Albuquerque's Environmental Story
Albuquerque's Environmental StoryAlbuquerque's Environmental Story, in 1978's original version as well as its 1985 and current revisions represents the committed efforts of many volunteers drawn from city staff, Albuquerque's Public Schools, the University of New Mexico and the community at large. They share our belief that an appropriate definition of environmental education, of a proper education in a larger sense, should include all the influences--natural, cultural, human and architectural--that pervade students' lives and help shape their attitudes.
Particularly helpful, from the beginning, was the continuum of approval from this city's educational and governmental executives, and the resultant collaborative contributions of staff expertise. This "community" interpreting and building resources has enjoyed wide support from city leaders since its basic concept was first introduced in 1976. Mayors Harry Kinney, and David Rusk, School Superintendent Frank Sanchez, Planning Director George Carruthers, Municipal Director Carl Rodolph, and Environmental Director Larry Gordon quickly grasped its potential for inculcating environmental and human awareness through its unique focus on our city's human and natural infrastructures. They offered full support, and APS curriculum developers and city staff quickly became creatively involved stakeholders.
This 1996 edition has enjoyed a similar response. Former Mayor Martin Chavez and APS Superintendent Peter Horoschack gave their blessings, validating the previous efforts of the already motivated staff members, many of whom had been contributors and now saw the importance of the updating. Mayor Chavez was especially helpful. Quickly recognizing the conservationist community, strengthening relevance of the books approach to the environment, he assigned the facilitation skills of Jay Czar, his Deputy CAO, to coordinate the contributions of the City’s agencies in completing and presenting the book. Jay stayed on to help implement the Mayor’s formation of an agency APS/Community based advisory committee to produce a continuingly updated electronic companion for the printed book.
We are also grateful to Mayor Chavez for his insightfully visionary statement that the massive volume (AES) details everything needs to know about the history of Albuquerque’s surrounding ecosystems, watersheds, airspace, wildlife habitant and their ongoing interaction with human civilization. He truly understands that we are part of an interrelated, interactive world.
As we proceeded with the project, we realized that we also faced the difficult problem of funding layout and printing of the finished book. Our decision to turn to the private sector was quickly rewarded. The Intel Corporation made a major and invaluable contribution in its generous offer to pay for the printing. Cottonwood Printing and Dixon Paper Company then committed to providing their respective services at cost. The essential need for an electronically literate editor was quickly met by PNM, whose early belief in the project and assurance of funding encouraged us to recruit the properly accredited person.
At a similarly basic level, we are grateful to the following, who also helped with financing. They included Albuquerque's Institute of Architects (AIA), Ron Brown and Associates, Camera and Dark Room, the Albuquerque City Council, Bob McCabe, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Lynn Rosner and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). Their responses were timely and appropriate.
The support of Albuquerque's Shared Vision, Inc. is important because this book's focus, informational range, classroom Eye Opener Activities and outreach potential for people of all ages relate to, and can, we believe, help stimulate the community awareness and informed action requisite to realizing our mutually shared vision of a vital and sustainable community.
Albuquerque's Public Schools--its teachers and students--can provide a major medium for inculcating environmental literacy, in its broadest sense, in this and succeeding generations of students, who areour future policy-makers and voters. We are grateful to Joseph Vigil, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and the members of his administrative staff for their commitment to the "concept," and for their active role in helping plan for the book's implementation and introduction to the professional staff. They include the following:
Indicating their continuing belief in the book's basic concept and mission, most of the contributors readily involved themselves in this revision process. They recognized the need to help our city's residents learn to sensitively relate to the current status of our air and water quality, solid and hazardous waste, land use, transportation and other environmental problems, as well as achieving new perspectives on Albuquerque's built and cultural environments. We owe thanks to many people in government, APS and the larger community for the creativity and expertise they have provided.
In approaching this project, we first organized a committee to help conceptualize and shape its form and content. This computer literate team quickly introduced us to the miraculous easements and rapid communication opportunities provided by burgeoning technological advances, a happy alternative to the portable typewriters these two senior citizens were using. For this, their diverse areas of expertise and their comprehensive coordinating skills, we are grateful to the following members of the planning committee:
Sarah Kotchian, Albuquerque's Director of Environmental Health, a creative thinker and extremely knowledgeable administrator has made available her staff's wide ranging expertise. She has provided wise counsel, and with Hugh Prather guided the project with a blend of intellect, extensive awareness of developing issues and the benefits of experience and administrative practicality throughout the project.
