installation, so we came up with the idea of the Bike-a-thon. We did a lot of outreach to business sponsors and our families

Green Fire Times • June 2014

and friends. We got a lot of help in training and raising the funds from our mentors at Earth Care and from New Energy Economy’s staff. By April 26, we had the match, and the solar system had been installed along with a computer that measures, in real time, the electricity provided by the sun, the carbon offset and the water the system saves. We put up an informational sign that explains the benefits of solar to community members, so everyone who comes to our offices can learn about it. Our solar array will accomplish the following: • Produce 4,152 kWh of electricity per year • Save 25,000 gallons of water over 25 years • M itigate 89,200 pounds of CO2 over 25 years

orty-mile-an-hour winds couldn’t stop our determination or conviction. Though at times it felt like the crosswinds might knock us off of our bikes, every single one of us 52 Bike-a-thon riders successfully made our way from Railyard Park in downtown Santa Fe to Earth Care’s offices at Zona del Sol on the south side of town in celebration of Earth Day. The ride was 10 miles long on one of the windiest days of the year, and many of us, mostly teenagers, had never ridden our bikes for transit, let alone across the city. But it was worth it.

Earth Care Youth Allies awards at the Zona del Sol solar system celebration, City Councilor Carmichael Domínguez commends the Youth Allies’ efforts

The Bike-a-thon culminated with a community party that featured an art show and performances of poetry and songs we put together titled “Driven to Extinction,” about the things we stand to lose—animal species and land we love—if we don’t do anything about climate disruption. We enlisted Capital High, Ortiz Middle School and St. Michael’s High School students to help make a giant mural collage of animal species from around the world. Students from Santa Fe High and the New Mexico School for the Arts also contributed pieces. Over 80 people, including city councilors, came to share in our celebration of the solarization of one of the first community buildings on the south side of Santa Fe. Zona del Sol, our building, besides housing Earth Care, is home to all kinds of programs and services for children, youth and families. Our take-away: It feels pretty good to actually do something instead of just stressing out or distracting yourself from the issues. If everyone in America took the time they spend watching TV and used it to do good for the environment or the community and paid attention to what our leaders are doing, I think we’d be able to solve the majority of the problems we face. If we did that and we were willing to go with a little less comfort and a little less ease, we might just be able to create the world we all wish for.

About Earth Care Youth Allies

Earth Care’s mission is to educate and engage youth to create healthy, just, and sustainable communities. Programs for children, youth and young adults include sustainability education, service learning, community organizing, and social entrepreneurship. Earth Care’s Youth Allies are high school leaders who receive training and support as they execute community-improvement projects that benefit the environment and community members in need. They also serve as Youth Advisory Board members to the city of Santa Fe’s Sustainability Commission. i Janet Gómez, a sophomore at Capital High, is a member of Earth Care’s Youth Allies leadership program. She is passionate about the environment and immigrant rights, and hopes to be a designer when she grows up.

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Earth Care’s AmeriCorps Food Cadre Receives Federal Grant

ast month U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico announced that Earth Care, a Santa Fe-based nonprofit, will receive a $191,034 grant award from the Corporation for National Community Service for its 2014–2015 Food Cadre AmeriCorps Program. The grant will support 27 AmeriCorps national servicemember positions. Earth Care is now accepting applications for the positions, which range from 300-hour internships to full-time placements for 11 months. Their work will focus on increasing access to healthful foods for low-income families, health education and environmental stewardship. Food insecurity in the County of Santa Fe is higher than the national average. AmeriCorps member activities will include teaching cooking in the public schools with Cooking with Kids, coordinating a commercial composting pilot with Reunity Resources, facilitating a healthy lifestyles task force on the south side of town with La Familia, and analyzing the city’s use of water, energy and waste for the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission’s community scorecard.

Youth-development activities that bolster sustainable food, farming and nutrition Earth Care’s programs have provided youth-development activities while bolstering sustainable food, farming and nutrition in the Santa Fe community. In a context where the economic downturn has meant reduced resources for schools and the nonprofit sector, collaboration has become essential. For this reason, Earth Care pursued federal funding and launched the AmeriCorps Cadre to increase the impact of a dozen partner organizations and schools. Earth Care places its members in neighborhoods that have high rates of poverty, food insecurity, health issues and a lack of youth services. Program participants include the Food Depot, Adelante Program for Homeless Youth & Families, La Familia’s REACH Program, the city of Santa Fe’s Sustainability Program, Four Bridges Permaculture Institute, United World College’s Agroecology Research Center, Zona del Sol, Reunity Resources, the New Mexico Land Conservancy and four public schools.

reach and impact, engages citizens, and brings communities together. And there are lifelong benefits. Serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer taught me that there is no venture more rewarding than working to improve the lives of those around us. Only the most exceptional proposals are funded, and I am especially proud of these organizations and the work they are doing for New Mexico communities.” This year marks the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps. Over the past two decades, more than 830,000 men and women have served in the program, providing more than one billion hours of service to address critical challenges. The new round of grant funds will support more than 230 AmeriCorps members who will serve New Mexico communities through four local organizations over the coming year.

AmeriCorps Grant Funding Awards:

“Our community is struggling with high-school dropout rates, ‘brain-drain’ of young professionals, food insecurity, poverty and a host of other issues. But there is so much great work taking place, and we have some fantastic community organizations and leaders. We’ve received AmeriCorps funding for the last four years from the New Mexico Commission on Community Volunteerism, but we are thrilled and honored to have had our program chosen at the national level from a very competitive pool of applications. It means that what we are doing here on the ground in Santa Fe is being seen as an effective model that others might learn from,” said Earth Care’s director, Bianca Sopoci-Belknap. In announcing the awards, Sen. Heinrich said, “National service is a critical and cost-effective approach to solving problems. It helps organizations expand their

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• City of Albuquerque “Running Start for Careers” initiative: $265,946 for 20 AmeriCorps members to provide academic tutoring, career coaching and financial education to ninth through 12th grade students. The program will serve high schools in and around Albuquerque. • Rocky Mountain Youth Corps AmeriCorps: $452,568 for 115 AmeriCorps members to receive weekly training and on-the-job experience in land restoration and energy efficiency, as well as leverage community volunteers engaged in service days geared to support environmental stewardship projects across northern New Mexico. • Earth Care International: $191,034 for 27 AmeriCorps members to increase access to healthful foods to low-income families, provide food and health education, and environmental stewardship, resulting in increased food security in Santa Fe. • Teach for America, New Mexico: $56,000 for 70 AmeriCorps members to teach grades K-12 in low-income, predominantly Hispanic and Native American communities in New Mexico. i

Green Fire Times • June 2014

Santa Fe’s Green Lodging Initiative Phase II Savings for Businesses and Tangible Benefits for the Community Ashley Zappe

ike the people who run them, many businesses in Santa Fe would like to go green but don’t know where to start and are intimidated by the idea that going green takes $green$. And yet, what we’re learning, as we begin to shift our economy toward more environmentally and socially conscious practices, is that huge savings emerge when we tighten up the efficiency of our operations and reduce waste. A shining example of this is the Santa Fe Watershed Association’s Green Lodging Initiative, which just wrapped up 18 months of hard work and produced highly visible impact to the environment and to the 12 lodging facilities that participated to earn their Bronze Level certification in the Green Concierge Certification program. Funded by a $49,700 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the initiative was a private/public partnership that worked directly with Santa Fe’s hospitality industry to save money, conserve water and decrease chemical and carbon pollution going into the river and watershed.

Conserving water, decreasing chemical and carbon pollution, saving money and creating jobs All of the participants are now better equipped to effectively operate their business in a more sustainable and

In February, 2013, the Watershed Association hired HospitalityGreen LLC (HG), a New York-based firm specializing in environmental and operations consulting services and founder of the nationally recognized Green Concierge Certification ® program, to provide technical assistance, green team training and customized coaching to the Santa Fe participants. They trained a total of 90 employees

from these properties: Eldorado Hotel, Houses of the Moon at 10,000 Waves, Hotel Santa Fe Hacienda & Spa, Inn of the Five Graces, Inn of the Governors, Casa Cuma Bed and Breakfast, Inn on the Alameda, La Fonda on the Plaza, La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa, Old Santa Fe Inn, Santa Fe Inn, Santa Fe Sage Inn, and Silver Saddle Motel. Trainings covered topics such as effective business practices that conserve water, energy efficiency, decreasing carbon emissions, sourcing products from the local economy, and limiting toxic chemical use, all of which save money. In October, 2013, HG conducted onsite, third-party assessments of the 13 properties. The assessments determined whether the properties met the rigors of the certification, which requires that a property meet multiple standards and track resource use over time. Twelve of the 13 achieved their goals to receive Bronze Level recognition. A ceremony of congratulations was held on Earth Day, April 23, at the Inn of the Governors, where plaques were awarded.

Hotel Santa Fe employees (l-r) Antoinette Orla, Jonathan Armijo, Shawna Martínez, Ryan Griego and Patrick Kline with Evadne Giannini of Hospitality Green LLC

Green Fire Times • June 2014

La Fonda on the Plaza

locally beneficial way. Because of the program, 36 percent of the lodging facilities in Santa Fe are current Green Concierge Certificate holders. Cumulatively, they have already saved over 2.1 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 1.5 million gallons of water. This makes a total reduction of 6,163 metric tons of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of removing 1,297 passenger cars from the road for one year, and enough daily water for 14,286 Santa Fe homes. Further, by switching cleaning products, they eliminated over 2,000 lbs. of hazardous chemicals from entering Santa Fe’s wastewater treatment plant and, thus, the Santa Fe River. For their efforts, these businesses collectively saved themselves more than $128,000. The Santa Fe Watershed Association’s program was recognized by the city as the 2013 Sustainable Santa Fe Award winner in the category of Green Economic Development. Angela Rodden, director of Human Resources and Green Team leader at the Eldorado Hotel, said, “When our general manager first announced his intention for our property to participate in the initiative, I was a bit leery due to costs associated with such a program. Once we completed the training, however, many of my fears were alleviated. HG was able to recommend low- to no-cost procedures that we were able to implement quickly, which immediately made an impact. Evadne Giannini, founder and CEO of HG, personally spoke to vendors in the Santa Fe area to provide the hotel options when making changes to our soft goods products and recycling

program. Participation in this program made us more aware of our impact on the environment. Many employees not only supported these changes in the hotel, they also made changes in their personal lives.”

