Spring 2012

Topics covered:

• The physical environment and climate of the Rocky Mountains.
• Basic ecologic concepts.
• Life zones and communities.
• Natural history in our local environments.
• Life histories of representative flora and fauna.
• Diverse environments on earth.

Required text: Grassland to Glacier (approx. $30)  To register, please contact the Buena Vista campus at 719-395-8419 or visit http://www.coloradomtn.edu/ REGISTRATION ENDS FEBRUARY 2^ND

Accompanied by Bol Gai and Carol Rinehart, director of Project Education Sudan www.projecteducationsudan.org

sponsored by Salida Circus 530-1494   www.thesalidacircus.com

PRESS RELEASE
For release Monday, January 23, 2012

On Friday, a sheriff’s deputy received information from a confidential source that a drinking party involving underage persons was to take place the following evening at a private residence near Buena Vista. Using FaceBook, the deputy learned that a party was planned to celebrate the seventeenth birthday of a local woman and that forty-seven persons, several of them under the age of twenty-one, had responded to the invitation and were to attend. The deputy then obtained a search warrant for the premises and at about 10:30pm Saturday, assisted by another deputy and two officers from the Buena Vista Police Department, entered the home where the party was in progress.

Three persons were arrested. Alex Canty, 26, the resident, was charged with permitting the serving of alcohol to an underage person. Jessica Armstrong, 18, a host at the party, was charged with permitting the serving of alcohol to an underage person; and illegal consumption of alcohol by an underage person. Sam Ortega, 19, was charged with illegal consumption of alcohol by an underage person.

Canty and Armstrong were jailed on $1500 bonds each. Ortega was released on summons.

A marijuana smoking pipe and a small quantity of marijuana were seized during the search of the residence.

Investigation into this incident continues and additional charges may be filed.

The Sheriff‚s Office will be following this case as it winds its way through the court process. Citizen input from community forums held in October clearly indicated that the community has a strong interest in preventing underage access to alcohol and drugs and desires to see robust enforcement and prosecution of offenders.

Being a cutting edge community web site on the front line of international politics, we receive a lot of information from geopolitical think tanks, Washington insiders and intellectual type people seeking The Citizen’s consult. As humble guardians of small town liberty and community happenings we are reaching out to the brilliant minds of the Ark River Valley to gather thoughts on the circus that is American politics today.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been thinking about politicians recently and noticed some coverage on the GOP debates. Then, while visiting the hamlet of Colorado Springs yesterday I stumbled into a hornet’s nest of opinionated military men in a small downtown store. The walls were littered with bumper stickers and t-shirts promoting libertarian and far right candidates and issues. As I sought out change for the parking meter, I tried to avoid the temptation to “get into it” with these burly westerners. But, because my wife wasn’t there I couldn’t help do a little fishing: “howdy boys, nice store. The damn system just seems broke-ed, eh?” (I don’t know where my pseudo hillbilly slang comes from when I’m with fringe characters. With dirty hippies I quote Joni Mitchell. I blame my parents).

We got a live one Jimmy.

Looking at a bumper sticker that said “Peace Through Superior Firepower,” I waited. All looked to the man holding court behind the counter as he checked a text in the phone holster attached to his belt. Looking up slowly he finally said “Ron Paul man are ya?” The games had begun. Quoting my favorite Doug Greenism I said “it’s hard knowin not known eh?”

Arms crossed, the men squinted at me in unison as I quietly looked at the flag-adorned walls. They wanted easy prey. I just wanted a burrito around the corner. Then, walking to the front of the store and looking through the blinds one of the guys in a tight t-shirt said “Obama is runnin a damn welfare state and driving American liberties into the ground.” I gave them nothing. It was like hiding a ball from a labrador. I said, “whelp, things are pretty messed up in this world, and ya gotta wonder if he’s made it worse, or saved our sorry asses. It’s all so damn complicated, we’ll probably never know.” I fought the temptation to spit, and thinking of my wife’s elbow I didn’t mention “banks,” “the gold standard” or “military industrial complex.”

