Taos County Research Articles

Nowhere Else to Go: Housing Insecurity in a Hispanic‐Majority Rural County During the COVID‐19 Pandemic☆

AbstractNorthern New Mexico was uniquely vulnerable to the COVID‐19 pandemic and its fallout. Its Hispanic majority, aging population, and decreased access to healthcare put many of the communities in this area of the United States at risk. Taos County was particularly at increased risk of impact from COVID‐19. The county was also more vulnerable to the economic consequences of a pandemic due to reliance on tourism; this meant major impacts for individual households. As unemployment and poverty increased—and pandemic relief program rollouts floundered—the consequences meant precarity for many families. One of the most visible impacts of the pandemic was the inability to access affordable housing. This paper, based on 58 in‐depth interviews and 5 months of participant observation, explores experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity among an already vulnerable population during the pandemic, illustrating the ways in which many people struggled. Importantly, this paper explores differences in patterns of housing insecurity among rural White and rural Hispanic participants during the COVID‐19 pandemic. In addition, this paper advocates the importance of looking at nuanced patterns of dealing with housing precarity in the rural setting as the ways in which different populations cope impact the forms of help that are needed when housing becomes a problem.

Identifying Opportunities for Tourism Cluster Development in Rural Communities

This work aims to identify economic opportunities for future tourism cluster development in tourism-dependent regions using the case of Taos County, New Mexico. The work analyzes the composition of local tourism economic activities of Taos County by quantifying how concentrated the tourism sector is in the county compared to the United States and the State of New Mexico from 2011 to 2019. The author analyzed data from the New Mexico Department of Tourism’s state and county tourism economic impact reports, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the U.S. Census Bureau using location quotients analysis. Results show that Taos has no high-performing, rising, high-potential tourism-related industry, despite the tourism sector providing a steady economic base for the community. The traveler accommodation industry, which is more concentrated in Taos than the state and the nation, is trending downwards. The arts, recreation and entertainment, transportation, and retail hold the potential for strength in the future, potentially contributing more to the county’s tourism economic base. The implication is that practitioners should work with groups of businesses in the tourism cluster instead of individual businesses to address their shared critical needs.

Ecosystem services of traditional irrigation systems in northern New Mexico, USA

Ecosystem services provided by community irrigation systems known as ‘acequias’ include extending the area of green space between such acequias and streams. The traditional gravity flow irrigation methods of these systems remain intact and notably, they enhance vegetative cover and diversity, support wildlife habitat, recharge shallow aquifers, sequester carbon, improve air and water quality, retain storm-water flow, and control flooding. They also provide nutrient cycling and soil formation, ecotourism and environmental education, extension of the irrigation season, and aesthetic enrichment in ecological landscape diversity. We developed a rating system for evaluating the relative extent of ecosystem services provided by acequias through a combination of GIS and field methods to determine riparian health. The rating system evaluated 16 ecosystem services on a scale from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’ for two acequias on the Rio Hondo in Taos County, New Mexico, USA. The evaluation data provide scientific support for the protection of traditional irrigation as an important cultural and ecosystem landscape of value to the broader society, including benefits of rural development, cultural tourism, enhancement of environmental amenities, and local food security of small-scale agriculture.

A single-crystal neutron and X-ray diffraction study of a Li, Be-bearing brittle mica