L-R: Angela Rodden, director of Human Resources at Eldorado Hotel and Spa, with Evadne Giannini of HospitalityGreen LLC

These savings translate to benefits seven times greater than the numbers show. Our air and water are cleaner, both human and environmental health are improved, and local businesses thrive from the local purchasing practices. The financial savings could create more local jobs and improve our economy. Glenn Schiffbauer, executive director of the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce, says, “If you take all that has come out of this initiative en todo, what you get is one more arrow in Santa Fe’s branding quiver; we are becoming a destination for an evergrowing green travel market.” The Sustainable Santa Fe Commission will be focusing its work over the next continued on page 21

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Bioscience Lab at Santa Fe Business Incubator The official opening for a new BioScience Lab at the Santa Fe Business Incubator (SFBI) took place on April 15. The lab provides specialized state-of-the-art biology and molecular biology equipment for startup bioscience companies. The lab will also serve scientists from the technology community and entrepreneurs across New Mexico. The shared equipment, which SFBI client companies and affiliates can use on a short-term basis, lets those companies leverage investment dollars on research more effectively, reduce their startup cost, decrease time to market, and concentrate on commercializing innovative technology. The facility is also intended to make high-tech relocation to Santa Fe more attractive and support industry growth throughout the state. One of the devices being developed at the lab is Biodirection Inc.’s prototype chip for a mobile device to diagnose brain injuries in less than three minutes, using a small blood sample. The lab’s construction began in 2012, when SFBI was awarded a $1.25 million grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), a division of the US Department of Commerce. Additional funding came from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the city of Santa Fe. Speakers at the opening ceremony included U.S. S en. Tom Udall; U.S. Congressman Ben Ray Luján; Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales; EDA Regional Director Pedro Garza; and Jasper Welch, president of the National Business Incubation Association. Also pictured (2nd from left) is New Mexico State Rep. Nick Salazar and (r) Santa Fe City Councilor Peter Ives.

year on identifying and addressing similar “golden green” opportunities that require only simple resource conservation and efficiency upgrades. One of the projects we’ve advocated for is the continuation of the Green Lodging Initiative, which will leverage $50,000 to conserve thousands of additional gallons of water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make Santa Fe a destination of choice for ecotourists. City Councilors Peter Ives, Signe Lindell, Chris Rivera, Patti Bushee and Bill Dimas all signed onto a resolution endorsing the Green Lodging Initiative and directing staff to explore ways to continue, fund and extend the initiative to all lodging facilities in the city of Santa Fe. A $50,000 investment from the city, approved by the council last month, will be used to promote the goal of expanding the program to achieve Green Concierge certification for the remaining 64 percent of the lodging facilities. Given that the city of Santa Fe annually collects in excess of $8 million in taxes from lodging facilities, this initiative represents an investment in one of our economy’s mainstays. Santa Fe can and should be a national

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leader in the green economy. In order to lead the transition, we need to invest public funds, as well as enlist the ingenuity and resources of our business community. After exploring the possibility of a comprehensive Green Business Certification program, the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission and its partners are getting behind the Green Lodging Initiative, seeing the success in the hospitality industry as a model for other sectors to follow. By providing a framework and concrete systemic change for greener operations, the initiative is demonstrating that money invested in efficiency upgrades and resource conservation leads to financial savings and community benefits. Successful local stories of “going green” will surely attract the attention of other business owners and the interest of ecotourists worldwide. i Ashley Zappe is an envir onmental science educator. She is currently Earth Care’s AmeriCorps member, working with the cit y of S anta Fe’s Sustainability programs. Felicity Broennan, former executive director of the Santa Fe Watershed Association, contributed to this story.

NEWSBITEs SFCC Sustainable Technology Center Receives $50K Grant

International Conference on Agal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts, June 15-18 in Santa Fe

Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) has been awarded a $50,000 SEED Infrastructure Grant from the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) for commercial algae photo-bioreactor (PBR) monitoring. The grant will fund the purchase of state-of-the-art sensors to monitor algae growth in PBRs that are up to 10,000 liters in volume. A portion of the grant will be used to pay stipends to four students as they learn to cultivate algae on a commercial scale and analyze collected data.

SFCC operates the largest enclosed PBRs in New Mexico as part of its Center of Excellence in Biofuels. Luke Spangenburg, director of the center, said, “This technology will improve the curriculum and enhance the student experience. One of our goals is to transform the narrowly defined AAS degree in sustainable technology into a broader Associate of Science degree that will transfer to UNM or NMSU, which offer complementary programs.” Since its founding in 2010, 95 students have enrolled in SFCC’s biofuels program, nine have continued on to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields at a four-year university, five have been employed in the biofuel/algae industry, and seven have created businesses employing 22 people in the Santa Fe area. Last month, SFCC’s Department of Science and the college’s Sustainable Technology Center, along with UNM’s Biology Department, hosted a NMEPSCoR workshop with industry, education, government and national laboratory experts in STEM disciplines. Their goal, using sustainable technologies curricula, was to increase the presence of underrepresented groups in STEM-degree granting universities in New Mexico. Spangenburg will chair a session on the Agal Cultivation-Phototrophic systems in photobioreactors during the 4th International Conference on Agal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts, June 15-18 at the Santa Fe Convention Center. For more information, contact Spangenburg at 505.428.1807, luke.spangenburg@ sfcc.edu or visit www.sfcc.edu

SFCC Unveils Solar Array for Students

Santa Fe Community College has maintained an extensive commitment to renewable energy since crafting a strategic plan in 2006 calling for the adoption of campus-wide sustainable practices. The school recently unveiled a new 11.8kW photovoltaic array comprising three dual-axis trackers near its Trades and Advanced Technology Center. Area high school students were present to observe the dedication of the array. Interim President Randy Grissom said, “What makes this project particularly important is, its sophisticated monitoring equipment will allow students, faculty and staff to study and monitor the system in real time. The array will serve students pursuing the Solar Energy Certificate, allowing quick transitions into the green-energy and Santa Fe High School students at SFCC’s solar green-building industries.” system unveiling Positive Energy and Bradbury Stamm Construction, Inc. of Albuquerque were selected to design and install the arrays after a competitive bid process. This summer, they will break ground on a second, much larger, 1.5-megawatt array that will produce 40 percent of the college’s energy immediately after installation. Eventually, the combined solar energy from two installations is expected to save the college approximately $200,000 per year.

Green Fire Times • June 2014

Alan Hutner Green living, sustainability, low-carbon emissions, reducing footprints, living in harmony with nature—all good, active approaches to help save humanity from the potentially devastating impacts of the changing climate. Ancient wisdom tells us that underlying and most essential to our activism is that it be instituted with love. One way to understand and experience this is by opening the heart and quieting the mind through the unified field of bhakti yoga and kirtan, devotional chanting with its multidimensional mantras of love, spirit and power. Krishna Das (KD) has been called yoga’s “rock star.” With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, he is the best-selling Western chant artist of all time, with over 300,000 albums sold. His album, Live Ananda, was nominated for a Grammy, and, in 2013, his performance at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles was streamed online to millions of viewers. KD’s14th release, Kirtan Wallah, fully embraces his American roots in rock and country while also embodying the spirit of deeply devotional Indian chants. KD and his Kirtan Wallah Band will be at the Greer Garson Theater in Santa Fe on July 10 and 11. Reserved seats are available by calling 505.988.1234, at the Lensic box office, or online: www.TicketsSantaFe.org. Also visit www.krishnadas.com

Western Adaptation Alliance continued from page 15

water is plentiful and urban gardens and farms can reduce urban blight and associated crime. I also came to understand that using drinking water—with its embodied greenhouse gas emissions from pumping and treatment—for use in growing food, needs to be part of the analysis. While urban agriculture has many important benefits to us, we can’t just follow the models of less arid and more blighted cities.

on traditional approaches to drought, fire risk, flooding and the like to be enough to address the kinds of extreme events we are likely to see. Such extremes affect physical as well as social infrastructure, and will require breaking down the traditional silos within government and between government and community organizations to develop strategies to ensure safety and continuity of basic necessities into the nottoo-distant future. i

In a session on green infrastructure my initial understanding was that green infrastructure was a more natural way of addressing stormwater runoff. I left with a deeper understanding of how green infrastructure can be used to promote groundwater recharge and reduce risks associated with extreme rainfall events such as flooding and landslides.

The National Climate Assessment can be found at: http://nca2014.globalchange. gov/report

While we have models that tell us what the future climate will likely be here in Santa Fe and our larger region, understanding the complex network of impacts those changes represent is still unfolding. We can’t count

Green Fire Times • June 2014

K atherine Mortimer is Sustainable S a n ta Fe prog rams manager for the city of Santa Fe. http:// w w w . santafenm. gov/sustainable_santa_fe

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A Concert in Consort with the Earth …and Heaven

Direct Public Offerings and Capital-Raising for Your Business any entrepreneurs, even those gaining traction through sales, can get stuck in a holding pattern, wanting to grow their business but lacking sufficient cash flow to get ahead. Many are challenged to go outside the company for capital due to barriers to investor financing. For others, bank loans are difficult to get, entrepreneurs worry about taking on debt, and/or offered interest rates are high. Many are interested in investors or the right type of outsiders, but lack understanding of how to go about raising this type of capital—particularly the rules, regulations and costs involved. So, what are the options? While the SEC deliberates about crowdfunding provisions of the JOBS Act, one method of raising capital from many people often goes overlooked: Direct Public Offerings (DPOs). DPOs are not new. In fact, they have been around for decades and work under existing law. There are several New Mexico businesses taking advantage of DPOs. Perhaps the most well known is La Montañita Co-op’s LaM Fund (see sidebar).

