From jodonnell at vallevidal.org Mon Oct 16 13:36:14 2006 From: jodonnell at vallevidal.org (Jim O'Donnell) Date: Mon Oct 16 13:42:53 2006 Subject: [Coalition_for_valle_vidal] Abundant Life - Celebrate the Valle Vidal This Friday! Message-ID: <0d094b56f0aadf15f107b757b5f1b8e2@vallevidal.org> The Taos County Club, the Coalition for the Valle Vidal and Sustain Taos invite you to the opening of ? Abundant Life Art Exhibit -- Celebrating the Valle Vidal Gallery on the Green, Taos County Club, Taos, New Mexico, Opening Reception, 6-9 P.M., October 20, 2006 Art exhibit opening admission free to artists; $25 for the public.? Bioneers attendees receive a $10 discount.? ? For more information visit: http://www.vallevidal.org ? Coalition for the Valle Vidal:? Jim O?Donnell 505.758.3874; jodonnell@vallevidal.org Abundant Life Art Exhibit/Coalition for the Valle Vidal: William M. Brown; wmb3@zianet.com Taos Country Club: 505.758.7300.? Artists? Contact: Betsy Carey, betsy@kitcarson.net NM Bioneers Conference/Sustain Taos:? Sharon Leach, 758-2103, sharonl@sustaintaos.org During the summer and fall this year, artists from throughout New Mexico and our neighboring states visited the Valle Vidal to portray its exceptional beauty in paintings, sculpture, film, pottery, photography, jewelry, and other media. ? The Gallery on the Green at the Taos Country Club will display these special artworks for sale at a gala reception on October 20th.? Artists will take half of the proceeds of their sales, and half will go directly to protecting and restoring the Valle Vidal. ? ? ? From jodonnell at vallevidal.org Wed Oct 25 15:18:11 2006 From: jodonnell at vallevidal.org (Jim O'Donnell) Date: Thu Oct 26 11:51:16 2006 Subject: [Coalition_for_valle_vidal] VALLE VIDAL: Taking On Goliath - Citizens Tackle Coalbed Methane Development Message-ID: "Taking On Goliath"-- Citizens Tackle Coal Bed Methane Development ??????Great Barrington, MA -- In response to the Bush administration's heightened emphasis on drilling for oil and gas in the West, Orion Magazine, "America's finest environmental magazine" (Boston Globe), today issued an on-line citizens' primer on coal bed methane development, entitled "Taking On Goliath." ??????The primer includes the full text of feature articles in the magazine's new November/December issue and a Web site ( http://www.orionmagazine.org/cbm ) that includes extensive maps, 27 reports and publications, contact lists for 43 citizens' groups, audio clips featuring people most affected, and extensive video and print resources for reporters, editors, and activists. ??????"Across the West, gas development is devastating land and people," said Orion executive editor Harlan C. Clifford. "Americans' thirst for energy is driving a wave of energy industrialization?that threatens communities throughout twelve Western states, including New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana." ??????Last year, a record 36,827 gas drilling permits were issued in the United States, many for coal bed methane?(CBM) drilling. Many of these CBM wells are being drilled on private land, even when landowners strenuously object (many Western landowners own the surface rights to the land, but not the gas buried below). The results can be tragic for the people who make these places their home, Clifford said. ??????Coal bed methane development entails drilling many shallow, closely-spaced gas wells across often vast territories, bringing industrialization to countryside formerly undeveloped and quiet. Each well taps a small volume of the gas, so it takes many wells to pump gas from a coal bed. Each well comes with a road, pipeline, pumps, tanks, and evaporation pond. ??????This issue of Orion profiles several affected landowners, including Tina Antes, 43, who lives in Silt, Colorado within a quarter-mile of twelve gas wells. Like her neighbors, she says hazardous air and water pollutants from gas wells are harming her health and that of her animals. "This year we had two stillborn goats on the same day, from two different mamas," said Antes. "They looked perfect, like perfect little babies. It was the day after the gas was bad." Where coal bed methane wells now outnumber cows, people are abandoning ranches held in their families for generations. "The bad part is that the ranch is gone," said Tweeti Blancett of Aztec, New Mexico. Blancett, a former state legislator who campaigned for George W. Bush and Republican Senator Pete Domenici, said of her ranch: "We can't run anything up there anymore. All you would do is turn the cattle out and they would die." ???? In the face of industry's rush to drill wherever it can, citizens are pushing for new legislation to protect remaining wildlands. Oscar Simpson, president of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and spokesperson for the Coalition for the Valle Vidal, is championing legislation to protect 102,000 acres of public lands on the Carson National Forest in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. Passed overwhelmingly in the summer of 2006 by the U.S. House of Representatives, the legislation now awaits approval by the U.S. Senate and the president's signature. ??????"If we're successful with this, people are going to realize they have to put their personal things aside, because it's taken this broad base to get anything done," said Alan Lackey, a Republican, NRA member, hunting guide, coalition member, and rancher who lives in Roy, New Mexico. ??????For the entire "Taking On Goliath" Primer on Coal Bed Methane Development, go to: http://www.orionmagazine.org/cbm . ??????Orion Magazine is published by the Orion Society, a nonprofit organization with an international membership representing all 50 United States and 37 countries. Another Orion Society program, The Orion Grassroots Network, includes 972 citizens' organizations among its members.? Contact: Scott Walker, Orion Magazine ? 