EARTH CORNER with PAT

Welcome to Earth Corner!

My name is Pat Walsh, but you may remember me as “Ranger Pat.” I’m lucky to have worked for New Mexico State Parks for 17 years before retiring in 2022. And I’m lucky to live here in Raton, where I moved in 2005. We live in a wonderful corner of the planet, and this monthly column will explore ways we can appreciate and protect our piece of paradise. As someone who has lived in many places, I really value everything Raton has to offer, including fresh air, good drinking water and lots of natural spaces. Since I’m passionate about nature, it’s great that I can walk to Climax Canyon Nature Trail, or drive 15 minutes to get to Sugarite Canyon State Park. Being on a trail is my happy place!

I was born in the Washington D.C. area and adopted by an Army officer and his wife. As part of a military family, I grew up in various places including Virginia, Hawaii, Texas and Panama. I graduated with a journalism degree from Arizona State University and worked in the Phoenix Bureau of United Press International. Later I became a UPI foreign correspondent in Colombia, South America for two years, then worked for UPI in Washington D.C., and finally served as a reporter for a suburban edition of the Miami Herald newspaper in Florida.

From Florida, I moved to Colorado to do graduate work in environmental studies. During my ten years in that state, I worked as a seasonal (temporary) park ranger and an educator at Denver Botanic Gardens before moving to Raton. As a regional interpretive ranger for N.M. State Parks, I provided public programs on nature and culture, ran school field trips, and coordinated interpretive events for eight different parks.

These days, I enjoy almost daily trail hikes with my guy and our two dogs, while the cats guard the house. I’m also working (voluntarily) to promote communication about the earth, including solutions to current challenges. We’ll celebrate successful local solutions to some of those challenges in this column.

The first column appeared next Sunday, March 10, which happened to mark my birthday. In it, I have explored my relationship with water and the meaning of water in our part of the world. I also offered up some ways to conserve this precious resource that you may not have considered!

Thank you for joining me here in Earth Corner. A new article will be published each month.

Topics

• Trees, Our Urban Forest
• A Message About Cats – Because I Love Cats
• Kids Invited to Jump Aboard the Global Warming Express!
• Are We Getting Hotter?
• What Would You Do for the Birds?
• Where are the Bees?
• Every Day Should be Earth Day – Editorial by Laura Brewer
• Everything We Have Comes From the Earth
• Water – A Precious Resource

Trees, Our Urban Forest

Posted October 4, 2024

The whine of a chainsaw haunted me as I wrote these words.

Workers were cutting down a big old evergreen at a nearby house. The sister of that tree was cut down perhaps a month ago. The person who lives there told us the trees were sick, but they looked thick and green to me. And now they are gone.

Perhaps the trees, which appeared to be very old, were sick. But the thought that keeps going through my mind is something a friend said years ago, that Raton is a dangerous place to be a tree.

For example, last year another nearby resident had a beautiful deciduous tree “topped.” This is something I’ve seen often in Raton.

Town trees are considered part of an “urban forest,” and years ago my guy and I were part of a tree-planting effort in downtown Raton. We went through a tree training provided in Santa Fe by the New Mexico Forestry Division, under their Forest ReLeaf Program to add trees in N.M. communities.

One of the guidelines they gave us was to never “top” a tree.

Some Raton residents worry that when a tree gets big, a large branch will fall and damage their home. But it turns out that “topping” a tree only makes it more likely that the new spindly branches will fall. Turns out the bigger, original branches are more stable.

The Arbor Day Foundation quotes a tree expert as saying, “Topping is the absolute worst thing you can do for the health of your tree.” FTC8_1.pdf (arborday.org)

In its Tree City USA Bulletin Number Eight, the Arbor Day Foundation goes on to state that “in most cases, topping just contributes to greater danger from the resulting proliferation of weakly attached sprouts and the entrance of decay fungi.”

We’ve learned other things about trees in recent years. For example, forestry ecologist Suzanne Simard has long researched forests. She writes that forest trees actually communicate with each other, according to her memoir Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.