A powerful way to raise capital from the crowd

DPOs allow community members to invest in a New Mexico business, allowing public offerings of securities (stock) to all investors, wealthy or not. These are different from Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). They allow business owners to sell stock directly to the public with much fewer registration and reporting requirements. They still must be filed in New Mexico and are screened by state-level securities regulators who have a great deal of experience at spotting fraud and overly risky propositions. That is a big advantage over the JOBS Act, which prohibits state securities regulators from getting involved. Vetting by such regulators reduces the need for onerous limits. Generally, DPOs do not require audited or reviewed financials, caps on total amount raised or individual investments, ongoing reporting or limitations on communications. There are maximum limits on investment, usually up to $1 million. A major feature of DPOs is that business owners are permitted to advertise and promote to potential investors. There is a downside. DPO stocks can be harder to sell when investors are ready. This is good for business owners, but can be a deterrent for investors. As an example, Arroyo Food Co-op (www.arroyofoodcoop.com), a startup cooperative grocery store in California, is using a DPO to raise money from its community to open. The co-op is offering loans that pay a competitive rate of return. Because Arroyo registered the offering with California securities regulators, there is no cap on the amount it can accept from each investor, and it was not required to provide audited or reviewed financials. Arroyo currently has 660 members and has raised $200,000 in member-owned loans. With final rules yet to come, the ultimate fate of the JOBS Act crowdfunding exemption still remains to be seen. Fortunately, DPOs are a powerful way to raise significant amounts of capital from the crowd. DPOs make investing in Main Street

possible today. This is a way to put crowdfunding to use and Americans back to work. Looking for a way to invest locally in New Mexico? Invest Local Inc. is a national consortium of financial p ro f e s s i o n a l s o f f e r i n g affordable services to advance local and community projects. Based in Santa Fe, Invest Local Inc. helps connect local investors with hometown businesses seeking capital. Investlocalinc.com Drew Tulchin is managing partner at Social Enterprise Associates, based in Santa Fe. Jenny Kassan is chief executive at Cutting Edge Capital in California. Leigh Mathews also contributed to this article. info@socialenterprise.net, www.socialenterprise.net

New Mexico Examples La Montañita Co-op

Perhaps New Mexico’s best example of a successful DPO is La Montañita’s LaM Fund. The LaM Fund is a grassroots member-investing and micro-lending program designed to grow the local food system and strengthen the local economy. Formed in 2010, this fund sells interests in a fund that is used to provide small loans to farmers, ranchers and other food-system projects that might not be eligible for conventional loans.

Española Community Market

Española Community Market is a cooperatively owned market in the heart of downtown Main Street. The market features locally grown organic and pesticide-free produce, dair y products, bulk grains and nuts, and baked goods. Check out its cro wdfunding campaign on G o Fu n d M e . com/360e0g and watch for an investment opportunity coming soon.

Efficient and resourceful. Wayne Steen ChFC CLU, Agent 3005 S St Francis, Suite 1E Santa Fe, NM 87505 Bus: 505-820-7926 wayne.steen.ssnr@statefarm.com

I'm eco-friendly too. Whether it's local or global, every little bit we do makes a difference. That's just part of being there. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.® CALL ME TODAY.

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Green Fire Times • June 2014

Drew Tulchin and Jenny Kassan

North Central Regional Transit District Links New Mexico Communities

n 2003, the New Mexico State Legislature authorized creation of regional transit districts as an incentive to reduce dependence on personal cars. Four such districts now exist throughout New Mexico. The North Central Regional Transit District (RTD), headquartered in 2012 in what had been an old, dilapidated building that was completely renovated into an architecturally smart, contemporary business center in Española, has become one of that city’s largest employers. The district’s board recently approved a sustainability plan that aims to transform RTD within five years into one of the greenest companies in the Española Valley.

RTD aims to be one of the greenest companies in the Española Valley. The district’s bus service covers 10,079 square miles, linking several northern New Mexico communities including Santa Fe. RTD directly serves 20 routes and connects to other transportation systems. The service is very important to the economy and residents of the district. RTD is the main provider of free transportation in northern New Mexico. Ridership has more than doubled in four years, from about 78,000 in 2009 to 193,000 last year. RTD’s Blue Bus system mostly serves people who are struggling to pay their bills. About 63 percent of the riders make less than $17,000 per year. Nineteen percent don’t own a vehicle. Federal taxes and gross receipts revenues from regional transportation operations in Santa Fe, Río Arriba, Taos, and Los Alamos counties fund the system. A report released last month by the state Legislative Finance Committee praised the district for its money management but said that the operation’s expenses will exceed revenues in the next decade. The average cost per passenger, according to the report, was $17.77 in 2013, but some routes, such as Los Alamos-EspañolaPojoaque, cost considerably more.

Anthony Mortillaro, executive director of the district, in a written response, called the committee’s analysis oversimplified and incomplete and noted that the report didn’t mention the poverty in northern New Mexico or how much air pollution and traffic congestion the buses reduce. Because of NCRDT’s buses, the district’s car travel was lessened by an estimated 4.35 million miles last year, eliminating more than 2,161 tons of carbon emissions and creating less wear-and-tear on roads and highways. The American Public Transportation Association, in its March, 2014 Transit Savings Report, reported that, nationally, individuals who ride public transportation instead of driving can save, on average, more than $10,103 annually, and those costs are only going to increase. For more information on the North Central Regional Transit District, call 505.629.4707 or visit www.ncrtd.org

Please Advertise Support our work for a more sustainable world. Call Skip Whitson at 505.471.5177 or Anna Hansen at 505.982.0155 24

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El Agua es Vida, the Acequias of New Mexico

An Exhibit at the Maxwell Museum, UNM Albuquerque

Alejandro López

l Agua Es Vida, the Acequias of New Mexico, an exhibit that opened May 3 at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, is, without a doubt, a “must see” for every New Mexican. It is indispensable because acequias, together with our land’s endless vistas, its searing sun on the horizon, its hills, orchards and chile patches, constitute essential parts of our landscape. Indeed, this landscape, against which we contemplate one another and our activities, is the cosmic stage upon which New Mexicans are privileged to live out our lives. It seems to frame the human drama much more poetically, eloquently and ecologically than the plethora of housing divisions, overpasses, rivers of cars, pipelines, openpit mines, steel towers and underground nuclear storage facilities that are also part of our contemporary scenario.

A scholarly interpretation of the traditional life of NM’s Indo-Hispano people

The Maxwell Museum exhibit may very well be considered a watershed event in its scholarly interpretation of the traditional life of New Mexico’s Indo-Hispano people, for never before has so comprehensive an exhibit been devoted to the phenomenon of acequias in this region. Never has anyone cared to conduct so thorough a level of investigation, documentation, study

and interpretation of this aspect of New Mexico’s 400-year-old agricultural legacy. Credit must be given to its curators, UNM Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Dr. Sylvia Rodríguez, and Maxwell Museum of Anthropology Curator of Exhibits, Devorah Romanek, who worked in close association. Particularly significant is the scope and magnitude of the many artifacts they took pains to amass and creatively display. From a pair of muddy boots, to hoes and shovels, water gates, wooden sluice boxes, an old pickup truck, family portraits, kitchen utensils, topographical and hydrological maps, original photography and artwork; all work together to shed light on the myriad aspects of ordinary life which, when touched by water, spring to life. Viewers will marvel at how, until relatively recently, nearly every aspect of northern New Mexico’s Indo-Hispano culture was tightly woven into a whole and put to the service of people’s deeply ingrained agricultural traditions. Through the use of devotional items, the exhibit demonstrates that even the spirit and apparatus of Catholic religion in New Mexico seems to be designed in such a way as to be able to support the precarious pursuits of the common farmer. At the heart of these pursuits was the near-total reliance upon water delivered by the acequia systems, in some ways not unlike contemporary society’s utter dependency upon the uninterrupted flow of gas and

Green Fire Times • June 2014

L-R: Farm implements on display; Cipriano Vigil performed at the exhibit’s opening with his son Cipriano Pablo Vigil and grandson Alonzo; Co-curator, Dr. Sylvia Rodríguez; Alejandro López with his photo Irrigating Chile at Dusk on Our Family Farm (Santa Cruz, New Mexico, 1986). The photo was used as the signature image for the exhibit on New Mexico’s acequias.

petroleum from outside of the region, though netting completely different effects upon our land. In the show’s fine arts section, a large painting by master painter George Chacón of Taos illustrates the hydrological cycle that the acequia systems keep in continuous motion within our semidesert environment. In a symbiotic relationship reminiscent of our ancestors’ relationship to corn, it shows how humans

are able to assist in replenishing the underground reservoirs of water in their respective watersheds through the practice of gravity-fed flood irrigation. The exhibit, which will be up for an entire year, is being accompanied by a series of presentations by New Mexico acequia and permaculture experts. Among them are Dr. Rodríquez, José Rivera, Paula García, Trish Cyman and Miguel Santiestévan. i

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A Dynamic Duo Do

for

Alejandro López

on and on. Although to the casual observer they might appear to be but a couple of very turned on “back-tola-tierra” enthusiasts, in reality this joined-at-the-hip force of nature is hell-bent on realizing their mission of reviving traditional agriculture in the Spanish-speaking Nuevo Mexicano community,where it once constituted the warp that held all of the threads of the cultural fabric together. As the grandaughter of Juan Carrión and the son of Cornelio Candelaria and Leocadia Baca Candelaria, all dyedin-the-wool farmers of Atrisco, one of the oldest Albuquerque communities, as children Dora and Lorenzo were steeped in the farming ways of la gente. This required hard work, but yielded great satisfaction and provided people with the basics of survival. The physical and spiritual intensity of this

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Comunidad

way of life imparted an absolute love for the land, as well as an empirical and mystical sense that the Earth is our mother and the source for all our needs. Lorenzo is quick to say that as a farmer he is privileged to work with the “life force of nature and to transmute it into the energy that becomes the very cells of our bodies.”

