La Cienega land conserved near Santa Fe

On August 22, the Trust for Public Lands and the Bureau of Land Management celebrated the addition of one-hundred-seventy-eight acres to the La Cienega Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).

Totaling over forty-five-hundred acres, La Cienega ACEC provides habitat for songbirds and other wildlife in cottonwood and coyote willow trees that grow along the Santa Fe River. Etched into the canyon walls is ancient rock art, most likely produced in the fourteenth- through the seventeenth-centuries by the inhabitants of La Cieneguilla Pueblo, a prehistoric site where visitors can still make out the pattern of adobe rooms and see stone and pottery artifacts.

The Trust for Public Land conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come, and depends on the support and generosity of individuals, foundations, and businesses to achieve its land-for-people mission.

La Cienega ACEC is located eight miles south of Santa Fe off I-25. For more information, contact them at (505) 988-5922 or visit www.tpl.org/newmexico.

Find solutions at Solar Fiesta

This year’s Solar Fiesta will be held at Highland High School, on September 15 and 16, all day. The school provides a larger indoor exhibit area and greater workshop capacity. The public is invited to come to learn about brighter solutions to enhance life.

You can meet professionals in the solar and renewable industries and like-minded organizations face-to-face. Find qualified installers. Get answers to your questions, from basics to the nitty-gritty technical. See new products. Classes on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living are organized in a “track” approach.

Volunteer opportunities also abound. The organizers are looking for a few good people to coordinate some activities. If you are interested in helping to manage the Fiesta or other things, contact the office at: info@nmsea.org, 505-246-0400, 888-886-6765. No solar knowledge needed. To volunteer over the weekend, contact John Salinas, jsalinas@vt.edu.

Nature Center invites public to ‘Banquet in the Bosque’

As part of its ongoing twenty-fifth anniversary celebration, the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park in Albuquerque will host an evening gala event open to the public, “Banquet in the Bosque,” from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 8.

“This will be a truly special evening and a unique way to experience and enjoy the Bosque,” said Park Superintendent Beth Dillingham.

The evening event will include a twilight dinner under an outdoor tent near the garden, a no-host bar, live music by local dulcimer band Apple Mountain Strings and Things, a silent auction, and remarks by Tom Waddell, manager of Ted Turner’s Armendaris Ranch. Auction items will include wildlife art and photography by well-known artists, limited-selection wine, theater and symphony tickets, airline tickets for two, a metal sculpture by artist O.K. Harris, an original watercolor painting by Dan Stouffer, and a tour of the Armendaris Ranch with Mr. Waddell.

Tickets are $50 per person ($25 is tax-deductible), with proceeds to benefit the Rio Grande Nature Center’s education and restoration programs. Reservations must be made by 5:00 p.m. on September 1.

“Banquet in the Bosque” tickets are available at the Nature Center, by phone, and through mail order. To purchase tickets over the phone using a credit card, call (505) 344-7240. Checks can be mailed directly to Friends of the Rio Grande Nature Center, 2901 Candelaria Road NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107.

Natural Solutions Foundation-Codex Commission

June Trezza, a resident of Placitas, has been following the agenda of the United Nations’ supported Codex Commission for the past several years. Our own Food and Drug Administration has accepted the recommendations of Codex, which resulted in two bills being passed by our U.S. House of Representatives and Senate just before Congress recessed. Codex, which is an arm of the World Trade Organization, is slated to go into effect in this country by the year 2009. It threatens the very existence of our right to choose what supplements, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients we desire for our own health. It has plans for our food changes as well, such as making dangerous growth stimulants (hormones) and antibiotics mandatory in all of our meat and milk or permitting already banned pesticides to re-enter the soil of our farms. These rules of Codex have already been adopted in many countries throughout the world.

As a volunteer for Natural Solutions Foundation and Health Freedom USA, Ms. Trezza is presenting various programs throughout the area in order to spread the word of what will truly happen to our rights and freedoms through Codex. She will be speaking on the subject on September 13 at a meeting of the Italian Culturale Club [See community calendar listing, this Signpost, for details.] If you are interested in helping the cause or want more information, call 1(888) 266-2027 or visit www.healthfreedomusa.org.

Las Huertas Creek ripples through Upper Las Huertas Canyon

Las Placitas Association volunteers maintain trails in the Placitas Open Space

Las Placitas Association hosts September outdoor workshops

—REID BANDEEN, LAS PLACITAS ASSOCIATION
The Las Placitas Association (LPA) will be hosting two outdoor workshop projects during September. First, please join us for our annual post-Labor Day weekend cleanup in Las Huertas Canyon on Saturday, September 8. This is one of our favorite events—the wildflowers and the meadows will be glorious. Meet at the Placitas Post Office at 8:30 a.m. and we’ll carpool up to the Las Huertas picnic area. Staff from the Cibola National Forest will be on hand to assist us to keep our Canyon beautiful.

Then, on Saturday, September 22, we’ll be hosting another workshop on trail construction and maintenance out on the Placitas Open Space. We’ll be joined by a crew of trail specialists from the City of Albuquerque, and will continue work on constructing new trails and closing old roads in the Las Huertas Creek area. This work is part of LPA’s continuing efforts to assist the City of Albuquerque in implementing the Management Plan for the Placitas Open Space. Las Placitas and the City of Albuquerque will provide tools, drinks, snacks, and lunch for this event. Please wear sturdy work clothes, and bring work gloves, a sun hat, extra water, and some rain gear. We’ll meet at the Placitas Post Office at 8:30 a.m., carpool to the site, and work until about 2:00 p.m. The area is beautiful this time of year, and your participation helps to assure the viability of the Placitas Open Space.

For more information on the workshops and LPA, log on to our website at www.lasplacitas.org or call Lolly Jones at 771-8020.

We look forward to seeing you in September.

Bob Wessely to speak in Corrales on water, people, planning

The League of Women Voters Sandoval County Unit will meet at the Corrales Community Center located at 4324 Corrales Road (across from the Wells Fargo Bank) on Wednesday, September 19 at noon.

Longtime Placitas resident Bob Wessely will speak on the topic “Growth and Development: Water, People, and Planning in Placitas and Sandoval County.” Bob has served as an officer in the Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly for over five years. He has been active for ten years in water planning issues, after having co-founded and led a high-tech systems engineering company based in Albuquerque for over twenty-nine years.