I-25 Moonscape

I have been a commuter to Santa Fe since Bruce King first hired me as his News Secretary back in 1974. I-25 had not been declared an Interstate yet and there was one exit to Santa Fe at Cerrillos. There wasn't much traffic either. You could drive pretty fast and I did so in my super 1973 Pontiac Grand Prix. It was about as long as cabin cruiser but didn't have much space in it.

Over the last three decades the deterioration of the landscape between Albuquerque and Santa Fe has been continuous. Most alarming are the many sand and gravel pits in the area between the Traditions shopping area(where traditionally no one shops) to the outskirts of Albuquerque.

This picture is of one site that sits north of Bernalillo. I am not sure it will be reclaimed, but let's hope so. This is just what is visible from the Interstate. There is much more out of view on the numerous sites in that corridor. Next time you travel along the Interstate take an inventory of the disappearing juniper covered hills.

In the early 1990's there was a great battle in the legislature over mining reclamation standards for New Mexico. My good friend, the late Bob Langsenkamp who served as my Deputy State Land Commissioner, spearheaded the effort to toughen up those standards. After much effort and constant combat from the hard rock miners in this state new legislation was passed. However, at the last minute the sand and gravel industry had themselves exempted from the rules. It is time to fix that before more eyesores and damage like this occur.

Many of the Sand and Gravel operators do a good job of reclamation. But, for every properly reclaimed pit there are many more that are just abandoned. They end up being dumping grounds, or worse, all over the state. Obviously, we need to extract sand and gravel but these scars should not be allowed to go uncured.

I will be on the road until Sunday. If I have good broadband access I will blog about my trip. I will be meeting Bobbi in Boston tomorrow afternoon for a short vacation. We will fly over to Martha's Vineyard and I will participate in a meeting of the Wyss Foundation. I am on the board and it is one of the more satisfying things I do. We are a philantrophic organization that funds grass roots environmental groups in the western United States who fight for protection of our great western landscapes and wilderness.

Flash! As I was writing this post I got a call from my old friend Dick Knipfing at Channel 13 News. Dick has a memory for New Mexico History and he corrected my correction yesterday regarding elected Hispanic U.S. Senators. Add to that list Republican Senator Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo who was elected Governor of New Mexico in 1918; he was amember of the New Mexico house of representatives in 1927 and 1928; and was elected on November 6, 1928, as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Andrieus A. Jones. He served from December 7, 1928, to March 3, 1929 and due to illness, was not a candidate for the full term. He was born in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Someday, I will tell you stories about Knipfing and skiing.