413-528-4422, ext. 19 ? swalker@orionsociety.org http://www.orionmagazine.org/ ? -- Jim O'Donnell Outreach Coordinator, Coalition for the Valle Vidal www.vallevidal.org PO Box 238 Taos, NM 87571 505-758-3874 Are you a member of the Coalition for the Valle Vidal? Would you like to support our efforts? Join or contribute today at: http://www.vallevidal.org/involved.html From jodonnell at vallevidal.org Mon Oct 16 13:36:14 2006 From: jodonnell at vallevidal.org (Jim O'Donnell) Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 11:36:14 -0600 Subject: [Coalition_for_valle_vidal] Abundant Life - Celebrate the Valle Vidal This Friday! Message-ID: <0d094b56f0aadf15f107b757b5f1b8e2@vallevidal.org> The Taos County Club, the Coalition for the Valle Vidal and Sustain Taos invite you to the opening of ? Abundant Life Art Exhibit -- Celebrating the Valle Vidal Gallery on the Green, Taos County Club, Taos, New Mexico, Opening Reception, 6-9 P.M., October 20, 2006 Art exhibit opening admission free to artists; $25 for the public.? Bioneers attendees receive a $10 discount.? ? For more information visit: http://www.vallevidal.org ? Coalition for the Valle Vidal:? Jim O?Donnell 505.758.3874; jodonnell at vallevidal.org Abundant Life Art Exhibit/Coalition for the Valle Vidal: William M. Brown; wmb3 at zianet.com Taos Country Club: 505.758.7300.? Artists? Contact: Betsy Carey, betsy at kitcarson.net NM Bioneers Conference/Sustain Taos:? Sharon Leach, 758-2103, sharonl at sustaintaos.org During the summer and fall this year, artists from throughout New Mexico and our neighboring states visited the Valle Vidal to portray its exceptional beauty in paintings, sculpture, film, pottery, photography, jewelry, and other media. ? The Gallery on the Green at the Taos Country Club will display these special artworks for sale at a gala reception on October 20th.? Artists will take half of the proceeds of their sales, and half will go directly to protecting and restoring the Valle Vidal. ? ? ? From jodonnell at vallevidal.org Wed Oct 25 15:18:11 2006 From: jodonnell at vallevidal.org (Jim O'Donnell) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:18:11 -0600 Subject: [Coalition_for_valle_vidal] VALLE VIDAL: Taking On Goliath - Citizens Tackle Coalbed Methane Development Message-ID: "Taking On Goliath"-- Citizens Tackle Coal Bed Methane Development ??????Great Barrington, MA -- In response to the Bush administration's heightened emphasis on drilling for oil and gas in the West, Orion Magazine, "America's finest environmental magazine" (Boston Globe), today issued an on-line citizens' primer on coal bed methane development, entitled "Taking On Goliath." ??????The primer includes the full text of feature articles in the magazine's new November/December issue and a Web site ( http://www.orionmagazine.org/cbm ) that includes extensive maps, 27 reports and publications, contact lists for 43 citizens' groups, audio clips featuring people most affected, and extensive video and print resources for reporters, editors, and activists. ??????"Across the West, gas development is devastating land and people," said Orion executive editor Harlan C. Clifford. "Americans' thirst for energy is driving a wave of energy industrialization?that threatens communities throughout twelve Western states, including New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana." ??????Last year, a record 36,827 gas drilling permits were issued in the United States, many for coal bed methane?(CBM) drilling. Many of these CBM wells are being drilled on private land, even when landowners strenuously object (many Western landowners own the surface rights to the land, but not the gas buried below). The results can be tragic for the people who make these places their home, Clifford said. ??????Coal bed methane development entails drilling many shallow, closely-spaced gas wells across often vast territories, bringing industrialization to countryside formerly undeveloped and quiet. Each well taps a small volume of the gas, so it takes many wells to pump gas from a coal bed. Each well comes with a road, pipeline, pumps, tanks, and evaporation pond. ??????This issue of Orion profiles several affected landowners, including Tina Antes, 43, who lives in Silt, Colorado within a quarter-mile of twelve gas wells. Like her neighbors, she says hazardous air and water pollutants from gas wells are harming her health and that of her animals. "This year we had two stillborn goats on the same day, from two different mamas," said Antes. "They looked perfect, like perfect little babies. It was the day after the gas was bad." Where coal bed methane wells now outnumber cows, people are abandoning ranches held in their families for generations. "The bad part is that the ranch is gone," said Tweeti Blancett of Aztec, New Mexico. Blancett, a former state legislator who campaigned for George W. Bush and Republican Senator Pete Domenici, said of her ranch: "We can't run anything up there anymore. All you would do is turn the cattle out and they would die." ???? In the face of industry's rush to drill wherever it can, citizens are pushing for new legislation to protect remaining wildlands. Oscar Simpson, president of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and spokesperson for the Coalition for the Valle Vidal, is championing legislation to protect 102,000 acres of public lands on the Carson National Forest in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. Passed overwhelmingly in the summer of 2006 by the U.S. House of Representatives, the legislation now awaits approval by the U.S. Senate and the president's signature. ??????"If we're successful with this, people are going to realize they have to put their personal things aside, because it's taken this broad base to get anything done," said Alan Lackey, a Republican, NRA member, hunting guide, coalition member, and rancher who lives in Roy, New Mexico. ??????For the entire "Taking On Goliath" Primer on Coal Bed Methane Development, go to: http://www.orionmagazine.org/cbm . ??????Orion Magazine is published by the Orion Society, a nonprofit organization with an international membership representing all 50 United States and 37 countries. Another Orion Society program, The Orion Grassroots Network, includes 972 citizens' organizations among its members.? Contact: Scott Walker, Orion Magazine ? 413-528-4422, ext. 19 ? swalker at orionsociety.org http://www.orionmagazine.org/ ? -- Jim O'Donnell Outreach Coordinator, Coalition for the Valle Vidal www.vallevidal.org PO Box 238 Taos, NM 87571 505-758-3874 Are you a member of the Coalition for the Valle Vidal? Would you like to support our efforts? Join or contribute today at: http://www.vallevidal.org/involved.html