Page 9 - Winter 2016 flip 1

Friends oF red rock canyon 9

Photo below left: The view looking north
towards Colorado after a rafting trip in
May 2016. This photo was taken on the
current Río Grande del Norte National
Monument in New Mexico, but shares the
same vast skies and rugged landscapes
as the land in the proposed expansion
area in Colorado.

Photo right: One of many youth outings
that we do every summer to engage our
local youth in public lands and why they
are worth protecting. During these out-
ings, we connect with the land, air and
water, learn about the 12,000 years of
human habitation in the area, and help
shape a sense of pride our youth carry
with them into the world.
Photo by Jim O’Donnell
our communities about how we might best be
proactive in protecting our traditional uses of
the land, like piñon picking, firewood gathering, Conejos Clean Water (CCW)
herb gathering, hunting, fishing and grazing. operates under the basic premise
Together, the majority of our people agree that that water is our life source; there-
we can do exactly this through the designation fore, protecting the water and fos-
of this public land as a national monument. Our tering a healthy environment promotes
brothers and sisters just south of us in Northern public health and serves as a natural resource
New Mexico accomplished this through the des- management system. What we do:
ignation of the Río Grande del Norte National
Monument in 2013. We are following in their • We work to protect public health by promot-
footsteps, demanding that our communities are ing environmental justice.
protected from further extractive industries, like
fracking, that take our land, water and health for • We view the environment as people: where
granted, industries that have already left their we live, work, play and learn.
scars upon our people, including wounding a • We consider our environmental justice as
river that once flowed with life and provided for a convergence of civil rights, environmen-
our people. talism and public health. Environmental
justice is multicultural and multiethnic, it is
Over the coming months and years, we will grassroots, and it increases links to global
continue working with our entire community and struggles.
our brothers and sisters from across the country,
advocating for environmental justice through the • We focus on social justice and pollution pre-
expansion of the existing Río Grande del Norte vention in order to reduce cumulative health
National Monument into southern Colorado’s impacts from the built, social, political and
beautiful Conejos County. natural environment.

Justin Garoutte is an Antonito native who recently returned home. He is the
Christian O’Rourke works as the Executive Director of Conejos Clean Water, a grassroots nonprof-
founder of Valleybound, the Antonito School and Community Garden, and
it focusing on environmental, economic, social, and food justice issues in the
Conejos Land Grant Region. To learn more about his work with Conejos Clean
Photo by Water, find us on social media or visit us online at www.cccwater.org.

Winter 2017