“Dancing” with la madre tierra As he sees it, by not doing this, we relegate ourselves to an existence and society blighted by an untold of number of social ills. Dora and Lorenzo are both impassioned about being able to share their understandings and practices with other people, particularly with mothers and children. They carry out their work as if they w e re t h e l a s t ge n e r a t i on t o know in their bones that “dancing” this way with la madre tierra is the paramount source of healing and salvation for the multitudes of walking wounded who live in dangerous druginfested Albuquerque neighborhoods. What might simply appear to be puttering around with seeds, drip irrigation and veggies, is in fact the laying down of a literal and conceptual f ramework for a tightly braided agricultural, cultural, educational and economic movement that, for some, has the potential to enhance the mental, physical and emotional capacities of young people who seek the practical skills required for survival in a changing world. Recently, Dora and Lorenzo’s efforts at creating an almunia (Spanish-Arabic word for a beautiful garden-like place of learning, rich in every form of

Depending on the time of day or year, you might find them feeding chickens and gathering eggs, tending several acres of chile and maíz azul (blue corn), building hoop houses, filling out FDA forms, manually grinding several hundred pounds of maíz into cornmeal, making adobes, meeting with community leaders, making butter, yogurt, cheese, salsa, meals, and

ora Pacias and Lorenzo Candelaria of the South Valley of Albuquerque do a phenomenal job of demonstrating what two highly motivated, energetic individuals can accomplish in the seventh decade of life, having chosen to focus their energy on one (multifaceted) thing. In their case it is traditional organic agriculture—cultural and community renewal through holistic farming—two sides of the same coin.

Earth

life) garnered two highly coveted awards: New Mexico Farmer of the Year from the New Mexico Acequia Association for Lorenzo, and the Good Earth Award for Extraordinary Stewardship of the Earth, given to both Lorenzo and Dora by the 2014 New Mexico Organic Farmers Conference. The “rightness” of their lives’ mission has also been underscored as a result of the recent coalescence of a powerful network of South Valley and Burque farmers, entrepreneurs, educators, artists and community Top (l-r): Candelaria and Pacias walk in a leaders. Not long ago, members procession to bless the acequia; an offering of the Southwest Organizing of acequia water at a NM Acequia Association Project, as well as members of Congreso; with chile harvest; Candelaria with UNM sororities and fraternities, hoop house. Left: at the Maxwell Museum descended on their farm en mass acequia exhibition with NMAA staff (l-r) Jason Jaramillo, Pilar Trujillo and Quita Oritz to assist them with major cleanup campaigns and repairs to a hoop as learning spaces for everyone else. house that had been damaged by gusts Such structures will make their dream of wind. This was particularly timely, as of integrating farming with learning all Lorenzo and Dora’s quality produce the more attainable. i has risen to the top levels of visibility Alejandro López, and is now sold to some of Santa Fe’s writer and most conscientious restaurateurs. photographer, has for With the advent of this new agricultural several years followed year, they are happily engrossed in Dora and Lorenzo’s making plans for soon-to-be-built journey and romance living quarters for apprentices, as well with the Earth and each other.

Green Fire Times • June 2014

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EVERYDAY GREEN

Backyard Foraging

Susan Guyette

efore you pull up those backyard “weeds” for disposal, consider this: a rich healing potential may be at your fingertips. Whether these plants are viewed as an invasive weed or medicinal powerhouse is highly related to cultural worldview.These plants can be considered edible landscaping—plus, by not destroying the plant, you are actively saving the variety for future generations.

vitamin A (more than carrots), iron, calcium, phosphorus and potassium. Harvest in the spring before blossoming to avoid a bitter taste, cutting rather than pulling up, to yield several harvests. How to eat it: Eat in small quantities, owing to the diuretic quality of this plant. Make a dandelion salad, steamed and served with butter, sautéed with garlic and olive oil, or in a juice. The roots are also edible.

There are hundreds of edible and medicinal species in the Southwest. This article focuses on four, some of which are endemic to the Southwest while others are species introduced from other continents. All are nutritionally dense.

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) is nutrient-abundant in vitamins A, C and E, high amounts of iron, calcium, iodine and folic acid. The plant has a tangy or peppery flavor. Harvest along stream banks where water is known to not be contaminated, or soak with Halazone or Chlorazene tablets for safety. How to eat it: Eat raw young greens and flowers in salads or sandwiches, or add to a soup.

The Plants All Around Us

Purslane (Portulaca olearacea) is a succulent herb with fleshy leaves and yellow flowers. This herb tastes like watercress or spinach and is a nutrientdense gem, high in Omega-3 fatty acid and melatonin and with stems high in vitamin C. Look for it to appear after rain, let it grow for a couple of weeks or more, then harvest the plant in the morning or

Cota (Thelesperma gracile) also known as greenthread and, in New Mexico, as Indian or Navajo tea, contains luteolin, a flavonoid with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.This plant is in the sunflower family. How to eat it: Dry and store in bundles for later use. Steep a tea with the flowers and leaves for 4 to 5 minutes.

Nurture nature in your backyard.

evening to retain juiciness by pinching the plant to encourage regrowth. How to eat it: Add to a salad or a soup, steam, or lightly sauté with garlic and/or vegetables. Terrific when added to a vegetable juice or on a sandwich. Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium berlandieri), locally called quelites or “wild spinach,” are a nutritious treat containing iron, protein, calcium and phosphorus, as well as vitamins A, B1 and B2. How to eat it: Cooking is recommended; stem, roast or add to soups and sautées such as vegetable or rice dishes. Harvested seeds can be boiled or made into a seed bread. Eating raw in small quantities is another alternative. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is known as a powerful detoxifying food, rich in

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When gathering, avoid pesticided areas in yards or by the edge of the road. In terms of yard care, gathering is a healthy alternative to poisoning local environments with pesticide use. And, if you don’t have a yard, many of these plants are available at Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. To learn more about edible wild plants, the following guides may be helpful: Edible and Useful Plants of the Southwest, by Delena Tull; Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest, by Charles W. Kane; and Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants, by Steve Brill.

Harvesting with respect

In a hierarchical view of nature, some plants and animals are considered to be of more value than others.This view leads to eradication of some species with yet “undiscovered” nutritional and medicinal value. In contrast, Native American belief honors the healing potential of

all plants, through thousands of years of gathering, eating and observing health effects. Western science is just beginning to understand the value of biodiversity— over 10,000 micronutrients are now known—and research is continually “discovering” more. To ensure the survival of wild plant species, harvesting with respect, or using the ancient wisdom imbedded in gathering techniques is vitally important. Tending wild plants by cutting encourages more growth. Not pulling the plant out by the roots, unless the medicinal value is in the root, also encourages regrowth. Gathering in a way as to thin the number of plants leaves space for growth and doesn’t deplete the local supply. The principle of honoring nature by taking

only what you need and not depleting an area is central to maintaining biodiversity. Nurture nature in your backyard by leaving plants for seeding next season’s growth. This is considered respectful of the plant. If you don’t want spreading, for plants like dandelion or thistle, harvest before the plant produces seeds. In the Native American world view, all plants are medicines.Take care of Mother Earth, and she will take care of you. i Susan Guyette, Ph.D., is of Métis heritage (Micmac Indian/Acadian French) and a planner specializing in cultural tourism, cultural centers, museums and native foods. She is the author of Sustainable Cultural Tourism: SmallScale Solutions; Planning for Balanced Development; and the co-author of Zen Birding: Connect in Nature. susanguyette@ nets.com, www.susanguyette.com

Albuquerque Memorial Calls for Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods Vermont Labeling Bill Signed into Law; Oregon Counties Ban GMOs

Last month, Albuquerque city councilors voted 8-0 to pass a memorial supporting mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods (also known as GMOs). Sponsored by councilors Isaac Benton and Diane Gibson, the memorial was strongly backed by a diverse coalition of over 50 organizations and businesses in New Mexico. It does not establish new rules in Albuquerque. It does, however, call on the governor, state, and congressional delegations to support labeling, statewide and nationally. GMOs are plants altered in a laboratory with foreign genetic material to create novel genetic combinations and exhibit traits that do not occur in nature. Most processed foods now contain some derivative of GMO corn, soybean or cotton. The memorial says that federal regulatory agencies haven’t enacted a plan to monitor GMO products and that research on engineered crops “has revealed problems with liver and kidney function in rats.” Councilor Gibson also cites several studies indicating possible links to digestive and other health problems in humans. Biotech companies submit their own safety-testing data, and independent research is limited because the companies prohibit cultivation for research purposes.

With the memorial’s passage, Albuquerque joins the city of Santa Fe in advocating giving people the ability to make fully informed decisions about what they are eating and feeding their families. “Right now,” said Benton, “the companies that stand to profit from genetic engineering are making those decisions for us.” “Genetically engineered foods also threaten the livelihood of farmers that grow non-GMO crops since GMO seed and the GMO-related pesticides can contaminate neighboring fields,” said Eleanor Bravo, Southwest organizer for Food & Water Watch. GE foods are labeled in more than 60 other countries, including the entire European Union, China, Japan and Russia. In the United States, citizen-led labeling campaigns have been successful getting legislation introduced in more than 20 states. Last year, ballot initiatives in California and Washington were narrowly defeated after multimillion-dollar campaigns waged by big food corporations. However, Vermont recently signed into law the first bill in the U.S. requiring mandatory labeling. And on May 20, groups (Our Family Farms Coalition) in two Oregon counties managed to defeat the Gene Giants, passing countywide bans on growing GMOs. For more information, visit: http://www.organicconsumers.org

Green Fire Times • June 2014

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Above all of that, Las Cruces and Doña Ana County will welcome new visitors to the Land of Enchantment who come to experience the cultural heritage all New Mexicans are proud of. Our local restaurants will be able to serve to those visitors some of the best food in the region. Our chile rellenos, enchiladas and gorditas are not like other food. In addition to our restaurants highlighting our wonderful green and red chile, many of the local businesses proudly display souvenirs and gifts that capture the richness of our culture. Sportsmen, hunters and recreational users will be able to enjoy exploring the landscape, as well as become protectors of the pristine deserts that glow in the early evening light. And generations to come will be able to wander amongst the mesquite and creosote bushes, learning of the people who roamed the land centuries before now, seeing their stories and history carved into the boulders throughout the Sierra de Las Uvas and surrounding areas.

The Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument

In southern New Mexico, our local economy expects to see $7.4 million in new annual revenue, 88 jobs will be created, and over $560,000 in new state and local tax revenues will come back into our tax base.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell speaking in Las Cruces, New Mexico on May 23, 2014 at the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument celebration

On May 21, 2014, Carrie Hamblen, executive director of the Las Cruces Green Chamber, was invited to speak at the signing of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument designation at the Department of the Interior in Washington D.C. She was the only speaker from New Mexico, taking the microphone with Council on Environmental Quality Acting Chair Mike Boots, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, and President Barack Obama. Below are her remarks.

hank you President Obama, Secretary Jewell, Senator Udall and Senator Heinrich, and many of the distinguished individuals here today that brought us to this point. There are three things that always come up when you talk about New Mexico.

N u m be r 1 : O u r chile. Red or Green, it doesn’t matter. Just as long as you know the answer to our state question is always “Christmas.” Number 2: O ur L-R: Sec. Jewell, Congressman Ben Ray Luján, President Obama beautiful blue skies and Senators Heinrich and Udall at the signing of the designation that you will find n ow h e re e l s e i n these great United States. With hues of pink, and fiery orange, our blue skies are the constant subject of many a picture. Number 3: The Organ Mountains. With the majestic spikes we call “the Needles,” to the wildlife roaming amongst the canyons, every New Mexican will always be protective of those vistas. There is no argument there.

W ith this National Monument designation, southern New Mexico will become a true tourist destination. Already, we have the town of Mesilla, with historic old adobe buildings that once saw the Butterfield Trail stop and the trial of Billy the Kid. Just to our north, we have the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument, containing some of the most scientifically significant sites of dinosaur footprints in the Southwest and the world. White Sands National Monument, just on the other side of our beautiful Organ Mountains, is like no other place on Earth, with wave-like dunes of gypsum sand. And today, adding to that amazing list will be the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. New Mexico Senator Heinrich. Dignitaries, business people and community members addressed the approximately 700 attendees at the OMDP celebration.

As a token of our appreciation to those who helped get us here today, the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce has jarred a special batch of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks red and green chile sauce, and we will be making sure you get your share as Carrie Hamblen presented a box of red and a token of our appreciation. green chile to Secretary Jewell Thank you Mr. President, Secretary Jewell, and Senators Udall and Heinrich for truly understanding why New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment. i

Thanks to the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument, not only will our cultural heritage and our never-ending landscapes be protected, but now, our local businesses will have the opportunity to thrive, grow and comfortably contribute to all that makes Las Cruces a great place to live. Our local businesses will begin to experience what a national monument can bring to a community such as ours. Already, Taos County in northern New Mexico is seeing economic benefits because of the Río Grande del Norte National Monument. Following that monument’s designation in March, 2013, the Bureau of Land Management reported a 40 percent increase in visitors—over 50,000 people in fiscal year 2013 compared to 2012. This helped drive a 21 percent increase in the Town of Taos Lodgers’ Tax Revenue. There was also an 8.3 percent increase in the gross-receipts revenue in Taos County’s Accommodations and Food Service sector.

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OP-ED: Our Land IS Worth More Than That Ursula Beck he Taos Tax Assessor’s office recently held a public forum attended by 300 people to explain its current adverse rulings impacting some of our precious agricultural lands. This was an opportunity for the community to voice its concerns and put a human face on just what a tragedy this truly will be unless a more humane way forward can be found. One couple stood up and said that, without any warning or communication of any kind, their taxes had gone from $300/year/acre to over $3,000. They simply received a formal notice stating that unless they paid this new amount immediately, a lien would be placed on their house. Since they saw no way to come up with that amount, they initiated plans to put the land, which has been in their family for generations, on the market. (The realtors are circling...) Another woman pleaded, “Who will help us?” A gentleman, who had recently returned to his family land, said he was trying to re-create the growing of winter wheat, since this used to be “the breadbasket of New Mexico.” But his agricultural (“ag”) status was taken away because he could not prove enough actual current “product.” (The water brokers are circling...)

A forced sale for shortsighted tax requirements strips away something vital. And then there are the horses. They don’t count for “ag” status unless you drive cattle with them or, perhaps, eat them. Anything, to produce that almighty “product.” A show of hands indicated that close to a quarter of the audience had horses. One gentleman said he had worked with horses all his life, starting with his grandfather, and he felt horses deserved respect for helping to build this land into the productive place it had become, supporting many families. Another elderly gentlemen had tears in his eyes as he said that he still kept two old horses on his land that were part of his heritage. His only choice, if his land was taxed away, was to sell them for slaughter, and

that would break his heart. (The butchers are circling...) To be fair to those in the Assessor’s Office, they are trying to operate honestly, and they truly have an open-door policy. Last year I met with Darlene Vigil, and I believe she is trying to be as fair as is possible, but she is hampered by the governmental rules she is sworn to uphold. As currently interpreted, this basically means that if land is to meet the requirements to be considered agricultural, the only way is to prove it is the production of a product. Here in northern New Mexico, with our 90-day short season and limited water, this has traditionally meant only hay, cattle and the occasional orchard. That might have made sense at the turn of the century but not now. Our land is worth more than that. The Assessor’s Office is currently misinterpreting one specific provision in the code that allows for land to be designated as agricultural if it is simply “capable of production.” A compassionate look at this specific provision could be very helpful. So, we are faced with the need to ask our legislators to adjust the rules to fit what is happening today. Despite our smaller families, limited acreages, drought conditions, increasing pressure f rom realtors and water brokers, intergenerational need for family members to leave to find work, and the ever-increasing search to create more tax dollars, the love for and connection to the land remains the same.

Number One: Respect the Cultural Aspect of Our Land

Because it is difficult to find a job here, young people often have to leave. Patriotism is very strong, and many join the military. I know of families whose young adults return and want to pick up farming, but the old folks could no longer keep it up while they were away. Only a few relative newcomers seem to

Green Fire Times • June 2014

Agricultural land in Arroyo Hondo, in Taos County

be able to afford to hire someone to keep their land in compliance. For the rest of us, it is our families, and sometimes they need to be away for a while. But what do they have to return to if the land they love has been taxed out of existence while they are in another town earning a living to support their families? This is an intergenerational disaster. Land that has been in families for generations means more than just a unit of production. A forced sale for short-sighted tax requirements strips away something vital, much like losing a language.

N u m b e r T w o : C re ate Legislative Support for New, On-Farm Income Opportunities

It is of paramount importance that we find ways to generate income from our lands. And here is where agricultural tourism can come into play. In the past, tourism has meant only low-wage dead-end jobs, so it is understandable if the “T” word raises a few eyebrows. However, agricultural tourism is an entirely different breed. First, there is no middleman; all money goes directly to the farmer/rancher (except for grossreceipts tax). Secondly, the farmers/ ranchers create exactly the experience they wish to offer, at the times most convenient for them. Some might wish to host a group of painters for an afternoon only; others will want to offer a real B&B experience to a few guests per year. The possibilities are endless: Weddings in a field of flowers,

children’s parties, cooking lessons, fall harvest cookouts, horseback riding and boarding. None of this can happen if our lands are taxed out of existence. Attention, Bobby Gonzales and Carlos Cisneros. Thank you for showing your support and coming to our forum. We appreciate you. There are some areas where we could really use your help with legislation. For example, recognition of small-family occasional lodgings, honoring of cultural uses, liability protection, insurance availability and group marketing specific to Taos. We are not reinventing the wheel here, and I can point you to legislation already in place in states such as Minnesota and Iowa. These regulations are carefully crafted to permit seasonal and limited farm-stays, so that neighbors are not unduly affected. If we work together to think outside the box of only hay and cattle being valued as agricultural uses, we can protect our precious heritage that is so closely tied to our beautiful land. We won’t have to sell our land if we can find ways to rent its experience through agritourism. i Ursula Beck founded and has been the director of the Taos Art School for 23 years. She also founded and directs Left Bank of the Río Grande and c o o r d i n a t e s Ta o s Cultural Farm Visits. ursularb@q.com

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Green Fire Times â&#x20AC;˘ June 2014

Join the Green Community in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Green Drinks meets on June 4.

See What’s Going On, page 38 for details.

* Foreclosure defense

Green Fire Times • June 2014

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OP-ED

Board of County Commissioners to Decide the Fate of La Bajada Mesa

Diane Senior

a Bajada Mesa, that prominent tabletop 15 miles south of Santa Fe along I-25, is still under threat of a proposed gravel strip mine. The mine application requires approval of the Board of County Commissioners and will be decided at a special hearing on Wednesday, June 11, 4 p.m., at the Santa Fe Convention Center, 102 Marcy St.

Since the CDRC hearing, the application has changed slightly. It now proposes to haul more than 18 million gallons of effluent water (rather than the originally proposed potable water) for dust control during its operation. But whether potable or not, Santa Fe’s water has better uses than the facilitation of a venture its citizens so overwhelmingly oppose.

This strip-mine proposal met with massive public opposition at the County Development Review Committee (CDRC) hearing in March. An overflow crowd spilled into hallways and conference rooms, where television monitors broadcast the proceedings to spectators and to those awaiting their turn to speak. Of the hundreds of citizens who attended, over 40 stood to publicly voice their opposition. Not one person spoke in favor. As CDRC member Bette Booth said just before she cast her vote recommending denial of the mining application, “This is democracy in action, and it’s wonderful to see.”

