Synergia Ranch is an ecovillage founded in 1969 by John P. Allen , the inventor of Biosphere 2 and Marie Harding, its present manager. It is located in Santa Fe County, New Mexico , 15 miles south of the city of Santa Fe . Synergia Ranch operates as a private retreat and workshop center for small groups.
31-929: In the 1970s, businessman and philanthropist Ed Bass was a regular visitor to the counterculture community, later becoming a director of the Institute of Ecotechnics that Allen and other Synergia Ranch members founded, and financing much of their work. The Theater of All Possibilities (TOAP) network was based out of Synergia Ranch. In 1984, Bass and Allen launched the Biosphere 2 project (for which Bass provided $ 150 million in funding until 1991), partially inspired by ideas Allen had advocated at Synergia Ranch, such as Buckminster Fuller 's " Spaceship Earth ". Several other former members of Synergia Ranch also joined Biosphere 2. 35°29′27.3″N 106°5′45.6″W / 35.490917°N 106.096000°W / 35.490917; -106.096000 This New Mexico state location article
62-1780: A cold semi-arid climate at an altitude of 4,500 feet (1,400 m). Flora includes emory oak , point-leaf manzanita , holly-leaf buckthorn , alligator juniper , velvet mesquite , netleaf hackberry , lemonade berry , oreganillo , Thurber’s desert honeysuckle , ocotillo , turpentine bush , yellow bells , golden-flowered agave , mescal agave , sotol , soaptree yucca , beargrass , Engelman’s prickly pear , fishhook barrel cactus , cane cholla , firecracker penstemon , showy four o’clock , sacred datura , Goodding verbena , fairy duster , tufted evening primrose , Arizona mariposa lily , deer grass , and Parry’s grama . Fauna includes greater roadrunner , common raven , acorn woodpecker , great horned owl , zone-tailed hawk , Cooper’s hawk , wild turkey , Gambel’s quail , cactus wren , curve-billed thrasher , hooded oriole , northern cardinal , Lucy’s warbler , vermilion flycatcher , broad-billed hummingbird , Gila monster , Clark’s spiny lizard , Madrean alligator lizard , coachwhip , gopher snake , red-spotted toad , canyon tree frog , black swalllowtail , white-lined sphinx , Arizona sister , Sonoran bumblebee , tarantula hawk , western short-horn walkingstick , western rhinoceros beetle , darkling beetles , rainbow grasshopper , flame skimmer , Arizona mantis , green lynx spider , desert blonde tarantula , Arizona bark scorpion , mule deer , cougar , bobcat , gray fox , coyote , striped skunk , javelina , white-nosed coati , rock squirrel , desert cottontail , and big brown bat . The Oracle region once sustained more extensive and biodiverse grassland ecosystems, but widespread and poorly regulated cattle ranching has largely depleted them. An ongoing transition to
93-572: A sanitorium . On January 1, 2017, in the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, historian David Leighton challenged the accepted history of the town of Oracle: He wrote that Albert Weldon who was born about 1840 in New Brunswick, Canada, traveled on his uncle Capt. A.D. Wood's ship Oracle around Cape Horn at the tip of South America and arrived in California between 1857 and 1860. Weldon enlisted as
124-581: A couple of years he found a partner in Irishman Jimmie Lee and both men traveled northeast of Tucson into the Santa Catalina Mountains in search of precious metal. Soon he found a mining claim and named it Oracle in honor of his uncle's ship. The ship Oracle was built under the supervision of Captain Charles E. Ranlett and was constructed for the shipbuilding firm Chapman & Flint of Maine. It
155-705: A full acquisition of the Biosphere buildings and grounds in June 2011. Bass has funded numerous projects focused on environmental conservation , and has stated that he feels conservation "most effective when approached as an enterprise". His investment in Nepal also included conservation efforts for rhinos and tigers . He has supported and worked with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) , the New York Botanical Garden ,
186-519: A mesquite/opuntia/invasive grass-dominated landscape is occurring. Oracle and the surrounding area sit largely on a slab of granite called "Oracle granite" that is visible as red or grey-and-white speckled "boulders" rising over the scrub and grass. It is mostly porphyritic biotite Precambrian granite with large microcline phenocrysts, and has occasional inclusions of white and milky quartz and pegmatite . The granite rarely contains ore and veins of gold or silver , and sometimes copper . Oracle
217-475: A one-room house, the first in the area, and from it, the village grew. When it was time for a post office to be named, Oracle was the name eventually chosen. Leighton stated that the town of Oracle takes its name from the Oracle Mine which took its name from the ship Oracle and that he believes the ship took its name from an oracle – a shrine dedicated to a particular god where people went to consult