Hugh Prather, retired Superintendent of Las Lunas schools who, as APS curriculum director in 1978, helped us shape the original book's philosophy and classroom approach, thus integrating it into the mandated curriculum. He has provided the continuum between the previous and present editions. His administrative and curriculum development skills, his sensitive understanding of classroom needs, his comprehensive understanding of the visionary and practical in newly developing educational philosophy and his unwavering belief in the book's usefulness and appropriateness are part of the amalgam which has enriched the final product.
Celia Einhorn, with Bob Tighe, APS computer liaison, brought home the relevance of telecommunications as an expanding, open ended educational and informational vehicle. Having contributed to the early and fundamental planning process, she became an integral, comprehensively informed part of all aspects of the production process. The credibility of her advocacy of cyberspace and its many potentials were validated by her expertise and experience.
Joel Woolridge kept us abreast of new ideas and innovations in the Planning Department as he tried to generate innovative, multi-faceted approaches designed to simplify, expedite and improve departmental procedures to help make planning more responsive to local and regional growth and change.
Terry Dunbar, who, in his special APS assignment to promote teacher focus on schoolyard ecology, demonstrated the book's multiplicity of uses and applications in environmental education. His request for more copies of he 1985 edition, and his hands on understanding of classroom needs started us on the reprinting/revising cycle which resulted in this updating, and its journey into the Internet.
Susan Jones, a City/County Planner and member of T.A.C.A.'s Board of Directors, is the steering committee's liaison to that preservationist community group, our funding base. In addition to the wise counsel she provided as a well informed bridge to that organization, she wrote one of the five vignettes for the "Sense of Place" section, helped identify and recruit writers, and played an important role in developing our grant proposals.
And then came Dan Jones, a widely recommended expert from the City's Information Systems Division. He brought extensive computer related understanding and a creative vision to the steering committee's planning and implementation process. He put us into the Internet and served as the link between the revisers and our editorial team. His willingness to work long hours, on his own time, also helped bring to life and expand our group's conceptualization of the book's next phase. We plan to make it available for both current usage and continued updating through the expanding magic of electronic communication. Assisted by Celia Einhorn and Bob Tighe, Dan accepted the responsibility for converting the 1985 edition to revisable format. He then became the clearing house for documentation, translation and distribution services between the writing team members and the editor as a step toward building a prototype electronic version of the document for the world-wide web. Looking to the next phase, we are already preparing to convert the newly edited version for use on the web.
This dream, with its practical aspect, continues for all of us, including the search for alternative means of packaging and distribution of the electronic version. We hope to establish a sustainable approach for its continual updating, along with merging the technology required to produce currently applicable printed versions. To achieve that sustainability, we are searching for an ongoing mechanism, using digitalized pictures and other innovative techniques.
Albuquerque, with its neighboring communities, has been experiencing rapid and dynamic change. Examples include our revised understanding of the water carrying capacity of the aquifer, the emergence of a multicultural rather than tri-cultural society, the importance of linking land use and transportation in planning for new development as well as other new social and environmental forces. We have also come to realize the importance of adopting a regional approach to the interacting elements we share with surrounding municipalities and pueblos. The resultant feeling that this edition should incorporate new perspectives and developments has been confirmed by our continuous association with Albuquerque's Shared Vision, Inc. and its community-involving approach to policy making. It was further reinforced by similar suggestions from Gordon Church, Manjeet Tangri, Patricia Pettit and other team members who also felt that these bodies of knowledge and extended levels of awareness are educational essentials. The following Environmental Topics have therefore been added:
The Editorial Staff
Kathleen Norris Park, the editor-in-chief, is a former educator whose experience and professional background have been very appropriate to the book's needs. She has provided a feeling for and meticulous approach to language and accuracy. In addition, she has a sense of design that significantly shaped the final form and content. She worked tirelessly and productively to achieve a readable, attractive layout, and to be true to the intent and varied writing styles of the many contributors, while accommodating to the ongoing proliferation of new content material. She also effectively handled the daunting task of keeping the book within manageable size and cost. Her patience, skill, dedication to the cause, and her warm personality were major elements in our team's achievement of its collective goals.
