Green Fire Times
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Posts by Green Fire Times
Strong Towns: The Curbside Chat
May 1st
Courtni Hale
Recently, Charles “Chuck” Marohn, the Executive Director of Strong Towns, spoke in Albuquerque. Attendees said they found Marohn’s message to be high-impact and concise in its explanation of how our economy has come to where it is and how a new approach to development could end the current economic crisis. Marohn says that imbalanced growth and the tax burden on citizens for infrastructure needs to shift into a new paradigm that is actually in the public’s and future generations’ best interest.
Lora Lucero, a long-time Albuquerque activist concerned about the community’s future, organized the event. Lucero had been researching city More >
Faren Dancer’s… Unicopia Green
May 1st
The Cultural Reemergence of Democracy
In these challenging, if not fascinating times there is opportunity for advancing ourselves individually and as a culture. The sense of powerlessness that comes with scarcity is readily offset by a creative resolve and the reinvention of one’s personal status quo. When it comes to the larger cultural phenomenon of citizens and communities taking back the inherent, inalienable rights upon which our republic was founded, this grassroots effort demonstrates democracy may be alive and well. The progress toward personal and community empowerment is being driven by what is just and sustainable for the future of our More >
What’s Going On? – Albuquerque
May 1st
ALBUQUERQUE
Through Sept. 8, Th. or Sat., 9 am-1 pm
Backyard Gardening Courses
La Orilla Farm, 2401 Black Mesa Loop (S. Valley)
12-part course. $300/individual; $500/couple. 505.877.2877, screed@earthlink.net, www.mrcog-nm.gov/show-all-ag-blog-showallagblog-211/702-qthe-mother-of-all-back-yard-gardening-courses
May 2, 11:30 am-1 pm
USGBC Luncheon Program
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St. NW
“A Tale of Two Certifications: Silver Gardens – Half LEED NC, Half LEED for Homes panel discussion. $25/$30 members, $30/$35 non-members, $18/$23 emerging green builders. Register: www.usgbcnm.org
May 6
Family Nature Mapping
60 Columbine Ln., Cedar Crest
Special presentation at 10 am and then you can take advantage of over 5 miles of hiking trails, a bird blind, geocaching (bring your GPS) and a picnic site. Sunday programs More >
What’s Going On? – Santa Fe
May 1st
SANTA FE
May 4, 10 am-12 pm
PRESERVE Public PresentationSF Girls’ School, 310 W. Zia Rd.
A report with exhibits and a film from SFGS’s outdoor classroom for environmental science, focused on riparian restoration of nine miles of the SF River. A collaboration with other teachers, schools and organizations. 505.820.3188, SantaFeGirlsSchool.org
May 5, 9 am-noon
Plants for the SF Area
SF Greenhouses, 2904 Rufina St.
Workshop with horticulturalist/landscape designer Tracy Neal. Participants will receive the revised Recommended Plant List for the SF Area and the new Xeric Plant List for the SF Area. $10 for SFBG members/$25 for non-members. Reservations required. Info: www.santafebotanicalgarden.org
May 5, 9 am-12pm
Creating Bounty More >What’s Going On? – Here and There
May 1st
HERE & THERE
May 12, 12:30-5 pm
Gallinas Watershed Olympics
United World College, Las Vegas, NM
Community celebration of the watershed. Fun, informative activities for all ages.
Team competitions, horseshoes, wood splitting, kite flying, poetry, music and more. Info: 505.454.3012, www.hermitspeakwatersheds.org
May 13-17
ASES World Renewable Energy Forum
Colorado Convention Center – Denver, CO.