AbstractThe crystal chemistry of a meso-octahedral Li,Be-bearing mica from the Harding pegmatite (Dixon, Taos County, New Mexico, USA) has been investigated by constant-wavelength single-crystal neutron diffraction at 20 K, single-crystal X-ray diffraction at 100 K and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The chemical composition based on ICP-AES analysis leads to the following chemical formula (calculated on the basis of 12 oxygen atoms):Ca(Na0.26K0.04Ca0.69)∑0.99M(Li0.29Mg0.03Fe0.023+Al1.78)∑2.12T(Al1.73Be0.16Si2.11)S4.00O12H2.53. The apparent excess of H is probably due to the fact that the fraction of H2O was assumed by difference to 100 wt.%, and slightly overestimated. On the basis of the previous experimental findings on Li,Be-bearing mica, X-ray (at 100 K) and neutron (at 20 K) structure refinements were performed in the space groupsCcandC2/c. The neutron structure refinement in the space groupCcoffers a view about the (Al,Be,Si)-tetrahedral ordering: the best fit of the refinement was reached with theT1 andT4 sites occupied by (Be + Al) andT2 andT3 fully occupied by Si. This leads to a final population ofT(Al1.88Be0.12Si2.00)∑4.00p.f.u., in reasonable agreement with the chemical analysis. The neutron refinement provides unambigous evidence of the occurrence of Li at theM1 site. The refined fraction of Li at theM1 site ranges between 0.27 and 0.29 a.p.f.u., in excellent agreement with the chemical analysis. The presence of Li, at least at a significant level, at theM2 (andM3) site can be ruled out, as a full site occupancy with the scattering length of Al was obtained. The location of the H sites and the complex hydrogen-bonding scheme are described. A comparison between the structure features of this Li,Be-mica and other brittle micas is carried out.

First Report of Brown Root Rot of Alfalfa Caused by Phoma sclerotioides in Colorado and New Mexico.

Brown root rot (BRR), caused by the fungal pathogen Phoma sclerotioides G. Preuss ex Sacc. (synonym Plenodomus meliloti Dearn. & G.B. Sanford), is associated with winterkill, slow emergence from winter dormancy, and yield loss of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) (1,2). BRR is a problem in regions with severe winters and is common in Alaska and Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. It was first observed in the continental United States in Wyoming during 1996 (2) and has subsequently been found in Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin. In the intermountain valleys of northern New Mexico and western Colorado, winters can be severe; alfalfa winterkill events occur periodically, but it is unknown if BRR is present. In May 2006, alfalfa plants were collected from production fields in Huerfano, Otero, and Rio Grande counties in Colorado and Rio Arriba and Taos counties in New Mexico and assessed for BRR. Two to three fields were sampled per county and 20 or 40 plants were collected per field. All fields existed for at least two winters. Fields sampled in Rio Grande County exhibited severe winterkill, with most plants completely girdled by crown lesions. Plants from other fields exhibited a range of root and crown rots. Isolation of P. sclerotioides was attempted from all plants with a previously described protocol (4). The pathogen was isolated from crown lesions of one alfalfa plant each from Rio Grande and Taos counties. Both lesions extended into the cortex. On potato dextrose agar and water agar with barley (4), single-conidium cultures of each isolate produced large pycnidia (0.35 to 0.80 mm in diameter) with multiple beaks, white cirri darkening to yellow with age, and unicellular, hyaline, ovoid conidia 5 to 7 μm long by 2 μm wide. Diagnostic PCR of the cultures using P. sclerotioides-specific primers (3) resulted in a single amplicon of expected size (500 bp). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1, 5.8S, and ITS2 of the rDNA were amplified and sequenced using primers ITS1 and ITS4. The ITS sequences (GenBank Accession Nos. EU265669 and EU265670) were >98% identical to P. sclerotioides ATCC isolate 56515 over 503 bp of aligned sequence. Potted 'Vernal' alfalfa was inoculated 4 months after seeding, kept at 4°C for 5.5 weeks, 0 to -2°C for 12 weeks, and 4°C for 3 weeks. Of the 14 plants inoculated with the Colorado isolate, 11 developed cortical lesions and 8 winterkilled. Of the 23 plants inoculated with the New Mexico isolate, 22 developed cortical lesions and 16 winterkilled. Lesions were light to very dark brown, sometimes with a darker border and often containing abundant pycnidia. Winterkill was associated with lesions girdling the crown. P. sclerotioides was isolated from the lesions. To our knowledge, this is the southernmost report of BRR in North America and the first report of BRR in New Mexico and Colorado. The incidence and severity of BRR in the region surveyed appear to be considerably lower than in the more northern regions.

