Environment

EM Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto Discusses Year Ahead

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EM Assistant Secretary Dr. Monica Regalbuto

EM News:

EM Update recently spoke to Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) Monica Regalbuto about EM’s priorities and goals for fiscal year 2017.

What are your main objectives and goals for fiscal year 2017?

We were very fortunate in EM in the last fiscal year to realize some significant achievements across the complex, and I think we’re on track to do the same this fiscal year.

Of course, our highest priority is resuming waste emplacement activities at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) once it is safe to do so. We’re currently Read More

Daily Postcard: Anniversary Trail Scenes In November

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Daily Postcard: Scene from Anniversay Trail. Photo by Leslie Bucklin

ANNIVERSARY TRAIL:

Anniversary Trail begins at the east end of Los Alamos and offers spectacular views over the Rio Grande Valley.

Start at the water tank across N.M. 502 from Eastgate Industrial Park at the Los Alamos/Santa Fe county line sign. Hike up the road to the ridge. The moderate, 1.5 miles one way trail goes east.

It is on bedrock with parts of a prehistoric trail still visible. Keep an eye on young children because Read More

Playing In Nature Center Planetarium This Weekend

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PEEC News:
 
The Los Alamos Nature Center planetarium will feature a fascinating talk by astrophysicist Dr. Rick Wallace along with a showing of the planetarium film Exploding Universe, at 7 p.m. this Friday.
 
At 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, We are Astronomers will play on the full planetarium dome. This exciting, family-friendly film reveals the global collaboration, technology, and dedication required to answer the unresolved questions of the universe. 
 
For more information
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Letter To The Editor: Open Letter To Obama From Sierran

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By JOHN R. BUCHSER
Santa Fe
 
Dear President Obama,

Earlier this week, my wife and I returned from several days volunteering at the Oceti Sakowin camp in North Dakota. There was a lot of activity in camp preparing for the winter. I have never encountered so much positive energy towards a common goal, it was with great sadness we had to depart due to both of us getting viral infection of the lung.

Generally, an 1800+ mile long oil pipeline would require an environmental impact statement (EIS). This has NOT been done for this major project. Given president-elect Trump’s statements

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Tour Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge Dec. 3

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Canadian Geese spend time in the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge during their migration. Courtesy photo
 
PEEC News:
 
Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) is working with the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge to offer a guided tour of the Southwest’s first urban refuge at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3.  This day trip offers a unique perspective on connecting with nature in urban environments.
 
Valle de Oro offers a unique environmental education and recreation opportunity in a highly populated area while promoting a wildlife conservation
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PEEC Offers Guided Hike To Ojo Mica Mine

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Dr. Kirt Kempter, geologist and experienced guide, has studied geology in South America and Iceland and led educational tours to a variety of local and international destinations. Courtesy photo
 
PEEC News:
 
Want to learn more about the geologic story of the Ojo Caliente region? Geologist Kirt Kempter will lead an easy four-mile (round trip) hike Sunday, Dec. 4 to the shimmering mica mine in Ojo Caliente.
 
The hot springs at Ojo Caliente have been a fixture on the New Mexico historical scene for centuries, visited by the likes of Geronimo, Zebulon Pike and Kit Carson to name
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AGU: West Antarctic Ice Shelf Breaking From Inside Out

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AGU News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A key glacier in Antarctica is breaking apart from the inside out, suggesting that the ocean is weakening ice on the edges of the continent.
 
The Pine Island Glacier, part of the ice shelf that bounds the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, is one of two glaciers that researchers believe are most likely to undergo rapid retreat, bringing more ice from the interior of the ice sheet to the ocean, where its melting would flood coastlines around the world.
 
A nearly 225-square-mile iceberg broke off from the glacier in 2015, but it wasn’t until researchers were testing
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Thank You From LEWF As Cubs Released To Wild

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Orphaned cubs Valley Girl and Cowboy were released Nov. 16 back to the wild. Courtesy/LEWF

LEWF News:

Valle (Valley Girl) and Caldera (Cowboy) were released Nov. 16 back into the wild after being nurtured by Dr. Kathleen Ramsay. The orphaned cubs came into rehabilitation after a tragic incident with their mother and marathon runner Karen Williams.

Dr. Ramsay turned to Land of Enchantment Wildlife Foundation, a non-profit, to help fund raise the $12,000 that she needed to raise these two cubs to get them ready for their release back into the wild. LEWF put the word out for help and Los Alamos heard Read More

2,000 Petitions Turned In Demanding Healthier, Cleaner New Mexico

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CVNM News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE ― Immigrant Latin community members and leaders came together with Juntos: Our Air Our Water to turn in over 2,400 signed petitions to Gov. Susana Martínez and the Environmental Department in Santa Fe demanding the state transition to clean, renewable energy that will create a healthier today and tomorrow for Latino communities in New Mexico.
 
When we elect public officials, we trust them to make sure our public resources work for us by protecting our interests now and for our future – and Latino families came together to remind our leaders to
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Nature Center Talk: The Southwest’s First Urban Refuge

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Jennifer Owen-White manages the first urban wildlife refuge in the Southwest, Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

Urban green spaces offer people a reprieve from concrete and asphalt, but they also benefit wildlife. Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) is bringing Jennifer Owen-White, manager of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, to speak at no charge to the public at 7 p.m, Tuesday, Nov. 29 at the Los Alamos Nature Center. Owen-White will share the refuge’s history and future plans.

As the first urban wildlife refuge in the Southwest, Valle Read More