The American Solar Energy Society and the World Renewable Energy Network presents this educational event for solar energy professionals in North America. This year’s theme: Empowering the World with Renewable Energy. Prominent speakers and technical presentations from universities, renewable energy laboratories, installations and industries around the world. 303.443.3130, ases@ases.org, www.wref2012.org
May 14-16
Governor’s Conference on Tourism
Taos More >
The Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship
Apr 3rd
Fostering the Creative and Cultural Economy
Alice Loy
A couple of weeks ago, as I drove up through the Española Valley and across the Rio Grande I reflected on my good fortune to be living in New Mexico. In the distance the Jemez Mountains sparkled with new snow; in the foreground low-lying adobe buildings puffed out sweet-smelling piñon smoke. I was on my way to Ohkay Owingeh to take a cooking class with Norma Naranjo, owner of The Feasting Place (www.thefeastingplace.com). Norma and her husband, Hutch, live and farm on the Pueblo and offer classes on traditional Pueblo cooking. They have two More >
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
Apr 3rd
Sustainable Tourism creates economic growth in a manner that does not deplete the natural and built environment, while preserving the culture, history, heritage and arts of the local community. Here are six types of sustainable tourism:
CULTURAL TOURISM
Cultural Tourism involves experiencing or having contact with the unique social fabric, heritage and special character of places. It is an exchange of information on lifeways, customs, beliefs, values, language, views of the environment and other cultural resources. The challenge in planning for cultural tourism is to ensure that the exchange takes place as equitably as possible, in a manner seen as appropriate by More >
Everyday Green: Regional Tourism – A Potential Strategy
Apr 3rd
Susan Guyette
Northern New Mexico is the home of hundreds of culturally interesting enterprises that sustain families and traditions on the land. Yet, most visitors never find these gems. What can be done to assist both traveler and community? The key to creating a win/win tourism benefit is imbedded in rural and urban collaboration, for regional strengths complement the potential of each and create a sense of discovery.
Tourism works on the basis of cooperation. By definition, a tour is a number of stops comprising a trip itinerary. Travelers tend to look for a series of interesting stops and need to More >
Zuni Mainstreet – Balancing the Past, Present and Future
Apr 3rd
Tom R. Kennedy
Zuni Pueblo, a growing community of 10,000 mostly A:shiwi residents, locatedabout 45 minutes south of Gallup in northwest New Mexico, has paradoxically often found itself on both the fringe and at the center of happenings. Historically this was certainly the case in 1540 when a massive expedition of Spaniards and “Mexica” allies followed stories of fabled wealth to arrive and begin to claim the larger Southwest region for Spain. The regional Zuni community that attracted initial attention soon found itself on the remote fringes of this emerging New Mexico.
Native American communities in recent years have themselves sought an elusive More >
Columbine Hondo – New Mexico’s Forgotten Wilderness
Apr 3rd
Stuart Wilde
A New Mexico Treasure
The Columbine Hondo Wilderness Study Area (WSA) is a pristine 46,000-acre Rocky Mountain paradise located in the heart of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Taos County. Managed as Wilderness by the Carson National Forest, the Columbine Hondo is a treasured public wild land by residents and visitors alike, and is an important source of surface water for downstream agricultural communities. The springs and streams of the Columbine Hondo comprise valuable headwaters of two major tributaries of the Upper Rio Grande, the Red River and the Rio Hondo.
Situated between Taos Ski Valley and Red River, with More >
One of New Mexico’s Best-Kept Secrets
Apr 3rd
Allegra Huston
Tucked away west off the road between Abiquiu and Tierra Amarilla is one of New Mexico’s best-kept secrets. With towering pink, yellow and white sandstone walls striped like Neapolitan ice cream, old-growth ponderosa pines and flower-strewn meadows, the wilderness canyon of the Rio Chama is a corner of paradise. Roads cannot reach this magical place; the only way in is to float down the river. For three days, you can leave the rest of the world behind.
It was my good luck to discover Los Rios River Runners, New Mexico’s oldest and largest rafting company, the first summer after I More >
Green Living Project Film Documents NM Ecotourism Adventures
Apr 3rd
A number of folks who live and work in Taos and other locales in northern New Mexico are featured in the Green Living Project’s fascinating short film, “Ecotourism in New Mexico.” The 5 minute 30 second film is now online for an international audience to see. (http://www.greenlivingproject.com/projects/new-mexico/)
People profiled in the film include Stuart Wilde, owner of Taos’ Wild Earth Llama Adventures; Francisco “Cisco” Guevara, owner of Los Rios River Runners; Porter Swentzell, a guide at the Puye Cliff Dwellings of Santa Clara Pueblo; April Winters of Taos Pueblo; and Adriana Blake of Taos Ski Valley.
“I’m doing what I’m doing to More >
Ecotourism al Nuevo Mexicano
Apr 3rd
How Rural Indio-Hispano Communities Are Getting on the Ecotourism Bandwagon
ARTURO SANDOVAL
How does a mobile food truck help a rural community interested in promoting ecotourism?
That idea sprang from the minds of the Cooperative Development Center of New Mexico’s (CODECE) staff as a way to create linkages among three co-ops formed last year in the northern New Mexico villages of Truchas and Córdova. It was also a way to launch CODECE’s efforts to see food preparation as a cultural activity.
