Events

Gila Conservation Coalition presents
21st Century Climate Change in Southwest New Mexico:
What’s in store for the Gila?

with Dr. David Gutzler
Professor of Meteorology & Climatology
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
University of New Mexico

June 5, 2008; 7:00 pm
Silco Theatre, Downtown Silver City

Earth's climate is warming rapidly, due at least in large part to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.The Southwest in general, and southern New Mexico in particular, are projected to undergo very pronounced hydrologic changes as temperature increases and snowpack decreases. Dr. Gutzler will discuss the evidence for global climate change, predictions for future climate, and the uncertainties in making these predictions, and show how we can extract results from global models and 'downscale' them to make projections for smaller regions such as the Gila Wilderness. For more info call 575.538.8078

DAVID S. GUTZLER is Professor of Meteorology and Climatology in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences at UNM. He teaches courses on basic principles of weather and climate, and conducts research on climate change and predictability. He grew up in San Diego and took degrees at the University of California at Berkeley (B.S., Engineering Physics), the University of Washington (M.S., Atmospheric Science) and MIT (Ph.D, Meteorology). He joined the UNM faculty in 1995. At UNM he carries out a broad suite of climatic research, typically with the goal of improving the skill and usefulness of climate predictions on seasonal and longer time scales. He currently works on projects aimed at improving modeling and predictions of the North American summer monsoon, analyzing atmospheric moisture transport paths onto the North American continent, understanding land-atmosphere interactions and the dynamics of drought, and examining the impacts of climate variability and change on the Southwest.

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Saving the Gila: New Mexico's Last Wild River
Slide Presentation by Dutch Salmon
Gila Conservation Coalition

Picture a place where over 250 species of bird have been recorded; where streamside habitat supports wildlife ranging from the reclusive mountain lion to the threatened loach minnow, and where no large dams impede the natural flow of waters. Sound like Shangri La? It is and it's Southwest New Mexico's Gila River. The Gila ("Hee-la") is one of the last wild, free-flowing rivers in the Southwest, and we all benefit from it staying that way.

Join Gila Conservation Coalition chairman, Dutch Salmon, for a picturesque tour of the natural and cultural history of the Gila River, the latest threat to divert 14,000 acre-feet of water each year from the river, and ways in which you can help protect the Gila for our children.

Dutch Salmon founded the Gila Conservation Coalition (GCC) in 1984. He is a member of the New Mexico State Game Commission and Board Member of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. Dutch is the author of seven outdoor books including Gila Descending, Country Sports, and the novel Home is the River. He has canoed, hiked, and fished the river from its source at Bead Spring to Safford, Arizona, and his experience makes him one of the few authorities on the Gila River in New Mexico.

View a video (broadband) or hear an audio version (dialup) of Dutch Salmon's presentation, Saving the Gila: New Mexico's Last Wild River, at Radio Free Silver. Call GCC at (505) 538-8078 to purchase a DVD of the presentation.

Gila Conservation Coalition Save the Gila River Outreach Campaign Impacts of the Arizona Water Settlements Act SCHEDULE

No presentations are currently scheduled. Please contact GCC at (575) 538-8078 to schedule a talk.

This project has been funded by: Messengers of Healing Winds Foundation Thaw Charitable Trust McCune Charitable Foundation Patagonia

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Previously Held Events:

Gila Conservation Coalition presents

Navigating the Rivers of Our Future
with Bill deBuys author and conservationist

Friday, April 18 7:00 pm
Silco Theatre
Downtown Silver City

Suggested donation $5 at the door

Bill deBuys will talk about the future of southwestern rivers, including the Gila, in an era of changing climate, and specifically for the Southwest, an era of increasing aridity. What will this do to our relationship to rivers, to our efforts to defend them, to the way we ask them to satisfy our myriad needs? Mr. deBuys by no means promises answers to any of these questions, but thinks their exploration may be useful.

