Environment

Wildflower Walk With Chick Keller Aug. 17

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Los Alamos wildflower. Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

With the continued rain, we’ve been having lately, beautiful wildflowers abound. Join PEEC’s Jemez Mountain Herbarium curator, Chick Keller, for a Wildflower Walk at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17 to discover what some of them are and where they can be found.

This will be an easy walk to identify some of the wildflowers that can be found in and around Los Alamos. The group will meet at the Nature Center at 2600 Canyon Road, and the group will carpool to the trail that Keller will select based on what is blooming at the time. The walk is free and there Read More

Experts Present ‘Coyotes In Our Midst’ At Nature Center

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A coyote spotted in Corrales. Photo by Project Coyote

PEEC News:

From deserts to mountains, coyotes are one of the most adaptable species in New Mexico. However, not everyone welcomes the resilience of this local predator.

To learn more about this canine, meet New Mexico Project Coyote representative, Judy Paulsen, and Project Coyote Science Advisory Board Wildlife Biologist Dave Parsons, as they speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18 at the Los Alamos Nature Center, about the challenges and opportunities coyotes provide to both urban and rural communities.

This presentation reveals the fascinating Read More

PEEC Amateur Naturalist: Visualizing Nature With Art

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Maple leaf. Courtesy photo
 
Maple leaf painting by Cathy Hillegas. Courtesy image
 
 
PEEC Amateur Naturalist
By ROBERT DRYJA
 
Visualizing Nature with Art
 
The natural world can be visualized with a digital technology in a variety of ways.
 
A digital photograph may have its contrast, spectrum, or color saturation manipulated to create a more interesting image or emphasize some characteristic. The maple leaf photograph is an example of this.
 
The leaf is lit from behind in order to emphasize the rib pattern in it. The contrast also has been increased
Read More

Luján Meets With EPA Administrator McCarthy

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U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján

STATE News:

FARMINGTON – U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Third District released the following statement today after participating in meetings and briefings with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy over the past two days on the Gold King Mine spill. 

Luján met with McCarthy in Durango, Colo., and Farmington. Earlier in the week he spoke with McCarty on the importance of visiting New Mexico. Luján, along with New Mexico Senators Udall and Heinrich, also sent a letter to McCarthy to express their concerns with EPA’s response.

EPA Administrator Read More

PNM Has New Plan For San Juan Generating Station

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SIERRA CLUB News:

  • New Plan Includes Clean Energy Credits and Offers Opportunity to Revisit Future of SJGS in 2018

ALBUQUERQUE – Today the Public Service Company of New Mexico released a new plan for the future of the San Juan Generating Station as part of their ongoing negotiations with the Public Regulation Commission.

 

In response, Nellis Kennedy-Howard, Senior Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, released the following statement:

 

“PNM’s new plan for the San Juan Generating Station offers an opportunity for PNM to commit to retiring Read More

This Week At The Reel Deal

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By JIM O’DONNELL
Reel Deal Theater

Unfortunately we have to quit a couple good movies after only one week to make room for new ones. Alas, it would be nice to have 6 or 8 screens!

Mr. Holmes and Southpaw are ending this Thursday. This Friday we are opening the much requested Ricki and the Flash and The Man from UNCLE.  Mission Impossible and Fantastic Four will hold for one more week.

Ricki and the Flash:  Three-time Academy Award (R) winner Meryl Streep goes electric and takes on a whole new gig – a hard-rocking singer/guitarist – for Oscar (R)-winning director Jonathan Read More

James Robinson: Every Bear Has His Day

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Layton, a Black Bear cub weighed just over 4 pounds when discovered inside a small crate. Courtesy photo
 
By JAMES ROBINSON
Los Alamos

Earlier this spring, Layton, a Black Bear cub came to Dr. Kathleen Ramsay’s Cottonwood Rehab in desperate need of help.

Layton was found inside a crate outside a feed store in Tijeras and only weighed 4.25 pounds. Although challenging, Dr. Ramsay and Land of Enchantment Wildlife Foundation worked together to raise the funds to help her get Layton to a releasable weight.

Despite the challenges, Layton now weighs more than 50 pounds and is very much a Read More

CVNM On Governor’s Gold King Mine Spill Comments

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CVNM News:

SANTA FE – Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM) is saddened by the devastation that has been caused by the Gold King Mine spill, and stands in solidarity with all communities that have been and will be impacted by this event.

In response to the comments Gov. Susana Martinez made today concerning the Gold King Mine spill that has now reached New Mexico’s Four Corners region, CVNM Executive Director Demis Foster issued the following statement:

”We call upon Governor Martinez to address the very real toxic legacy that has plagued many of New Mexico’s rural, impoverished, Read More

Gold King Mine Spill’s Groundwater Effects Still Being Investigated In New Mexico

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NMED Secretary Ryan Flynn

NMED News:

  • Plume Passes Through New Mexico; Leaves Sediments Behind

FARMINGTON – Today, seven well water testing teams were deployed by the New Mexico Environment Department in concert with the Environmental Protection Agency to test domestic water wells near the Animas River which flows through Farmington and Aztec. 

“Although the Gold King Mine Spill’s heavy metals plume has mostly passed through the area, the sediments left behind are capable of influencing groundwater quality,” NMED Secretary Ryan Flynn said. “We are operating with an abundance of Read More

AGU: Melting Glaciers Feed Antarctic Food Chain

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AGU News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Nutrient-rich water from melting Antarctic glaciers nourishes the ocean food chain, creating feeding “hot spots” in large gaps in the sea ice, according to a new study.
 
New research finds that iron stored in the region’s glaciers is being shuttled by melting water to open areas of the ocean, called polynyas, where it stimulates growth of phytoplankton, ocean algae that form the base of the marine food chain.
 
Krill and fish thrive on phytoplankton, and these smaller animals support penguins, seals and whales that feed and breed in the polynyas
Read More