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CSE's
Publications
Click
on the title or graphic for more information on each publication.
Linking
Arizona's Sense of Place to a Sense of Taste:
Marketing the
Heritage Value of Arizona's Place-Based Foods
 Arizona has more heritage
food diversity and a longer history of farming than any other state,
but it will take implementing new strategies to help rural and
tribal communities more fully benefit from this legacy. That message
is among the conclusions of a new book by Northern Arizona
University’s Center for Sustainable Environments, introduced and
endorsed by Governor Janet Napolitano: Linking Arizona’s Sense of
Place to Its Sense of Taste: Marketing the Heritage Value of
Arizona’s Place-Based Foods.
Seafood
Traditions at Risk in North America:
A
RAFT Redlist for Biological Recovery and Cultural Revitalization
 When fish and
shellfish populations are depleted or brought to the brink of
extinction, this biological loss generates culinary and other
cultural consequences that may be too deep to immediately fathom.
The loss of marine biodiversity affects all of us, but especially
the coastal peoples of North America—both native and immigrant—who
have built their bodies, minds and communities from the flesh of
fish, a fact their salty stories, songs and sacred ceremonies
celebrate. (more...)
Water and Energy: Understanding the
Link
Water and energy are rarely considered
together although their infrastructures are inextricably linked.
This is especially true in the West where water is used for cooling
electrical generating plants and where electricity is used to move
water over vast distances and high elevations. On the average in the
eight Intermountain western states, fossil fuel generation of 1
kilowatt-hour of electricity requires one-half gallon of water.
Dominated by coal and gas fired steam generating plants, electrical
generation in the Intermountain West consumes over 650 million
gallons of water per day, primarily for condensing steam that has
been used to drive turbines (Last Straw, p. 1). This is enough water
to meet the needs of four million people, about the population of
the state of Colorado. (more...)
A
New Plateau:
Sustaining the Lands and Peoples of Canyon Country
Edited by Peter Friederici and Rose Houk
 This book
profiles 38 grassroots projects on the Colorado Plateau, ranging from
straw-bale houses to native crop farming, as part of a nationwide
Renewing the Countryside campaign. The book, edited by acclaimed
natural history writers Peter Friederici and Rose Houk, features
reports from the field written by many other Flagstaff area residents,
including Gary Nabhan, Roger Clark, Tony and Sue Norris, Susan Lamb
Bean, and Charlie Laurel. Tony Marinella, Tom Bean and Tony Norris are
among the featured photographers. The book is a publishing partnership
among the Center for Sustainable Environments of Northern Arizona
University, the Museum of Northern Arizona, and Renewing the
Countryside.
Renewing
America's Food Traditions
Bringing cultural and culinary mainstays from the
past into the new millennium
Edited by Gary Paul
Nabhan and Ashley Rood
 Have you ever eaten a meal rich
with juices, flavors, and fragrances that have taken centuries to
develop? A tender pear once planted in Thomas Jefferson’s orchards, an
oily fish that built trade routes in the Northwest, a hot pepper that
tells the story of Minorcan immigration to Florida—these are the
stories of North American culinary traditions that lie hidden within
our foods. And yet, many of these foods have been rapidly disappearing
from our fields, fishing grounds and feasts. If these culinary
delights persist only in our history books, we will have lost an
important cultural legacy, and future generations will be deprived of
the exquisite flavors found in these heritage foods.
Including the first ever
Redlist of America’s Endangered Foods, this book will not only share
the stories of these uniquely American foods, but also suggest how you
can help save these food traditions. Here are twenty foods with twenty
stories; stories of imperilment, as well as success stories of foods
pulled from the brink of extinction. The Redlist is a working
inventory of those plants and animals Alaska to Florida that demand
our attention. Whether you live in New York City or Decorah, Iowa, you
will be inspired to join the efforts to place these foods back on our
tables.
Success
Stories from NAU's ERDENE Initiatives 2003-2004
 We are pleased to share with you with this
year's report on
several accomplishments during ERDENE’s third year – July 2003
through June 2004. As you review the pictures and brief
project descriptions, note the great diversity of our environmental
R&D efforts. Harnessing power from the sun and wind, assisting
rural communities with long-term economic development opportunities,
and restoring our forests to sustainable ecosystems all are
important to Arizona’s economy and quality of life.
Read more about this report.
Woodlands
in Crisis
A Legacy of Lost Biodiversity on the Colorado Plateau
Gary Paul Nabhan, Marcelle Coder, Susan J. Smith, Patricia West, and
Zsuzsi I. Kovacs.
 This book offers a primer for understanding how diverse land-use
histories have impacted the health of pine-dominated ecosystems in the
West and points to measures for better managing them in the future. It
draws on a systematic review of the historic effects of land use and
climate on ecosystem health, biodiversity, and non-timber forest
products in four specific landscapes on the Colorado Plateau—the Jemez
Mountains in New Mexico, the Chuska Mountains in Arizona, Mesa Verde
in Colorado, and the San Francisco Volcanic Shield in Arizona—all of
which have long histories of human occupation and use of forest
products.
