The Work of Edward Abbey—Prophet of the West
Edward Abbey has been dead for 25 years. Larry McMurty called Abbey our ‘Thoreau of the West’. Abbey, who published seven novels and a score of essays and confessions and travel books all dealing with the American West, was known for his uncompromising point-of-view, his insights, his extrapolations, that cover the whole race, and hold a special resonance for citizens of this desert country.
And, of course, this ongoing work we call fledging democracy...
Albuquerque’s River
Most people in Albuquerque see the Rio Grande in flashes, from a bike path or a bridge. But really? That’s no way to know a river. It takes drifting downstream and sometimes, running into sandbars. The river provides water to cities and farmers. But it’s also a place of wildness, and of solace. Here's an audio postcard from a canoe trip in the spring of 2013...
A decade of 100% defense against anti-conservation bills at the NM Legislature
For the 10th year in a row, Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM) and our allies successfully defeated every anti-conservation measure introduced in the state legislature during the 2014 New Mexico Legislative session which ended yesterday at noon.
I am so proud to be a part of this conservation legacy that CVNM is continuing for the people of New Mexico. For a decade CVNM has been on the frontlines, fighting the good fight, protecting our air, land, and water for a healthy Land of Enchantment...
New Mexico Water Wars and Their Implications
My friends and I spent the last months after our high school graduation making memories together before our college paths diverged. We refused to think of the challenges of adulthood that lay threateningly on the horizon but rather spent our time water skiing on Brantley Lake, on the outskirts of Carlsbad, New Mexico, reveling in the few remaining days of our boyhood. The winters of 2009 and 2010 had been excellent snow seasons and along with an unusually wet monsoon season, Brantley Reservoir was swollen almost to full capacity.
Over the course of the next three years, New Mexico suffered through a period of intense drought. The reservoir shrunk little by little, depleted by the water needs of the farmers and citizens of the local community...
Farming in the New Age of Drought
“Record rainfall in September brought most us nearly up to ‘normal’ annual precipitation levels, greened up the rangeland, but the rain came so hard and fast that much of it ran off,” reads part of the introduction to the upcoming New Mexico Organic Farming Conference.
“Acequias were damaged and fields were buried in sediment. And we’re still desperately short of water in the rivers and dams. Without good snowpack this winter, we face exceptional irrigation shortages in 2014.”
The above words set the tone for the 2014 conference, which is scheduled for the weekend of February 14-15 at the Marriott Pyramid North hotel in Albuquerque...
Reviewing NAFTA and the Environment
As possible, new trade agreements stir debate on the world stage, a North American citizen advisory panel is urging that a new emphasis be placed on the ecological costs of increased trade and money flows.
In a statement issued shortly before Christmas, the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), a trinational group consisting of representatives from the three member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), called on the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico to demonstrate a “revival of political will” and undertake a “new mission” with enhanced public involvement in trade and environmental matters...
Water Quality Control Commission Votes for Politics and Against Water Quality Protection
Last Wednesday, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) - a state decision-making entity responsible for protecting New Mexico's water – unanimously voted down (10-0) a Motion to Stay the Copper Rule. In September 2013, the WQCC adopted the Copper Rule, which would allow contamination of groundwater beneath copper mine sites in New Mexico. The stay would have prevented the new Rule from being used by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) in copper mine permitting decisions while the Copper Rule is under appeal in the NM Court of Appeals...
Springtime brings unwanted guests
Many home owners will soon get unwelcome houseguests. The arrival of spring means insect populations are about to boom in New Mexico Here’s how to reduce the odds that ants, flies and crickets will get into your home—and how to deal with them naturally if they do...
Now’s the time for inspections and pest proofing
Someone asked me if bugs will be out early because of the mild weather and what they should do about it. As I said in a previous column, you should take time to pest proof your home in the winter before pest activity starts. Inspect your home or business around the outside and seal or screen any openings where bugs as small as ants can enter...
A Special Kind of Paradise
We stand outside the handsome visitors center, an atoll in the midst of a vast brown sea. The sea is the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, 230,000 acres of Chihuahua Desert, Colorado Plateau, high plains grasslands and two mountain ranges, the Ladrón and Los Pinos.
There are few people in this 30-mile by 15-mile slab of New Mexico between Belen and Socorro: a scattering of ranchers in enclaves along the Rio Grande, a few biologists and geologists, five rangers, a handful of volunteers living on the reserve for three months at a time—and we, of course, a photographer and a reporter who have come to discover the story of this unique place...