Winter 2002-2003 Bulletin

Member's Notes

Not On Our Watch

How can you help resist the current efforts of a shortsighted federal administration and powerful special interest groups to remove environmental protection for our rivers, streams, and wetlands? We know you care about New Mexico Rivers. When we put out a special appeal recently to help us respond to these threats, you responded generously. Recently 135 new members joined and several dozen lapsed members returned. You are a valued resource in this challenging political climate. Occasionally we need you to take direct action to influence your political representatives. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but how do we squeak as loud as lobbyists representing moneyed interests? Research says that political representatives are influenced as follows:

Most of all Next most Next by A little by Just a bit by

by the views of a personal friend or associate by a phone call from a constituent a personal letter from a constituent a form letter from a constituent an email from a constituent

As you can see, a phone call to your representative’s office is an effective way to influence them and is also quick, easy, and cheap. The opinion you express to their assistant will be tallied. Time is of the essence when decisions are being made By the time you are reading this, the New Mexico legislative session will be well under way and several critical environmental issues will have been considered, in committee, if not on the main floor. Things can move very fast. In the legislature, we often have people monitoring and testifying on water, mining and wetlands issues, but to be effective, it takes your voice. Maximize your political power For you to take timely and appropriate action, we must have a quick and effective way to contact you when issues arise. Though email isn’t the best way to contact your representative, it is a powerful way for us to inform you. We can tell you things like, “This mining issue is hitting the floor this week. Here is our stand and why. Here’s the decision-makers and their phone numbers. Please call them before next Tuesday.” Right now we are monitoring and fighting increased water diversion from rivers, federal efforts to gut the 30 year-old Clean Water Act, and efforts by mining interests to decrease their accountability for environmental damage. We are also advocating for and helping to formulate legislation to increase protection on all New Mexico waters. If we can contact you by email to let you know when you can make a difference and then you follow through with the suggested phone calls…..WHAT A TEAM! Then we can firmly take the stand, “Not on our watch will New Mexico’s waters be further degraded!” Please send us your current email address to chubbuck@amigosbravos.org with the subject “Action Alert” and please be sure to identify yourself in the email. Thank you!

Amigos Bravos Helps Clean up Taos County
	by Carisa Josephs, Amigos Bravos Volunteer

Last October, Amigos Bravos joined several agencies and county departments to help clean up illegal and unsightly dumpsites across Taos County. Volunteer members helped load county trucks with many tons of trash and old appliances. Illegal dumping has been a problem for quite a while in New Mexico. It is not hard to find an old illegal dump in the woods. These are ugly and dangerous to children, wildlife, and water quality. There are a lot of refrigerators at these illegal dumpsites possibly because people avoid the $35 fee to legally dump a refrigerator, due to the cost of disposing of the Freon (a gas that affects the ozone hole). This fee can be waived by the Taos County Solid Waste Department on request. The County properly disposed of the Freon in every refrigerator removed from these sites. If you find yourself begrudging the time and money you spend taking trash to the dump, consider making less trash. In most areas, glass, newspapers and cans can be recycled and it’s free. Thrift stores will gratefully accept old clothes, appliances, and furniture. Old clothes make good rags as well. Composted organic waste makes great gardens. Places like The Restore in Taos sell recycled building materials and will accept used lumber. Or you can have a yard sale. Remember, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. The transformation at the two sites where Amigos Bravos helped was amazing. I would like to thank Uvaldo Olonia of Taos County for making this countywide event happen. I would also like to thank the stores (Cid’s, Randall’s, and Supersaver) that donated food, sodas, and gloves and the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and the Alternative School for joining this effort. Many hands make light work. Thanks to Carisa for coordinating our participation in the Taos County cleanup!

before	after

CALENDAR of EVENTS

Feb. 3 (Monday)	Amigos Bravos Raffle for the Río 2003 kickoff
Feb. 17 (Monday)	Community Meeting on Water Quality Planning, 6:30-8:00pm, Wild Oats Commmunity Rm, Santa Fe
Feb. 18 (Tuesday	River Otter Group Meeeting, 1:00 - 4:00pm, Santa Fe
Feb. 24 - March 4	Albuquerque Drinking Water Protest Hearings, Albuquerque. Call the AB office for exact location.
Feb. 28 (Friday)	Deadline for comments to the EPA on their proposal to limit the scope of the Clean Water Act- Please write to let the EPA know that you oppose the proposed changes. For contact information, see article on page 2 or call Amigos Bravos at 505-758-3874.
March 13 (Thurs.)	Children’s Water Festival, Sweeny Convention Center., Santa Fe, AB presention on river otters for children
March 16-23	International Conference on Water Policy, Kyoto, Japan
March 22 (Saturday)	Clean Water Act Training Session, PNM Building, Las Vegas, NM. Call the AB office for details
March 28-30 (Fri.-Sun.)	Amigos Bravos Strategic Planning Retreat, Ghost Ranch, Abiqui
April 22	Raffle for the Río 2003 Drawing

Amigos Bravos’ Cash Reserve Fund is Amigos Bravos’ insurance against hard times. The Cash Reserve Fund is money set aside to ensure that the organization can survive cash flow shortages in the annual operating budget. It can only be accessed for certain purposes, such as meeting payroll or for emergency capital outlay. There are strict guidelines on when and how money from the fund can be used. Any use of money from the Fund requires approval from the Board of Directors. This Fund is a hedge against hard times, ensuring that Amigos Bravos will stay healthy and able to pursue its mission. Our Cash Reserve account was opened in March 1998 with a $15,000 grant from the Ruth Mott Fund. Thanks to generous contributions of our members, the $5,082 proceeds of Brian Shields, Unframed, the net cash flow surplus from FY 1999-2000, and generous donations from Allen and Mary Anne Sanborn, Marian Gurewitz, and James Davidsohn, the interest bearing account now has a balance of over $37,402.71. Our goal is to bring the balance up to $50,000.00. Please consider making a contribution to the Amigos Bravos Cash Reserve Fund.

Where There's a Will, There's a Way By including Amigos Bravos in your will..... ....you could protect a river for years CONFIDENTIAL REPLY To explore a bequest to Amigos Bravos, please com- plete this form and return it, marked confidential to Brian Shields, Executive Director, Amigos Bravos. _____I have included Amigos Bravos in my will. _____Please send me information on how to include Amigos Bravos in my will. Name__________________________________________________ Address________________________________________________ City, State, Zip__________________________________________ Telephone_____________________Best time to call___________

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