How do they do this? According to a story in NPR, Simard explained forest trees are linked by an underground fungi network. In one study, a tree being injured by insects appeared to send out chemical warnings to another nearby tree, which then produced enzymes to ward off the insects.

Meanwhile, we also know that trees are a “carbon sink.” That means they pull carbon dioxide out of the air and hold onto the carbon, while releasing the oxygen—lucky for us! As such, planting trees can help mitigate human-caused climate change.

Of course, trees also give us lumber to build homes and wood for our fireplaces. And at my house, we ourselves have had to cut ailing trees.

Still, before the workers began cutting the big old evergreen, I had a chance to pass by and touch one of its branches. I said thank you.

Editor’s note: Download a pdf on “Why Topping Hurts Trees“

A Message About Cats – Because I Love Cats

Posted September 1, 2024. Written by Pat Walsh

I fell in love with cats when I was seven. During an Illinois farm stop on a cross-country move, I wandered into an outbuilding where I was greeted by barn cats. I was hooked.

Six decades later, I’m still hooked. At present, I have two cats. More importantly, I volunteer with the Raton Humane Society to support our Trap-Neuter-Release program for feral cats. This grant-funded program spays and neuters feral cats so they cannot reproduce, then releases them back to where they came from. It is free!

Why does TNR matter? Well, some people love feral cats. Some people hate ’em. Recently the city has had to deal with angry residents demanding that officials do something about feral cats that a neighbor is feeding.

But what is a feral cat? What is a stray? Or a pet? 

All are domestic cats. Both ferals and strays are considered unowned and live outside. But a feral likely was born outside, was not socialized or tamed when young, is afraid of people and will not be touched or held. A stray cat may be feral, or it may have been a tame pet at some point. Pet cats have owners, enjoy being touched, and may spend all or much time indoors.

And what about barn cats, like the ones I first met? They may have owners, but they may or may not be tame. Here, we often try to place ferals as barn cats.

Meanwhile, some local folks think of ferals as “theirs.” They may have been feeding the same cats for years and know them well.

The issue? Female cats can have kittens as early as six months old! (Yes, you read that right.) A female can have as many as five litters a year. If she has four kittens per litter, that’s maybe 20 kittens a year for her lifetime, which might be five to ten years.

While some kittens won’t survive, you get the picture. Perhaps you watched the original Star Trek on TV and saw the episode “The Trouble with Tribbles”? (If not, I recommend!) A cute tribble is brought aboard the Starship Enterprise and soon reproduces, creating many lovable “purring balls of fluff” (per Wikipedia). But soon the Enterprise is swamped with tribbles threatening the crew’s food supplies…

I love cats. But I don’t want loose cats coming into my yard and killing birds or other wildlife. Scientific studies estimate cats kill more than one BILLION birds in the continental U.S. every year, and as many as four billion! Bird populations are falling dramatically from  habitat loss, climate change, and, unfortunately, cats. Meanwhile, some Ratonians get annoyed when someone else’s cats use their yard as a litter box.

So my philosophy about feral cats boils down to a slogan I saw online: If you feed them, fix them. The next TNR clinic is Sept. 11, and it’s free. Call Raton Veterinary Hospital to reserve traps and get your ferals fixed.

Kids Invited to Jump Aboard the Global Warming Express!

August 8, 2024 – by Pat Walsh

I’ve had the privilege of engaging kids on tough subjects.

During my 17-year ranger career with N.M. State Parks, I orchestrated field trips on wildfire for Raton’s fifth graders at Sugarite Canyon State Park.

Some kids shared memories of being evacuated during the scary 2011 Track Fire. Then I’d sing a song about a real 1949 fire that killed 13 firefighters in Montana. Afterward we’d discuss factors leading to the tragedy.

To finish, we’d head to Lake Maloya where I’d ask them to vote on whether I (the ranger with the loppers) should cut a small ponderosa pine growing next to other “pondies”.