Our commissioners must hear this critical message: La Bajada Mesa is worth more to this county intact than in pieces. The application’s economic arguments have been ridiculed by economists. Moreover, degradation of the mesa would irreparably harm the landscape, diminish the quality of life for thousands of New Mexicans, and detract from the breathtaking beauty that calls visitors from around the world to marvel at this place. While La Bajada Mesa may lie in private hands, it is a significant part of New Mexico’s heritage and a landmark that is prominently visible for miles. As such, its physical integrity deserves to be protected and preserved for the benefit of all residents, not strip-mined into rubble to enrich a few individuals.

In the end, the committee voted 5-2 to recommend denial of the application. But many people seem to have overlooked the word “recommend.” In June, the application again comes before the county of Santa Fe, this time for a final decision. The fate of La Bajada Mesa now lies in the hands of the five elected individuals who make up the Board of County Commissioners. They will decide whether this treasured part of New Mexico’s landscape, ecosystem, history and culture will keep its traditional character or be blasted and pulverized into gravel and base course.

La Bajada Mesa is worth more to this county intact than in pieces. Santa Fe is a county that claims to value “sustainable growth.” The June hearing will be one of those telling moments where we learn whether we really mean those words. While the county and community groups have devoted countless hours to crafting a Sustainable Growth Management Plan (SGMP) that states, “Maintaining the integrity of viewsheds is a priority,” this application would destroy one of the most important viewsheds in the county. As CDRC member Frank Katz explained with his vote to deny, it is “the policy of the county to not allow development near prominent landmarks, natural features, distinctive rocks and landforms…I absolutely agree we need construction materials. This is just not the place to do it.” Of further concern, the area is part of an important wildlife corridor. The SGMP’s own Conceptual Major Wildlife Corridors show the proposed mine site surrounded by these corridors. Blasting, grinding, night lighting and other industrial mining activity in this sensitive area would stress wildlife, driving both predators and prey away from these critical areas of passage.

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The overwhelming public turnout at the CDRC hearing was a compelling reminder of the visceral importance of La Bajada Mesa to residents of this county. Since that hearing, the quotation, “Democracy is not a spectator sport,” has rarely left my mind. Ours is a community small enough for every voice to be heard and for your opinions to influence outcomes. But the human scale of this place also means that the absence of your voice is keenly felt. The campaign to save La Bajada Mesa is as grassroots as it gets. There are no PACs or behemoth national organizations representing our interests. It’s me, and you, and neighbors throughout the county standing up, spreading the word, writing letters, and speaking out against the irreparable harm that this mine represents. We have just one chance to get it right. This June, our county commissioners have a clear choice to make. You can help ensure they make the right decision. Write letters. Come to the final hearing on case number ZMIN13-5360 (Rockology Case). The hearing could be postponed, so visit www.SaveLaBajada.org or “like” Facebook.com/Savelabajada to stay Santa Fe County Commissioners up-to-date on the latest developments. For more information, copies of the agenda or auxiliary aids or services, call 505.986.6200. i Diane Senior is an active member of the Rural Conservation Alliance. She lives far off-grid in a still-rural area outside of Madrid, New Mexico. Email her at SaveLaBajada@gmail.com

Green Fire Times • June 2014

G.L. Runer Electric Inc. Honest Quality Work at Competitive Prices

505-471-3626 We provide testing, and troubleshooting for Santa Fe, NM and the surrounding areas.

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At the Crossroads of Grace and Faith 4525 State Highway 14 Look for our chuck wagon!

Green Fire Times • June 2014

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

NEWSBITEs As residents in and near Lamy, New Mexico continue to fight a proposed Pacer Trucking crude-oil offload site near the village’s lone well and aquifer, town of Bernalillo officials have ordered a Houston-based company, Marlin Midstream, to stop using a closed Centex wallboard manufacturing plant for loading San Juan Basin oil into train cars. The company reportedly used the site from May 1-7 without applying for a special-use permit or business license. Area residents, concerned about safety, impacts on roads and potential threats to groundwater, noticed the loading, which was being done in the middle of the night, and alerted the officials. According to the company’s business plan, Marlin Midstream planned to start offloading 1,000 barrels a day and increase that to 4,000 barrels. The Bernalillo Planning and Zoning Commission will consider the company’s request on July 1. Last month the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an emergency order requiring that railroads inform state emergency-management officials of large shipments of crude oil and urged shippers not to use older model tank cars that are easily ruptured in accidents, even at slow speeds. A new website created by a Denver-based organization that monitors spills caused by crude oil, drilling fluids and methane releases, maps where spills take place in New Mexico. Spills occur almost twice a day in the state, according to the Center for Western Priorities, which evaluated years of data from the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s Oil Conservation Division. About 470 spills were reported in southeastern New Mexico in 2008, and increased to more than 600 in 2013. There were more than 900 throughout the state that year. A spokesman for the NM Oil and Gas Association said that many of the spills are small and do not impact groundwater.

Dairy Rule Meetings with Industry to Exclude Environmental and Community Groups Michael Jensen State law explicitly requires that the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) assemble an advisory committee, consisting of all stakeholders, whenever there is a proposal to amend regulations under New Mexico’s Water Quality Act. In a move that may violate that law, NMED has announced plans to hold separate, closed-door, advisory- committee meetings with the dairy industry and the Citizen Coalition, which is made up of environmental and community groups that support the current dairy rules. “This is not an advisory committee,” said Bill Olson, former Bureau Chief of NMED’s Groundwater Quality Bureau. “In my 28 years of state rulemaking experience, I have never seen a private advisory-committee process like this that excludes members from having a free and open discussion of ideas and proposed rules.” Gov. Martínez tried to prevent the first rule from going into effect, and then the dairy industry went to court to block it. As a result of settlement talks, a second version of the rule was created. “This new twist is especially disturbing because all of the stakeholders—NMED, the dairy industry and the Citizen Coalition—stipulated in 2011 to the court and the Water Quality Control Commission that we agreed with the amended dairy rule that the WQCC approved,” said Jon Block, staff attorney for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, which represents the Citizen Coalition. “There should be no discussion of gutting the rules to which all parties agreed.” “We will not endorse exclusive, private meetings such as those proposed by the NMED and accepted by the dairy industry,” said Block. “We will follow the lawful, public process the Legislature intended when it required that NMED obtain stakeholder advice in formulating regulations that utilize the best scientific and technical means for preventing pollution by the dairy and other industries in New Mexico.” Michael Jensen is Middle Río Grande projects director for Amigos Bravos. www.amigosbravos.org

Restoring Land through Art, Activism and Education Illegal dumping is a solvable problem in Taos County

Illegal trash dumping and shooting lead ammunition into arroyos, across mesas, along rivers and in riparian zones have been major problems throughout Taos County in New Mexico for many years. One site of intensely concentrated dumping is at the end of County Road 110 south of Taos, in the area where the Río Pueblo de Taos meets the Río Grande. Many of the dumped materials, in addition to being toxic pollutants,

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are physical hazards that can entrap wildlife. Trash and its toxins end up downstream in reservoirs and irrigation systems and can affect the quality of public water and food sources. In response to this, using a synergistic link between education, Section of monster midden site between Taos Landfill the arts and ecosystem and Taos Airport on Highway 64 restoration, Amigos Bravos is partnering with the Beautiful Midden Project to inform people about this degradation of local wild and semi-wild places. “Midden” is an archeological term that refers to a refuse heap. The project is designed to unite the community in creatively addressing the systemic social issues that underlie causes of environmental degradation.

Courtesy Amigos Bravos

Residents Concerned about Oil Loading

Transfer Stations – Taos County Government

Amigos Bravos and Beautiful Midden have commended Director Edward Martínez and the employees of the Taos County Solid Waste Department for their diligence, hard work and progressive recycling and trash-management programs. Taos County bills $100 a year ($8.33 a month) per home to support its extensive trash and recycling initiatives. Recycling locations in the town and county transfer stations provide free recycling of #1 and #2 plastics, aluminum and steel cans, cardboard, mixed paper, glass bottles, scrap metals, appliances with freon, branches and brush, electronics, compact fluorescent lamps, phone books, rechargeable batteries, tires and auto fluids. To report illegal dumping in Taos County, call the code compliance official at 575.779.8941. For more information about Amigos Bravos and the Beautiful Midden Project, visit www.amigosbravos.org and www.beautifulmidden.org

Six-Week Design Workshop for 10th–12th Grade Students

Santa Fe is renowned for artistry, design and architectural style. But how many of our region’s most creative young minds really appreciate that reality and have an opportunity to learn from other creative minds with those forms of expertise? The Santa Fe Art Institute, under the direction of its new executive director, Sanjit Sethi, is addressing that situation this summer with an innovative program. Design Workshop 2014 is a 6-week intensive for 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade students with an interest in design, construction and the principles of sustainability. Held on the campus of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design from June 9 through July 17, it is a great opportunity for kids to engage, think and build. Sethi has a Master of Science in Advanced Visual Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has a deep background in how creative cultural organizations can be effective teachers and contributors to a community. Last month he gave a talk to the Santa Fe Homebuilders Association entitled “What matters? How the Santa Fe Art Institute can engage with local, national and international creative minds to drive social change.”

Homewise Opens “Homesmart” Albuquerque Office

Homewise, the full-service home-purchase agency that provides education, financialliteracy training and funding options so that people can acquire affordable housing, has opened an office in Albuquerque at 4401 Lomas Blvd. NE. The nonprofit has operated in Santa Fe since 1986, helping almost 3,000 homeowners there. The agency is operating in Albuquerque under the name Homesmart. Its initial goal for Albuquerque is to assist 100 homeowners. Homewise recently received a $5-million line of credit from FDIC-regulated UBS Bank USA to facilitate financial stability through home ownership by funding mortgage loans for up to 200 low-to-moderate-income buyers in Santa Fe. The agency offers 30-year fixed loans through its own lending department, so there isn’t a need for expensive, private mortgage insurance.

