By Susan Martin, Rio Grande Chapter Executive Committee
The national Sierra Club’s Honors and Awards Committee notified Eric Patterson on June 25 that he was the recipient of the Club’s 2016 Special Service Award, which honors Sierra Club members for strong and consistent commitment to conservation over an extended period of time.
Here’s an excerpt from the award submission from our chapter:
Fighting the causes and results of climate change will take the energy of our next generation to prevent environmental devastation. Eric Patterson is the personification of mentor and coach, engaging diverse youth in environmental protection in Illinois and now in northern New Mexico.
Eric is a genial, humble person who makes others feel comfortable and willing to participate ...
By Eric Patterson, Water Sentinels — Rios de Taos
It’s been a busy summer so far for Water Sentinels and our youth group, the Tiger-Salamanders. Here are some highlights:
May 6: The Taos High School Tiger-Salamanders attended a fishing derby at Eagle Rock Lake near Questa. They monitored water on the lake and on the Red River and did some fishing afterward.
May 20-21: Sentinels coordinators attended a conference in Washington, D.C., with other Water Sentinel leaders and Sierra Club staff to discuss the Club’s position on water quality. It was agreed that current leaders will help different chapters to establish water-monitoring.
May 21: Tiger-Sentinels presented their research projects at the annual Enchanted Circle Chapter of Trout Unlimited fundraising banquet. It ...
By Teresa Seamster, Northern New Mexico Group chair
Norma McCallan was the Rio Grande Chapter vice chair, Outings chair, Northern New Mexico chair and the heart of our chapter.
If there is one person who would echo Henry David Thoreau’s words “We can never have enough of Nature,” it would be Norma McCallan, Sierra Club leader and wild lands advocate for almost four decades.
Due to the efforts of Norma and those she worked with in the Rio Grande Chapter, thousands of acres of New Mexico’s sweeping vistas and native wildlife in the Valle Vidal and San Juan Basin Badlands are now preserved.
With the persistent efforts and canny political judgment that characterized her work, Norma led hiking trips to Valle ...
Join us for the launch of our series of 3 forums on the health impacts of oil and gas in the Four Corners area.
Part I: Mapping the Threats
Date & time: June 30th, 2016 at 6:30pm
Location: Step Back Inn, 123 W. Aztec. Blvd., Aztec, NM 87410
Our featured speaker is Dr. Jordon Johnson of Mckinley Community PLACE MATTERS – NM Health Equity Partnership. He will discuss some of the health issues related to oil and gas development in the region, as well as his approach for addressing community impacts.
Following his presentation, there will be a demonstration of a new online “Oil and Gas Threat Map,” created by a coalition of groups. The interactive tool shows what populations and schools ...
The Water Sentinels Rios de Taos are kicking off the 2016 water-monitoring season with a planning and training meeting in late May.
We are also interested in monitoring other parts of New Mexico outside Taos County. If you have a concern about a possibly contaminated stream in your area, please contact coordinator Eric Patterson at eepatt@gmail.com. We are particularly interested in possible pollution of streams from the dairy industry.
Highlights
The Taos High School Tiger Salamanders participated in stocking Rio Grande cutthroat trout at La Junta point on March 22. Students from Taos High School and Questa High School joined other volunteers to assist NM Game and Fish employees in carrying bags of trout fingerlings down the trail to the junction of the Red River and the Rio ...
For details on any of the events below, refer to the calendar or contact Teresa Seamster.
March 2016
16 – One Person-One Vote Panel, 6pm at La Farge Library, 1730 Llano St. SF
19 – Leader Appreciation dinner 6:30 pm (w/ cake & champagne) for Norma McCallan, John Buchser & Susan Martin – The Commons, 2300 W. Alameda SF (after Saturday Chapter Meeting)
24 – Conservation Meeting 7 pm at Sierra Club, 1807 2nd St. Suite 45, SF
April 2016
2 – Clean up the Caja volunteer event, 9am at BLM Petroglyph Park, Airport Rd. and CR 56 – pipe removal to protect birds and small wildlife from being trapped in open standpipes on public lands (Collaboration with BLM and ...
On February 22, 2016, the Sierra Club submitted comments related to the Carson National Forest Revision Plan.
Excerpts:
These comments are submitted on behalf of the Northern New Mexico Group of the Rio Grande Chapter of Sierra Club that represents 2,500 members. Nationally, Sierra Club has 2.4 million members.
The Carson National Forest covers close to 1.5 million acres in northern New Mexico, and comprises some of the most biologically diverse lands and most significant watersheds in the state. Preserving water quality and quantity as well as wildlife abundance and diversity is central to our comments.
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The Rio Grande Chapter (Northern Group) has collaborated with the US Forest Service in fulfilling the monitoring, education and outreach components in northern ...
On February 15, 2016, the Sierra Club submitted comments related to the BLM’s proposed Methane Rule. The Methane Rule will clamp down on the loss of natural gas from roughly 100,000 wells on federal and tribal lands.
The Sierra Club applauds Secretary Jewell on this action!
Excerpts of our comments:
The 2,500 members of the Northern New Mexico Group of Sierra Club commend the Bureau of Land Management for the recently proposed Methane Rule. We appreciate the opportunity to comment in support of this long needed revision.
For 30 years under the current rule, methane has been leaked, emitted and flared into the air of northern New Mexico counties to the extent that our region has the largest methane concentration in ...