They’d already played games to learn that ponderosa pines need space to get enough water and nutrients. Usually, students voted to cut the little tree–after I thanked it for the oxygen it provided. Sometimes the kids passionately debated, during this miniature exercise in democracy with life-or-death consequences. 

There’s something amazing about inviting children to consider deep issues, when it’s done in an age-appropriate, engaging, and fun way. This is the philosophy of a New Mexico program under the umbrella of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, called the Global Warming Express.

GWE was launched in 2012, when 9-year-old Marina Weber-Stevens of New Mexico wrote a children’s book on climate change. A young friend illustrated the book, The Global Warming Express, which eventually made it to then-President Obama.

Last year, I mentored a small group of Raton fourth graders in the GWE after-school program at Raton Intermediate School. With the help of fellow mentor Ron Schuster and fourth-grade teacher Shelby Padilla, we explored beautiful children’s books that describe the science of energy and human-caused climate change.

Hands-on science activities included the kids building their own pin-wheels to experiment with wind- and water-power. At snack time, the kids practiced reading food labels and looking at a globe to see where food comes from. They also learned breathing techniques as well as basic public speaking.

During a field trip to the New Mexico State Legislature in Santa Fe, our Raton students joined with other GWE kids to urge lawmakers to take more climate action. Two of our kids participated in a pretend session of a legislative committee–sitting in real committee chairs!

Another field trip introduced the kids to Raton’s recycling program at the Transfer Station, getting the scoop on recycling plastic, aluminum, metal cans and cardboard.

The GWE program asks kids to develop goals. After much brainstorming, our crew decided to lobby for plastic recycling at school. They presented their idea to school officials and the Raton Rotary Club, which agreed to donate $200 for recycling containers to be installed this fall.

This coming year, we’re planning several more field trips, including Sugarite’s historic coal camp and the N.M. State Legislature.

Do you know any fourth, fifth or sixth graders who’d like to join us in our adventures? If so, they can enroll in the Raton Intermediate School after-school program for the Global Warming Express!

Editor’s note: books used by GWE include the “Sunlight Series” by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm, which GWE says “offer kids a fun and colorful exploration of how sunlight, wind, plants and ‘buried energy’ have sustained the planet.”

Are We Getting Hotter?

Posted July 7, 2024 – by Pat Walsh

A couple weeks ago, I made a day trip to Colorado Springs. When I started from Raton about 9:30 a.m., the temperature was comfortable. North of Trinidad, I watched my car thermometer inching toward 90, then 91, 92, and creeping on toward 100.

On my return trip, just south of Pueblo, my car clocked 107 degrees! Closer to Raton, I watched with relief as the temperature began dropping. But I wondered, when will this kind of heat come for us?

Short answer: maybe sooner than we think. National Weather Service records show that Raton had twelve days of 90 degree or more high temperatures in June 2024. On June 13 and June 25, we hit 96 degrees.

I moved here 19 years ago and I don’t remember that kind of heat. Then there are the overnight lows. This June, we had five days when the overnight low was at least 60 degrees–and on June 29 it was 65 degrees. Our summer lows are typically in the 50s.

Lisa Patel, head of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, told CNN that nighttime should be when our bodies get a break. Why nighttime heat can be so dangerous – and why it’s getting worse | CNN

“…when nighttime temperatures don’t drop, we don’t get that critical time we need to relieve the stress on our bodies from being overheated during the day,” Patel said.

Right now, Raton is lucky. As of early July 2024, news reports said more than 130 million Americans remained under heat advisories, including folks in Arizona and Texas. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, reported 645 heat-related deaths in 2023. The most vulnerable are low-income folks who can’t afford air conditioning and live in hot, often treeless neighborhoods.

Perhaps as one local has predicted, Raton will see a boom as heat refugees seek relief. But we are still situated in the U.S. Southwest, which computer climate models repeatedly say will get hotter and drier.