Green Fire Times • June 2014

What's Going On! Events / Announcements and methods of drought-proofing your garden soil in order to grow vegetables, fruit and berries. Free. Registration: 505.359.2523 or beth@habitatabq.org

ALBUQUERQUE

June 3, 6-8 pm Río Grande Bosque Educational Forum NM Museum of Natural History & Science, 1801 Mountain Rd. NW

A public dialogue on the future of the Bosque/ Río Grande Valley State Park. Panel presentations, discussion and Q&A. Invited Panelists: Dave Simon, former director of NM State Parks; Scott Verhines, NM state engineer; Richard Barish, Sierra Club; Mathew Schmader, city of ABQ, Open Space. Free.

June 4, 9 am-12 pm Bucket Composting – The Bokashi Method Bear Canyon Senior Center, 4645 Pitt NE

Turn food scraps into plant-ready nutrients. An ideal way to compost indoors: quick, simple, relatively odor-free. Registration: 505.767.5959 or register@nmcomposters.org

June 4, 5:30-7:30 pm Green Drinks Hotel Andaluz, 125 2nd St.

Network and mingle with people interested in local business, clean energy and other green issues. Amy Miller, Environmental Programs director for PNM, will speak on energy efficiency and new and existing programs to help PNM customers save energy, money and protect the environment. 505.244.3700, Lindsay@nmgreenchamber.com

June 7 National Trails Day Elena Gallegos/Albert G. Simms Park

Volunteers work on over 10 different projects in the Sandia Foothills Open Space trail systems east of Tramway just north of Academy. Vegetation restoration, trash removal and trail maintenance. 505.452.5200, www.cabq. gov/openspace

June 10, 5:30-7 pm Home Composting Basics North Valley Senior Center 3825 4th St. NW

Desert garden soils often lack sufficient organic matter. Learn the science, materials and methods of drought-proofing your garden soil in order to grow vegetables, fruit and berries. Free. Registration: 505.761.4025 or register@nmcomposters.org

June 12, 11 am-1 pm Outdoors Coalition Meeting

An effort to collaborate on providing winter activities on the Sandia Mountains. 505.281.3304, ext. 115 or rheiar@fs.fed.us

June 14, 10-11:30 am Home Composting Basics Habitat for Humanity Restore 4900 Menaul NE

Desert garden soils often lack sufficient organic matter. Learn the science, materials

June 14, 1-3 pm Composting with Worms Cherry Hills Library, 6901 Barstow NE

Vermicomposting is one of the best ways to compost kitchen scraps. Learn how to use worms and microorganisms to turn organic waste into nutrient-rich humus. Free. Registration: register@nmcomposters.org

June 18, 9 am-12 pm Drought Gardening Strategies

Bear Canyon Senior Center, 4645 Pitt NE Learn the science, materials and methods of drought-proofing your garden soil in order to grow vegetables, fruit and berries. Free. Registration: 505.767.5959 or register@ nmcomposters.org

June 21, 1-4 pm Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge Open House

Learn about the solstice, solar energy and the sun. Presented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. http://www.fws.gov/refuge/valle_de_oro

June 26, 7 pm Thinking Like a Watershed: Privatizing Our Water Resources Kimo Theater, 423 Central Ave. NW

Sonia Dickey, John Fleck and Mike Hannan will provide insight on water resource privatization in the West. Moderated by Jack Loeffler. Presented by the NM Humanities Council. Free.

June 28, 10 am-12 pm Intro to Water Harvesting and Green Infrastructure Workshop Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority, 1041 Commercial Dr. SE, Río Rancho

Learn about rainwater harvesting and green infrastructure. Develop skills & expertise to transform your community. Free. RSVP: 505.433.8273, watershedmgnm@earthfutures.us

June 30, 7:15 am-1 pm NM Kids Count Conference Marriott Pyramid 5151 San Francisco Rd. NE

Child Well-Being: A Call to Action. Speakers include Dr. Arthur Rolnick, economist; Dennis Campa, Annie E. Casey Foundation; Dolores Huerta, labor leader; and Allen Sánchez, president/CEO of CHI St. Joseph’s Children. Plus Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Awards. Presented by NM Voices for Children. Tickets: $75: 505.244.9505, donate.nmvoices.org/kidscount

July 12, 9 am-12 pm Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge Open House

Creating Habitat for Wildlife. See wildlife, learn more about nature and enjoy free, hands-on activities for all ages. Presented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. http:// www.fws.gov/refuge/valle_de_oro

June 28, 10 am-12 pm Intro to Water Harvesting and Green Infrastructure Workshop

Green Fire Times • June 2014

Bachechi Open Space Environmental Classroom, Río Grande and Alameda

Learn about rainwater harvesting and green infrastructure. Develop skills & expertise to transform your community. Free. RSVP: 505.433.8273, watershedmgnm@earthfutures.us

July 19, 3-10 pm Albuquerque Wildlife Federation 100th Birthday Celebration Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge

The federation was founded by Aldo Leopold. Music, food trucks, bosque tours, speakers, games and family activities. Free. http:// abq.nmwildlife.org/

July 26-27 ID Live! Stories of Route 66 Festival Between Lomas and Gibson & San Mateo and Wyoming

Celebrating ABQ’s International District. Littleglobe and residents of the district will premiere 4 co-created works of art, film and performance, the result of 7 months of preparation with over 130 community members. www.littleglobe.org

July 28, 8 am-Aug. 1, 5 pm Certified Training and Certification for Energy Managers PNM Training Facility 414 Silver Ave. SW

Instructor: Mark Roche. $1800-$1900. Info: caevans@sandia.gov, certification info: http://www.aeecenter.org/i4a/pages/index. cfm?pageid=3351

July 30, 9 am Santolina Master Plan Hearing Vincent E. Griego Chambers, City Hall

Bernalillo County Planning Commission hearing on proposed South Valley development that has yet to address water issues. http://contrasantolina.wordpress.com, http://www.southvalleyacequias.org/

SANTA FE

Through August 1 NM State Fair Portrait Project Marion Center for Photographic Arts, SFUAD Campus, 1600 St. Michael’s Dr.

Multicultural portraits taken over five years by 6 photographers. Free. 505.473.6341, Sharon.russell@santafeuniversity.edu

June 3, 8 am-1 pm Tuesday Market Kick-off Party SF Farmers’ Market

Live KBAC broadcast, live music. SF Culinary Academy cooking demo, plus entertainment for children. 505.983.4098, ceci@ santafefarmersmarket.com

June 3 and 17, 8:30 am-12 pm Measuring Nonprofit Success & Impact SF Community Foundation

Nonprofit technical assistance workshop with Michele Lis. $25, $50, $65 sliding scale. Registration: 505.988.9715, www.santafecf.org

June 3 or 6, 11 am-3 pm and 5-8 pm Dine to Donate for a Solar Santa Fe Osteria Restaurant

12% of proceeds go to solarizing three community buildings in Santa Fe. 505.989.7262,

newenergyeconomy@gmail.com, indiegogo. com/projects/sol-not-coal

June 4, 5:30 pm NewMexicoWomen.Org Fundraiser/Reception First Citizens Bank 700 Paseo de Peralta

Come learn about pressing issues facing NM’s women and girls and help raise $10,000 for programs that support them. $20-$50 suggested donation. RSVP: sarahg@nmcf.org

June 4, 5:30-7 pm Santa Fe Green Drinks Luna, 505 Cerrillos Rd.

Network and mingle with people interested in local business, clean energy and other green issues. Speakers Diane Senior of Save La Bajada, Marc Choyt of Stop Santa Fe Gold, and Roger Taylor of the SF Basin Water Association: Community Activists Working to Protect the Northern Galisteo Basin. 505.428.9123, glenn@nmgreenchamber.com

June 5, 5:30 pm United Communities of Santa Fe County Meeting Nancy Rodriguez Community Center, Prairie Dog Loop (off Caja del Río Grant Rd.)

County Manager Katherine Miller will discuss economic development planning, water, county survey results and other issues. williamhenrymee@aol.com

June 5, 6 pm Jimmie Vaughn & the Tilt-a-Whirl Band SF Railyard Plaza (by the water tower)

Texas blues guitarist. Free. Presented by Heath Concerts.

June 7 National Trails Day

A day dedicated to celebrating hiking and the nation’s network of public footpaths. Take the 10:20 am Santa Fe Trails bus Route M at Sheridan Station or Guadalupe St. (10:25) to Camino de Cruz Blanca to walk to the trailhead or park at St. John’s College trailhead and walk up the trail along Cam. de Cruz Blanca. Meet at the Dorothy Stewart trailhead at 11 am. Tim@sfct.org, www.sfct.org

June 7-8, 10 am-4 pm Spring Festival and Children’s Fair El Rancho de las Golondrinas La Cienega

A Spanish Colonial farm. Costumed villagers shearing sheep, baking bread and more, plus animals, games, food and hands-on activities for kids. 505.471.2261, www.Golondrinas.org

June 8, 10 am-4 pm High Desert Gardening Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center, Cerrillos, NM

Learn how to grow food successfully in our harsh climate, rainwater harvesting and greywater use techniques. $60 with discounts available. 505.780.0535, www.ampersandproject.org

June 10, 4-6 pm Eldorado/285 Recycles

Eldorado area recycling advocacy group monthly meeting. Featured speaker: Adam Schlachter, SF

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Solid Waste Management recycling/outreach coordinator. 505.466.9797, eldorado285recycles@ mail.com, eldorado285recycles.org

Goes through downtown and the plaza. 6/17-21. 505.471.4300. Parade map: http:// rodeodesantafe.org/rodeo-parade/

June 10, 6:30-8 pm A Fun Talk about Public Banking Unitarian Church, 107 W. Barcelona Rd.