Through an innovative grant from the USDA, CODECE—a project of the Albuquerque-based Center of Southwest Culture—received funding for a mobile food truck. The More >
Agritourism: A Growing Business for Small Farms
Apr 3rd
Alice Loy
Along the Rio Grande, pockets of green have beckoned thirsty, hungry, road-weary travelers for centuries. Today, these same pockets of green invite families and tourists, foodies and farm lovers to explore our agricultural history–and future. Agritourism, defined simply as farms hosting visitors and offering farm-based activities, has caught on across the nation, and now farmers in northern New Mexico are getting involved. Agritourism is a value-added product that helps keep farmers on the land, while inviting the community to share in the bounty of local food and the enjoyment of food production.
Selena Marroquin works with the Global Center More >
Alvarado Urban Farm Grows Food & Farmers
Apr 3rd
Farm Tour and Info Session on the Veteran Farmer Project
The Alvarado Urban Farm is growing by leaps and bounds and is on its way to producing a impressive bounty in the coming year. The goal of the farm is to become a local food hub where Albuquerque residents and businesses can grow and purchase local food and learn about local food systems. The farm is also serving as a community space for events, lectures and classes. These include the new Veteran Farmer Project, which is holding a series of workshops at the farm geared towards local veterans.
A free tour of the farm More >
9th Annual East Mountain Fiber Farm and Studio Tour June 2-3
Apr 3rd
Enjoy a day at the farm, breathe fresh mountain air and enjoy the landscape of the East Mountain area for a fun and educational event. Only a short drive from Albuquerque will bring you to this rural area where fiber artists and fiber animal breeders open their studios and farms one weekend every year.
On June 2nd and 3rd from 10 am to 5 pm, the area’s fiber art studios are providing an opportunity to visit with alpacas, sheep, camels, angora goats, llamas and angora rabbits, whose hair is sought after for making fine yarn for hand weaving, felting, crocheting and More >
Educational Travel: Without Books and Beyond Classrooms
Apr 3rd
Jennifer Case
Since the beginning of time, human beings have cared for each other. Being human demands both being cared for and caring for others. It is an innate urge that we cannot resist. Whether loved ones, family members and friends—even strangers ,or plants, animals, water and earth—for decades, individuals and groups have responded to the needs of others and our environment through service, both at home and afar.
As educational institutions have formalized this commitment and concern, service learning has become an organized and popular form of educational travel that is now common practice for schools and community organizations. Service learning More >
Local Sustainability Program Explores Ecotourism Opportunities
Apr 3rd
Kahneratokwas
When I boarded a plane bound for Buenos Aires in January, I had no idea what was in store for me in the wilds of Argentina. As president and co-founder of the Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute, I embarked on a mission to explore opportunities to develop an ecotourism segment for our non-profit organization.
While it is winter in Albuquerque, the summer sky is sizzling in Buenos Aires. I stepped off the plane in full winter gear to a sweltering 100 degrees. After an uneventful pass through customs, I made my way to a taxi stand where a little yellow taxi More >
Picnic for the Planet April 21 – Get Connected with Your Food in a Fun Way
Apr 3rd
If you asked your family, friends or colleagues where their food comes from, what do you think they’d say? There’s a good chance many would respond with “the grocery store.” As the world becomes more urbanized, people become further and further removed from the sources of their food and drinking water. In fact, in a 2011 national poll, 77 percent of Americans could not correctly identify their source of drinking water. That’s troubling.
For these reasons and more, The Nature Conservancy is inviting people across the globe to join in the second annual “Picnic for the Planet” on or around Earth More >
Earth Week Events
Apr 3rd
ALBUQUERQUE
April 21, 8:30 am – 4 pm
Earth Day Activities
Coronado State Monument
Monument Rangers will conduct a hands-on demonstration of adobe plastering and construction with the Bernalillo Youth Conservation Corps. Storytelling and docent-led tours of the Painted Kiva and Bosque Trail. Free. 505.867.5351, Gregory.smith1@state.nm.us
April 21, 9 am – 5 pm Recycled Art Fair
Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors Blvd. NW
Annual event celebrating the creativity of “upcycling.” Workshops, artists, vendors, food, festivities. Free. Presented by Parks & Recreation Dept. 505.897.8831, kselving@cabq.gov, www.cabq.gov/openspace
April 21, 10 am – 2 pm
Earth Day Celebration
Botanic Gardens – ABQ Biopark, 2601 Central Ave., NW
Visit the zoo, aquarium, botanic garden and More >
In the Green Fire Times we spotlight initiatives that create positive social impacts on climate change, energy independence, and green job development...
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