Environment

Nature Center Talk: The Language Of Bears Oct. 4

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Wildlife biologist Daryl Ratajczak feeding a bear cub 20 years ago. Ratajczak will give a free talk Tuesday at the Los Alamos Nature Center. Courtesy photo
 
PEEC News:
 
Bears are incredibly intelligent animals who use vocalizations and body language to communicate. 
 
At 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 4, wildlife biologist Daryl Ratajczak will share photos, stories and data that explain how bears communicate in the wild. This is a free talk at the Los Alamos Nature Center, 2600 Canyon Road.
 
Ratajczak is a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service in the
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Letter To The Editor: Turtle Trouble At Ashley Pond

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The red-eared slider is included in the list of the world’s 100 most invasive species. Courtesy photo

By LYNN HANRAHAN
Los Alamos

Anyone who reads the Los Alamos Daily Post sees the cute picture of the Ashley Pond turtle basking in the sun on a log now and then. Yesterday my daughters noticed several more turtles swimming around our town pond.  I can only assume these poor turtles are cast off pets who outgrew their owners capacity to care for them.

They are red eared sliders — an invasive species in much of North America. People buy them at pet stores when they are little and cute but Read More

‘Dia del Rio’ Community Project To Clean Up White Rock Canyon

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 Join the Pajarito Environmental Education Center, Los Alamos County, Los Alamos Fire Department and Los Alamos Mountaineers for a community clean-up day Oct. 15 at White Rock Canyon. Photo by Josip Loncaric

PEEC News:

Calling all volunteers! Pajarito Environmental Education Center, Los Alamos County, Los Alamos Fire Department and Los Alamos Mountaineers are looking for help to celebrate the Rio Grande and beautify an area that has been ignored for quite some time. Volunteers will remove trash and cover over graffiti 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 in White Rock Canyon. Read More

DOE Awards $1.5 Million Grant To UML

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DOE News:
 
CINCINNATI ― The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a grant to the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) for “National Research Institute: Collaborative Research: Cooperative Control of Humanoid Robots for Remote Operations in Nuclear Environments.”
 
The cooperative agreement will focus on evaluating the technological readiness of the dexterous robot hands of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) humanoid robot Valkyrie to replace human hands for safe and risk averse operations in existing gloveboxes in nuclear
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Tales Of Our Times: Population Is A Knotted Ball

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Tales of Our Times
By JOHN BARTLIT
New Mexico Citizens
for Clean Air & Water

Population is a Knotted Ball

Every part of the environment has a string tied to it. At the far end, the strings tangle into a giant knotted ball, which is world population. Population affects virtually everything, from the environment, religions and wars to commodity prices, the tides of employment and money supplies. Yet, the subject stays quiet as a mouse.

We know the reason—the central knot is too tight to pick apart. But we can poke at it, which is worth more than a quiet mouse. To begin, human populations have strings

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Sierra Club Chair On PNM Rate Case Decision

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Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Chair David Coss

SIERRA CLUB News: 

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission decided Wednesday on PNM’s request for an increase to electric rates. Below is the statement on the decision from Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Chair David Coss:

Today’s decision held good news and bad news for ratepayers and a healthy climate.

While PNM got its way on making consumers pay for its poor decision to reinvest in coal, the commission prevented PNM from punishing ratepayers with significantly higher service fees, and we customers won’t have to foot the bill for the Read More

PEEC Amateur Naturalist: Cañada Bonita – Autumn Comes To The High Country

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Aspen leaves are close at hand and glow in the sun along the trail less traveled. Photo by Bob Dryja

PEEC Amateur Naturalist
By Robert Dryja
 
Cañada Bonita – Autumn Comes to the High Country
 
The Cañada Bonita trail diverges into two trails in a wood, much as is expressed by Robert Frost in his poem.
 
One trail is much more traveled and wider. The other trail is more of a narrow grassy path. Autumn is arriving in the high country. The less traveled trail can bring a person closer to this autumnal world while the other leads to grandeur.
 
Both trails merge
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Destructive Khapra Beetles Discovered In Household Goods Shipment From Saudi Arabia To Philadelphia

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The Khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium), photographed by the US Department of Agriculture, originated in South Asia and is one of the world’s most destructive pests of grain products and seeds. It is considered one of the 100 worst invasive species in the world. Infestations are difficult to control because of the insect’s ability to survive without food for long periods, its preference for dry conditions and low-moisture food, and its resistance to many insecticides. There is a federal quarantine restricting the importation of rice into the U.S,. from countries with known infestations
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EM Releases Supporting Materials From 2016 National Cleanup Workshop

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EM-LA Field Office Manager Douglas E. Hintze presents at the 2016 National Cleanup Workshop Sept. 14-15 in Alexandria, Va. Courtesy/DOE

EM  News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The Office of Environmental Management (EM) is making available support materials from the 2016 National Cleanup Workshop. The materials include speaker presentations, photos from the workshop and an attendee list. Links to videos of the workshop sessions will be available soon.
 
Approximately 600 people attended the National Cleanup Workshop Sept. 14-15 in Alexandria, Va. The workshop was hosted
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Gallinas Watershed Prescribed Burn Planned

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SFNF News:
 
SANTA FE ― Fire managers on the Santa Fe National Forest are planning to conduct the previously announced Gallinas Watershed prescribed burn on the Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District. 
 
The window for the prescribed burn will open Oct. 3 and extend through January 2017. The decision to burn will be dependent on favorable weather conditions, including fuel moisture levels, air quality, weather forecasts and available resources.
 
The 1,300-acre Gallinas Watershed treatment area is located approximately 20 miles northwest of
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