Fresh,
Organic and Native Foods of the Four Corners:
A Directory of Eco-Regional Food Sustainability
 Nearly
200 local food growers, ranchers, and organizations from the Four
Corners region are listed in Fresh, Organic and Native Foods
of the Four Corners: A Directory of Eco-Regional Food
Sustainability. The third edition, published in October 2003,
is now available.
Download a
comprehensive 2002-2003 list of CSE-related publications.
Bighorn Cave:
Test
Excavations of a Stratified Dry Shelter, Bighorn Cave, Arizona
 Bighorn Cave, located in the Black Mountains of west-central
Arizona, is a large shelter with dry stratified deposits. In 1986,
test excavations were undertaken to determine the archaeological
significance of the site, the extent and nature of the cultural
deposits, and their ages. The cave has evidence of roughly 3000
years of site occupancy, with many perishable artifacts such as
sandals and split-twig figurines preserved because of the dry
conditions. Looters had disturbed substantial portions of the cave
and were threatening to destroy the site before the professional
community knew of its existence. Since this testing, and directly as
a result of its findings, the cave was successfully nominated to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Safeguarding the Uniqueness
of the Colorado Plateau
An
Ecoregional Assessment of Biocultural Diversity
 This ecoregional assessment focuses on the unique biological and
cultural resources of the Colorado Plateau in the southwestern
United States, the threats to the region’s astounding levels of
biocultural diversity, and the possible means to safeguard or
restore them. The Colorado Plateau is among the five most
biologically diverse regions of the 110 defined ecoregions in North
America, and it is likely the most linguistically and agriculturally
diverse region on the continent. This “state of the ecoregion”
report therefore models an approach for assessing not merely
biological and cultural diversity and the interactions between them,
but the unique assets of an ecoregion as well. The most unique
assets of this ecoregion’s biocultural diversity are its endemic
species, native language isolates, distinctive agricultural and
wildlands management practices, and incomparable traditional
ecological knowledge. In particular, we argue that this ecoregion
has sustained high levels of biological diversity and endemism
relative to the rest of North America because of the heterogeneity
of culturally based land uses, traditional practices of vegetation
management, and informal protection of traditional cultural
properties.
Read more and find out about ordering
your copy!
Success Stories from
NAU's ERDENE Initiatives
 We are pleased to share with you with this report on
several accomplishments during ERDENE’s second year – July 2002
through June 2003. As you review the pictures and brief
project descriptions, note the great diversity of our environmental
R&D efforts. Harnessing power from the sun and wind, assisting
rural communities with long-term economic development opportunities,
and restoring our forests to sustainable ecosystems all are
important to Arizona’s economy and quality of life.
Read more about this report.
 Earth Notes
on KNAU Arizona Public Radio
The
idea of a radio segment about environmental issues circulated at
Northern Arizona University for several years. It became a reality
when the Center for Sustainable Environments’ Associate Director Karen
English and her husband Rob Elliot, founder and owner of Arizona Raft
Adventures, contributed vision, development and support to the idea.
EarthNotes is a
locally produced radio “module” on the environment, with a new
two-minute segment running six times each week. The program hit the
airwaves in January 2001 on KNAU, the National Public Radio affiliate
at NAU, broadcasting over a network of five stations across northern
Arizona.
As a member of
the U.S. House of Representatives, English always stressed citizen
involvement, encouraging her constituents to take action on behalf of
the health of the planet. When she began teaching at NAU, English
learned from her students that they felt overwhelmed by environmental
issues. Many wanted to help, but felt that the problems were too big
for one person to make a difference.
EarthNotes is
upbeat and informative. “Through tone, content, human interest, and
solution-based outcomes, the program tries to foster hope and dampen
despair about the environment,” says English. “The goal of Earth Notes
is to motivate listeners to become more conscious and informed
stewards of their local environment.”
A committee
made up of scientists, CSE staff, and representative from a number of
regional environmental organizations meet regularly to suggest
story ideas. Area writers and naturalists write the scripts. Editors
Nycklemoe and English select topics to be assigned to the writers.
Scripts are reviewed for accuracy and style, and they are recorded by
EarthNotes host/reporter Tristan Clum. “This series is really a
formula for success because it is brought forth by people with such
passion for the environment,” says Clum.
Initial funding
of EarthNotes comes from diverse local sources including the
Arizona Community Foundation, the Ecological Restoration Institute,
the Grand Canyon Trust, Arizona Raft Adventures, and individual
contributors. EarthNotes airs every Wednesday at 6:33 a.m.,
8:33 a.m., 3:33 p.m. and 5:33 p.m. and Saturday at 8:04 a.m. and 5:04
p.m. KNAU broadcasts at 88.7 and 91.7 on the FM dial.
Scripts and
further information on EarthNotes topics can be found on the
Earth Notes web page.
Arizona's Food Security, Safety and Sustainability
Weighing the
Risks of Bioterrorism, Contamination, Drought, and Farmland Loss to
Urban Growth.
By Gary Paul Nabhan.
Read the entire report:
Download the
PDF
 10 Reasons to Buy Local Foods
Produced
for the Flagstaff Community Farmers Market
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