D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
April
2008
Gila Resources Information Project
Page: 2
Now, 10 years after its inception, GRIP's leaders are happy to note some of
their achievements toward the group's mining goals:
- closure and reclamation plans in place at the Chino, Cobre and Tyrone mines;
- success in urging the state regulatory agencies to strengthen the financial assurance measures through which mining companies like Phelps-Dodge (now Freeport-McMoRan) receive back-posted assets as they conduct reclamation;
- success in defending the New Mexico Mining Act itself, as well as the state's Water Quality Act;
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- raising awareness of mining's real and potential environmental impacts;
- creating jobs through mine reclamation, which creates financial incentives for companies to reclaim inactive areas sooner rather than later (or perhaps not at all, the group says).
Siwik says that one of GRIP's important accomplishments is to have "earned a seat at the table with PD." Beginning in 2005, Phelps Dodge invited GRIP to meet regularly to discuss the company's most environmentally sensitive projects. She adds, "The fact that there is this ongoing communication, that they are being open with us, is really very significant."
Having gotten its start with mining, and gained some traction in that field, GRIP also has other concerns and goals that, in ways large and small, connect to its desire to ensure the local community's water quality and quantity for years to come. These include ensuring local forest health, watershed restoration, enforcing zoning to prevent unsustainable sprawl, and protection of the Gila and Mimbres rivers.
According to the literature of the Gila Conservation Coalition, a group in which GRIP is a partner, the Gila River is one of the last wild, free-flowing rivers in the Southwest. Its headwaters, protected as America's first wilderness area by naturalist and outdoorsman Aldo Leopold, also is one of the largest roadless areas in the lower 48 states.
The Gila River is a particular point of history for the area, having had gunslingers holed up along its banks and nomadic Apaches and ancient cliff-dwellers building their homes in its tributary canyons. Famed Apache chief Geronimo was born at the river's headwaters.
The group contends there is a need to protect and save this natural wonder and resource, pointing a warning finger at an amendment to the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act. This addition could lead to a diversion project, which the group decries as a boondoogle, with costs for the project far outweighing any benefits, and changing the wild nature of the river forever.
Looking to the future and how GRIP plans to increase its grassroots efforts toward conservation and preservation, Siwik details some practical, tangible "community building projects" that are taking root and growing. GRIP's motto, proclaimed on its "Get A GRIP" newsletter masthead, is "promoting healthy communities by protecting our environment," and the organization works toward that end in a number of ways.
GRIP served as the fiscal agent for a forest health project, the community development effort called Hometown Initiative, and the Gila Conservation Coalition. The organization provided start-up staffing support to the Gila Conservation Education Center (GCEC, see the November 2006 Desert Exposure) and Aldo Leopold High School, where Browne now serves as business manager. The Gila-Mimbres Community Radio station, currently still working toward getting on the air, was set in motion at an event organized by GRIP and periodically uses GRIP's office as a meeting space. And the group has an ongoing collaborative relationship with community members providing regular institutional support for events such as the Peak Oil/Climate Change conference (see the January 2008 Desert Exposure).
"The 2020 Visions was supported by a McCune (Foundation) grant," Siwik explains. "We got a one-year grant to produce a series of presentations and public dialogues. That spawned six more action groups," among them a sustainable agriculture collective and community greenhouse group.
In 2007, Siwik notes, GRIP's Living Green Series hosted educational, experiential workshops and presentations in natural remodeling, permaculture, wind and solar power and biodiesel.
"This year we'll have even more hands-on workshops, experiential sessions on gardening, composting, native plants, water conservation and green building," Siwik says. "Our goals are two-fold: to protect and preserve, and to educate the public and encourage their participation. People do care, and putting tools like these into their hands helps them to do something positive."
GRIP's 10th anniversary celebration takes place April 26, 3-7 p.m., at The Hub in downtown Silver City. Office and mailing address: 305A N. Cooper St., Silver City, NM 88061. 538-8078, grip@gilaresources.info,www.gilaresources.info.