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About the Pajarito - Los Alamos Group

The Pajarito Group of the Sierra Club was established to protect the Valles Caldera from private developers. In 2015, the caldera was transferred to the National Park Service management, which should better protect the area. We continue to lobby for judicious management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve along with covering environmental issues in Los Alamos County and the Jemez­ Mountain area, including:

  • Reducing single-­use shopping bags in Los Alamos
  • Retaining open space
  • Working towards a sustainable Los Alamos

How you can make a difference

Join the volunteers helping to restore Bandelier trails destroyed in the Cerro Grande Fire and subsequent flooding. The work is appropriate for any age. Contact Kevin Stillman at kevin_stillman@nps.gov to get the volunteer alerts, or Jody Benson at anteaterjb@gmail.com.

Letters to the editor reach thousands of people and are a great way to advocate for issues. Join our Rio Writers listserv or participate in Lunch and Learn workshops on effective letter-writing (by phone or in person). For either, contact camilla.feibelman@sierraclub.org, 505-715-8388.

Contact Us

Executive Committee

Jody Benson, anteaterjb@gmail.com(505) 662-4782
Howard Barnum, hnbarnum@aol.com
Cheryl Bell, bellrancho@gmail.com, (505) 672-9655
Iris Chung, itlchung@hotmail.com
Michael DiRosa, mddbbm@gmail.com 
Jessie Emerson osoherbalsjessie@gmail.com, (505) 470-1363
Nona Girardi, nonamg@aol.com
Carene Larmat, carenelarmat@gmail.com, (505) 920-5675
Tom Ribe, tribe@swadventures.com

Treasurer: Mark Jones, Jonesmm1@comcast.net, (505) 662-9443

Committee Chairs

Conservation: Michael DiRosa, mddbbm@gmail.com
Endangered species & wildlife: Cheryl Bell, bellrancho@gmail.com, (505) 672-9655
Global Warming: Charles Keller, alfanso@cybermesa.com, (505) 662-7915
Mining: David Torney, dtorney@valornet.com, (575) 829-3433
Valles Caldera Issues:  Tom Ribe, tribe@swadventures.com
Water Issues: Barbara Calef, bfcalef@yahoo.com, (505) 662-3825
Zero Waste, School Liaison: Jody Benson, anteaterjb@gmail.com, (505) 662-4782
Open Space: Howard Barnum, hnbarnun@aol.com

Mailing address

520 Navajo Road, Los Alamos, NM, 87544

How to get involved at the Roundhouse

Democracy doesn’t end with the vote; it begins with the vote. If America is truly a representative democracy, our vote means that we have hired people to represent our values. Our responsibility is to learn how to communicate these values to our representatives. It’s tedious, seemingly futile work, but without our participation, our country will devolve into a plutocracy where the only squeaky wheels are owned by those who can afford to buy a network on which to squeak them.

Read Senator Peter Wirth’s Top 10 Tips for Citizen Advocacy at the New Mexico Legislature.

The Los Alamos County Senators are Richard Martinez and Carlos Cisneros. Our Representative is Stephanie Garcia Richard. Each of them welcomes constituent input.

Pajarito Platuea photo by Mark Kaletka.

News from the Pajarito group

No community-lab pit collaboration

No community-lab pit collaboration
Even with the pandemic, even as Earth’s climate is changing at a rate that has exceeded most scientific forecasts, even as the world grapples with centuries of injustice, the federal government is transitioning toward producing 30, then 80, nuclear-weapons triggers ... Read More

Screening: Sacred land, sacred water

Screening: Sacred land, sacred water
Join the Pajarito Group and Voices of Los Alamos on April 2 at the Los Alamos Nature Center for a special screening of "SACRED LAND, SACRED WATER: Confluences in the Rio Grande Valley." ... Read More

Bear talk at PEEC – October 19

Bear talk at PEEC - October 19
Join James Cain at the Los Alamos Nature Center on Friday, October 19 to learn about how black bears in the Jemez Mountains have responded to recent wildfires and subsequent forest restoration treatments ... Read More

Environmental Historian Scott Einberger to Speak on Stewart Udall’s Life and Legacy

Environmental Historian Scott Einberger to Speak on Stewart Udall’s Life and Legacy
Please join the Pajarito Group and the Library’s Authors Speak at Fuller Lodge to hear about one of our environmental heroes, and to get some tips about furthering our current activism ... Read More