Suwannee St. Johns Sierra Club

news and alerts

Inner City Outings is a community outreach program of the Sierra Club that provides disadvantaged, inner city youth with positive outdoor experiences. This means taking kids on day hikes in nature parks and preserved areas. There will also be opportunities for kids to enjoy canoeing, swimming, and camping.
Through the ICO kids can discover plants and animals and a whole new world is opened to them. Exposing children to nature is essential if we want to preserve and conserve natural areas in the future.
To learn more about this program and see pictures of outings, click here>>>>

Airboat Noise Ordinance

Noise from airboats intrudes on lake residents and recreational users of lakes. At least seven counties and three cities in Florida have some regulations to protect residents from airboat noise. Sign this petition to allow the citizens of Alachua County vote on an airboat curfew. >>>

Achieving 75% Recycling
Florida Chapter Sierra Club Position

Legislation calling for 75% recycling also specifies that waste used as a fuel will count toward the recycling goal. A comparison of recycling and waste used as a fuel in terms of energy, economic development, and environmental effects is presented. Data indicate that for every material in municipal solid waste, recycling saves more than twice the energy that can be generated by using it as fuel. For the State, over 1100 MW would be saved through recycling, enough to power 800,000 homes. Read More (download PDF [1 MB]) >>>

Want to go paperless? Contact Roberta Gastmeyer at rgastmeyer@bellsouth.net to receive your newsletter by e-mail.

Economic Stimulus or Pork?
Alachua County has submitted its request for stimulus projects to Congress. Unfortunately, many of the projects offer few long-term green jobs or result in energy savings or production of renewable energy. Here is what SSJ Sierra suggests as alternatives:
(1) Funds to improve mass transit such as Bus Rapid Transit that would reduce the use of private automobiles and would be especially beneficial to low-income persons who depend on public transportation.
(2) Weatherization of homes of low-income persons who must spend a disproportionate amount of income on heating or cooling
(3) An anaerobic Organics recycling facility. The advantage of anaerobic digestion over composting (aerobic digestion) is that methane is produced and captured in the enclosed facility which can then be used as fuel.

To see the complete article on what the county proposal is and what Sierra Club recommends as alternatives, click here.

To mitigate the mitigation…how outrageous!
The St Johns River Water Management District is drawing up rules that would allow the release of conservation easements on wetlands that had been donated to the District as mitigation for wetland destruction.
For the complete article and to see the letter written by SSJ Sierra responding to this, click here.

Ways to Volunteer

President Obama has challenged us to make a difference. It is all our responsibility to change the world. We can’t just sit back any more. Want to make a difference? Click here to find out how you can volunteer for your local Sierra Club>>

Cypress forests throughout the Gulf region and the southeast are being logged in many cases solely to produce cypress garden mulch. Cypress forests are important habitat for wildlife, provide important storm surge and flood protection, and enhance water quality. In Florida, cypress domes act as natural filters in areas of aquifer recharge providing critical filtration for the water supply. The destruction of such valuable ecosystems for an inherently disposable product must be halted, especially when sustainable mulch alternatives are readily available.

The problem of cypress deforestation has been well-documented in Louisiana and Florida, and the problem can grow beyond those states as the market for mulch expands. In Louisiana, the best science shows that many of the swamps may never grow back once cut, and in Florida, data shows that the trees are being felled faster than they can come back. Data from 2003 indicates that almost half of the cypress cut in Florida is used for mulch production.

http://www.healthygulf.org

INVASIVE EXOTIC SNAIL IN NEWNANS LAKE: The non-native ISLAND APPLE SNAIL was discovered in Newnans Lake near the Windsor public boat ramp last fall. This is the first discovery of this invasive snail in Alachua County. Eradication of these exotic plant-eating snails is underway by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, St. Johns River Water Management District, and the University of Florida, IFAS.
More info >>>>>>

http://myfwc.com/nonnatives/Docs/FWC_applesnails_FLMS_handout.pdf

global warming
The consensus of scientists around the world is that human activities are causing an increase in greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere resulting in a rise in average global temperature. Read more>>

The Climate Project (TCP) is an international non-profit founded by Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore with a mission to increase public awareness of the climate crisis at a grassroots level worldwide.
http://www.theclimateproject.org/

WHO IS YOUR REPRESENTATIVE?

Learn more about contacting your representative>>>>>

The Peru
Waterfall Project
Charles Motley
Phil Whittman
Clay Farrero
.........
Thursday, March 4
7:30 pm

Welcome to The Suwannee - St. Johns Group of the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club. The national Sierra Club was founded by John Muir in 1892. The local group was founded by Ken and Betty Watson and has been active since 1971.

Florida Legislature
is Back in Session

The Peru Waterfall Project Charles Motley Phil Whittman Clay Farrero ......... Thursday, March 4 7:30 pm

Welcome to The Suwannee - St. Johns Group of the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club. The national Sierra Club was founded by John Muir in 1892. The local group was founded by Ken and Betty Watson and has been active since 1971.

Florida Legislature is Back in Session

The Peru
Waterfall Project
Charles Motley
Phil Whittman
Clay Farrero
.........
Thursday, March 4
7:30 pm

Florida Legislature
is Back in Session