Summer Habitat Use by Snowshoe Hare and Mountain Cottontail at Their Southern Zone of Sympatry

The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) is a habitat specialist with a broad geographic range associated with boreal and subalpine forests in North America (Hall 1981, Hodges 1999a,b). It reaches southern range limits in the Southern Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico, USA. Here, scant and mostly anecdotal evidence suggests that it is restricted to high-elevation, subalpine conifer forests dominated by Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa; Findley et al. 1975, DeVelice et al. 1986, Pase and Brown 1994). These southwestern forests lack several plant species, including lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), jackpine (Pinus banksiana), black spruce (Picea mariana), birch (Betula spp.), and balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera), that, in more northern latitudes, are considered important habitat elements for snowshoe hare, especially in terms of cover (Bittner and Rongstad 1982, Litvaitis et al. 1985, DeVelice et al. 1986, Ferron and Ouellet 1992, Bryant et al. 1994, Pase and Brown 1994, Moir and Fletcher 1996). Methods for managing subalpine forests for snowshoe hare in the Southern Rocky Mountains are particularly important because of a current effort to reintroduce Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), which is a specialized predator of snowshoe hare (Hodges 1999a,b, Colorado Division of Wildlife 2002). Another leporid, the mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii), occurs throughout the intermountain region of western North America, also reaching the southern extent of its range in the American Southwest (Hall 1981). Throughout this broad zone of sympatry, the two leporids segregate in ecological distribution with no reports of syntopy (Bittner and Rongstad 1982, Chapman et al. 1982, Chapman and Wilner 1986). The mountain cottontail typically is associated with lower-elevation sagebrush (Artemisia spp.)–dominated habitats (Orr 1940, Chapman 1975, 1999, Chapman et al. 1982). However, it is a habitat generalist and at more southern latitudes it also occurs in higher-elevation habitats including juniper (Juniperus spp.) and pinon pine (Pinus spp.) woodlands and middle-elevation montane conifer forests, which are dominated by ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), white fir (Abies concolor), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and blue spruce (Picea pungens; Bailey 1931, Durrant 1952, Findley et al. 1975, Hoffmeister 1986, Fitzgerald et al. 1994, Frey and Yates 1996). Mountain cottontails also occur in subalpine conifer forest in areas of the Southwest and Southern Rocky Mountains where snowshoe hare are absent, such as the White Mountains in eastcentral Arizona and the Pikes Peak massive in central Colorado (Warren 1910, Armstrong 1972, Hoffmeister 1986). Findley et al. (1975) reported a specimen each of mountain cottontail and snowshoe hare from Goose Lake, Taos County, New Mexico, USA. This locality is at 3,542 m elevation, which is in the subalpine conifer forest zone. These records suggested that less ecological segregation between snowshoe hare and mountain cottontail might occur in the American Southwest, including the potential for local syntopy. Thus, the purpose of our study was to assess habitat use of snowshoe hare and mountain cottontail in subalpine conifer forests at their southern point of sympatry in the Southern Rocky Mountains.

English

Between 1969 and 1981 open pit methods were used to recover the molybdenum ore producing some 317.5 million metric tons of mined rock from the Questa molybdenum mine, which went into nine rock piles. The mine is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Taos County in northern New Mexico. As part of a multi-disciplinary study to determine the effects of weathering on the long-term stability of the rock piles, we are searching for areas where weathering is occurring within the rock piles. Pyrite oxidation is a weathering process that typically generates large amounts of heat, making it a good candidate for detection by infrared thermography. We conducted surveys of surface temperatures on two rock piles during February and May 2004 using the FLIR SC 3000 infrared thermal camera. Thermal imaging of the rock piles revealed at one rock pile, a of roughly 40 m by 30 m that had the same maximum temperature of 18°C during February and May 2004. The maximum temperature of this heat vent was much larger than the ambient temperature in February (0-2°C) and May (4-6°C). During the February survey, the heat vent had little or no snow cover and appeared to be very wet, whereas the area surrounding the heat vent was snow- covered and frozen at the same time. The heat vent is likely the result of pyrite oxidation within the rock pile. Thermal imaging results from a second rock pile indicate that it is less likely to have a heat vent because the differences between the ambient and maximum surface temperature were much less significant. The small temperature difference could be explained by spatial variations in emissivity from local variations in rock thermal properties or moisture content or by a relatively small heat flux out of the rock pile.

