promote and establish eco friendly communities

I was raised as a child in the western door(Missoula the learning and culture door)/apex area(Lolo pass) of Shalahah. My friends and I knew of Shalahah as children. We camped out at Fort Fizzle on the Lewis and Clark Trail often which in lore is the apex of this City of Gold. We were fascinated with the stories and the supposed powers we had being children of Shalahah. We had alot of fun…early spiritual learning.

Our parents on the other hand thought it was a childhood fantasy that we had special talents. As we got older and graduated from school we were called away from the City of Gold vortex to create lives elsewhere. I was to go to Texas. That was strange because noone else in my family of origin was compelled to leave.

For whatever reason I had to go to Fort Worth Texas. Nowhere else would do. I lived there most of my adult life raising my family and helping others get homes for their families.

Fast forward 25 years and we find that we are being called home by an inner force. I was actually called back 10 years ago and lived up Lolo pass (the apex)in a beautiful log home with B for 11 months. He left first ( he is a Texan) but then I went back to Texas to be at the birth of my 3 grandchildren and have excellent healthcare when I needed it.

As soon as those things were achieved I was called back to the northern door (Whitefish-Fulfillment & Prosperity) and the Flathead Lake area, which in lore is a very powerful spiritual area of the world.

In my entire time away I knew I was different from other people…mostly because they told me I was. The whole Pollyanna…you live in lala land story. Huh, lala land…Shalahah…never connected that before. :)

Recently I met another child of Shalahah who has been gone and we discussed how we have this unexplainable pull to come home and build a sustainable eco-friendly community. Hence my obsession with the sustainable ministry Caring for God’s Creation which for me includes the cooking studio, creative arts center, community gardens for children, creativity camp for at risk children and teens and my production company to share this information with others around the world.

Some think our call home is for the survivors of the end times…to me that seems a little drastic… but who knows.

I have always thought he was cute. He has a great smile. He is on my list of favorite eye candy. ;)

But today I am impressed more by his commitment to put his money and influence to good works for people in New Orleans. What happened with Hurricane Katrina was a very sad natural disaster. What has happened since to the families involved in that disaster in my opinion is criminal.

Brad has decided to do something very positive to help these families. He is organizing the rebuilding effort called Make It Right
Make it Right is designing 150 green homes for the 9th Ward in New Orleans.

Everyone can participate! From sponsoring a home, a block of homes or just donating a solar heated water heater for a family.

to me sent an e-mail.

I checked out Wiser Earth and found a community of people just like me trying to make this world a better place for ourselves and future generations.

WiserEarth serves the people who are transforming the world. It is a community directory and networking forum that maps and connects non-governmental organizations and individuals addressing the central issues of our day: climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, human rights and more. Content is created and edited by people like you.

Check them out for yourself. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I was. :)

Big news in the Star Telegram this morning is the plan to unite both Dallas and Tarrant County Mass transit by rail to DFW Airport by 2012.

DFW Airport is the world’s third busiest airport.

We are making slow but sure progress getting people here to do their part to stop global warming. :)

it is usually big news that a developer has bought it to replace nature with acres and acres of McMansions with an urban designed playground with kiddie pool. The “Ranch” becomes a gated community with one road in and out.

You can imagine my delight when I read in this morning’s Missoulian that the 11,500 acre Murphy creek Ranch was sold to the Nature Conservancy of Montana.

“This purchase guarantees that this ranch and the surrounding working landscape will retain its rural wildlife-rich character that hasn’t changed much in centuries,” said Tim Swanson, southwest Montana program director for the conservancy.

WOO HOO to the Staudenmeyer family who have owned this property for 70 years and decided to help preserve what little natural environment we still have on the planet.

The Missoulian reportedThe property includes rare sand hills and several species of plants that are found in only a few other places in the world, the Nature Conservancy said. They include the Fendler’s cateye, painted milkvetch, white-stemmed pale evening primrose and sand wild rye.

The land also is part of the largest wetland system in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

“You’ve got this extensive wetland system, and then all of a sudden you have these sand hills,” Swanson said. “You feel like you’re in a desert.”

More WOO HOOs to the Nature Conservancy for the wonderful work they are doing around the world!

The conservancy says so far, it has protected 38,000 acres in the Centennial Valley from development, which is roughly one-third of the private land there.

The City of Fort Worth sent me this fabulous program that they have adopted in 17 counties in North Central Texas to train citizens like you and me to be Urban Foresters…how cool is that???

The email says:
If you are interested in learning more about trees and are willing to volunteer to help care for and maintain the public trees in your town, then Citizen Forester is for you!

The Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council (CTUFC) is now accepting applications for the Citizen Forester 2007 training class. Participants will receive 36 combined hours of classroom instruction and hands-on field training. Training sessions will be held at various locations in Fort Worth from 9 am to 4pm on the third Wednesday of each month from January 17 through June 20, 2007.