Let me be clear, I’m a lover of freedom and I admired these guys. Sheep maybe, ditto heads perhaps, they understand that you have to take a stand for what you believe in. Opening a store to express your opinions requires a big effort and makes a tavern smack talker look like a part time patriot. So, remembering the importance of seeking common ground I said “I suppose most people just wanna make a buck, maybe that’s the problem. We just gotta look after each other in this (crazy ass) world (shit).”

Nods all around.

After the standard friendly chatter about Salida and the sunny day, the c.o. announced that he also had some pro Obama stuff for sale. I passed, but took my change.

Things will move quickly as the GOP grudge match rolls forward, so if you have some thoughts as we wrap up the SC debates, let us know. If you want to write more than a few hundred words, have your own op-ed, or simply want to ask the community a question, let us know so we can post it: salidacitizen@gmail.com. Obama supposedly has a billion dollars in his war chest, Wisconsin has over a million signatures for throwing out Walker, and Bennet and Udall are apparently against SOPA. Politics, take it where you will Salida.

—bd

Read this on the web here: http://slvrenewablecommunities.blogspot.com/2012/01/our-energy-future-local-or-corporate.html

The San Luis Valley, CO has been in the national spotlight recently as one of the “coolest” hot spots for solar energy generation.  Since around 2005, plenty of corporate solar energy developers have lined up to exploit the valley’s cool sun and high generation values for private profit.

What most don’t realize is that the people who make the San Luis Valley their home have been quietly stoking a different, more grassroots, democratic solar paradigm, going back more than a quarter of a century.

In the mid 1980′s the Solar Energy Research Institute  — now the National Renewable Energy Lab in Boulder, Colo. — credited the San Luis Valley with inspiring “an explosion in solar energy resulting in perhaps the highest per capita concentration of solar installations in the country.”

The early San Luis Valley solar innovators knew what many are just beginning to discover: locally owned clean energy is the path to true energy independence and lasting prosperity that benefits real people and communities.

From: Community Power by Al Weinrub

John Farrell, with the Energy Self-Reliant States Project recently recognized Gainsville, Florida “among the world leaders in solar installed per capita”, beating out Japan, France China and California with a whopping 36 kW for each of its 125,000 residents.

The San Luis Valley has Gainsville beat by a long shot. When the 30 MW Cogentrix facility goes online in April, the Valley will generate a walloping 178 kW of solar energy for each of its 50,000 residents.  We are not far behind Germany, the world’s leader in solar generation, at 187 kW/person.

The Valley will soon generate enough electricity to power 100% of its average daytime demand (on paper, more than 2/3 is exported, but the laws of physics dictate that the solar electrons be consumed at the closest point of demand).

As the Valley faces critical energy issues, such as the need for a massive $.5 billion new transmission line or whether or not to approve massive, industrial power plant proposals such as Tessera Solar’s failed 200 MW Dish Sterling proposal and the 656′, 4,000-acre twin power tower plant currently under review in Saguache County, a grand opportunity is being overlooked by all but a handful of local energy visionaries.

The San Luis Valley’s geographic isolation, extraordinary solar resource and abundant solar generation puts it in the unique position to become the nations first energy independent region and a model for every community in Colorado.

The little village of Wildpoldsried, Germany is a harbinger of what the San Luis Valley could become.   In less than a decade and a half, the town installed enough renewable energy to produce 321% of its local energy needs – and it’s generating $5.7 million (US) in annual revenue by selling the excess back to the grid.

The key to Wildpoldsried’s success is local ownership.

The town’s local energy initiative was launched in 1997 when the village council made the decision to build new industries, keep initiatives local and bring in new revenue.

Town of Del Norte (Rio Grande County) Solar-powered Water System

Over the next 14 years, the community equipped nine new community buildings with solar panels, built four biogas digesters (with a fifth underway) and installed seven windmills. In the village itself, 190 private households have solar panels.  The district also benefits from three small hydro power plants, ecological flood control, and a natural waste water system.

