Earth Matters

In this week’s edition of Earth Matters, we present Dr Tom Swetnam at The 9th annual Gila River Festival and his presentation of Wildfire and Climate Changes in the Southwest: Past, Present and Future.  Dr Swetnam is Regents’ Professor and director of the laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of AZ. He discusses how multi-year droughts and extensive forest fires have occurred repeatedly during past centuries,  but recent events […]

In this week's edition of Earth Matters, we feature author and activist Kenneth Brower in his keynote address at the 9th Annual Gila River Festival.  Son of the pioneering environmentalist, David Brower, Ken recounts the stories of his father's many battles against dam building on the Colorado River and relays some words of wisdom to those engaged in current efforts to protect the Gila River.  Visit gilaconservation.org for more information […]

This week we welcome Nathan Newcomer of New Mexico Wilderness Alliance to the Earth Matters production team.  His first interview is with Dave Parsons - former US FWS / Fish & Wildlife Service Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator.  They discuss the Mexican gray wolf program and the recent developments in newly proposed rule change. Dave Parsons is currently with the Rewilding Institute and he was the US FWS / Fish and Wildlife […]

In this week's installment Earth Matters, co-hosts Allyson Siwik of the Gila Conservation Coalition and Upper Gila Watershed Alliance's Donna Stevens interview writer and environmentalist Kenneth Brower. Ken is the author of The Wildness Within, which honors his father, David Brower, on the centennial of his birth.  The elder Brower was the Executive Director of the Sierra Club for more than 20 years.  In that capacity, he fought many battles to keep […]

In this week's installment Earth Matters co-host Donna Stevens of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance interviews Bikeworks Director Dave Baker and Bikeworks intern Tristan Saavedra. Bikes are important and they're not just for kids.  In a small community such as Silver City, bikes are an important mode of transportation.  They get us where we're going without adding to the planet's carbon output, they keep us healthy, and yes, they're fun […]

In this week's installment Earth Matters co-host Donna Stevens of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance interviews Nathan Newcomer - NM Wilderness Alliance Grassroots Organizer for the Gila Region. They discuss NM Wild's mission, projects and goals, the significance and benefits of wilderness areas, and the criteria and process whereby wild landscapes obtain designation as wilderness areas and national monuments.  Newcomer sets the record straight on the many misconceptions about activities […]

What is light pollution?  How does it negatively impact our lives? Earth Matters co-producer and NM Wild regional director and staff scientist, Dr Kim McCreery, interviews Kathy Anderson, founder of the Silver City Astronomical Society and leading advocate for protecting night skies.  They discuss the scientific evidence linking artificial night light to disrupting the internal biological clocks of animals and plants, and the unintended consequences. Birds by the millions are […]

Guests Ron Henry and Mary Burton Riseley will be walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain in support of preserving the Gila River, New Mexico's last free-flowing river. Join host Allyson Siwik of Gila Resources Information Project for this week's show and find out more about this famous pilgrimage route and why Ron and Mary are dedicating their journeys to the Gila River. Find out more at these […]

Named by Spanish explorers, cienegas are riparian marshlands of the Southwest that have almost disappeared from our arid landscape. Our guest on this week's program is AT Cole, co-owner with his wife, Cinda, of the 11,000 acre Pitchfork Ranch located south of Silver City .  AT and Cinda have  partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore the Burro Cienaga located on their ranch to restore flows in […]