January 2005
Welcome to e-Sierra
The email newsletter of the Sierra Club North Star ChapterJanuary 2005 / Issue 31
WELCOME
The North Star Chapter welcomes you to our monthly e-Sierra. Please find updates on critical environmental issues, upcoming events, opportunities to become involved, and a North Star Chapter calendar of events. For additional Sierra Club information visit our website at http://northstar.sierraclub.org.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER MOONLIGHT STROLL...AND A MEETING
Please join us on the next full moon to plan our favorite hiking, snowshoeing, camping and other outdoor adventures for our 2005 outings calendar. Be a leader or a helper! Join us for pizza, brainstorming and a little fun. The meeting will be followed by a moonlight stroll along the Mississippi River. Join us Tuesday, January 25th at 7:00pm at the Sierra Club office. For more information or to RSVP drop a note to Wendy Miller at .
FIGHTING FOR HEALTH AND JUSTICE CONFERENCE
Saturday, January 22nd (Free Registration begins at 12:30)
Minneapolis Urban League (2100 Plymouth Avenue N, Minneapolis MN)
Join the Sierra Club and Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota for the second annual "Founders' Day" conference. This year's conference features nationally recognized keynote speakers, workshops on environmental justice and health issues, a bi-partisan legislative roundtable, and a free dinner. We hope to see you there! For more information on the event, see http://northstar.sierraclub.org/activities/events/20050122.html or email .
TIME CHANGE! BURNING TIRES IN MINNESOTA NEEDS REVIEW
Tuesday, January 25th at 5:00pm* (*note time change)
MPCA Large Hearing Room located at 520 Lafayette Rd N, St. Paul
Citizens battling the proposed tire burner in Southern Minnesota need your help! Please show your support by attending this critical meeting. This tire burner would burn 10 million tires annually to produce a minimal amount of energy, making it the largest tire burner in the nation. In addition, the technology proposed for burning tires has never been used in practice, and the MPCA is relying on test results from 18 years ago. With this much at stake, the state of Minnesota must protect human health and the environment by doing proper environmental review before the facility is built. For more information: http://northstar.sierraclub.org/heartland or e-mail .
POLITICS GOES LOCAL
Attention members residing in St. Paul and nearby suburbs: We are forming a St. Paul Political Committee to evaluate candidates and consider an endorsement for the mayoral race and possibly one or more city council races. If you're interested in participating, please contact Ginny Yingling at or 651-731-4420 by Friday, January 28th.
WE SPOKE FOR THE TREES AND THE COURTS HEARD US!
Big News! On January 14, our Forest Watch volunteers won a lawsuit stopping a harmful logging project next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness! The court found that the US Forest Service did not do its homework, and must go back to do a full Environmental Impact Statement. http://northstar.sierraclub.org/campaigns/forests/fw/release20050117.html. Join the winning Forest Watch team as we investigate other harmful logging projects — call Joshua Davis at 612-659-9124.
SKILLS FOR THE NEW MILLENIUM - NORTH STAR CHAPTER TRAINING
Saturday, March 5
Save the date! This is an opportunity for inexperienced members as well as seasoned activists to gain or refine important skills for effective grassroots environmental organizing. The basics of environmental advocacy, campaign planning, media tips, and lobbying are just a few examples of areas you can gain access to through interactive workshops. Along with other activists, you'll access necessary tools to protect the environment and human health for years to come. We hope to see you there! Stay tuned for more details. Call Cesia at 612-659-9124 with questions.
CALLING ALL MINNESOTANS INTERESTED IN PROTECTING OUR WATERS
You're invited to Sierra Club's Water Committee! Our next meeting is Wednesday, January 26th 5:30-7pm. While interested folks are welcomed to all Water Committee meetings and events throughout the year, we are taking this opportunity as the first meeting of the New Year to welcome new members and interested friends to meet us. We'll have glogg, fruit, bread and cheese available to enjoy and will update everyone on our activities and how to get involved.
Water is the basis of life. We drink it, swim in it, get our food from it, and enjoy the beauty of it. We also tend to take it for granted. But we are becoming increasingly aware and alarmed by the pesticides in our drinking water, mercury in our fish, fecal coliform in our lakes, and the continued loss of wetlands that lead to flooding, habitat loss and a decreased water quality in surface and ground waters. We pursue a broad range of water-related issues and create policy and program change by working with the government, the public, the media, and our elected officials. Please join the party and get involved. For more information contact Karen Harder at .
WETLANDS AT RISK
To raise awareness of threats to our wetlands, on December 30th, 2004, the Sierra Club North Star Chapter released Restoring Water Quality Certification in Minnesota. The report calls on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to reinstate Clean Water Act review of dredge and fill activities that harm wetlands and water quality. To see the report go to http://northstar.sierraclub.org/campaigns/water/wetlands/release20041230.html.
SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Sat. Jan 22: EJAM Founders Day 12:00pm
Tues. Jan 25: Outings Committee 7pm
Tues. Jan 25: Clean Air Campaign at Sierra Club office 7pm
Tues. Jan 25: Heartland at MPCA Citizen's Board Meeting 5pm
Wed. Jan 26: Water 5:30pm
Wed. Jan 26: Excom 7pm
Wed. Jan 26: Action Night: Calling for Clean Air
Sat. Jan. 29: "Protecting the Best of What's Left": State Forest campaign planning session, 10am
Wed. Feb 2: Wetlands 5:30pm
Wed. Feb 2: Forestry 7pm
Tues. Feb 8: Presentation by Sierra Club's Western Public Lands campaign. Chester Creek Caf, 1902 E. Eighth St., Duluth. 7pm
Wed. Feb 9: Communications 6:30pm
Mon. Feb 14: Land Use
Tues. Feb 15: International 7pm
Tues. Feb 22: Clean Air 7pm
Wed. Feb 23: Water 5:30pm
Wed. Feb 23: Excom 7pm
For More Calendar Information or for Interesting Submissions Contact:
Our postal address is:
Sierra Club - North Star Chapter
2327 E. Franklin Ave
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406
United States