Here in the San Luis Valley, outside corporate and government powers have a different plan.  Rather than maximizing local benefits, they are proposing the same export dependent economic “development” model that has kept the San Luis Valley in poverty for decades.

The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to open over 111,000 acres of public land in the San Luis Valley to corporate solar development for massive centralized solar power plants that dwarf the small, distributed SunEdison, Iberdrola, Cogentrix and SunPower utility installations in Alamosa County (for a critique of the BLM plan see the Wrong from the Start report produced by Solar Done Right).

There is no doubt that these projects will provide limited tax revenue and sorely needed, but temporary construction jobs.  But they also pave the way for 90% of the economic value of solar energy to flow straight out of the Valley into the hands of absentee corporate owners and investors.

Will the people and communities of the San Luis Valley really prosper by laying out the red carpet for industry to collect the gold at the end of our solar rainbow?  Or is it time for real bottom-up economic development that allows San Luis Valley property owners, farmers, ranchers, small businesses and communities to reap the benefits from local solar generation?

Town of Mesita, Conejos County, CO Biodiesel plant

Despite many obstacles, a brave new path is already being blazed by a small group of dedicated renewable energy innovators in the San Luis Valley.  The Orient Land Trust has been off-grid for decades and continues to expand its combined geothermal and microhydro generation plant.  The Town of Del Norte recently celebrated the completion of its 1.9 MW Net-Zero Solar network.

The  Mesita/Conejos County canola/biodiesel plant also has plans to expand production to serve more of the valley. The 300 kW Humprey’s microhydro generation plant made a big splash last fall when it went into the operation. The City of Alamosa, Alamosa, Del Norte, Costilla and Crestone District Schools, Adams State College, SLV Regional Medical Center and SLV Federal Bank have all gone solar.

Dozens of pioneering SLV farmers have installed solar PV panels to power irrigation pumps and efforts are moving forward with plans to develop up to 2,500 MW of solar generation on crop circle pivot corners without adversely impacting valuable agricultural lands.  And last, but not least, hundreds (perhaps as many as 1,000) homeowners have installed solar PV on their rooftops since the 1970′s.

These locally owned installations create real energy independence that renews our communities from the ground up.

Some people think the San Luis Valley can have both local and industrial solar development, but the evidence from renewable energy experts suggests otherwise.  Industrial solar is more likely to absorb limited financial resources, monopolize existing transmission capacity, saturate markets and create a path dependency that leaves little room for local energy-based economic development.

Two key decisions lay before our federal and county elected officials that could determine the energy future of Saguache County, the San Luis Valley and Colorado.  We urge people throughout the San Luis Valley and Colorado to let the BLM and Saguache BOCC know which vision of our energy future you would like to see come to bear.   Details below.

Contact: Ceal Smith, San Luis Valley Renewable Communities Alliance, ceal@theriver.com, 719-256-5780

BLM SOLAR SPEIS PUBLIC MEETING

This week, Coloradans have a chance to endorse or reject the Bureau of Land Management, Supplement to the Draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Study (SPEIS), plan to open more than 100,000 -acres of public lands in the San Luis Valley (including 4 Solar Energy Zones) to massive corporate, industrial solar development:

Wed. January 11, 2012

7 pm (displays open at 6 pm)

Inn of the Rio Grande
333 Santa Fe Ave., Alamosa, CO

Call (800) 669-1658 for more information

Download the PEIS documents here.

For a critique of the BLM plan

see the Wrong from the Start report produced by Solar Done Right.

