Environment - Los Alamos Daily Post

Science On Tap: Local Wildfire Risk

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 11, 2018

CHAMBER News:

What is the local wildfire risk? How is Los Alamos National Laboratory preparing for the fire season?

Explore these questions with the Bradbury Science Museum and Manny L’Esperance at Science on Tap at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 16 at UnQuarked, 145 Central Park Square.

According to L’Esperance, with the Lab’s Emergency Preparedness group, Los Alamos has seen the least amount of snow since the recordkeeping began back in 1906. This puts the Laboratory at extreme risk for wildfire. In order to protect the Lab, its property and people, wildfire mitigation planning began 30 days early Read More

BLM Announces Call For Nominations To Wild Horse And Burro Advisory Board

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 11, 2018

BLM News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The Bureau of Land Management is issuing a call for public nominations to fill three positions on its national Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board.

Nominations are for a term of three years and are needed to represent the following categories of interest: public interest, wild horse and burro advocacy, and veterinary medicine.

The Advisory Board advises the BLM, an agency of the Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture, on the protection and management of wild free-roaming

Weekly Fishing Report: April 11

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 11, 2018

By GEORGE MORSE

Los Alamos Daily Post

Sports and Outdoors

The weather is warming up and the wind is blowing, heralding the start of spring. A post on Facebook said that they’d seen the first hummingbird of the season, so it’s time to clean up the feeders and set them out for these little buzz bombs as they migrate back up north from their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America.

Fruit trees are blooming all over the Espanola Valley and along the Rio Grande. Apple trees have yet to bloom but it won’t be long.

It’s been one of the driest winters on record and the snow is going, going

Daily Postcard: Moon Over Los Alamos

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 11, 2018

Daily Postcard: The scene looking east recently from Kneht Street. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com Read More

SFNF: Osha Fire 50 Percent Contained

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 10, 2018

SFNF News:

The Osha Fire in the Cow Creek/O-Shaw area on the Pecos Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest was reported to the Pecos Ranger District office at 3:55 p.m. Saturday, April 7 by a Pecos Ranger District firefighter.

Resources were dispatched via ground and helicopter to the fire at an elevation of more than 8,000 feet. Forty-four personnel in a multi-agency effort are on the fire with containment now at 50 percent.

Smoke/Air Quality: Smoke may settle into lower elevations in the evenings in the Gallinas Canyon and areas east of

Focusing On Advanced Solar Could Mean Over 6,800 Jobs For New Mexico

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 10, 2018

AJP News:

ALBUQUERQUE ― With targeted investments and forward-looking policies, New Mexico could leverage its strengths in leading-edge advanced solar technologies to drive economic growth and support over 6,800 jobs annually.

That’s according to The New Mexico Jobs Project: A Guide to Creating Jobs in Advanced Solar Technology, a new report created by the American Jobs Project in partnership with the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at The University of New Mexico.

“New Mexico has already made significant investments to tap into

Community Picnic & Fiber Arts At Los Luceros Sunday

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 10, 2018

PEEC News:

Pajarito Environmental Education Center, New Mexico Historic Sites and the Amigos de Los Luceros are partnering to host a community picnic and fiber arts activities at the Los Luceros Historic Site.

This event, which is the first in a series called Culture and Nature, is noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 15 and free and open to the public.

Community members are invited to meet at Los Luceros Historic Site, off State Route 68. Bring a lunch for the picnic, which begins at noon, followed at 1 p.m. with activities including weaving with natural materials and a sheep-shearing event.

For more information Read More

Daily Postcard: Trees Blossom On Rover

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 10, 2018

Daily Postcard: Small trees blossom Monday at a home on Rover Boulevard in White Rock. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com Read More

PEEC: Spend Day Improving Cabra Loop Trail April 14

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 9, 2018

Join a team of volunteers for a work day Saturday, April 14 on Cabra Loop Trail to clear over-hanging brush and improve drainage along the trail. Courtesy photo

PEEC News:

Celebrate Earth Day early by helping improve one of the local trails. Join Pajarito Environmental Education Center and the Santa Fe National Forest for a work day, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, April 14 on Cabra Loop Trail. This event is free to attend, but registration is required.