Bill deBuys is a writer and conservationist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is professor of Documentary Studies at the College of Santa Fe and the author of six books: Enchantment and Exploitation (1985), River of Traps (1990), which was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, Salt Dreams: Land and Water in Low-Down California (1999), which received a Western States Book Award, Seeing Things Whole: the Essential John Wesley Powell (2001), Valles Caldera (2006), and The Walk (2007). DeBuys has long been involved in environmental affairs in New Mexico and the Southwest. From 1997 to 2004 he directed the Valle Grande Grass Bank in San Miguel County, New Mexico, and from 2001 to 2005 he served as chairman of the Valles Caldera Trust, which administers the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve under an experimental approach to the management of public lands. For more information, please call the Gila Conservation Coalition at 538.8078 or visit www.gilaconservation.org

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The Gila Conservation Coalition and Gila Resources Information Project present

Gila River: Photographs of New Mexico's Last Wild River

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willow wall
gordee headlee © 2006

Exhibit Location:
Gila Resources Information Project Office
305A North Cooper St.
Silver City, NM
505.538.8078

This exhibition highlights the richness and beauty of the Gila River and features works by five Silver City-area photographers: Anthony Howell, Gordee Headlee, Jay Hemphill, Mike Fugagli and Nanda Currant.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the EMA Foundation which made this exhibit possible.

2nd Annual Gila River Day January 29th, 2008 1:30 - 2:30pm State Capitol Rotunda, Santa Fe Please join us for a celebration of the Gila River, New Mexico’s last free-flowing river and one of the jewels of our land of enchantment. The event is an opportunity to learn about Gila River restoration and protection efforts and the latest in the Gila planning process under the Arizona Water Settlements Act. WITH SPECIAL GUESTS Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish Representative Mimi Stewart Ron Curry, Secretary, New Mexico Environment Department Bruce Thompson, Director, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Estevan Lopez, Director, Interstate Stream Commission Sandy Buffett, Executive Director, Conservation Voters of New Mexico Presentation of “Champion of the Gila River” award to Governor Bill Richardson Local, state, and national conservation groups will be on-hand with information about their Gila River conservation efforts. Light refreshments will also be served. SPONSORED BY: the Gila Conservation Coalition in partnership with the Center for Biological Diversity, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Gila Resources Information Project, The Nature Conservancy, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Gila Native Plant Society, Southwest New Mexico Audubon, Amigos Bravos, Environment New Mexico, AudubonNM, Rio Grande Restoration, Far-Flung Adventures and Conservation Voters of New Mexico. For more information, contact the Gila Conservation at 575.538.8078 or email info@gilaconservation.org.

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River Restoration at the Iron Bridge Tract
November 3 - 9:00 am - 1:00 pm

Join The Nature Conservancy's Southwest New Mexico Field Representative, Martha Schumann, and Bear Mountain Lodge naturalist, Mike Fugagli, for a hike on TNC's latest Gila River conservation acquisition.
Call 505.538.8078 for more info.

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Fluvial-geomorphology of the Gila River
October 20 - 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Mike Fugagli, naturalist at The Nature Conservancy's Bear Mountain Lodge and Van Clothier, watershed restoration expert and owner of Stream Dynamics, lead this hike upstream from the Mogollon Box Campground.
Call 505.538.8078 for more info.

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3rd Annual Gila River Festival September 13-16, 2007 "Let the mountains talk, let the rivers run. Once more, and forever." - David Brower

Click here to find out more about this year's 3rd Annual Gila River Festival!

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The Gila Conservation Coalition and Southwest Environmental Center
present Gila River: Photographs of New Mexico's Last Wild River at the
Cottonwood Gallery. The exhibition highlights the richness and beauty of this
jewel of the Southwest and features works by four Silver City-area
photographers: Anthony Howell, Gordee Headlee, Jay Hemphill, and Mike Fugagli.

The Gila ("Hee-la") is one of the last wild, free-flowing rivers in the
Southwest. It is a place where over 300 species of bird have been
recorded; where streamside habitat supports wildlife ranging from the reclusive
mountain lion to the threatened loach minnow, and where no large dams
impede the natural flow of waters. This exhibit features color and black and
white photographs of the Gila River in New Mexico, from its headwaters to the Arizona border.

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gila lower box
anthony howell, © 2006

Gila River Day
January 17, 2007
4:00 - 6:00 pm
State Capitol Rotunda, Santa Fe

Please join us for a celebration of the Gila River, New Mexico's last free-flowing river and one of the jewels of our land of enchantment. Come learn about the potential threats to the Gila and initiatives for its protection.

With special guests Representative Mimi Stewart and Game Commissioner Dutch Salmon and others! Light refreshments will be served.

Sponsored by:Gila Conservation Coalition, Center for Biological Diversity, Gila Resources Information Project, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Southwestern New Mexico Audubon Society, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Rio Grande Restoration, Forest Guardians, Amigos Bravos, Trout Unlimited Truchas Chapter, New Mexico River Outfitters Association.

Click here to download Gila River Day flyer.