N.M. parks to go dark for Earth Hour

Gov. Bill Richardson has issued a proclamation urging New Mexicans to participate in Earth Hour by turning off their lights for an hour Saturday night.

The World Wildlife Fund sponsors the international campaign to highlight the impact that electricity usage has on global warming.

Last year, more than 50 million participated along with world landmarks, including Rome's Coliseum, New York's Empire State Building and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. This year, New Mexico State Parks will participate by going dark at 8:30 p.m.

State Parks director Dave Simon says climate change and light pollution are threats to the parks and he urges New Mexicans to cast their vote for Earth by participating in Saturday's event.

Snowpack bodes well for reservoirs

ALBUQUERQUE — State officials say average snowpack in the mountains of Northern New Mexico and Colorado mean the state's reservoir levels will likely be good for Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

Interstate Stream Commission director Estevan Lopez says Elephant Butte, Navajo, Heron, El Vado, Abiquiú, Caballo and Ute reservoirs are expected to hold water volumes similar to — if not higher than — last year.

But he says moderate drought conditions are developing in the southern and far eastern parts of the state and more rain is needed to bring reservoir levels up in those areas.

Officials say if New Mexico has near average precipitation from now through May, snowmelt runoff flows across the state could range between 50 percent and 100 percent of the 30-year average.

Museum acquires photo collection

A limited-edition portfolio of photographs of the Galisteo Basin was donated to the Palace of the Governors Archives by the McCune Charitable Foundation and Verve Gallery.

The portfolios, priced at $6,000, include 27 photographs, sized 11 inches by 17 inches, of the basin defined by the 55-mile-long Galisteo River.

The project, created by Mary Anne Redding, curator of photography at the Palace of the Governors, and Rixon Reed, director of the Photo-eye Gallery, is an expression of opposition to plans by a Texas-based energy company to drill for oil and gas in the Galisteo Basin. Fifty percent of the money raised from the sale of the boxed-set edition is being donated to Drilling Santa Fe, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center and the Oil & Gas Accountability Project.

Photographs from the project are available in an online gallery at www.GalisteoBasinPhotoProject.com.

Give blood, get a movie ticket

Regal Santa Fe Stadium 14 Theatres is partnering with United Blood Services to host a blood drive on April 4 from 1 to 5 p.m. Donors will get a free movie ticket.

Appointments can be made by calling 877-EZ-2-GIVE or log on to www.unitedbloodservices.org and use the sponsor code RCinemas.

Donors must be at least 17 years old and weigh 110 pounds. Picture ID is required.

The theaters are at 3474 Zafarano Drive.

Raising money to fight cancer

Cancer is expected to overtake heart disease as the world's No. 1 killer, according to the U.N. World Health Organization's International Agency for Research.

On April 18, from 6 to 11 p.m., the Cancer Society will be hosting its 15th annual spring gala. A cocktail party, gourmet dinner, silent auction and music by the Trillium Marimba Ensemble is planned at Bishop's Lodge. Tickets are $175. To attend or volunteer, contact Gloria Martinez at 820-3538.




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