There will be trail maintenance jobs for all ages and U.S. Forest Service experts will be on-site to ensure the safety of participants

Daily Postcard: Sunrise Shines On Sangre De Cristos

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 9, 2018

Daily Postcard: Saturday’s sunrise looking east from Los Alamos shines on the Sangre de Cristo mountains and the Santa Fe ski slopes at right. Photo by James Gourdoux

Chandler: Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Project

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 8, 2018

By GEORGE CHANDLER

Los Alamos

When I first heard our utilities department was considering buying into a Small Modular (Nuclear) Reactor (SMR) project I was pleased.

I think most physicists, of my generation at least, secretly harbor the hope that nuclear power will be redeemed and fulfill the promise of virtually unlimited clean power that we grew up with.

I believe the SMR movement (there are several brands of SMR under development) has legs, and will go a long way toward the bright future my boyhood heroes promised. But I don’t believe this is the time, or the project, for municipalities like Read More

Astronomy Show: Night Sky And Dark Night Preview

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 8, 2018

Steve Becker presents a tour of the heavens Friday in the Planetarium at the Los Alamos Nature Center This event is a preview for the Pajarito Astronomers’ Dark Night program the following night. Photo by Minesh Bacrania

PEEC News:

Take an interactive tour of the heavens with Steve Becker and a preview of what can be seen at the Pajarito Astronomers’ Dark Night program the following evening, including Venus and Jupiter.

The show begins at 7 p.m. Friday, April 13 in the Planetarium at the Los Alamos Nature Center at 2600 Read More

More Scenes From Petree Garden Center Opening

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 8, 2018

Scene from the grand opening of Petree Garden Center Saturday at 2470 East Road. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

Scene from the grand opening of Petree Garden Read More

Daily Postcard: Tyson Arrowsmith Spots Lizard

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 8, 2018

Daily Postcard: Tyson Arrowsmith, 4, spots a lizard clinging to the wall of a home on Rio Bravo in Pajarito Acres in White Rock. Photo by Mary Arrowsmith Read More

Petree Garden Center Officially Opens For Business!

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 7, 2018

From left, Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation Executive Director Patrick Sullivan, Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Director Ryn Herrmann, Petree Garden Center General Manager Laural Hardin, County Council Chair David Izraelevitz, Hardin’s husband Jeremy Smith and others snip the ceremonial red ribbon this morning to officially open Petree Garden Center at 2470 East Road. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Petree Garden Center General Manager Laural Hardin speaks with Metzger’s Do It Best General Manager David Jolly this morning before

On The Job In Los Alamos: Master Gardeners

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 7, 2018

On the job in Los Alamos this morning are members of the Los Alamos Master Gardeners conducting their annual spring gardening at the Demonstration Garden on the corner of Central Avenue and Oppenheimer Drive. Master Gardeners from left, Melissa Theesfeld, Susie Duncan and Judy Magelssen who each graduated from the Master Gardener Program last year. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

On the job this morning at the Demo Garden is Masrter Gardener Pallis Papin. She has been a member of the Los Alamos Master Gardeners for seven years. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

On the job this Read More

Environment Department Air Quality Bureau Develops Dust Mitigation Plan And Fugitive Dust Control Rule

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 7, 2018

NMED News:

The Air Quality Bureau has developed a draft dust mitigation plan and proposed fugitive dust control rule for Doña Ana and Luna counties in southern New Mexico.

Mitigation plans are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in areas where recurring natural events (in this case, high winds resulting in blowing dust) cause exceedances of the health based national standards for Particulate Matter.

Some of the required elements of a mitigation plan include:

Steps to identify and study sources of dust;
Mandatory or voluntary control measures

New Mexico To Receive National Recognition For Wind Energy Leadership

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 7, 2018

AWEA News:

SANTA FE ― The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) will publically release its 2017 U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report 10–11 a.m., April 17, at New Mexico State Capitol, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail in Santa Fe.

AWEA will reveal national wind industry progress in 2017 and highlight New Mexico’s wind power leadership, including a major achievement by the state last year.

AWEA’s CEO Tom Kiernan will highlight:

New national and state data on the growth of wind power, jobs, economic and environmental benefits;
New Mexico’s standing

April Activities And Alcove House Closure At Bandelier National Monument

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on April 7, 2018

NPS News:

Bandelier has one of the largest concentrations of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work in the country. In April of 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the CCC to give thousands of Americans environmental conservation work during the Great Depression.

Come celebrate “CCC Day” at 10 a.m. Saturday April 7, at Bandelier. Kevin Stillman, Trails Work Leader, will present a cross cut saw demonstration and give visitors the opportunity to get some hands on, saw time.

Preservation Specialist, JT Stark,