S’mores and the Silver Screen

Taos Picture Show Taos, New Mexico March 30-April 3, 2005 Like multi-headed phoenix rising from the ashes of the esteemed but ultimately financially doomed Taos Talking Pictures festival, which folded in 2003 after nine years, small handful of upstart film festivals sprang up in the small picturesque northern New Mexico town of Taos in the spring of 2004. This year, with the fate of at least one of the other two festivals still uncertain, the Taos Picture Show kicked off its second season March 30-April 3, 2005. A small-scale festival, the Taos Picture Show screened 16 features and two shorts programs at single venue over four days, the intent being to provide more intimate experience for attendees. As Festival Director Jonathan Slator (who also serves as the executive director of the Taos County Film Commission and the Director of the Taos Mountain Film Festival, which screens in the fall) wrote in the festival program, In presenting the second Taos Picture Show we intend to stay true to the spirit of the first: to bring some of the best films from around the world to 'family' of aficionados in one venue. It is indeed casual affair reflecting the low-key nature of the community, with festival-goers making s'mores around small fire outside the theater between screenings. With single screen and no extracurricular activities such as panels or master classes diverting attention from the films, attendees were not required to choose between competing shows. The vast majority of attendees were northern New Mexico residents and noticeably missing from this hometown festival was any discernible industry presence. While several filmmakers were in attendance and dialogued with appreciative audiences after screenings and during three special events for passholders, this was no meet-and-greet event and no one seemed to miss the elements (and effects) of the schmooze factor evident at so many A-list festivals. The festival's program lived up to its tagline, a celebration of cinema from around the world, with half of the features coming from outside the United States. Two in particular stood out from the (admittedly small) crowd. The Great Water (2004, by Ivo Trajkov), Macedonia's Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Language Film, is fictionalized look at an obscure piece of history that manages to remain this side of sentimentality despite its subject matter. The film successfully conveys the confusion of young boy who is captured and incarcerated in postwar labor camp for orphans of political undesirables through strong script (adapted by Trajkov from novel), convincing child actors, stunning cinematography, subtle symbolism and an appropriately desolate and menacing set that serves as moody and intimidating character of its own (as well as surprising casting twist revealed by cinematographer Suki Medencevic during the Q & A following the screening). The young protagonist, acclimating to his confines, spends his days being indoctrinated into the righteousness of communism while endeavoring to avoid being mistreated by the overzealous, masochistic staff. He becomes mesmerized by mysterious new arrival who helps him explore the secrets behind the walls of the camp and whose serene presence has an unusual affect on the orphans and staff alike. French director Eduard Erne's Birdpeople, one of the festival's many strong documentaries, reveals the unusual and lengthy pre-production activities behind Winged Migration (Le Peuple migrateur, 2004, by Jacques Perrin), the popular and critically acclaimed documentary that follows several species of migratory birds on their journey south across the globe. A team of amateur ornithologists raised the avian subjects of the first film (searching out eggs from nests as far-flung as Iceland and Africa) on farm in the south of France, and trained them to be comfortable with humans, light aircraft and film equipment. …

Availability and variability of surface-water resources in Taos County, New Mexico--An assessment for regional planning

Availability and variability of surface-water resources in Taos County, New Mexico--An assessment for regional planning

Commentary on hydrogeologic cross-section through Sunshine Valley, Taos County, New Mexico, by Summers, W. K., and Hargis, L. L.

Commentary on hydrogeologic cross-section through Sunshine Valley, Taos County, New Mexico, by Summers, W. K., and Hargis, L. L.