Barbara Trujillo, a recent and excellent classroom teacher is a refreshing reminder of the range of skills, sensitivities, professionalism and potentials many front line educators bring to their students. She contributed a first hand understanding of classroom needs and realities, a feeling for appropriate graphics and a knowing, observant eye toward selecting appropriate illustrations and photographs. She understood and helped with layout, and applied her creativity in content development and in preparing a Users' Guide and the Take A Trip section. Her input, based on her direct understanding of the educator's point of view, her writing, her photographic skills, and her insightful editing of the objectives provided invaluable enrichments.
Celia Einhorn applied many years of diversified experience in accepting responsibility for updating and editing classroom activities in Sections I-IV. She also worked with teachers to determine changes needed in these sections. A computer expert and a highly informed advocate for cyberspace and its many potentials, Celia worked with Bob Tighe in developing a list of computerized teaching resources.
Patricia Pettit led the team that updated curriculum resources. She is the indefatigable, willing, and excellent networker and organizer who enthusiastically applied her interpersonal and multifaceted skills to help fill gaps that surfaced in the early and later stages of production.
Briget Tyson, a graduate student in environmental education at UNM, contributed in many significant ways. She researched and prepared the Bibliography and the list of Careers in the Environment for the Appendix. She also assisted with the assortment of essentials, which helped prepare the manuscript for final printing. This included a list of resource organizations, updating page references, proofreading and other minutiae. Briget brought intelligence, initiative, a deep sense of responsibility and an admirably broad-based understanding of a series of complicated, time-consuming chores, each of which she cheerfully accepted and effectively completed. Hers was a comforting contribution.
This effort to produce a teaching/learning resource which can comprehensively serve as an introduction to Albuquerque's natural, built and cultural environments has been enriched by the many expert contributors listed below, and we are deeply indebted to all of them. We owe special thanks, however, to Gordon Church, Paula Donahue and Mary Davis, who accepted responsibility for revising sections whose original authors have left Albuquerque, and then responsively and effectively identified and filled in other information gaps. Their generous willingness to go beyond their original assignments was an extraordinary contribution.
Much of the material in the 1996 revision was taken directly, with minor modifications from the two earlier editions. Credit to these writers can be found on the pages immediately following.
The Sense of Place vignettes in Section II, the School Building part of Section IV, and the Environmental Topics in Section V were written by (or in some cases adapted from the writings of) the following members of Albuquerque's public and private sectors.
Section II Sense of Place
Russell Brito, Paula Donahue, Sandy Fish, Susan Jones, Nano Takuma--Planning Department;
Matthew Schmader--Open Space Division; Mary Davis--Historic Preservation; Diane Souder--Petroglyph National Monument; Phyllis Taylor--Southwest Land Research; James Stolzier--Consensus Planning; Senior Airman Paul Gritton--Kirtland Air Force Base; Mike Ryan and Genie Blair Ryan--The Observer, Rio Rancho.
Section IV The School Building
Anne Taylor--UNM School of Architecture; Bill Koehlm--Albuquerque Public Schools
Section V Environmental Topics
Larry Caudill, Alana Eager, Doug Earp, Loren Meinz, Richard Mitzelfelt, Curt Montman, Milo Myers, Joyce Rodarte--Environmental Health Department; Paula Donahue, Susan Kelly, Jon Messier, Manjeet Tangri--Planning Department; Mary Davis--Historic Preservation; Steve Glass, Mary Hardison, Jeanne Postlethwait, Jerry Widdison, Jean Witherspoon--Public Works; Dawn Matson--Transit and Parking; Gordon Church--Public Art Program; Kim Perdue--Department of Senior Affairs; Rex Funk, Carolyn Cleveland, Matthew Schmader--Open Space Division; Richard Benison--Employee Relations; Richard Hammond, Geraldine Lorretto--Family and Community Services; Mike Minturn--Parks and General Services; Jennie Chavez, Madeline Dunn, Tito Montoya--Solid Waste Department; Don Newton and Lee Hammer--Office of Neighborhood Coordination; Susan Kelly, Craig Rivera, Janet Saiers--Cultural and Recreational Services Department; John Gregory--Capital Improvement Program; John Liebendorfer--Parks and General Services; Robert White--City Attorney; Diane Souder--Petroglyph National Monument; Rebecca Tydings--Rio Grande Nature Center; Stephen Burstein and Dennis Foltz--Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments; Nina Wallerstein--University of New Mexico Hospital; Dianne Trujillo--U.S. Fish and Wildlife; and from the private sector: Bill Perkins, Landscape Architect; Wilbur Thompson, Economist.