NASA (the agency that got us to the moon) says: “Since 1950, the frequency and intensity of heat extremes have increased primarily due to human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases. These events will become even more severe and common as the planet warms.” Extreme Weather Graphic Full Text – NASA Science

Here are some ways to adapt:

• Drink lots of water, wear loose clothes and try to avoid being outside in the middle of the day. Outdoor workers are especially vulnerable.
  
• Put box fans in windows at dusk to pull cooler nighttime air inside, then close windows in the morning to hold in the cooler air.
  
• Increase the insulation in your attic and cut your energy bill in summer and winter.
• When you need a new roof, consider a white metal roof that reflects heat (and repels fire.)
• Plant trees for the future, especially in neighborhoods that lack them.
• Check the new Heat Risk index. HeatRisk | The Ratonian
• Know the symptoms of heat exhaustion and potentially deadly heat stroke. Symptoms of Heat-Related Illnesses | Extreme Heat | CDC

And here are some ways to mitigate climate change:

• Vote for candidates concerned about climate.
• Join or donate to a group working on the issue.
• Promote climate-friendly community projects.
• Eat more plants and less meat.
• Consider an electric car. Both new and used ones are currently eligible for federal tax credits.
• Don’t leave kids, the elderly, or pets in hot cars.

For a deeper dive into the heat topic, try reading The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet, by Jeff Goodell.

What Would You Do for the Birds?

Posted June 7, 2024 – by Pat Walsh

When I lived in Longmont, Colorado, every spring my alarm clock showed up with feathered wings and a pointy beak. The metallic RAT-AT-TAT-TAT would jolt me awake. And then I would smile.

I had learned the hard way that male northern flickers will use whatever’s handy to proclaim, “Here I am!” to potential mates and warn off competitors. And my hollow metal chimney pipe provided a perfect drum for those boys from the woodpecker family.

Another sign of spring arrived with a particular bird of prey soaring over Colorado grasslands. “Welcome back,” I’d say to the returning Swainson’s hawk. I knew that the grasshopper-eating raptor had flown thousands of miles from Argentina, surviving a trip filled with dangers.

I become friends with birds one species at a time. I’m enchanted by the descending, flute-like call of a canyon wren–which ends in a comical buzz. Driving along a country fence line, I cherish hearing a fragment of a meadowlark’s song. Spotted towhees crack me up with their red eyes and their chub-chub-chub-chub TWEE pronouncements.

Many folks here in Raton put out hummingbird feeders for those little charmers, while others enjoy the annual return of the turkey vultures.

There are about 920 species of birds in North America (Canada, U.S. and Mexico.) Worldwide there are an estimated 10,000 species. Birds descended from dinosaurs, and Smithsonian magazine even calls birds “avian dinosaurs.”

Birds grace us with their beauty, songs and diversity. They even boost our mental health. An online Time magazine article cites a study published by Scientific Reports that “found that seeing or hearing birds improved people’s mental well-being for up to eight hours.”

But birds need our help. “More than half of U.S. bird species are declining,” according to the State of the Birds 2022 report by 33 leading science and conservation groups. Grassland birds like my beloved meadowlark are among the hardest hit. Others face an even higher risk. Rufous hummingbirds have lost at least half of their population in the last 50 years.

The website www.scienceofbirds.com says the five top causes are agricultural expansion, deforestation, invasive species, hunting/trapping and climate change.

The prestigious Cornell Lab of Ornithology lists seven ways to help:

1.     Make windows safer for birds so they can avoid collisions. Find inexpensive products at https://abcbirds.org/solutions/prevent-home-collisions
2.        Keep cats indoors. They’ll live longer, healthier lives. “Outdoor cats kill more birds than any other non-native threat,” Cornell Lab says.  (I’ve leash-trained my cats and am looking into tent-like outdoor playpens.)
3.        Shrink your lawn by planting native species, which provide better habitat.
4.        Avoid pesticides.
5.        Drink shade-grown coffee, because the shade trees provide more habitat.
6.        Be mindful of plastic use. (We can recycle #1 and #2 plastics here in Raton!)
7.        Take part in citizen science by watching birds and sharing what you see.

