Students receive grant for Gila River study
 
 
(Note: Here's what 'social change agents' do to 'educate' -- it was once called brainwashing -- the young. This is part of the implementation of The Wildlands Project, a global land/water/people control agenda. Nope, it's not a 'conspiracy theory', but it is a conspiracy, as those maddened by greed to control Everything do all they can to dupe the world into thinking they are 'saving', 'protecting' or 'restoring' something precious -- when in reality, all they are doing is intending to return the world to the feudal system of lords and serfs/slaves/peons. Translated: no middle class, no private property rights for the Average Joe who works hard and hopes to realize The American Dream.  Please share this with those who may still be slumbering as well as those who are awake, alert and aware and those just 'coming to'. What follows the article is as important, or more so, than the article itself.)
 
January 8, 2005
 
By Thomas J. Baird, Sun-News bureau chief tbaird@scsun-news.com
 
Silver City Sun-News
 
Silver City, New Mexico
 
 
To submit a Letter to the Editor: tbaird@scsun-news.com
 
Priscilla Mathena's seventh grade "Wind Rider" team at La Plata Middle School has been awarded a $500 grant from the Environmental Educator's Association of New Mexico (EEANM) http://www.EEANM.org/ to study the Gila watershed.

The idea was inspired in part by the controversy over what to do with the Gila River's 18,000 acre-feet of annual water rights designated in the Central Arizona Project http://www.cap-az.com, which was initiated decades ago, but never used.

President Bush signed a bill into law early last month that will ensure that New Mexico receives 14,000 acre-feet of water per year and at least $66 million to address future water supply needs.

 

The new law brings to a conclusion the decades-old Arizona Water Settlement Act involving the Central Arizona Project and a series of other water claims involving American Indian tribes in Arizona.

 
The law also provides New Mexico with greater certainty in supply and could potentially bring as much as $128 million to New Mexico if new water-related infrastructure is needed.
The purpose of the project proposed by Mathena and the Gila Conservation Education Center (GCEC) is to enable students to learn about water quality issues and the impact of any water diversion, and then to inform the public about their findings, said Steve Blake sfblack@fs.fed.us or 505-388-8266, managing director of the GCEC [and conservation education coordinator for the Gila National Forest -- and a Forest Service employee http://www2.srs.fs.fed.us/r3/gila/education/].

"The Gila is the last large river in New Mexico without a dam or major diversion," Blake said. "Kids will learn about proposed plans and their impact on our environment. Eventually, these kids will be part of the decision-making process to determine whether we use the water for economics, riparian ecology, or both. Decisions we make will affect generations to come, as well as our environment and attractiveness as a tourist destination."

During the project, students will learn what affects the river and the ecological web dependent upon the waterway.

"Setting up a monitoring station is the first step toward taking responsibility for the river," Blake added.

The La Plata Middle School Wind Rider Team science classes will monitor the health of the Gila River at the Gila Box and the Nature Conservancy's Lichty Center near the proposed Gila River Diversion Project.

The project will take place with the assistance of the Gila Conservation Education Center, the Surface Water Quality Bureau, the Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Forest Service and other local groups, Blake said.

The goals of the project include enabling students to make informed decisions about water quality issues and informing the community and younger students about the impact of water quality and conservation in the region.

The project will become part of a permanent in-depth ecology unit to monitor the quality of the Gila River, including chemistry, biology and morphology.

Participation in water monitoring in the past has been limited by limited finances, Blake said, so students will participate in fund-raisers to supply the budget difference.

"With this grant we can go to the river twice this year and establish a permanent monitoring database," said Mathena. "This grant will bring this project to reality for 100 7th graders the entire Wind Rider Team."

Using 10 research stations, the project will include studies on the biology of the river, physical morphology of the river, pebble count and chemistry of the water and the riparian habitat.

 

Students who participate in the project will be chosen by lottery to mentor and tutor younger students during the annual Gila Water Festival slated for the latter part of April.
 
They will also prepare power point presentations about their trip and their findings to present to the Grant County Commission.

 

The data compiled by the Wind Rider Team will be entered permanently into water quality databases at the Nature Conservancy's Lichty Center and the Gila Conservation Education Center.
 
