APRIL GENERAL MEETING
A History Hike in the Jemez Mountains
Wednesday, APRIL 15, 2026
From 7-9pm
State Bar of New Mexico Auditorium
5121 Masthead St. NE
Albuquerque, NM
This event is open to the general public and refreshments will be served.
Join us at our new meeting place for the business of the club, socializing with other like-minded mountain people, and a special presentation by Dr. Tom Swetman, author of The Jemez Mountains: A Cultural and Natural History, who will explore with us how science, history, and local stories come together in the Jemez Mountains, and what they reveal about our past, present, and future in this remarkable landscape. A description of Dr. Swetnam's presentation is as follows:
A History Hike in the Jemez Mountains
Rocks, trees, and people of the Jemez Mountains all tell stories. Pueblo, Spanish, and Anglo cultures have mixed and melded here across the mesas and in the canyons below the Valles Caldera, the crater of a giant, slumbering volcano. The landscape records eruptions and lava flows, droughts and floods, forest fires and hot springs. People tell of battles over land and water between conquistadores, pueblos, and priests, while farmers and sheep herders recall losses to raiders and rustlers.
In this talk, Dr. Tom Swetnam will weave these stories together with photographs, maps, and voices from the past, drawing on his recent book, The Jemez Mountains: A Cultural and Natural History.
Biography
A long-time resident of Jemez Springs, Dr. Swetnam is Regents Professor and Director Emeritus at the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. He has studied human land use, climate history, and forest fire ecology around the world, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on wildfires, climate change, and forest management. He served on the first Board of Trustees of the Valles Caldera National Preserve and is a recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Tree-Ring Society and the Association for Fire Ecology, as well as the Cooper Award from the Ecological Society of America. He is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The author will be available to sign books after the event, and a limited number of books will be for sale at the talk ($25 each, cash only), with profits donated to the Jemez Springs Public Library.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS, PLEASE READ!!!
Our general meetings have moved to a new location, The State Bar of New Mexico, located at 5121 Masthead St NE near Jefferson, between San Antonio and Paseo del Norte Blvds. Keep in mind the potential for traffic delays and closures near this area along I-25. The new meeting spot is very impressive with a large, well lit, and safe parking area, an auditorium with comfortable theater seating, great sound, and a large format screen. With the new location, there are new rules that we have to follow with changes to the meeting's format:
The State Bar requires that the doors remained locked while the meeting and presentation are taking place in the auditorium. To accommodate people who may arrive late, we will begin the period of socializing and snacks first, from 7:00 to 7:20 followed by the business of the club which will include an announcement of members who we will recognize for their time, work, contributions, and years of service to the NMMC. The recipients will receive the NMMC Mountain Club Lifetime Achievement Award, a lifetime membership, that I am sure they would have appreciated when they were much younger. The presentation will begin as soon as the Club's business ends.
During the snacks and socializing time, there will be a greeter to let you in. We ask that you please make an effort to get there before 7:20! If you arrive later, we will tape a sign on the door with a number to text where someone will either come and let you in or will be sent a return text with the code and instructions on how to enter the building. The main entrance is on the south side of the building where we will display our clubs' NMMC sandwich board panel. I included a picture of the main entrance.
HIKE SECTION RSVP
https://www.meetup.com/nmmountainclub/events/313862412/
CLIMB SECTION RSVP
https://www.meetup.com/nmmcclimbing/events/313862497/