April 2003
Welcome to e-Sierra
The email newsletter of the Sierra Club North Star ChapterApril 2003 / Issue 13
SierranACT ACTIVIST ALERT SYSTEM - PROTECT CITIZENS RIGHTS AND OUR RURAL ENVIRONMENT
Your help is needed to make sure that Earth Day 2003 is not tainted by the stench of a bill that not only threatens our rural environment and the families who live there, but threatens the rights of citizens to be involved in protecting our communities. Weigh in today to keep the current environmental review of big feedlots. If you are signed up on the SierranACT Activist Alert System take action: http://northstar.sierraclubaction.org/alertlist.asp. If you are not signed up, sign up today: http://northstar.sierraclubaction.org/signup.asp.
CELEBRATE EARTH DAY AT THE CAPITOL
Sending a letter not enough for you? Help keep Minnesota smelling good by stopping a bad bill weakening environmental review of feedlots. Join us for a rally and legislative meetings between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm on Tuesday, April 22. Want to put your beliefs to action on Earth Day? Contact Heather Cusick at or 612-659-9124.
CARRY A MESSAGE OF HOPE FOR EARTH DAY
Dozens of Patrick Eagan and Sierra Club volunteers will urge neighbors to celebrate Earth Day 2003 by walking the streets of Eagan. Volunteers are organizing an Earth Day campaign to say, "We Can Do Better" at protecting the green spaces we love in our community. Volunteers will deliver 500 yard signs proclaiming "We can do better: We Can Embrace Open Space," in reference to Eagan's effort to create the Eagan Core Greenway. To sign up for the Saturday, April 26th event contact or 612-659-9124.
FOREST PLANS TO BE RELEASED!
We have been waiting for six years for the new 15-year plans for Chippewa and Superior National Forests. Here they come! We are planning rallies and lots of media activity starting April 28 - Now is the time to get involved! Sign up at http://northstar.sierraclub.org/campaigns/forests/responseForm.html, or email .
PADDLIN' FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE NAMEKAGON RIVER - Sat., May 10
Sierrans and Save our Unique Lands (Soul) members from Minnesota and Wisconsin will paddle the Namekagon to "just say no" to a proposed transmission line crossing the beautiful Namekagon River which is part of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. In 1965, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson and Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale paddled the Namekageon River with members of the Lac Court Oreille Chippewa Tribe to promote the "Scenic Waterway" status for the Namekagon River. Today, the 150 foot tall towers of the proposed Arrowhead-Weston Transmission Line threaten to destroy everything "wild and scenic" about the beautiful Namekagon River. For more information contact or Tom Clarke at 715-294-3154.
SPRAWL HURTS US ALL
Join others in a series of 6 land use workshops designed to help citizens understand local development patterns and get involved in open space preservation. Our kick-off workshop will be held Saturday, April 26th, at the Rum River branch of Anoka County Libraries. The Workshop will run from 10:00am until 12:30pm, followed by lunch and a guided nature hike through Rum River Nature Area. Workshop number two will be held in Eagan on May 17th and Workshop number three will be held June 28th in Eden Prairie. For more info contact: or call 612-659-9124.
STUDENTS TEACH OTHERS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF DIESEL
The North Star Student Group released a comprehensive, exciting curriculum packet with background information on the harms of unnecessary idling of diesel school buses and the new Minnesota state law, discussion topics, and activities for children of all ages to learn more about this issue. Encourage your local school, organization, or youth group to schedule a presentation. For more information or to schedule a presentation, please contact Michelle Rosier, Air Toxics Organizer, 612-659-9124. You can view the curriculum and supplements at http://northstar.sierraclub.org/campaigns/air/schoolbus/curriculum.html.
DON'T PUT THE TREE IN THE TREE MUSEUM
Lee Frelich, U of M Professor and expert on forest disturbance ecology will speak on the Great Lakes Forests and BWCA Wilderness Ecology on Monday, May 12th, 7:00pm at Maple Island/219 Water St., in beautiful Stillwater. Contact Jim Blau at the Sierra Club St. Croix Valley Interstate Group at 612-752-8850 or .
CELEBRATE ONE OF OUR MOST TREASURED ENVIRONMENTAL HEROES
Join others committed to the protection of our wilderness at a Sigurd F. Olson Birthday Anniversary Luncheon on Saturday, April 26, 11am - 1pm at Town & Country Club of Saint Paul/2279 Marshall Avenue. The keynote speaker is William Meadows, President of The Wilderness Society. For further information, contact Paul Monson at 612-927-8849.
PRESIDENT BUSH AND CONGRESS WATCH
When Every Friday Feels Like the 13th
Last Friday, the Bush Administration announced a cap on land eligible
to be designated as wilderness. The Bureau of Land Management plans
to STOP all reviews of western land waiting for designation. Three
million acres in Utah are also in jeopardy of retroactively
LOSING their wilderness safeguard. How can Interior Secretary
Gale Norton say her department remains committed to wilderness
protection when she is taking pristine wildlands and removing their
protections? Be on the lookout for ways you can stop this and help
the Sierra Club secure wild America. Read the story at CNN.com:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/12/norton.wilderness.ap/
VoteWatch - Who is Voting for the Environment?
Curious how Representatives Gutknecht, Kennedy, Kline, McCollum,
Oberstar, Peterson, Ramstad, and Sabo are voting on environmental
issues? How about Senators Dayton and Coleman? Keep tabs at
http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/.
SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING EVENTS
April 17: Land Use Committee
April 18: Sierra Club Office Closed
April 19-20: Canoe and Camping Southern Minnesota
April 21: John Muirs Birthday
April 22: Earth Day
April 23: Excom Meeting
April 24: Earth Day event, Patrick Henry High School in North Minneapolis
April 26: Sierra Club Earth Day Event in Eagan Embrace Open Space
April 26: Land Use Education Anoka Workshop and Rum River Outing
April 25-27: Midwest Mountaineering Spring Expo
May 1: National Forest Plans Released
May 3: Green Business Expo
May 4: May Day Parade with Paul Bunyan
May 7: Forestry Committee
May 8: Land Use Committee
May 10: Healthy Kids, Healthy Planet Conference at Macalester College
May 14: Communications Committee Meeting
May 17: Eagan Core Greenway Tour and Workshop
May 20: International Committee
May 21: Inner City Outing Committee
May 23-25: Cane BWCAW Gunflint District
May 28: Excom Meeting
May 26-30: Midwest Forest Watch
For More Calendar Information Contact:
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Heather Cusick
Conservation Director
Sierra Club - North Star
2327 East Franklin Ave. Suite 1
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406
phone: 612.659.9124
fax: 612.659.9129