June 14-18 International Algal Biofuels Conference SF Convention Center

Gwen Hallsmith, executive director of the Public Banking Institute, will explore public banking through music and games. Presented by WeArePeopleHere! By donation. WAPHemail@gmail.com

July 10, 11 Krishna Das & Band Green Garson Theater

Be transported to the heart. Presented by Center for Inner Truth and Transitions Radio Magazine. Reserved seating tickets: 505.988.1234, Lensic box office, www.TicketsSantaFe.org

June 10 and 12, 6:30-8:30 pm Wildland Fire: An Introduction SF Community College

Learn how forest fires burn across different types of landscapes, why forests have different fire histories, and how we figure out fire history. $45. Registration: 505.428.1270 or http://www.sfcc.edu/ continuing_education/continuing_education_ registration. Course #SW375 01/CRN 10608

June 11 La Bajada Mining Hearing SF Convention Center

A special meeting to decide the fate of La Bajada Mesa. See op-ed on page 35. www. Savelabajada.org

June 12, 6:30-9:30 pm Dinner and a Spice Evening Savory Spice Shop, 225 Galisteo St.

Join Slow Food SF for a family-style dinner and exploration of spice. $25. Reservations: 505.474.3896, slowfoodsantafe@gmail.com

June 13-29 Santa Fe International New Media Festival

Video and interactive installations, animation, art-apps, digital dome screenings, experimental documentaries, multimedia performances. Free admission. Currentsnewmedia.org

June 14 Santa Fe River Cleanup Volunteer meet-up at Alto Park

Organized by the SF Watershed Association. 505.820.1696, stewards@santafewatershed.org

June 14, 10 am-2 pm Passive Solar Design Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center, Cerrillos, NM

Learn to make use of this amazing resource for heating and cooling. Observe building techniques. The fundamentals of passive solar design for new structures and retrofits will be explained. $60 with discounts available. 505.780.0535, Amanda@ampersand project.org, www.ampersandproject.org

June 14, 10 am-4 pm Arid Land Restoration Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center, Cerrillos, NM

Learn to think like a watershed and read the unique landscape of the arid Southwest, tour and discuss ecological restoration projects. $60 with discounts available. 505.780.0535, Amanda@ampersand project.org, www.ampersandproject.org

June 14, 11 am start Rodeo de Santa Fe Parade

Kicks off 64th annual professional rodeo.

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See newsbite, page 21

June 16, 6 pm Dr. Scott Ortman Lecture SF Community Foundation 501 Halona Street

“What the Pueblos Can Teach Us about Economic Growth,” presented by SW Seminars. $12. 505.466.2775, southwestseminar@ aol.com, southwestseminars.org

June 17, 5:30 pm Water Matters Lecture Series SF Community Foundation 501 Halona Street

Attorney and state Representative Brian Egolf, Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will speak on: Promoting Renewable Energy, Protecting NM’s Water Resources, Holding Polluters Accountable, and how the Legislature is proposing to respond to climate change and the drought. Presented by Amigos Bravos. 575.758.3824, www.amigosbravos.org

June 20, 3:30 pm start Rodeo de Santa Fe Pink Boot Breast Cancer Fundraiser SF Rodeo Grounds VIP Tent

Meet rodeo personalities; go on a “behindthe-chutes” tour, participate in live and silent auctions, have a rodeo-style dinner and then stay for the rodeo. Tickets: $30. 505.920.8444

June 21, 9:30 am-12 pm Survive & Thrive in Drought La Tienda Performance Space, Eldorado

A panel of experts will discuss what individuals, communities and counties can do to prepare for a drought-prone future. 505.660.4745, sibley@msu.edu

June 21, 5-7 pm Celebration of Allan Houser’s 100th Birthday IAIAMuseumofContemporaryNativeArts

Educate + Inform + Inspire. 505.983.8900, www.iaia.edu/museum

June 21-22 Herb & Lavender Fair El Rancho de las Golondrinas 505.471.2261, www.Golondrinas.org

June 23, 6 pm Pueblos and Valle Caldera Hotel Santa Fe

Dr. Matthew J. Liebmann lecture presented by SW Seminars. $12. 505.466.2775, southwest seminar@aol.com, southwestseminars.org

June 25, 5 pm SF County Zoning Map Adoption Draft Public Hearing Board of County Commission Chambers, 102 Grant Ave. www.santafecountynm.gov/sldc

June 26, 11 am-6 pm Whole Foods 5% Day to Benefit Kindred Spirits All SF Whole Foods Locations

Kindred Spirits Animal Sanctuary will receive 5% of the proceeds of all purchases. Meet the senior ambassadors of Kindred Spirits. Info: 505.471.5366, www.kindredspiritsnm.org

June 27-29 Ecological Restoration Volunteer Project Glorieta Mesa near Santa Fe

Join the ABQ Wildlife Federation for a weekend working to improve wildlife habitat on lands set aside for conservation. rioscial@ gmail.com, http://abq.nmwildlife.org/

June 27-29, 10 am-5 pm Santa Fe Studio Tour 2014

Tour over 30 artists’ studios, meet the artists and purchase art. Preview party 6/27, 5:307:30 at the SF University of Art & Design. www.santafestudiotour.com

First Saturday of Each Month 10 am-12 pm SF Citizens’ Climate Lobby Natural Grocers, Community Room 3328 Cerrillos Road

“Creating political will for a livable world” santafe@citizensclimatelobby.org

Become a Site Steward Santa Fe National Forest

Monitor archeological and historical sites on a regular basis for evidence of natural deterioration or vandalism. www.sfnfsitestewards. org

BizMIX Competition

Start-up business ideas and committed entrepreneurs in Santa Fe wanted. Make connections with peers and mentors.Compete for more than $20,000 in cash and prizes while being followed by video cameras for primetime reality TV. Apply at http:// mixsantafe.com/bizmix/. Sponsorship info: mix@ mixsantafe.com

TAOS

June 7, 8 am-12 pm Taos River and Land Cleanup

Community effort to clean the watershed, hiking trails and landscapes. Taos volunteers meet rain or shine, 8 am St. James Episcopal Church parking lot, corner of Gustorf Rd. and Cam. de Santiago, behind Quality Inn; Questa volunteers 8:15 am at Centinel Bank in Questa. Info: 575.751.1420 or 575.758.6768. Organized by Rocky Mtn. Youth Corps, Amigos Bravos, U.S. Forest Service, others. Community lunch afterward.

June 24 San Juan Day—Corn Dance Taos Pueblo, NM

Religious celebration/feast day. Open to the public. No photos allowed. 575.758.1028, TaosPueblo.com

June 26 Raffle for the Río KTAOS Solar Radio, 101.9 FM, Taos, NM

June 6-7 Horses and Land Health Near Las Vegas, NM

“Dogtoberfest in June” Fun, food, music, silent auction, raffles. Meet the ambassador senior animals. Directions/information: 505.471.5366, www.kindredspiritsnm.org

June 8, 9 am-4 pm Corrales Garden Tour

Self-guided tour of 8 distinctive gardens that use water-wise xeric planting. Presented by Corrales MainStreet with support from Sandoval Co. Master Gardeners.Tickets: $10 at local garden centers. 505-350-3955, info@corrales-gardentour.com, www.corrales-gardentour.com

June 11, 7-8:30 pm Wildlife Habitat Forum Pajarito Environmental Education Center, Los Alamos, NM

Panel discussion on how to make any community a Community Wildlife Habitat. Free. 505.662.0460, Programs@PajaritoEEC.org

June 14, 4-7 pm Farm to Table Fundraiser Comida de Campos Farm, Embudo, NM

Family-run, chemical-free farm on the banks of the Río Grande. Enjoy a farm-fresh, home-cooked, family-style dinner, a guided stroll through the fields, tranquil music and a silent auction. $50. 505.473.1004, ext. 14, info@farmtotablenm.org

June 16-20 Free Black Lung Screening for Coal Miners

6/16-17: San Juan Mine, County Rd. 5600, Waterflow, NM; 6/18-19: Navajo Mine, County Rd. 6675, 16 miles SW of Fruitland, NM; 6/20: Walmart, 100 Roberts Dr., Grants, NM. 1-888-480-4042. Offered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health mobile unit.

June 18. 5:30 pm The 1977 La Mesa Fire: A Wake-up Call? Meet at Burnt Mesa trailhead Los Alamos, NM

Teralene Foxx will address why this 15,000acre fire is significant, during a walk along Burnt Mesa. Free. Sponsored by Pajarito Environmental Education Center. 505.662.0460, Programs@PajaritoEEC.org

Hosted by the American Solar Energy Society, this conference will feature 47 papers and panels from 22 universities and a dozen design and architectural firms from around the world. http://solar2014.org, http://ases.org

NM Green Chamber of Commerce

Social gathering and cultural celebration, dance competitions, crafts. Admission and photo permit fees. TaosPueblo.com, TaosPuebloPowWow.com

HERE & THERE

June 7, 1-5 pm Kindred Spirits Animal Sanctuary Fundraising Event Corrales, NM

July 6-10 2014 National Solar Conference San Francisco, California

Amigos Bravos annual Raffle for the Río. Listen on-air or on-line. Winner receives a year’s membership and a week’s stay for two including airfare to Pisac Inn, Perú. This fund aids Amigos Bravos to support emerging NM community water issues. 575.758.3874, Amigosbravos.org

July 11-13 Taos Pueblo Pow Wow

Free workshop sponsored by the Quivira Coalition and Hermit’s Peak Watershed Alliance. Day 1 classroom: Trout Springs Ranch. Day 2 Field Day: Gallinas Canyon. 505.820.2544, mwalton@quiviracoalition. org. Registration: http://quiviracoalition.org

The NM Green Chamber of Commerce, with chapters around the state, has a business directory that is a great resource for conscious consumers looking for locally owned and environmentally friendly businesses in their area. Contribute to a sustainable future by supporting businesses in your city/town that are striving to be leaders in green business practices. Info: 505.859.3433, info@nmgreenchamber.com, http://nmgreen chamber.com/members?page=2

Green Fire Times • June 2014

Green Fire Times â&#x20AC;˘ June 2014