What would you do to protect your favorite birds?

Where are the Bees?

Posted May 5, 2024 – By Pat Walsh

When she talks about her apple tree loaded with fragrant blossoms this spring, master gardener Joelyn Pafford looks sad. Pafford, a retired Raton school teacher, keeps asking herself this question: where are the bees?

Indeed.

When I checked out our backyard plum tree, I found pretty pink blooms posing for their pollinating partners, like invitations to a party. The flowers were vacant.

Unless bees, wasps and other insects start showing up, my friend Joelyn may have no apples, and I may have no plums. Fruit tree flowers offer nectar to insects in exchange for the critters moving pollen from the male flower parts to the female.

Aside from possibly no fruit, I just miss these tiny creatures. Years ago, I stood mesmerized under my singing Granny Smith apple tree in Longmont, Colorado. The tree “sang” to me via a choir of hundreds (thousands?) of honey bees foraging and buzzing in the flowers.

Honey bees are non-native insects brought to North America by settlers eager to harvest honey and wax. We have beekeepers in the Raton area. There are also nearly 4,000 different native bees, including bumble bees, who handled pollinator chores long before the honey bees arrived.

Neither Joelyn nor I are seeing bees of either variety.

More and more people are aware of the critical role played by pollinators, which help produce much of our food. Meanwhile, scientists report that insect populations are shrinking worldwide—what some call the Insect Apocalypse.

“… insect surveys suggest that 40 percent or more of insect species may be under threat of extinction … due to habitat loss, increased use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and the changing climate,” writes entomologist Jason Cryan, head of the Utah Natural History Museum.

In the 1950s and 1960s, I sat in the backseat of our black Chevy as my Army officer father drove Mom and I to his next assignment. Like others of my generation, I remember bug-splattered windshields that required frequent cleaning stops. On my road trips now, the bug-windshield encounters are much fewer.

Also, missing insects are bad news for birds. Parent birds need to catch thousands of insects to feed their baby birds in the spring. Audubon cites reports that estimate it takes between 6,000 to 9,000 insect caterpillars to raise a brood of five chickadees.

I don’t know what’s happening locally. Are Raton-area beekeepers seeing a die-off? Did warmer weather cause trees to flower before native bugs could hatch out? Have drier conditions made it harder for insects to reproduce?  

Meanwhile, here are a few suggestions. We can:

•               plant drought-tolerant native plants that support native bees
•   call Raton city hall and “opt out” of pesticide spraying to mitigate mosquitoes
•     put out simple habitats for native, non-stinging bees like mason bees (i.e. open-ended tin cans with sticks—see patterns online)

While some of us dislike bugs, the truth is that if insects disappeared tomorrow, our lives would be hugely impacted. They are the bees’ knees!

Everything We Have Comes From the Earth

Posted April 6, 2024 – By Pat Walsh

I remember casually saying this to some Raton Intermediate School students a few years ago. A boy rushed across the room to grab a stapler. “Even this?” he said. Yes, I replied. The plastic body came from petroleum. The staples came from metal mined from the earth. He picked up a few more items, and each time I answered, “Yes.”

Look around you. Your home. Your possessions. Your clothes. Your food. It all comes from our home planet. Earth Day is Monday, April 22. But maybe we should rename those 24 hours as “Earth’s Day.”

Just as on Mother’s Day we honor what moms do for us, maybe “Earth’s Day” could spark gratitude for all our planet provides and encourage us to give little gifts in return.

What little gifts, you say? Here are some suggestions:

–If you have a clothesline, hang out your clothes and let the sun and wind dry them instead of your electric dryer. For me it’s a restful and sunny habit!

–Rather than turn on your car engine from the house, wait until you get in your vehicle. Modern cars need very little time to “warm up.” Cold outside? Put on an extra jacket instead of running a vacant car to heat the interior.