Comment deadline: Jan. 27th

Written comments on the SPEIS can be submitted through the Public Comment Form. Submitting comments through the Public Comment Form is the preferred method for purposes of tracking and providing confirmation of receipt. However, comments can also be mailed to:

Solar Energy Draft PEIS
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S. Cass Avenue, EVS/240, Argonne, IL 60439

SOLAR RESERVE 1041 PERMIT

Solar Reserve 650′ tall power tower just completed in Nevada (solar mirror field is yet to be constructed)

The Saguache Board of County Commissioners is currently considering Solar Reserve’s 1041 permit application to develop two 656-foot power towers on 4,000-acres near Center, CO, approximately 25 miles west of Great Sand Dunes National Park.  The project could change the visual landscape of much of the San Luis Valley and irreversibly impact migrant wildlife, including the 20,000 Sandhill Cranes and 200,000 Brazilian free-tail bats that visit the SLV annually (more about the proposed project on our blog and the Crestone Eagle)

Comment deadline:

3 pm, Thur., Jan. 26th

Email to: Wendi Maez at

wmaez@saguachecounty-co.gov

or mail to:  Saguache County Land Use

PO Box 326, Saguache, CO 81149

PUBLIC HEARING

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012

2 pm to 8 pm

Center School Auditorium, Center, CO

Instructions on how to access the Solar Reserve Permit Application here.

 

 

With a little homework it was clear that Nestle was laughing all the way to the bank. In the end, after realizing that the commissioners were ignoring public comment entirely, locals had the opportunity to negotiate for millions in a trust ..they chose to settle for pennies. I cannot speak to the details in the letter below, but when Nestle first came to the valley, I was stunned by the first hand comments I heard from other communities where Nestle was allowed in. The general consensus was: “don’t let them in, but if you cannot fight them off, watch them very closely.”

I am posting a letter that we just received, and the links above for all of new folks to the valley who may have missed the “Nestle hearings” a couple years ago. -bd*

BUT FIRST, THIS LOVELY OVERVIEW FROM CORPORATE WATCH:

The most obvious damage to Nestlé’s reputation has been its unethical marketing of artificial baby milk, particularly in the global south. This started to become a major issue in the 1970s when War on Want published a report called “The Baby Killer”, which was translated into German by the Berne Third World Action Group who were subsequently sued for libel, having named their version “Nestlé Kills Babies.”

However, as McDonalds were later to find out, suing critics tends to have a rather galvanising effect, and the publicity which came out of the case hurt Nestlé much more than the activists. In 1977 a boycott was launched, which continued until 1984, when Nestlé agreed to abide by the World Health Organization’s International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. However, the fact did not match up to the promises and the boycott was re-launched in 1988, continuing vigorously today.

There is, of course, much more to Nestlé than the baby milk issue. The company has attracted criticism for its use of genetically modified ingredients, and for its cocoa and coffee-buying policies, including purchasing cocoa from Ivory Coast, which has recently received heavy press coverage due to the existence of child slavery on cocoa plantations. The company has also been implicated in lobbying against vaccination of livestock during the British Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in 2001. From environmental destruction in Brazil to the intimidation of trade unionists in Colombia, from demanding millions in compensation from hunger-stricken Ethiopia to bolstering its image through proposing donations to breast cancer charities – Nestlé is easily one of the world’s most hated companies.

LETTER TO THE CITIZEN:

Submitted by Kristin Urquiza

In the name of greed, Nestlé has: struck backroom deals with politicians to control local water supplies without community consent; pumped billions of gallons of water, threatening wildlife and pristine wilderness areas; and aggressively marketed bottled water to low-income communities to convince them to spend their hard-earned money on something we all already get from the tap.

If that wasn’t enough, Nestlé is now working directly with the World Bank to put public water in private hands country-by-country. Your support today will help expose and challenge this Nestlé-led partnership. You can help by giving today to prevent this Nestlé-led global corporate water grab. In 2011, Corporate Accountability International helped North Florida residents put the kibosh on Nestlé’s plans to make their cherished Wacissa River a bottling hub. In 2012, the organization will again stand with such communities, whether in North America or in developing countries the bottling giant is now targeting for expansion.

You can help guarantee water as a human right, not a commodity to be bought and sold. Please fund this work as generously as you can. Thank you in advance for your support toward realizing a world where this most basic human need is available to all people.

