Earth Week activities continue, Earth Day Saturday

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By Pauline Benetti

Special to The PREVIEW

The 2017 celebration of Earth Week is solid evidence that Pagosa Springs is a community that cares about the future of the planet we inhabit and believes in the wisdom of these words spoken by Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

The events for the rest of the week offer something for everyone from those who prefer to celebrate Earth Week by being active to those who prefer to sit and listen, learn and think.

The schedule for Thursday through Saturday follows.

Thursday

• 8:30 a.m. — Audubon Society Bird Walk and Identification meets at Four Mile Ranch Guest House.

• 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. — Loaves and Fishes share a community meal at the Parish Hall on Lewis Street.

• 5:30-7 p.m. — Lifelong Learning Lecture, “Climate Reality: Meeting the Challenge Head On,” with Holly Metzler at the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library.

Friday 

• 9:30 a.m. — Tree planting, everyone welcome, hosted by the Pagosa Springs Parks and Recreation Department at Yamaguchi Park.

Saturday

The week culminates with Earth Day and a lineup of interesting and educational events:

• 8 a.m. — Bird Walk and Identification River Walk meeting at the Ross Aragon Community Center.

• 9 a.m. — Step Outdoors 5K Trash Walk meets at the Archuleta County Fairgrounds.

• 11a.m.-4 p.m. — Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership Dome tour and plant sale, Centennial Park.

• 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. — Activity centers at Pagosa Springs High School, with the Southwest Organization for Sustainability (SOS) Earth Day Fair supporting environmental and climate literacy, including16 participating booths and seven speakers (see below for topics and organizations) presenting a variety of points of view.

• 2:30 p.m. — The day will culminate with the March for Science, part of the International March for Science, which will meet at the Community Center.

Earth Day speakers

• 10:30 a.m. — Tom Dahmer is a wildlife biologist who works in China. He will talk about efforts to restore wildlife habitat there and the importance of preserving America’s wildlands.

• 11 a.m. — Addie Deupree is a high school science teacher. She will speak about science education today in our schools.

11:30 a.m. — Matt Tuten is a forester with the U.S. Forest Service Pagosa Ranger District. Tuten will relate how climate change is affecting Colorado’s national forests.

Noon — Bill Trimarco is the Southwest Colorado Firewise coordinator for Archuleta County. Trimarco’s talk is titled “Living with Wildfire.”

12:30 p.m. — John Scahill is a retired scientist with the U.S. Department of Energy. He will describe how electricity is produced in a biomass plant and the benefits of biochar.

1 p.m. — Herb Grover is a professor of environmental science. His talk is titled “Renewable Energy: Trends in Wind and Solar.”

1:30 p.m. — Becky Herman is president of the Weminuche Audubon Society. She will explain why the Audubon Society is about much more than birds.