The Citizen Forester program presents a wonderful opportunity for individuals to become skilled at planting, pruning, and maintaining trees in an urban environment. It also provides interested persons with the chance to get involved with local city and county agencies and help their community take care of its public trees.

Topics include identification of recommended native and adapted trees, proper hands-on planting and pruning experience, benefits of trees, recognition of hazardous trees, conducting tree inventories, common insect and disease pests of trees, and other relevant urban forestry topics.

Citizen Forester volunteers are committed to helping their community take care of its public trees. In exchange for their training, Citizen Forester volunteers provide a minimum of 25 hours of community service to their local town, city or county towards projects that involve trees on
public property.
Currently, the 27 Citizen Foresters who completed the 2006 pioneer class in June have already provided over 300 hours of community service.
This group of volunteers is involved with many projects,
including conducting tree inventories of local parks, training and pruning newly established trees on public property, mulching trees in public parks, and assisting with public tree planting programs and tree give-away events.

In partnership with CTUFC, the City of Fort Worth organizes and hosts the training program. Cross Timbers members throughout the Metroplex assist in supervising field training exercises and serving as guest speakers. The training class is limited to 30 participants, with each county in the 17-county Cross Timbers region guaranteed one slot. There is no charge to participants except for out-of-pocket travel and lunch expenses.

The deadline to apply for the program is Friday, December 15, 2006. For more information or to request an application, call 817-871-5739

Serving 17 counties in North Texas, the Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council (CTUFC) is a non-profit organization charged with the mission to promote programs in the region to increase interest in urban and community forestry.

The CTUFC, www.ctufc.org, began the Citizen Forester program in 2006 with the help of a matching partnership grant from
the Texas Forest Service. The Citizen Forester program is open to any interested adult within this 17 county region in North Texas, including Tarrant, Denton, Cooke, Montague, Clay, Wichita, Archer, Young, Stephens, Palo Pinto, Erath, Somervell, Hood, Parker, Jack, Wise and Johnson counties.

Contact Info:
Melanie Migura, Forester
Parks and Community Services
City of Fort Worth
4200 South Freeway, Suite 2200
Fort Worth, TX 76115-1499
Ph: 817-871-5739
FAX: 817-871-5724

If you don’t live in North Central Texas check to see if there is a program like this near you. Planting more trees is one way to save our planet!

at ClimateCrisis.net then learn additional steps you can take to reduce your ecological footprint right now.

You can also read more about the ongoing debate and order your copy of An Inconvenient Truth when it is released November 21, 2006!

It seems the more I get in touch with who I am my personal connection to nature and the environment comes from my Montana roots. My politics were formed there as were my values.

homeWord is doing the things I want to do in the affordable housing market while building green eco friendly communities. They are rightly winning awards and getting national acclaim for the work they are doing.

The community gardens are a huge success there as are the food drives feeding families…

Here I am in Texas like a salmon swimming upstream…what is wrong with this picture?

5357 Beacon Hill Dr, Frisco, Nov 11, noon until 4 pm.

While North Texas residents reel from their highest electricity costs in history, winter heating bills lurk right around the corner. The Green Energy Festival in Frisco offers solutions to energy costs for both new and retrofit construction and for home owner and tenant alike.

Jim Sargent and Vickie Anderson built the first Zero-Energy Home in North Texas. It is a gold mine of energy efficiency ideas for both new and retrofit construction.

A free tour of that home is scheduled for Saturday, November 11, from noon until 4 pm at 5357 Beacon Hill Dr in Frisco. Hear explanations about the home’s energy, health, and sustainability attributes and visit the tables of energy-suppliers and non-profit environmental groups.

But that is not all. The team of Anderson and Sargent has another first coming up. They will develop and build the first true ecovillage in north Texas on 75 acres with several more ecovillage locations planned around the metroplex. Details of the ecovillages will also be announced at this energy festival.

The Star Telegram reports tonight Why Atmos Energy wants to increase your gas rate!

AUSTIN — More than $70,000 in artwork. At least $5 million in office furniture — including a set of $2,000 chairs. Airline tickets costing more than $1,700 for an executive and a spouse to attend the presidential inauguration of George W. Bush. Thousands of dollars in meals at pricey Dallas restaurants.

These are a few of the seemingly discretionary items critics have found in Atmos Energy’s $63 million proposal to increase gas rates for North Texas customers.

“It’s outrageous,” said Joe Sanchez, AARP’s associate state director for advocacy. “High rates are a burden for everyone. . . . I find it distasteful that the company is lining their walls with $75,000 in artwork when these [gas bills] are hitting hard on the elderly and those on fixed incomes.”

But a representative for Atmos Energy said the expenditures are prudent and necessary. “Everything that is included is allowed by state law and is needed,” spokesman Ray Granado said.

All this time I thought my not paying their outrageous deposit and a $40 bill was a valid reason to go without hot water. What was I thinking???