We are grateful to the following for peer review of the Eye-Opener Worksheets and Activities: Michael Loughrey, Mary Nordhouse, Dibbey Olson, Tonya Covington.
Our thanks is extended to the following for their assistance in obtaining the financial support necessary to produce the book: Jon Barela, Michael Brasher, Ron Brown, Jay Czar, Michael DeWitte, John Girard, Jasper Hardesty, Donald Hutchinson, Bill Maerson, Chandra Manning, Bob McCabe, Orville Pratt, Barbara Seward, Mary Thomas, Victoria Verett, and Alan Wulkan.
Grateful acknowledgment is also extended to the many people whose interest, support, and encouragement helped make this book possible: Patricia Aaron, Dean Anthony, Richard Beile, Joyce Bertman, Steve Bourbas, Heather Brislen, Doug Crandall, Doris DeGregorio, Susan Diggle, Sara Otto Diniz, Drew Einhorn, Linda Farr, Barbara Gabaldon, Fannye Irving Gibbs, Melissa Grundy, Dolores Herrera, Tony Herrera, Linda Jackson, Dianne Knippel, Stephanie Kozemchak, Terri McMurphy, Mary Nation, Yen Nguyen, David Ning, Norm Park, Bob Paulsen, Jean Powell, Linda Rather, Ron Reeve, Victor Scherzingen, Ellen Schumacher, Gail Seidel, Curtis Smith, Mary Lou Haywood Spells, Judy Stanford, Luis Tovar, Hank Trewitt, Neal Weinberg, and Rusty Wright.
The third edition of Albuquerque's Environmental Story is largely based on the two earlier editions. We gratefully acknowledge the individuals whose contributions were essential to the preparation of the original book, the 1985 revision, or both.
Editors - Joan and Hy Rosner, Ruby Dannenberg, Barry Jamason
Preliminary Planning - Fred Aquirre, Cynthia Bruce, Stefany Burrowes, Ruby Dannenberg, Mary Davis, Susan Dewitt, Jim Fink, Rosemary Glenn, Jon Messier, Mike Minturn, Joel Wooldridge.
Albuquerque Public Schools - Hugh Prather, John Cox, Rex Funk, Paul Gilberto, Mike Loughrey, Tom Parker, Karen Pittman, Joe Pullano, Kathleen Rutter, Marvel Walter.
Community - Joan and Hy Rosner, Robert Howard, Mary Anne Norton, Paul Resta, Philip Tollefsrud.
Manuscript Planning - Joan and Hy Rosner, Coordinators, Wendy Aeschliman, Betsy Avilucea, Linda Cordell, Rex Funk, Rosemary Glenn, Sheri Holtke, Lynda Katonak, Joann Mierzwa, Clair Moyer, Lenore Pardee, Tom Parker, Hugh Prather, Lynn Rosner, Kenn Smith, Marty Stribling, Allen Templeton.
Curriculum Advisors - Mary Evans, Carol Kreis, Carol Harding, Henrietta Loy, Joan Olson, Hollis Stout, Fran Tuthill, Ann Ziegler.
Technical Advisors - Lloyd Barlow, Jon Callender, Hugh Church, Mike Cusack, Harry Davidson, Junella Haynes, Norma Lavery, Jennifer Predock, Dale Stolz.
Field Testing - Betsy Avilucla, Barbara Cooper, Laura Nell Hogg, Hazel Killman, Sheldon McGuire, Clair Moyer, Hugh Prather, Beth Reid.