248-564: A priest or priestess in times of trouble or uncertainty – called the Temple of Apollo at Didyma in present-day Aydin Province, Turkey, not the oracle at Delphi, Greece believed by some to be the origin of the name. He also explained that there were two ships named Oracle made by the same shipbuilder, the second one being launched in 1876 but that this later ship wasn't the boat that Weldon traveled on, as some sources have said. Oracle has
279-661: A private in Company E, 5th California Infantry, of the Union Army, in 1861. This unit was attached to the California Column and soon marched to Tucson where Weldon was posted at a nearby stage station before moving east and eventually being honorably discharged in Mesilla New Mexico in 1864. After his military service he returned to California and was involved in mining and also lumber. In 1876 he returned to Arizona . Within
310-584: A senior official at the Smithsonian Institution, and the members came to be at odds with Bass "on questions of scientific standards," and the science committee was dissolved in February 1993. Bass attempted to make Steve Bannon the interim chief executive officer. The existing management, however, refused Bannon admittance to the property, according to an affidavit Bass later submitted to a Fort Worth court, where he filed his dissolution suit. In 1995, it
341-632: A short time in the United States Coast Guard and returned to Yale, studying for a master's degree in architecture, which he did not complete. All four brothers attended Yale, from which their father had also graduated in 1937. He has one child Henry Richardson Bass (January 1993). After leaving Yale, Bass "set out to explore the world". He moved to New Mexico and spent some time with "an unusual counterculture group at Synergia Ranch ", run by John P. Allen . While in New Mexico, Bass built
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#1732851950573372-511: Is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pinal County , Arizona , United States. The population was 3,686 at the 2010 Census , falling to 3,051 at the 2020 Census . Oracle State Park is adjacent. The Arizona Trail passes through the Park and community. Oracle is the gateway to the road up the north face of Mount Lemmon , which starts off of American Avenue and currently offers a secondary route to
403-582: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ed Bass Edward Perry "Ed" Bass (born September 10, 1945) is an American businessman, financier, philanthropist and environmentalist who lives in Fort Worth, Texas. He financed the Biosphere ;2 project, an artificial closed ecological system, which was built between 1987 and 1991. He is the chairman of Fine Line, an investment and venture-capital management firm in Fort Worth, and chairman of
434-532: Is located at 32°36′58″N 110°46′55″W / 32.61611°N 110.78194°W / 32.61611; -110.78194 (32.616030, -110.781854). According to the United States Census Bureau , the CDP has a total area of 16.4 square miles (42 km ), all land. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,563 people, 1,384 households, and 1,004 families residing in the CDP. The population density
465-681: The Jane Goodall Institute , and the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation. He is currently the vice chairman of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas and is the founder of the ecological nonprofit Philecology Trust , which he created in 1986. He additionally owns tens of thousands of acres of land in Kansas Flint Hills , and has been active in maintaining that the majority of
496-618: The Llano Compound, a condominium in Santa Fe and began an association with Allen that focused on ecology projects. He later spent money on a hotel in Nepal , a 300,000-acre (1,200 km ) Australian ranch, a Puerto Rican rainforest , and the now-defunct Caravan of Dreams performing arts center in Fort Worth. In 1984, Bass and Allen founded the Biosphere 2 project, which Bass funded with an initial commitment of $ 30 million. The project
527-417: The age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 27.4% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.0. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.4% under
558-461: The age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $ 38,267, and the median income for a family was $ 46,026. Males had a median income of $ 37,667 versus $ 30,667 for females. The per capita income for
589-610: The board of directors of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation , a philanthropic organization. He was listed as #239 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans in 2012, with an estimated net worth of $ 2 billion. Bass was born in Fort Worth , Texas to Perry R. (1914–2006) and Nancy Lee ( née Muse) Bass (1917-2013), the second-oldest of four sons; his brothers are Lee Marshall Bass , Sid Richardson Bass , and Robert Muse Bass . His father, Perry,
620-558: The central business area of Fort Worth, and it received the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce's Spirit of Enterprise award in 2004. He led the development of Bass Performance Hall , financed without public funding, which opened in 1998. In 2001, Yale's governing body, the Yale Corporation , made Bass a successor fellow. He no longer serves on the board of Yale and is now an emeritus trustee. Oracle, Arizona Oracle
