The Río Grande Returns continued from page 18 And yet this central feature, this absolutely indispensable gift to the landscape we call NM and to its rich cultural history and traditions, is more or less treated as your average kitchen water faucet. Turn it on and out comes water. From where, nobody thinks about, assuming it will always be there and some distant authority will always make it so, leaving us free just to consume at will, with no responsibility to return the gift the river gives us. But Alan Hamilton knows that arrangement can’t last, and it’s not a healthy arrangement in the first place, for the health of a community is reflected in the way that it treats its local landscape and water sources. The more detached you are from your river, its care and protection, the less healthy—physically, emotionally, psychologically—you and your community become. Hamilton’s involvement in river conservation and restoration issues began as a board member of a small family foundation that was giving to the now-defunct Alliance for Río Grande Heritage, a coalition of seven or so environmental organizations attempting to protect the river. This experience showed him that environmentalists were not fully trusted by all elements of NM’s population, people
Just in Time for the December Giving Season From coffee-table books to body and spa packages to piñon coffee and gourmet salsas, there are 17 gifts from NM’s river culture to choose from at Río Grande Return. One of my favorite packages is the Sweet and Spicy Twosome: two jars of jams and preserves from Heidi’s Organic Raspberry Farm in Corrales and from Cibolo Junction in Ojo Sarco. Or, if you like, the Bee Box #2 offers blue corn and white Corn beeswax candles and delicious honey, from Sparrow Hawk Farm in Sabinal. Currently there are eight other packages of culinary delights at their online store, including, of course, red and green chile sauces. Sweet Dulcinea—Piñon Coffee, Senor Murphy chocolates, Chocolate Maven coco.
whose involvement and support were necessary to the success of the venture. He wanted to understand contemporary New Mexicans’ views of the Río Grande, in order to understand how to engage them in this huge project. What he discovered after conducting dozens of interviews of parcientes, mayordomos, soccer moms, environmentalists, public officials, chamber of commerce types—all mixed age and gender groups from Taos to El Paso—is that very few New Mexicans have any actual relationship with the river, partly because it has become physically cut off from easy access or from any immediate role in our daily lives. There was more of a mythic view of the river than a real understanding of the condition or role it plays today. One of the recommendations of the study was to find ways to get people more involved by creating more access to the river, making it more of a destination with nature centers, picnic grounds and river trails. When I asked Hamilton what the trigger was for establishing Río Grande Return, he said: “Foundation money for wetland restoration or riparian conservation was drying up, and it became apparent that the whole funding paradigm for environmental work needed to be re-imagined in some way. Río Grande Return is a funding source that’s not coming from foundations but is generated by people giving gifts to each other. Right now, a minimum of $15 is given to Río Grande Return’s restoration fund from each food package sold and up to $50 from book sales. It’s a para- Jose Lucero with his Santa Clara Pueblo blue corn digm that has proven itself in its first four years. People appreciate and understand it. It hasn’t yet generated a lot of money. I refer to it as slow money, so I’m very strategic and careful about what I’m using those moneys for, because it’s coming from the community.” In scaling up the program, Hamilton hopes to find ways to offer fresh produce in addition to processed foods like jams and honey, but he will need partners and new relationships to develop significant funding. He says that he welcomes suggestions and ideas from the Green Fire Times community. Are we aware enough of the crisis that our river faces to respond with great creativity and commitment? The human imagination is capable of great things when pushed by existential crises. Highly creative thinking is needed when we talk about restoring our relationship to the Río Grande. We can learn to love and enjoy our old Río Grande again. But if we remain only takers from the river and don’t give back, we are diminished in direct proportion to the degree the river is diminished. Its condition is a mirror image of ours. When we say that river gives life, we don’t mean just the water required for plants and animals (including Homo sapiens) to physically survive. People working to rebuild and restore land and water resources of their community are people who are also healing themselves. What a gift this grand river is. We must learn to give back. i Alan Hamilton can be contacted at: alan@riograndereturn.org Earl James is a nonprofit fundraising consultant and the author of the award-winning eco-novel Bella Coola: The Rainforest Brought Them Home. Read excerpts at www.earldjames.com and contact him at earldjames@gmail.com
To go shopping at Río Grande Return: www.riograndereturn.org
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Green Fire Times • December 2012
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