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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Master Naturalist E-Letter 03-06-12


It’s time to clean-up the river! Well, not all of the river but a section along the Rio Grande. We will meet this Saturday at 8:30 a.m. and pick up trash and debris along the Rio Grande. Plan to meet at West Borderland Road at the river levee. (Map) Bring gloves and wear sunscreen and a hat. Wear good hiking/walking shoes. Open toed footwear may be dangerous to your health. Bring a grabber if you have one. Bags will be provided. Remember water. The river is bone dry (and not for long). It is a good time to look for the shells of Corbicula fluminea, the Asian Clam.

Shake, rattle and roll . . . or maybe just shake . . . just a bit and softly.  A magnitude 2.5 earthquake struck El Paso Monday night. There have been several earthquakes in the past year in our region. Why? We live in the Rio Grande Rift – a place where the earth’s crust is being pulled apart. We don’t really see how deep the rift is.  However, if you started digging up the sand in east El Paso near the airport, for example, you would go 10,000 feet before hitting bedrock! The highest peak in the Franklins is just under 7,200 feet high. The Rio Grande Rift in our area is not visible because sediment from the ancient Lake Cabeza de Vaca has filled it from rim to rim.   Sediment is clearly visible along I-10, the bluffs above El Paso High and along Alabama Street.

The Rio Grande River did not create the rift.  It’s the other way around. Because of the rifting, a series of basins and low areas were formed from Colorado southward through our region. The ancestral Rio Grande didn’t carve the flat valley through which it now flows, it took advantage of the low areas created by the Rift. In “modern” geological times the river’s flow has caused erosion: the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos being the most obvious. However, the ancient river did move back and forth between the Sierra de Las Uvas and the San Andres flowing at least once through Fillmore Pass between the Organ and Franklin Mountains into the Tularosa Basin where it emptied into a shallow lake which now accounts for a large portion of the water supply of El Paso, Texas.  About 2 million years ago a single river formed from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico.  

Last Thursday at our Chapter event many of you heard a super presentation by Naima Montacer, Education Specialist and Zoo Adventure Coordinator at the El Paso Zoo. Not only did she talk about how our zoo is helping to educate people about conservation measures, but she gave some very valuable information which requires specific actions and change of behavior by all of us. Did you know that 30 to 50% of our household water usage comes from flushing the toilet? By merely filling up a water bottle and adding it to the tank, we can cut down consumption. Did you know that each hour Americans throw away about 2.5 million plastic bottles or that one gallon of water goes to process a quarter pound of hamburger? Just some food for thought . She told us about an exciting program called Terracycle, a program that recycles usually unrecyclable materials. The Zoo has a number of Action Items that any of us can participate in to help conservation efforts around the world.  Master Naturalists can volunteer for the Spring Break Zoo Camp, March 12 – 16, from 9 to Noon each day. You can volunteer for a specific day or for the whole week. Classes include Nature Art, Geocaching, Nocturnal Animals, Backyard Wildlife and Tracks and Scat. Just contact Naima at 915-521-1894 or montacernj@elpasotexas.gov.

Mark your calendars now for our next Chapter event – a presentation by Franklin Mountains State Park Parks Interpreter, Adrianna Weickhardt, on April 5 at the El Paso Garden Center, 3105 Grant Avenue. (Map)  Chapter meetings are the first Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. with a focus on the presentation and your announcements. All presentations count for advanced training.

Also, the new 2012 Training Class is in full session. Next class is tomorrow evening from 6 to 9. Meteorologist, John Fausett (aka The Singing Weatherman) will talk about the weather and climate of this region and Dr. Ray Bader will discuss El Paso soils. All are invited to attend. Watch a KVIA interview of Fausett with a focus on our windy season which is now getting underway again. Also see and hear why John is called the Singing Weatherman.  Visit his music store.

Check us out on Facebook. If you are on Facebook, please “like” us. That will help your Trans-Pecos Chapter of Master Naturalists become more easily identifiable and effective.  Also, check out these other great pages on Facebook: Share El Paso with Native Plants and Animals and El Paso Permaculture.


The Master Naturalist© is written and published by Jim Tolbert who takes sole responsibility for the content of the letter.
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This is Volume 1 and Number 3 published on March 6, 2012

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