Regular folks work every day to protect the land, use resources wisely and promote a healthy environment. The following profiles offer examples of that commitment over the generations.

Juana Lujan

After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the family of Juana Lujan left its farm north of Santa Fe and walked 350 miles to a camp established at present-day Cuidad Juárez. Juana was 8 years old. Thirteen years later, she returned with her family to resume farming near San Ildefonso. Lujan's experience was representative of Spanish settlers in the late-17th century, historian Tom Merlan found. As years went by, she acquired enough land to support her three children and their large families. Among her acquisitions was a well-developed ranch property. When she died in 1762, Lujan owned gardens, fields, livestock and implements. Her estate included a 24-room house with a stable and a fruit orchard enclosed by a wall.

Source: New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum



Palemon Martinez

The Santa Fe Farmers Market began as a grass-roots movement, but it took know-how to make it grow. Palemon Martinez had the experience to connect local growers with local consumers. Nudging the farmers market was one way Martinez put his New Mexico State University degree in agricultural education to practical use. Starting in the early 1970s, in the first stages of what would become a 30-year career with the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, Martinez gave technical and organizational support to help develop what today is a vibrant, colorful symbol of community — the Santa Fe Farmers Market, now in the Railyard. When the League of Women Voters brought the idea from Los Alamos to Santa Fe, the market sprang up spontaneously at the St. Anne's Church parking lot, then moved to Alto Street. "The farmers are usually the ones who organize these markets, but in this case it was the consumers," Martinez said at the time. His work done in Santa Fe more than 20 years later, Martinez continued his work in agriculture as a leader among Taos water users.



Neva Van Peski

A retired economist with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., Neva Van Peski used her talent for research and numbers-crunching to help figure out Santa Fe's water supply. Because of her enduring curiosity about water and her desire to quantify it, the League of Women Voters activist volunteered in 1990 to compile a list of surface-water rights in Santa Fe County for the state engineer. She also served on the Metropolitan Water Board, the Extraterritorial Zoning Commission, the state's Safe Drinking Water Advisory Group and the Solid Waste Citizens Committee.



Art Sanchez

The city of Santa Fe operates its own water system today because Art Sanchez fought to make it happen. To Sanchez, control of the water utility was essential if the city was to control costs, stabilize supply and manage growth. In the 1990s, Sanchez worked to have the city buy the Sangre de Cristo Water Co. from Public Service Company of New Mexico. His talent for accounting and his knowledge of government helped create the financing that made the deal possible. Sanchez served on the City Council until 2000 and died in 2008.



John Stephenson

Sixty years ago, Santa Fe native Johnson Stephenson established the Community Farm, a model for small-scale urban farming. Situated near San Ysidro Park in Agua Fría village, the farm produces fruits and vegetables for charitable organizations that serve the homeless, hungry, disabled and children. The farm, operating as a nonprofit agricultural educational center, is now under the direction of Stephenson's daughter-in-law, Carolyn Stephenson.

Source: Community Farm



Dale Ball

Just minutes east of downtown Santa Fe is a network of hiking and biking trails through the Sangre de Cristo foothills. The system is named for Dale Ball, the retired banker who had the idea for the trail system and the commitment to put the land managers, funders and construction crews together to make the trail a reality. The foothills trail — winding through city, county, Forest Service and Nature Conservancy land — opened in 2001. Ball's name may live on because of the foothills trail, but he had impact on previous conservation efforts as well. As director of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust, he helped save Atalaya Mountain from development.



Reynaldo 'Ray' Romero

Farmers like Ray Romero have had to be ready for anything: 'hoppers that wipe out alfalfa, crop-killing weather, tumbling prices and skyrocketing fuel costs, and, always, the fear of too little water. Romero is keeper of the flame, carrying on the traditions that made La Cienega the breadbasket of Santa Fe. A vibrant livestock and farming region since its settlement in the early 1700s, La Cienega always has been a valley lush with vegetables, fruit and hay, and a home to families with historical ties to the land — the Moras, Pinos, C' de Bacas, Raels, Mareses, Montoyas. While holding off-farm jobs until his retirement, Romero, now in his 70s, continues to farm and advocate for water irrigators. "This is the way the community was, and the way it should be," he said.



Truman Brigham

Born in rural Arkansas and introduced to ranch life as a teenager in Clovis, Truman Brigham eventually found his life's calling when he started farming north of Santa Fe in 1939. He supplied fresh produce to Santa Fe stores for many years. Meanwhile, he worked as chief gardener at the New Mexico School for the Deaf. As a leading advocate of farm-to-market sustainability, Brigham was the first president of what became the Santa Fe Farmers Market. He died in 1994.

Source: Santa Fe Living Treasures