GRIP Executive Director Appointed to Good Neighbor Environmental Board

GRIP Executive Director Allyson Siwik was appointed in March by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson to the Good Neighbor Environmental Board. Created in 1992, the GNEB is an independent, non-partisan advisory committee that provides advice to federal officials on environment and infrastructure issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Siwik, who now serves as the committee’s New Mex i co/Non-Gove rnment a l Organization representative, has 15 years of experience working with a broad range of stakeholders on such border-related matters. Since 2004 she has served as the U.S. Co-Leader of the New Mexico-Chihuahua Rural Task Force under EPA’s U.S.-Mexico Border 2012 Program. The group facilitates resolution of transboundary environmental issues in the southwestern New Mexico-northwestern Chihuahua area, including air quality degradation from unpaved roads and trash burning, cleanup and proper disposal of scrap tires, and problems related to water quality and quantity. GRIP has been involved in a number of border-area environmental projects, including analysis of copper smelter emissions and potential health concerns from shortterm ambient sulfur dioxide concentrations; analysis of blood-lead levels in children; and coordination of an Environmental Justice Listening Session for the region.

The GNEB submits annual reports to the president and Congress that contain recommendations for action. The eleventh report, released in March, addresses natural disasters and the environment. Hard copies are available through the GRIP office at 538- 8078 or may be downloaded from www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb. The board’s twelfth report, now being prepared, will discuss innovative environmental strategies along the border.

GRIP Board Member Berman Awarded Guggenheim

GRIP congratulates founding board member Michael Berman on his recent receipt of a coveted Guggenheim Fellowship. The large-format photographer, who lives in the Mimbres Valley near San Juan, will use the grant to further his exploration and picturetaking in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, which extends roughly from Silver City deep into the Mexican state of Chihuahua and from near Tucson east toward the Big Bend area of Texas. In acknowledging his award, Berman said “it’s a great honor that [a review panel] from outside the region would think our landscape is significant.” In an essay accompanying his application, Berman described the Chihuahuan Desert as “a kind of puzzle” composed of many fragments. “What it could be, what it once was, is a beautiful mystery.”

Look for Premonitions, a new exhibit of the photographer’s work, at Silver City’s Blue Dome Gallery, 307 N. Texas St., from Sept. 20 to Nov. 17. Berman also will lead a pair of six-hour workshops on Sept. 20-21 in conjunction with the 4th annual Gila River Festival. For information about the latter or to sign up for a workshop, contact the Gila Conservation Coalition at 538.8078. Berman’s desert photographs can be viewed on-line at www.fragementedimages.com.