Home / 2011 / / Wolves, watermelons and Otero Mesa–Wilderness Weekly Nov. 2

Wolves, watermelons and Otero Mesa–Wilderness Weekly Nov. 2

Published November 2, 2011 in News.

Wilderness Weekly

November 2, 2011

“He who has known how to love the land has loved eternity.”

— Stefan Zeromski (Polish novelist)

Remembering Ed Abbey:

A special presentation by writer and ethno-musicologist Jack Loeffler

 

Join NM Wild for an evening to remember Ed Abbey with one of his closest friends. Hear recordings from Jack Loeffler’s personal collection and celebrate one of the most important voices for environmental activism in the history of the West.

The event takes place from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, November 10, in the New Mexico Room at La Fonda in Santa Fe (100 E. San Francisco St.). Donations are encouraged and appreciated. Drinks and hors d’ oeuvres will be served.
Respond to Demis Foster at 505-216-9719 or demis@nmwild.org by Monday, November 8.

(Photo above is Jack Loeffler).

Return of the lobos

View footage of the five Mexican gray wolves that were recently released in northern Mexico.
NM Wild Legal Fund needs your help!

Wilderness protection is an essential route toward furthering the goals of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Our legal staff monitors federal agencies for compliance with environmental laws, comments on proposed actions by agencies, develops and submits proposals for administrative land protections, negotiates with agencies for greater protections and compliance, and occasionally when necessary, becomes involved in litigation when agencies are out of compliance. We have already seen significant successes as a result of our involvement in these processes.  Your donation to the legal fund will ensure that these critical actions can continue.
 
Ecoflight just finished a nice video from the last flight they did over Otero Mesa and the mining in Hudspeth County.

Conservation efforts on the Otero Mesa

 

By Nathan Newcomer, NM Wild Associate Director

Ruidoso News

Otero Mesa, south of Alamogordo, represents the single greatest opportunity to permanently protect a unique portion of North America’s natural heritage.

Approximately 30 percent of the entire Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion lies north of the U.S./Mexico Border in southern New Mexico and westernTexas. Only 2.5 percent of the entire desert is under formal protection. The majority of publicly held lands within the eco-region are in New Mexico.

At 1.2 million acres in size and with more than 1,000 native wildlife species, Otero Mesa is the largest and wildest desert grassland left on public lands in theUnited States.

Over 500,000 acres of Otero Mesa qualify for wilderness designation, making it the largest potential wilderness area left in New Mexico. Furthermore, the Salt Basin aquifer, which underlies the Otero Mesa grasslands, is considered to be the state’s largest, untapped freshwater resource.

Read more

DONATE NOW to help us protect Otero Mesa from hardrock mining.

 

Groups demand Marita Noon cease violent “Smash the Watermelons” rhetoric

 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Four New Mexico conservation groups demanded today that fossil-fuel industry front-woman Marita Noon cease her use of “watermelon-smashing” rhetoric in speeches and editorials and on websites.

Noon is notorious for whipping up hysteria at pro-industry rallies by chanting “smash the watermelons” after telling crowds that environmentalists are watermelons because they are green on the outside and red on the inside. Noon distributes “Smash the Watermelons” stickers at her anti-environmental rallies and has created a “Smash the Watermelons” Web page

“Marita Noon’s vitriol pollutes civic discourse,” said Taylor McKinnon, public-lands campaigns director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Inciting violence against your fellow citizens is unacceptable. She needs to stop now.”

Noon heads two oil-industry front groups, Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy and Energy Makes America Great. She advocates for fossil fuel development and against renewable energy, endangered species and public-land conservation. Noon frequently appears with Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) at public meetings and rallies, where she delivers her watermelon-smashing stump speech.

Read more

Congress should preserve roadless national forest lands


Editorial, The Fresno Bee
11/1/11

This year marks 120 years of the Creative Act of 1891, the birth of our national forest system.
Harold Steen wrote for the Forest History Society at the 1991 centennial, “The fact that we as a nation decided a century ago to keep these forested lands under federal dominion — an atypical decision for the time — shows just how important we believed these lands to be.”
Today, more than half of the national forest system of 191 million acres is open to mining, logging, grazing and drilling — a key economic development resource for the West. The national forests have more than 348,000 miles of roads — eight times the mileage in the Interstate Highway System. 

–DON’T MISS THESE UPCOMING EVENTS–

–and browse our online calendar for more!

 

Your GPS batteries just died. How will you find your way out of the wilderness?

November 5, 2011

 

The event will take place in the NM Wild  Albuquerque conference room (215 Truman NE) on Saturday, November 5, from 9 to 11 a.m.

The presenter is Bill Rogers, one of our wise and experienced elderly members.  He is a retired cartographer with expertise surveying and mapping Canadian Provincial Parks, US Wilderness Areas, Native reservations and Military reservations. His knowledge and skills hearken back to the days before GPS, GIS and cell phones.

Participation is limited to ten. To sign up for this free seminar, contact:

Lynne Uhring
NM Wilderness Alliance
GIS Coordinator
505-452-7036 cell
505-843-8696 X110 NMWA

 

All Souls Procession in Tucson, Arizona: March to honor Mexican gray wolves

November 6, 2011

Please join us at 5 p.m. in the courtyard of the Historic Y at 300 E. University Blvd. in Tucson, Arizona. Event begins at 6 p.m.

Facepaint and props will be available for public use. Please wear brown or gray and bring everything you need to participate in the procession.

More details about the event (including a description of the route) can be found online. For more information, visit www.mexicanwolves.org

A march to honor Mexican gray wolves and to raise awareness about the plight of these important creatures and the ecosystems that depend on them.


Continental Divide Trail Alliance volunteer appreciation event

November 12, 2011

Join us as we celebrate the 2011 volunteer season with other friends of the trail, a delicious lunch cooked by crew chefs, drinks, silent auction and a fun afternoon of games.  You are encouraged to bring guests and your children–please RSVP for all in your party so we can plan food accordingly. You are welcomed to attend even if you have never participated on a CDT volunteer project. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the experience directly from our volunteers and staff.

Date: Saturday, November 12, 2011

Location: North Domingo Baca Park

7550 Corona Ave NE Albuquerque, NM 87113

Event: 11a.m.-5 p.m.

Lunch: 12-4 p.m.

Silent Auction 12-4:30

RSVP: Jon@cdtrail.org or 505-659-7364

Note: Bring a jacket or warm layer!

More information about the event is available by clicking here.


Yellowstone Winter Wildlife Trip 
February 20-25, 2012 

Join NM Wild and Taylor Outfitters for a six-day/five-night winter wildlife watch and cross-country ski/snowshoe trip of Yellowstone—America’s first national park.

Winter in Yellowstone is the perfect time to see a wide diversity of wildlife on their winter range. View wildlife from elk, bighorn sheep and bison to otters, coyotes, wolves. Raptors including bald and golden eagles, hawks and owls are often viewed in their native habitat. In addition, the Lamar Valley is a spectacular landscape for dramatic photography.

While spending two nights at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, the group will travel along the Northern Range and Lamar Valley to look for wolf packs as they hunt their prey in full view from the roadside or from ski trails. During the day there will be a cross-country ski/snowshoe tour of park trails.The group will also travel by snow coach to the heart of Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful where we will spend two nights at the beautiful Old Faithful Snow Lodge. On the last day we will take the snow coach back to Mammoth and drive down the Paradise Valley to Chico Hot Springs. We will sleep in the quaint rooms of the Chico Hot Springs Resort and Day Spa and enjoy their deluxe hot springs.

To sign up or for more information, contact trip leader Demis Foster by e-mail or at 505-216-9719. 

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