Querencia: Stewarding Land, Water, Fire, & Community in Northern New Mexico

Angelo “Smoke” Romero from Taos Pueblo cuts branches from a felled pine.

Late winter landscape in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, Lucero Peak and El Salto to the left, Taos Mountain and Taos Pueblo to the right.

Hendrix Johnston, a local produce farmer and forester, rests by a controlled fire.

Arnold Quintana, warden of El Salto del Agua Land Grant Association and mayordomo of Rio Lucero y Arroyo Seco Acequia Association.

As mayordomo of the local acequia system, Arnold Quintana is in charge of numerous gates for water distribution. Here he shows his 7 year old grandson, Mateo, how one of the main gates, called a reparto, functions.

Hendrix Johnston takes a momentary break from sharpening his chainsaw to soak in the late day sunlight.

Mark Scheutz, forestry crew leader, and Smoke Romero survey their lop-and-scatter and controlled burn thinning efforts on the slopes of El Salto.

Glowing coals from a controlled burn cause snow to steam.

Local members of Rio Lucero y Arroyo Seco Acequia Association discuss the day’s work clearing the acequias and plan for the days ahead.

A pyrocumulus formation from the Hermits Peak fire, 80 miles to the southeast, is seen towering over the pastoral landscape near the village of Arroyo Seco.

Arnold Quintana sits on a trampoline at home with his grandchildren.

Arnold Quintana’s younger brother, Jeremy, proposes to his long-time partner under El Salto del Agua (the waterfall).

Snow and branches shatter and scatter in the smoke as a pine is felled.

Local members of Rio Lucero y Arroyo Seco Acequia Association haul out willows growing over the Acequia Madre.

The hint of a rainbow pops out from behind Lucero Peak, the nearly 11,000’ summit of El Salto.

Local members of Rio Lucero y Arroyo Seco Acequia Association work together in the annual spring-time clearing effort. President Brian Duran is seen on the right with shovel in hand.

Controlled fires burn in late winter during a thinning mitigation effort to create defensible space. Forester Johnny De’Scoville surveys the scene in the foreground with chainsaw in hand.

Local pueblo tribal members perform a cleansing smudge ceremony during the rituals of San Ysidro Festival.

WORDS & IMAGES BY JOSHUA BERMAN

Situated ten miles north of the mountain town of Taos in northern New Mexico are interconnected villages, El Salto and Arroyo Seco. Resilient communities, their stewards combine traditional and modern practices to protect, sustain, and reinvigorate the land for future generations to come.

In the face of a changing climate, vulnerability to catastrophic wildfire, outside interests looking to encroach on the pure water supply, and a historic land grant collective under financial duress, this story focuses on Querencia, a colloquial Spanish term that refers to a sense of place from which a community draws its strength.

Interculturally dynamic, the people of these villages hold a strong sense of family and a devotion to community management and engagement of the land and watershed throughout the seasons, from fire mitigation efforts, to acequia cleaning, to a touch of the sacred.

FROM THE STORYTELLER

“This project has been deeply and personally meaningful to me engaging with the local community and land that I've called home for the better part of the past 25 years. My intention has been to document traditional and modern practices of land and water management to serve as an educational model for sustainability in the face of the current climate crises.

The work has proved grueling, especially lugging my gear into wild terrain in the heart of winter that was then subjected to the shifting elements and temperatures, and clouds of smoke, ash, and dust.

In the end, I've been able to document a story that I feel encapsulates the community dynamics and efforts that are made to thoughtfully steward the land for functionality and sustainability, with an eye towards guiding the generations to come. After taking a summer hiatus, I plan on continuing to document this story through the autumn months.”

This story is the recipient of a PWB Micro-Grant.