Onward,

Kristin Urquiza
Think Outside the Bottle Campaign Director
Corporate Accountability International

Corporate Accountability International is working toward a world where decisions affecting people and the environment are based on public interest, not maximizing corporate profits. Learn more about Corporate Accountability International’s campaigns here.

*Since its inception, I have used The Citizen as a tool to take a personal stand on a few issues: One was Nestle, another was to help pass the bond for our new high school, whose construction is coming along wonderfully. Lastly, I am a huge fan of high school mountain bike race team. Call me biased, but with hundreds of thousands of pageviews, free global distribution and as long as we are living in a relatively free society we should all be using The Citizen to exercise our voice. I try my best to hide in the background and leave the rest of the Citizen as a forum for the community. Thanks for caring about the valley and supporting this little social experiment.

Presented by Friends of the SteamPlant.

Intrepid reporter and potential Salida resident Jason Blevins pre rode the course with the team on Saturday in hurricane force winds. With night closing in fast he had a smile on his face as everyone high-fived and yelled to each other at the top of a howling ridge. Everyone waited to ensure that the team was together before proceeding off the mountain. No complaints. No questions. In an unspoken pact the team was looking after the slowest rider.

Judging by the excellent article below, Jason clearly got a dose of the team’s infectious energy. It’s too bad he missed the Olive Garden team dinner Saturday night where we likely appeared to the suburban masses to be a pack of extreme country mice naively fascinated by the bread sticks and evening traffic. In a packed chain restaurant full of families, even the wait staff commented on how nice our kids were. Like Fred’s award, their ride on Saturday in difficult conditions followed by such a relaxed energy at dinner made Sunday’s success a forgone conclusion. Check out Jason’s summary below. —BD

RESULTS POSTED HERE: Colorado High School Race Results

By Jason Blevins

When mountain biking math teacher Fred Maxwell dreamed up a knobby-tired bike team at his Salida High School three years ago, three kids joined. The next year, there were 15, with several students showing up riding rusty 10-speeds in blue jeans and batting helmets.

On Sunday, the 292-student school’s mountain bike team — now at 21 students, roughly the same size as the Spartans’ football team — placed four kids on the podium at the Colorado High School Mountain Bike League state championships in Castle Rock.

The strong Sunday led Salida High to second place behind 1,800-student Boulder High. With first-place state titles in junior varsity girls and sophomore boys, a second-place state title…. see the complete article here

P  H  O  T  O  S   :   B D

Some of my favorite people live in dreary northern cities. -bd

images ©DangerousCollective.com

Mandolin Workshop with Mike Compton Salida Café, 9am-noon. Learn to play Monroe bluegrass mandolin style. Geared toward intermediate players with some knowledge of how to read standard notation and/or tablature (*all levels welcome). $75/person. www.mikecompton.net

Articipate “FUN-Raiser” At Salida SteamPlant: A full day of workshops, live entertainment, & silent auction! Workshops 8:30am-3:30pm include Zumba & African dance. Live music 7pm-10pm. More info & pre-registration: www.articipate.net.

Family Halloween Dance FREE for all ages! Salida Scout Hut, 6pm-8:30pm. Stomp your feet to the live music of “Sponge Bob SquareDance” & calling by Eleanor
Fahrney. No partner or experience needed. Also: costume contest, haunted house, crafts, & dessert potluck. Sponsored by Family & Youth Initiatives & AVMAD.

Saturday Tango Lessons Women: 1st class is FREE! No partner or experience needed. Casa Tango Salida, 7595 CR 150, Smeltertown. 7pm-8pm Beginning Tango. 8:15-9:15pm Advanced Beginning. Please bring socks or dance shoes to protect the floor. 539-7595. www.casatangosalida.com.

ATTENTION! JOIN US!
Dance teachers, musicians,
venues, & event organizers:
Organizations/businesses can now join Arkansas Valley Music and Dance and receive many benefits including listings on our online calendar and in this weekly newsletter to over 400 targeted recipients. Join NOW for 3-month prorated cost and try it out! Contact Eleanor at 719-221-2074 or info@avmad.org to find out more.