Amblystegium riparium New to New Mexico

Several aquatic pleurocarpous mosses were collected in Taos and Sandoval Counties, New Mexico, while searching for Fontinalis. Of these, Amblystegium riparium (Hedw.) B.S.G. is new to New Mexico, but was to be expected because of its presence in Arizona (Haring 1961). These New Mexico populations belong to fo. longifolium (Schultz) Moenk., whereas the Arizona populations belong to var. brachyphyllum (Card. & Th&r.) Grout and fo. fluitans (Lesq. & James) Grout. These distinctions may be meaningless because of the recognized variability of the species (Conard 1959).

Youth in Northern Taos County, New Mexico: “No One Cares”

Youth in Northern Taos County, New Mexico: “No One Cares”

Pennsylvanian Coarse-Grained Meandering Fluvial Deposits, Taos Trough, North-Central New Mexico: ABSTRACT

Rocks of middle Desmoinesian age are well exposed in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. In the Tres Ritos area, Taos County, these rocks consist of several laterally persistent sandstone units 6 to 50 m thick, interbedded with thick sequences of siltstone and shale. The sandstone units were deposited by eastward-flowing, low-sinuosity, bed-load rivers which fed lobate deltaic systems associated with an extensive platform along the western margin of the Taos trough. The dominant sedimentary structures of the fluvial sandstone units are large-scale (2 to 10 m) sigmoidal cross-beds (epsilon cross-stratification) formed by lateral accretion of point bars. The cross-strata dip 4 to 24° and show a gradual rotation of dip direction moving up through a single point-bar deposit. Individual accretionary beds range from 10 to 150 cm in thickness, with an average thickness of 40 cm. Internal bedding is generally parallel with the accretionary bed sets, with some low-angle cross-bedding (particularly at the base of a point bar). The accretionary beds commonly have a gravel veneer on their upper surfaces and are usually separated by micaceous, carbonaceous silt to fine-sand drapes. Average grain size of point-bar sediments is conglomeratic, very coarse s nd with a slight fining-upward trend within individual point-bar deposits. Locally the point-bar sands grade into overbank siltstone and sandstone. These coarse fluvial sandstone units overlie deltaic or marine sediments. Lateral accretion occurred on coarse-grained point bars during flood discharge when sand and gravel were transported across the bars. During the waning stage of floods, organic-rich fine sediment was deposited from suspension and formed mud drapes on the bar surfaces. Lateral migration of these rivers coupled with rapid End_Page 834------------------------------ subsidence gave rise to widespread multistoried sheet sandstones up to 50 m thick. End_of_Article - Last_Page 835------------

Two basic factors on formation of molybdenum deposits, at Questa mine, New Mexico

Molybdenum mineralization associated with hydrothermal alteration occurs at the Questa mine on the western slope of the Taos Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Taos County, northern New Mexico. Flows, tuffs, and breccias; andesitic, latitic, quartz latitic, and rhyolitic in composition, are extruded in a depressed zone in Precambrian metamorphic rocks. The earliest eruption is of andesitic composition, in succession to this the more salic rocks are erupted. Dikes and plugs of monzonite, quartz monzonite, granite, and quartz porphyry intrude the effusive rocks. Compositional variation through these rocks in different stages follows those of calc-alkalic rock series, i.e., increasing silica and alkali, and decreasing iron from the initia stage with no concentration at middle and later stage (Kuno, 1965). However, each component shows somewhat alkaline character-high in K2O and low in CaO, giving the alkali-lime index 54. Into the effusive rocks intruded granitic stocks of Log Cabin granite, Questa mine aplite, and Red River aplite. These granites are highly differentiated as shown by an example of a parameter, DI of which the granites have 93-95 for the main phase, 96-97 for the latest phase. During the latest magmatic stage, the fractionation is best shown in increase of K2O. The Questa mine aplite, whic accompanies the strongest molybdenum mineralization along the west flank of the sole aplite stock, is the one most fractionated among three granitic stocks. Though little is known about behavior of trace elements in magma, Mo should be concentrated in residual liquids, because in following the “Goldschmidt rule” there are no suitable positions for the element to be settled in major rock-forming minerals. Degree of fractionation may be an importance for concentration of molybdenum in the Questa mine area. Each of the stocks has slightly different characters in mode of the intrusion, The Log Cabin granite may have been intruded into faulted area, and the Red River aplite extruded partly onto surface. They have been in the situation which the molybdenum-bearing ore fluid could have been diffused along faults and vents, instead precipitated. On the contrary the Questa mine aplite was formed in a somewhat closed environment. This could have been the second importance for the formation of the Questa molybdenum deposits.

