NMSU Documentary 'Survivors in the Sand' Receives National PBS Distribution
Date: Oct. 20, 1997
Editor: D'Lyn Ford (505) 646-6528, dlford@nmsu.edu
LAS CRUCES -- "Survivors in the Sand," an hour-long desert documentary from New Mexico State University's agricultural communications department, will be distributed nationally to public television stations in November.
Taped on three continents, the documentary examines the challenges of living in the desert and sustaining the world's vast arid and semiarid lands.
"'Survivors in the Sand' takes viewers around the world to meet desert dwellers and scientists who are inventing ways to flourish in the largest ecosystem in the world -- arid lands," said Patrick Holian, videographer and co-producer.
PBS affiliates nationwide can downlink the documentary from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. EST on Nov. 2 via Westlink Satellite Operations. Contact local PBS program directors to find out when "Survivors in the Sand" will be broadcast in your area.
Developed for prime-time national television, the documentary was recorded on-location in the deserts of Australia, the Middle East and the American Southwest. The project received partial funding from the International Arid Lands Consortium, an organization which promotes worldwide scientific cooperation.
"Survivors in the Sand" tracks the efforts of humans to survive in the desert, Holian said. The documentary shows successes and failures of ancient cultures, including the Anasazi of America's Chaco Canyon, the Aborigines of the Australian Outback and the residents of the biblical city of Soussiya.
The documentary also examines problems and solutions to land degradation or desertification. In Israel, scientists have battled desertification by establishing the world's first man-made savannah. In Australia, researchers are taking to the air in an effort to combat environmental problems brought on by their European ancestors.
"Survivors in the Sand" features cutting-edge research in New Mexico and Arizona as the "old west" is being challenged by four-wheel drive vehicles, construction, bulldozers and urbanization. Several scientists and desert dwellers from the two states are featured in the documentary.
Bob Sanderson, ecosystems scientist for NMSU's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, tracks the evolution of the desert on sophisticated 3-D displays based on range data collected over the years. He hopes this data will be used in computer models for wiser land management.
From southern New Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert, the largest in North America, Kris Havstad, adjunct NMSU professor and supervisor of the Agricultural Research Service's Jornada Experimental Range, speaks about the value of arid lands and the challenges of managing them.
Phil Rosen, a biologist at the University of Arizona, discusses the importance of maintaining the aquatic ecosystems in the desert. His research focuses on amphibians such as the endangered Chiricahua leopard frog.
Arizona rancher Matt Magoffin and his family hauled more than 100,000 gallons of water for three years to save the frog. With the help of a group of ranchers known as the Malpai Borderland Group and the state Department of Game and Fish, they drilled wells to keep the species alive on the Magoffin Ranch.
"This grass roots effort shows that a ranching economy and a healthy ecology are not mutually exclusive," Holian said.
"Survivors in the Sand" is produced by the award-winning electronic media unit at NMSU's College of Agriculture and Home Economics. In recent years, the unit's work has been aired on CBS, CNN and CNBC. Its documentaries, "Green Gold: From the Maya to the Moon" and "Seamless Society," have been carried on PBS stations across the country and included in the Natural Partners outreach program for the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
For more information or to obtain a copy of "Survivors in the Sand," please call Marilyn Thompson at (505) 646-5368 or mail vstudio@nmsu.edu.