Sacred Places, Trees, and Songs

 My Mini Three-Sisters Front-Yard Garden Back in the spring, I encouraged readers to try growing some food this year, even if just in a planter on the balcony.  I wanted to be sincere about this commitment, so I cast around for a good spot to start a new garden myself. I settled on an unlikely place: a bare spot in my front yard where the grass was thin and brown.  It was about 100 square feet and I had been eyeing it ever since my friend and mentor David Braden started the 100-Square-Foot Challenge back in the 2010s. (He passed on to the Big Garden in the Sky in 2024 and I miss him constantly.) In the first few years, I prepped by breaking sod and piling leaves, grass clippings and sometimes even brush on the pile, which was fortunately somewhat hidden from the road by a large dogwood bush. When I changed the cooling media in my evaporative cooler, I put the mineral-rich used media (essentially corrugated cardboard) on there too. The surrounding grass took notice and sta...

 Mitigation Masks True Intentions in the Urban/Wild Interface  New sounds ring out in the forest. Not of birdsong, the chattering of the squirrel or the howl of the coyote, but the loud buzz of chain saws. "We must thin the forests, to lower the risk of wildfires," those who wield the power saws say. Fearful local homeowners support and add to this effort, creating "defensible space" around their homes.  Wait a minute. Does cutting, thinning and logging really lower the risk of wildfires? In the past year, I have visited several homeowners who live on the Front Range of Colorado, in communities such as Evergreen, Boulder, Conifer and Pine. Just by their names, you know the homes are nestled among trees. After the disastrous Marshall fire that burned  6,000 acres including 1,000 homes and commercial buildings at the end of 2021, people, insurance companies, and governments are turning to cutting down trees as a deterrent and solution.  Those who promote timber ha...

Don't Let the Administration Kill the Roadless Rule The deadline is approaching this Friday September 19 to stand up for about 30 percent of our National Forest land against the mining, logging, construction and other extractive industries that would benefit by the rescission of the Roadless Rule. Please go to this Outdoor Alliance Site for concise details about what's at stake and use FastAction to submit your public comment.   Did you know that about 30 percent of National Forest land is already open to commercial development? Only about 18 percent is protected as a designated Wilderness area. This rescission would open up the rest of our National Forests to further development, putting trees, sacred places, waterways, landscapes, trails, wildlife, clean air, carbon sequestration and many other public goods at risk of loss and degradation.  As an example of what can happen, two mining companies are already drilling and exploring in the Tongass Natio...

  It was  our late president, Dr. James Jefferson’s idea to hold our annual conference this year in Towaoc, Colorado, on the reservation of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Their hotel and casino sits in the beautiful valley of the Navajo Wash on the road from Cortez to Shiprock, New Mexico. We were blessed with a good turnout—people came from as far away as Northern Utah and Georgia, and there were attendees from all three Ute tribes and from the Navajo Nation.  Dr. Jefferson was strongly involved in the conference planning, despite his worsening health. He was so determined that it would be successful that he travelled to Denver, Colorado Springs, and Towaoc for planning meetings throughout the spring (pictured above). When we met at the hotel in early June to firm up details, Dr. Jefferson’s selected keynote speaker, Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, was able to meet us for lunch. They sat together and reminisced about shared relatives and experiences.  Maybe he knew that his d...

  Our group was incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to visit the Ute Tribe's most sacred place, (Sleeping) Ute Mountain, in August. The tour came together after months of meetings with the Council of Elders of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, submitting requests and forms, and making sure all visitors were aware of the protocols. The women donned colorful shawls and everyone piled into two vans for the journey.  We stopped near the entrance to the mountain where a large "No Trespassing" sign was posted. The mountain is off-limits to anyone who is not a member of a Ute tribe, unless they are under the guidance of a tribal member. We circled around and received instruction and a prayer. I realized that this would be an experience that would help me in my everyday life. Overhead, a golden eagle passed by.  Making our way up the mountain, we circled around the central area and headed for the Sun Dance grounds. Suddenly, the van ahead of us stopped by a small tree on the sou...

It takes nearly an hour of driving before you can really feel like you have left Denver. I was at that place, well away from Conifer and past Pine but not yet to the mountain towns of Bailey and Santa Maria. The road emerged from the tree-lined canyon into an open meadow and I saw something out of the corner of my left eye. It was the profile of a hawk, wings outstretched, flying parallel to my car. Then my spirit lifted. I was not in Denver anymore. There were five mountain passes ahead of me. I zoomed over Kenosha Pass and down into South Park, heading straight south through that wide valley. Then came Poncha Pass which brought me to the San Luis Valley, the largest high-altitude valley in the world. In the northern half of this valley, there is no drainage. Water that falls, and snow that melts stays in this valley and nurtures the many crops and livestock growing there.  The Southern half of the valley is home to the Rio Grande that flows from its headwaters in the San Juan F...