June 2011
Rapport with the Rooted Folk
Jun 1st
By Carmen Harris
Last spring I was introduced to an herbalist who has resided in the wilds of southern New Mexico for over twenty years. I had for some time, heard about a gifted healer who roamed the Gila Wilderness and Sonoran Desert with a few burros and relied solely on plant medicine and “primitive” skills. Friends wanted to track him down for consultations. I knew he gathered wild plants for herb shops, but to me Doug Simons was a mythical creature down south somewhere. Then, three things happened at once. A friend was heading down to look for him in More >
Del Are llano: The Acequia Landscape
Jun 1st
Juan Estévan Arellano
One of the most beautiful landscapes is northern New Mexico is the manmade environment known simply as an acequia landscape. Established over 400 years ago, it is today rapidly becoming abandoned. 50-years ago it was a pristine environment, though cracks were already starting to show. These days it is dominated by invasive species, especially the Siberian Elm.
Actually, the acequia landscape’s demise can be traced to the opening of Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1943, which for the first time offered salaried employment to farmers of this region. Yet this first generation of lab workers, born at the turn More >
Amigos Bravos: Friends of the Wild Rivers
Jun 1st
Amigos Bravos has a clear focus on the critical issues that threaten NM’s rivers.
Seth Roffman
“Climate change is here,” declares Brian Shields, Amigos Bravos’ executive director. “Everything we do now is connected in some way to this critical issue and the need to build resilience into the system so we can protect New Mexico’s fragile waters and the communities that depend on them.”
Twenty plus years ago, the work appeared to be far simpler. In 1988, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approached some residents in the Taos area who had an interest in rivers and the outdoors and asked if they More >
Green Jobs: Fact Not Fiction
Jun 1st
Allan Oliver
We can all agree that New Mexico’s prosperity depends on our ability to create good jobs. The NM Green Chamber of Commerce—which represents over 1,200 businesses across the state—is dedicated to that long-term goal. I’m well aware that some people say that “green jobs” are too expensive or don’t even exist—but that’s ignoring the facts. A recent report from the NM Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) proves what we at the Green Chamber have known all along: Green jobs offer tremendous new opportunities for NM businesses and entrepreneurs—and that’s good for everyone.
In late May, the DWS quietly posted to More >
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