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December, 2005 Dear Friends and Supporters: We would like to take this opportunity to share with you the achievements we have made towards sustainable development in rural communities of New Mexico this year, as well as ask for your end-of-the-year, tax-deductible, contribution to keep this work going. Sustainable Forestry Small diameter timber (SDT) to value added products. Under our US Forest Service Collaborative Forest Restoration Program grant, and with our partner Luther Martinez, head of Forestry Division at Picuris Pueblo, we have demonstrated we can make a good quality, natural charcoal product from �waste� small diameter timber from pinon, ponderosa, juniper, ocate oak, and from thinned salt cedar trees and �waste� pecan trimmings as well as capture and use the charcoal fumes in that process to naturally preserve wood (tests on preserved wood will be available later this month). Our independent laboratory tests documented our charcoal is economically competitive with, and in some cases, better than, the several brands of natural wood charcoal on the commercial market. (See our test results at www.scizerinm.org/charcoal.html).
Photos from left, 1) Charcoal comparisons 2) solar panel, 2 charcoal ovens + 2 preservation ovens 3) 2nd preservation oven 4) preserved wood closeup Thinned tree �waste� to mushrooms, animal feed and forest restoration. Thanks to our on-staff biologist, Janette Fischer, we now have in our native fungi laboratory 20 cultivated and �banked� native fungi species for use on a variety of wood wastes to produce edible mushrooms as well as animal feed supplement and mushroom compost for soil restoration. We have grown native oyster mushrooms on waste wood chips, and the remaining substrate is undergoing independent lab tests for nutrient content and digestibility as a supplemental feed for ruminant animals such as cows, bison, goats, sheep, etc. Working with Picuris Pueblo, we have identified 11 eroded �runs� in the thinned forest, collected diverse baseline soil samples, and inoculated wood chips with native fungi to spread on more than 30 test plots to monitor beneficial soil changes in the thinned forest areas.
Photos from left, 1) fungi on wood chips 2) innoculated chips 3) mushroom lab 4) Maria Sam working in the mushroom lab 5) SCZ soil sampling crew Animal/human �wastes� to nutrients and energy for farming system � Built a small biodigester designed by ZERI engineer George Chan and brought to Joey and Danny Sam�s family greenhouse at Picuris Pueblo. This system will be operational in the spring and will treat and convert bison wastes to nutrients for greenhouse crops, bison feed supplement (algae), and can include fish production, and clean biogas energy. Such a system can be used to treat and convert any type of animal as well as human wastes into beneficial nutrients for crops, plankton for fish farming, animal feed from algae, vermiculture (worms) for poultry, and energy.
Photos from left, 1) Picuris Bison 2) Moving biodigester 3) L-R Daniel Sam, George Chan, Joey Sam, Danny Sam and Grant Canary 4) Biodigester with basins Water Conservation through use of condensation for irrigation. Follow up activities related to last year�s visit to NM by Dr. John Craven, physicist, member of Swedish Academy of Sciences, and water and energy expert leading up to pilot projects to demonstrate �borrowing� water for its cold properties and condensation and returning it to its source undiminished in quantity and quality. Workshops � Conducted several mushroom cultivation training sessions for youth at Picuris and Earthcare�s youth conference; spoke at numerous conferences, including the Taos Bioneers, NM Mycological Society, BLM�s RAC meeting, etc. Also continue with followup to last year�s Governor Richardson sponsored state agency ZERI workshop covering five critical environmental issues in state and a final report with recommendations Also developed numerous powerpoint presentations for public review, one of which is published on the Tamarisk Coalition website. We helped with and participated in the five- month long Fourth ZERI Certification Course led by Gunter Pauli, bringing the total number of trained ZERI practitioners to more than 90 worldwide, with more than a dozen from New Mexico. Continue to maintain our web site, www.scizerinm.org, which has been viewed by more than 17,000 visitors from more than 140 countries (up from 6,000 people and 75 countries last year!);
nominated by State Forester Butch Blazer - but did not receive - the NM Community Foundation Pinon Award for our sustainable forestry work; hired several part time employees and contractors from rural communities for the forestry and biodigester projects.
Co-Director Lynda Taylor has been invited with John Mexal, PhD, NM State University, to go to Serbia to meet with ZERI International mycologist, Ivanka Milenkovic, PhD. and see how their farming cooperatives are growing oyster mushrooms on �waste� wheat straw and selling them on the European market, among other things.
With your support, SCZ can continue and succeed in demonstrating that economic, ecologic and social development can occur simultaneously with benefits for all New Mexicans. You can support our work with a tax deductible donation to the address above.
Thank you and Happy Holidays. Lynda Taylor and Robert Haspel, Co-Directors
For more go to 2004 Letter to Donors
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Sustainable Communities/ZERI-NM is a public 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
This page was last updated on May 8, 2006
Copyright Sustainable Communities/ZERI-NM, Inc. © 2004. All Rights Reserved.
E-mail: info@scizerinm.org for permission to use contents of this web site.
Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs are © 2001-2004 Lynda Taylor.