651-577: The land is for conservation purposes and intends on donating much of it to the Nature Conservancy . Bass is a long-time supporter of downtown redevelopment, and has been described as a "leader in what is recognized as one of the most successful urban revitalization efforts in America". He and his family began the Sundance Square development in 1982. It combines commercial and residential space in
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#1732851950573682-487: The narrow, steep road. This route is now popular mainly with off-road 4x4 drivers and with off-road or dual-purpose motorcyclists, and should not be attempted by regular passenger cars or street motorcycles. This road ends at the Catalina Highway near Loma Linda. The community is the location of the Biosphere 2 experiment. Oracle was also the postal address for environmentalist author Edward Abbey , who never lived in
713-579: The ship Weldon had traveled on. The community was later named after its first mine, and thus, indirectly, after a ship. The community began to grow in the late 1870s, as gold and silver were discovered, and the Christmas and New Year mines opened. By 1880, a post office had been established. The community also became a retreat for people suffering from tuberculosis . The Acadia Ranch – built in Oracle in 1882 by Edwin S. and Lillian Dodge – was, during this time,
744-592: The top. Prior to the construction of the Catalina Highway on the opposite side of the Santa Catalina range, the Oracle Control Road was the only road access to the mountain community of Summerhaven . The term "control road" derives from the fact that the direction of traffic was restricted to one-way only, either up or down at alternate times of day, to prevent motorists from having to pass one another on
775-536: The town but visited often. Buffalo Bill Cody owned the High Jinks Gold Mine in Oracle briefly and, in 1911, appeared as "Santa" for a group of local children. Oracle is becoming a bedroom community for Tucson, Arizona , but large-scale development is opposed by many residents. The name "Oracle" comes from early prospectors. Albert Weldon came to the area looking for gold and silver . He and some other companions named their first mine The Oracle after
806-506: Was 313.0 inhabitants per square mile (120.8/km ). There were 1,534 housing units at an average density of 134.8 per square mile (52.0/km ). The racial makeup of the CDP was 77.0% White or European American , 0.1% Black or African American , 1.5% Native American , 0.1% Asian , 0.2% Pacific Islander , 17.3% from other races , and 3.8% from two or more races. 38.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 1,384 households, out of which 31.5% had children under
837-481: Was an adviser and later partner of his own bachelor uncle, Sid W. Richardson (1891–1959), starting in the 1930s. When Richardson died, he left each of the Bass brothers $ 2.8 million, and Perry managed the bulk of the family oil fortune, which was initially beset by legal problems. Ed Bass attended Phillips Academy , and graduated from Yale in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in administrative science. He served for
868-422: Was launched in 1853 and was a temperance ship (one that didn't allow alcohol aboard) and sailed to ports across the globe including Melbourne, Australia and Shanghai, China. It was captained by Weldon's uncle for several years. Weldon was soon joined by Alexander McKay, an immigrant from Scotland who located two mining claims named Christmas and New Years because of the days they were discovered. McKay also built
899-528: Was part of a 2,500-acre (10 km ) ranch in the Santa Catalina Mountains in Oracle , Arizona , near Tucson . The purpose of its 3 acre living space was to be an experiment in "recreating the earth" and as a possible way to settle Mars . The project began with eight people living inside in an attempt to be a self-contained settlement, raising food and recycling air and water. After the environment
930-594: Was sealed in 1991, noxious gases built up, and while some of the 4,000 species thrived, the water and crops failed in 1994. In April 1994 Bass obtained a court order to "formally oust the key managers of the Biosphere and seize the premises," and he dissolved Space Biospheres Ventures, a partnership, which the Los Angeles Times called a "volatile blend of New Age idealism and corporate sophistication." The Biosphere project had in 1992 installed an independent Science Advisory Committee (SAC), chaired by Thomas E. Lovejoy,
961-476: Was turned into a research facility overseen by Columbia University , which declined to provide funding for continued research after June 2003. In 2007, Bass sold some of the land adjacent to the project, and the building was leased to the University of Arizona . The total cost of the privately funded Biosphere project has been variously reported as $ 150 million to $ 200 million. The University of Arizona announced