–Check your fridge for food that needs to be eaten soon. Reducing food waste ranks third out of 100 solutions for reversing human-caused climate change, according to the non-profit Project Drawdown.

–If you need something new, consider spending a bit more for a better quality and preferably U.S.-made item that will last longer. Fewer purchases, fewer things in the dumpster.

This idea of being good to the earth appears in many belief systems. Scientist Katharine Hayhoe, a Christian and climate ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance, writes, “What is more Christian than to be good stewards of the planet…?”

The U.N. Environment Program’s website Religions and Environmental Protection notes that in Judaism, tradition holds that “the land and environment are properties of God, and it is the duty of humankind to take care of it.” UNEP then cites similar beliefs in religions worldwide.

Botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer writes about her childhood camping trips in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. Kimmerer, an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, said her father greeted each morning by pouring fresh coffee onto the ground as an offering.

Kimmerer writes that such offerings “say ‘Here we are,’” and afterward she hears “the land murmuring to itself, ‘Ohh, here are the ones who know how to say thank you.’”

Perhaps we can practice how to say thank you for our beautiful corner of the earth.

For more information:

• https://drawdown.org
• Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, by Katharine Hayhoe.
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Help our Earth – Editorial by Laura Brewer

Every day should be Earth Day, but officially we celebrate in the U.S. on Monday, April 22, 2024. Below is a graphic of some of the things one can do to help our Earth.

Water – A Precious Resource

Posted March 10, 2024 – By Pat Walsh

March 10 is my birthday. That makes me a fishy Pisces, with the watery blue aquamarine as my birthstone. And as a kid, I got to swim in the ocean.

While at times I feel landlocked in New Mexico, I’m grateful I live in Raton with its historically plentiful and great-tasting water supply. During my 17 years as a N.M. State Parks ranger, I often spoke with students about how water is “more valuable than gold.” So it only seems appropriate to begin my series of columns called Earth Corner by focusing on water.

I don’t know about you, but I often take water for granted. I make tea, wash my hands, flush the toilet, take a shower. It’s just always there.

Until it’s not. Take the wealthy subdivision built outside the city limits of Scottsdale, Arizona using a loophole that didn’t require a water supply. Residents relied on trucks bringing in city water—until Scottsdale faced a recent shortage from the drought-ravaged Colorado River. The city temporarily halted the subdivision’s water use, so its own city residents would have enough.

Computer climate models from agencies like NASA have for years predicted a hotter, drier Southwest. Regardless, Southwestern cities (including Albuquerque) have continued to boom. Fortunately, thanks to foresighted officials, Raton not only gets water from Lake Maloya, but we also have rights to water from Eagle Nest Lake.

Nevertheless, when I was based out of Sugarite Canyon State Park, I saw Lake Maloya’s water level drop quite low at times. And in 2021, Sugarite temporarily closed the shower building because of low flows from groundwater springs. To my knowledge, that was a first since Sugarite became a park in 1985.
So things appear to be changing, and our water supply may not be guaranteed.

Indigenous peoples have lived in the dry Southwest for thousands of years. Those traditional cultures consider water sacred. How would that approach affect our use of water?

One way to save water is as easy as turning off the light when you leave a room. About 65 percent of U.S. electricity comes from power plants that boil water to create steam to generate electricity, according to the non-governmental Union of Concerned Scientists.

Another way is to think about the food on our plates. You know that old line, eat more fruit and vegetables? Raton already has many backyard gardeners and fruit trees that provide locally grown and tasty items like tomatoes and peaches. Turns out that, according to National Geographic, it takes much less water to grow grains, vegetables and beans than it does to produce animal products.

Meanwhile, on another front, some Ratonians are shrinking their thirsty green-grass yards to make room for drought-hardy native plants like chocolate flowers, prickly poppy and penstemon.

A very pretty way to use less water, indeed!

Interested in learning more? Try reading The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, by Charles Fishman.