D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
June
2009
M.H. "Dutch" Salmon
Page: 2"Most environmentalists who would oppose a dam on a wild river are in the northern half of the state," he notes, a reference to the many green-minded residents of Santa Fe and Albuquerque. "While they are sympathetic to what we're trying to do, the great majority have never been here and therefore don't have a gut-level response to the [dam and diversion] threat. If we can get them down here, I think we can get converts by the dozens."
| The Gila Resources Information Project, along with the Sierra Club and the Silver City Climate Protection Agreement Citizens' Advisory Committee, is sponsoring a "Viva Verde Expo," June 26-28 in Silver City. Topics will include "Turning Water Scarcity into Water Abundance," as well as sustainability, energy efficiency, agriculture and local food, green building and "green jobs." For schedule and more information, see www.vivaverdenm.com, or contact 538-8078, info@vivaverdenm.com |
One hopeful trend, according to Salmon, is "greater local recognition of the aesthetic values of mainstream flows [in the Gila] — of leaving the river alone. There's more realization that a free-flowing stream could be a real economic resource. It could be much more of a tourism draw than it is, which the [Silver City-Grant County] Chamber of Commerce is kind of missing the boat on."
Concurrently, Salmon sees a decline in the once widespread and unabashed business-community enthusiasm for compromising the river: "It's now mostly the Interstate Stream Commission, Gila Valley irrigators, and the odd citizen here and there who are promoting this sort of project."
While a decline in boosterism doesn't mean the fight for preservation is over, Salmon senses that politicians and government bodies recognize that any serious tinkering with the Gila is sure to ignite controversy. Governor Bill Richardson and other powerful leaders are on record in support of preserving the river's "wild" status. What's more, Salmon points out, studies suggest the large, recharging aquifer beneath Silver City obviates any justification for importing water into this slow-growing urban area for decades to come — if ever.
"I think any [Gila development] project faces a lot of hurdles," Salmon declares, "including a lot of obstacles that earlier proposals faced. I wouldn't predict how things are going to turn out, but I'm sure it's going to take a period of years to know what we're finally going to end up with."
In the meantime, the peripatetic writer expects to continue his multi-tasking, following a pattern that's been consistent since his settlement in New Mexico nearly 30 years ago. (Prior to his arrival, Salmon spent almost a decade doing farm work and freelance writing among the timber and "brush" wolves of northwestern Minnesota.)
"I did some research and [southwestern New Mexico] looked like the kind of area where you could entertain yourself both with stream fishing and hunting," Salmon recalls. "I went to Catron County first because the land was cheaper and I thought the remoteness would please me. But it turned out to be more remote than I wanted. Grant County seemed to suit me better. " He liked the odd mix: "An amalgam of Western influences that included mining, cattle-ranching, retirees, artists and recreation enthusiasts. I began to see it as a rich source of material for writing about the New West."
In the early 1980s, Salmon became a correspondent for the Albuquerque Journal and a reporter for the Silver City Enterprise, a now-departed weekly newspaper. He later became a syndicated columnist and the editor of Basin & Range, a short-lived magazine based in Silver City. His own High-Lonesome Books imprint was born in 1986 when the University of New Mexico Press insisted on deleting a portion of the manuscript it had accepted for Salmon's Gila Descending, a whimsical account of proceeding from the river's origin at Bead Spring to its taming at Safford, Ariz. The author scrounged up $3,500 to have 2,000 copies printed and subsequently peddled them in person at bookstores across the Southwest.
"I was able to make back my money pretty fast," Salmon remembers. "The first printing sold out within a year."
A literal mom-and-pop enterprise, High-Lonesome continues to publish his book-length work, but increasingly specializes in previously out-of-print volumes or titles that have lapsed into the public domain. "If nobody owns it," he points out, "you just reprint it." Sales are modest, but steady. The vast majority of the publisher's business is via mail-order, thanks to the Internet (www.high-lonesomebooks.com) and a devoted cadre of readers keen on Western Americana, outdoor adventure, hunting and fishing. But High-Lonesome also welcomes a trickle of retail customers willing to ford Little Walnut Creek, which gurgles across the dirt road leading to the white ranch house that serves as combination office, store and residence. Chicken eggs, fish bait, Anasazi beans and goat cheese are also produced and sold on the premises. A guesthouse — occupied by Tour of the Gila cyclists on the day of my visit — is available for short-term rent.
Salmon's wife and business partner, Cherie, boasts an MBA and software savvy. Cherie was an accountant for a mining firm when Dutch two-stepped into her heart at Silver City's Drifter honky-tonk in 1988. She proceeded to read some of his books and pronounced them "pretty good." Marriage followed and Cherie has worked full-time for High-Lonesome since 1995. The couple have an outdoors-loving teenage son, Bud, who was hospitalized last winter for seven weeks due to a series of unexpected, life-threatening infections.
"It was a scary experience, " says Salmon, "but he's fully recovered."
The dark cloud of Bud's illness contrasted sharply with the bright light of recognition trained on the boy's father on Feb. 4, when Dutch Salmon received a lifetime achievement award at the Third Annual Gila River Day at the Capitol Rotunda in Santa Fe. It honored his quarter-century of work on behalf of the river, nearby wilderness areas and New Mexico's native wildlife. "Dutch has made tremendous contributions to conservation efforts throughout his career," noted Allyson Siwik, executive director of the Gila Resources Information Project, which co-sponsors (with the GCC) a festival each September celebrating what has been ranked among the 10 most endangered US rivers by the nonprofit group, American Rivers. Last year, Salmon also received a Lifetime Conservation Award at Western New Mexico University's Gila Natural History Symposium.
Salmon remains modest about his accomplishments. "If I can say one thing for myself," he allows, "it's that I've hung in here. I don't think by nature I am a flamethrower or person who makes personal attacks. I like to think that I can marshal the facts and I am persistent. And I expect to hang in there until they put the Gila River back in a 'safe' category again."
Richard Mahler, an author and tour guide based in Silver City, wishes he could get into the Gila backcountry as often as Dutch Salmon. Mahler would also like to see a return of the jaguar to our wilderness. The last confirmed jaguar sighting in the Gila was in 1902, but some folks swear they still see 'em.