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caught that on Sundance a few weeks back..."the mesa" is located west of Taos New Mexico between state highways 64 and 285...the place is actually known by many as two peaks, they even have a website, Frontpage3
Thanks for the info. I will put it on my places to visit list.
Joe
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 11-12-2010 at 06:26 PM..
Reason: No signatures/links/advertising
The area defined may be that west of Taos, NM, generally that west of the Rio Grande river to US 285, Tres Piedras, NM to the north to Carson, NM to the south.
Within that general area there are specific spots, such as the Greater World Earthship community just east of US 64 shortly after crossing the Rio Grande river. Also the alternative community of Tres Orejas, NM, which is south of there.
There is quite a spectrum from multi-million dollar Earthship houses with every modern convenience, to those entirely owner built, over time as funds were available, and modest by most any standard. Water is one of the limiting factors and due the very deep ground water levels in many areas many residents do rely on roof top collection and cisterns for all their water needs. Solar is very practical in this region; some residents have the means to install solar systems capable of generating all the electricity they could ever want, others make do with one small solar panel and a car battery, and not much more than a table lamp, until they can afford more equipment.
Splendid or not, distinctly different from common American suburbia.
Let's not turn any more of New Mexico into a sewer by refusing to install proper waste disposal systems, OK? The reason that the State EID and local governments are cracking down on septics is because there are literally hundreds of thousands of systems in New Mexico that are little more than outhouses. They're destroying groundwater and creating all sorts of problems for neighbors and others.
Wow! So Ted Turner's millions of bison herded into quadrants of rural New Mexico are not a problem, but my one or two droppings a day are?
We humans must be living, breathing toxic waste monsters!
Wow! So Ted Turner's millions of bison herded into quadrants of rural New Mexico are not a problem, but my one or two droppings a day are?
We humans must be living, breathing toxic waste monsters!
Millions of bison? In New Mexico?
Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!
There happen to be fewer than 250,000 bison in the entire United States.
Quote:
Today, there are bison producers in all 50 states, with about 4,000 private ranches raising roughly 232,000 animals.
Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Bison boom grows with rising prices (http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/06/12/news/state/157801.txt - broken link)
There happen to be fewer than 250,000 bison in the entire United States.
I stand totally corrected, and I'm posting back to acknowledge my error (caused by a mixture of cheap Chardonnay and being tired).
I was recently reading a book titled "Off The Beaten Path: New Mexico" and it had a sidebar commenting on Ted Turner's bison herds. For some reason, I thought it was in the millions. Actually, what it says is "Turner's herds total 170,000 head" out of the estimated 250,000 in all of North America.
Ok, but still...you're comparing the dung of a quarter million bison, each weighing 1,300 to 3,900 pounds - compared to one me, at 130 pounds.
I'm just not seeing how my waste will foul New Mexico's 400-foot deep aquifers, but 250,000 bison don't. That is all.
Heavily restricting lot sizes to accommodate septic tank waste disposal systems is a very common back door growth control method. Instead of simply saying we do not want dense housing, while creating the same with very limited public water supply, but we don't want to say so. On site waste human disposal systems can be built on very small lots if they are properly designed and have the proper soil to treat and absorb the effluent. In many cases a non water flush toilet (fancy outhouse) can accommodate the waste and, if big enough, only require pumping twice a year. The big pit toilets at campgrounds and parks are an example. The secret is strictly limiting water use.
The last systems low density and suburban communities want to get are sewers because of the very high installation and operating costs. Sewers are a “popular” remedy for a community of failed septic systems frequently caused by allowing systems to be built in the wrong soils. Sewers are popular with some bureaucrats and contractors because they provide an opportunity, or did anyway, of getting federal funding for local improvements and petty corruption.
As far as animal waste is concerned, particularly pig, low density open ranging does not created problems because the grass and soil critters have adapted to the situation over the last few millennia or so. When the critters are confined at a higher density the waste becomes a problem. Here in rural and exurban northeast the dairy farmers collect the manure in large piles all winter and, much to the olfactory consternation of the recently arrived city dwellers, spread it on the hay and corn fields every spring. It acts more as a soil conditioner than a fertilizer but does get rid of the stuff. 100,000 cattle over one million acres is not a problem but 10,000 pigs in a 10 acre barn certainly are. Fortunately the technology exists to treat these obnoxious wasted in a relatively economical manner. Some of the systems actually yield usable fuel in the process.
This is a long post but a short essay on the problem. I suggest finding a book on Rural Sanitation as a starting reference for anyone living off grid. Then we can discuss combined heat and electricity systems operating off the methane created by the manure problem.
fnord...You are right about humans being living, breathing toxic waste monsters, however. Nothing has ever been so utterly toxic to the health of this planet than the boundlessly selfish activities of humanity.
Mass extinctions are occuring now at a pace unprecedented since the KT die-offs. Human induced to a very large extent. Estimates vary but most naturalists expect at least one third of all large mammal species, for instance, will reach extinction before the third quarter of this century. This is most probably a very conservative estimate. Human induced environmental degradation and deliberate kill-offs are directly responsible for this escalating global calamity. We ignore this grim inter-species plight at our collective peril. We are reckless and ignoble at best.
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Rather different