Contributing Writers - Wendy Aeschliman, Mary Broemel, Charles D. Biebel, Tom Carstophan, Jon Callender, Mary Kay Collins, Linda Cordell, Mary Davis, Tony DellaFlora, Jay Eberle, Rex Funk, Rosemary Glenn, Jeff Gottfried, Elias Elfego Jaramillo, Jr., Paul Lusk, Joanne Massoud McGlothlin, Joann Mierzwa, Wolfgang Preiser, V. B. Price, Joan and Hy Rosner, Mary Rose Szoka Pahl, Anne Taylor, Robert Wood.
The Sense of Place vignettes and The Environmental Topics in Section V were written or adapted from the writings of the following: Roy Anglada, Wendy Aeschliman, Lawrence Baca, Lloyd Barlow, Doris Barnes, Bill Bennett, Charles D. Biebel, Ph.D., Paul Brasher, Mary Broemel, Stefany Burrowes, Tom Carstophan, Larry Caudill, Gordon Church, Robert Cole, Lee Collier, Mary Kay Collins, Mary Davis, Madeline Dunn, Alana Eager, Jay Eberle, Elias Elfego Jarmillo, Jr., Penny Ellison, Jill Funk, Rex Funk, Rosemary Glenn, Larry Gordon, Lee Hammer, Mary Lou Haywood, Kathie Leyendecker, Rick Marshment, John Messier, Mike Minturn, Linda Misanko, Curt Montman, Gene Mortimer, Miles Orten, Hy Rosner, Janet Saiers, Denise Silva, Karen Van Citters, Nina Wallerstein, Joel Wooldridge.
Illustrations and Cover Design - Wendy Aeschliman. Additional Illustrations, Maps and Graphics - Herbert Lee, David Ning, Anne McLaughlin, Kris Sage. Photography - Wendy Aeschliman, M. K. Collins, Albuquerque Museum, Elias Elfego Jarmillo, Jr., Neal Weinberg, Albert Salas. Book Design - Creative Composition Co., L. J. Sparks. Word Processing - Rudy Bantista. Typesetting/Layout - Southwest Research & Information Center, Kris Nevius. Proofreading - Bill Bozman, Stefany Burrowes. The ultimate credit for the production and successful distribution of the original version must go to Albuquerque Planning Department's George Carruthers, Kenn Smith, Ruby Dannenberg, and Rosemary Thompson Glenn. They helped initiate the earlier project and achieve the coalition of effort among Albuquerque Public Schools, the Planning Department, and the University of New Mexico, which made possible this unique and multidisciplinary study of the environment surrounding Albuquerque's children and their elders.
For the 1985 edition we gratefully acknowledge the outstanding contributions of the production team--Rudy Bantista, Kris Nevius, and Stefany Burrowes. In addition to performing their own tasks with extraordinary skill and patience, all three voluntarily functioned as assistant editors. It would not have been possible to have moved from raw manuscript to finished product without their intelligence, tirelessness, positivism and thoroughness.
Despite the extensive contributions of "in-kind" assistance of volunteer writers, city agencies and resource people, we faced the difficult problem of funding the typing, typesetting and layout of the finished book. Louis Saavedra, president of the Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute, made an invaluable contribution providing word processing, which achieved a letter-perfect copy of the written material.
At a similarly basic level, we are deeply grateful to Bud Mulcock and the Public Service Company of New Mexico, to the Sandia National Laboratories, to Albuquerque Federal, Mountain Bell, and the city of Albuquerque for their generous investments in our future quality of living. They contributed the funding that made possible the camera-ready manuscript. We are also indebted to the Albuquerque Community Foundation, which served as fiscal agents for the project.
With Don Hancock of Southwest Research and Information Center providing the typesetting and layout at cost and APS, under the expert supervision of Joe Perno, doing the in-house printing, our two-year community effort was completed. Cover Stock donated by Dixon Paper Company, Albuquerque.
We owe very special thanks to Mayor Harry Kinney, whose encouragement and active support were the final key ingredients in bringing the project to fruition.
The preparation of the original edition of this book was financed in part by a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the provisions of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
Hy and Joan Rosner
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