Students from La Plata Middle School will continue to collect morphology and other data from the Gila River during a project funded in part by a grant. The data will be compiled in a permanent database for the public.
 
Copyright 2005, Silver City Sun-News.
 

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Additional related information:

 

Regional Links Page at EEANM: http://www.eeanm.org/links.htm#regional EEANM's main page: http://www.eeanm.org/

GilaWilderness.org - New Mexico's Wild Lands Online http://www.gilawilderness.org/

Lichty Center, near Cliff, New Mexico - one example of what happens at the Lichty Center (source is the Maricopa Audubon Society "Maricopa Audubon Society (MAS) is National Audubon Society's Phoenix metropolitan area chapter. The chapter numbers over 3000 members." http://www.maricopaaudubon.org): Help track large mammals in the Sky Island region to advocate for protection of important wildlife corridors Sky Island Alliance will hold a Fall 2005 training workshop at The Nature Conservancy's Lichty Center along the Gila River in New Mexico, October 22, 23, 24 and December 4-5. SIA is seeking dedicated "grassroots naturalists" who can commit to an exciting conservation program on a long-term basis. Volunteers will adopt transects in one of our four project areas: Peloncillo Mountains, Cienega Creek Corridor, Dragoon/Whetstone Corridor,and Tumacacori/Santa Rita Corridor.  Volunteers monitor the presence of large mammals, such as mountain lion, black bear, jaguar, and Mexican gray wolf between the mountain ranges of the Sky Island region, by conducting track surveys. Volunteers must follow strict guidelines and adhere to a six-week survey interval to ensure the scientific viability of our data.  During the workshop, regional wildlife experts join SIA staff to teach tracking techniques and wildlife sign recognition, ecology and behavior of local mammal species. Classroom instruction is supplemented with field trips.  There is a $75 workshop fee which includes food, workshop materials and overnight accommodations at the Lichty Center - a TNC ecological restoration project near Cliff, New Mexico. You must attend all five days of the workshop and commit to a full day of transect monitoring every six weeks. Volunteers form permanent 3-4 member teams. Contact:  Janice Przybyl -- Wildlife Monitoring Program Coordinator, janice@skyislandalliance.org or 520-624-7080 x203, P.O. 41165, Tucson, AZ 85717 Source: http://www.maricopaaudubon.org/volunteer.htm Also, excerpted from the Maricopa Audubon Society's "Links to Other Sites" page: Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter. Arizona Wildlife Federation. AZ chapter of the National Wildlife Federation. Sonoran Desert Naturalist. Desert essays/information, by MAS member Mike Plagens. Mothers for Clean Waters. Working to preserve/restore riparian areas. McDowell Sonoran Land Trust. Working to preserve the McDowell Mountains. Friends of Rio Salado . Organization working on the Rio Salado project in Tempe. Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council. Working to preserve the Phoenix mountains. The Grazing Reform Homepage. Info on grazing activities, legislation, reforms. Center for Biological Diversity. Info on endangered species and habitat throughout the Southwest. The Sierra Club. The national organization's web site. The Nature Conservancy. Info on programs and preserves across the U.S. Econet. Connections to environmental information, resources, and organizations. Envirolink. Connections to environmental information, resources, and organizations. http://azwildbird.com or http://desert-life.org. Excellent photo collection with general information and Links to great birding sites. http://www.maricopaaudubon.org/sites.html

Project WET (Water Education for Teachers); New Mexico Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) is an international, interdisciplinary water science and education program for formal and non-formal educators of k-12 students. As the state sponsor for Project WET, WERC provides curriculum materials and educator workshops that are conducted throughout the state. ... A nationally developed, k-12 environmental education program, which utilizes water as its theme. http://www.werc.net/outreach/K-12_programs/Project%20WET/project_wet.htm

State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) http://www.setda.org

Steve F. Blake information: http://www2.srs.fs.fed.us/r3/gila/education/

Whitman College - Semester in the West (rife with Wildlands Project, Language Deception, global control of land, water, people) http://www.whitman.edu/semester_west/sitw2004/speakers04.html

 
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