Lycopodium annotinum on Wheeler Peak, Taos County, New Mexico

Lycopodium annotinum on Wheeler Peak, Taos County, New Mexico

Racial Classifications in Latin American Censuses

has to offer many of those things in which Anglo culture is so deficient. For three centuries SpanishAmericans have withstood drought, tilled the land faithfully, and maintained their sense of community solidarity. They have a staying power we can ill afford to throw away. Their interacting, efficient family structure is far superior in stability to our own divorce-ridden one. Their filial respect, love of home and family, and fortitude in the face of adversity all fit the American ideal. Many states could benefit greatly from the racial and ethnic tolerance found among Spanish-Americans. If we really want the good will of our neighbors to the south, New Mexico and its Spanish-speaking people might well be the best bridge possible. In a day of almost cut-throat competition, the rural Spanish-American village represents a non-communistic form of cooperation between persons who live and work in a compact social group. Here a real social consciousness, even if limited in scope, shines out to the larger individualistic society. Nor is this only theory; Senator Dennis Chavez of New Mexico, himself a Spanish-American, has sponsored important national social legislation and is known as a thorough liberal. Educated Spanish-Americans and some Anglos are beginning to make real efforts to assist the Spanish-Americans to help themselves. Possibly the way has been shown by the Harwood Foundation in its Taos County project, an effort to bring the needs of the vi3lages in a rural county iInto ouch with the public and private agencies in a position to render practical and constructive aid in social as well as economic matters. The project has encouraged local leadership in practical programs of self-help in developing irrigation, correcting erosion, organizing health cooperatives, and improving schools, and it has met with conspicuous local success. Cooperative medical clinics and credit associations should work in any group with such a well developed community sense.? The Spanish-American is larger than ever before in numbers; he is slowly becoming assimilated into the broader Anglo culture; he is making a noticeable imprint on that culture locally, and neither he nor his culture is by any means dead.

A Cooperative Health Association in Spanish Speaking Villages or The Organization of the Taos County Cooperative Health Association

A Cooperative Health Association in Spanish Speaking Villages or The Organization of the Taos County Cooperative Health Association

The Taos County Project of New Mexico—An Experiment in Local Cooperation Among Bureaus, Private Agencies, and Rural People

It is the premise of this article that the distinctive achievement of the Taos County Project was the attainment of cooperation among governmental bureaus and private agencies in the accomplishment of a common objective, the rehabilitation of a poverty-stricken people. This experiment is important because one of the most important problems of the age is that of harnessing bureaus to the service of the people through procedures which make for high public and agency morale.

Red River Mineral Provenance, Taos County, New Mexico

ABSTRACT The Red River mineral provenance is located in the Taos Range which comprises the western part of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Taos County, New Mexico. Detrital materials are derived from Pre-Cambrian gneisses, schists and granites, Carboniferous sediments, Tertiary igneous rocks, and contact zones formed by the igneous rocks. Hand specimens, thin sections, optical properties, and inclusions were used to identify the individual source rock. Practically all the heavy minerals as well as quartz are derived from the Pre-Cambrian rocks. The Tertiary igneous rocks supply an abundance of quartz, some feldspar, and a minor quantity of magnetite, epidote, zircon, rutile and mica. The contact zones contain molybdenite, fluorite, pyrite, chalcopyrite and mica.

The R and S molybdenum mine, Taos County, New Mexico

The R and S molybdenum mine, Taos County, New Mexico