Welcome to the Nassau County Chapter (FL) of the Sierra Club!
 

Click Here for Events Calendar 

About Us

Welcome to Sierra Club's Nassau County (Florida) Chapter! We are one of the oldest and most influential grassroots environmental organizations in the United States, dedicated to protecting Nassau County's natural heritage. 

Our Mission

Our mission is to enjoy and protect the natural places of Nassau County Florida and to teach others to understand and respect the fragile environment in which we live. We practice and promote the responsible use of our local ecosystems and resources.

Protect Florida's Black Bears!

On August 13 – in direct defiance of public opinion, science, and its own wildlife data – the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted to reinstate black bear hunting in Florida. But there's still time to save our bears, and with your help, we can continue fighting this hunt every step of the way.

Take action:

1. Tell Governor DeSantis to stop the bear hunt, AND:

2. Enter the bear tag lottery
   Under FWC's approved bear hunt rules, 187 bear hunting permits will be issued this year through a lottery.

   Our goal? Keep those permits out of hunters’ hands. Let’s buy them up and protect Florida’s bears!

   APPLY FOR A BEAR TAG BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 12th - 22nd

Here's how: Bear tag lottery application 

How to enter the bear tag lottery:

1. Buy a FL hunting license for $17 (*LICENSE FREE if you're 65+!) atGoOutdoorsFlorida.com or your local tax collector's office.

   • Create/log into your Go Outdoors Florida account

   • Select ‘Recreational Licenses & Permits’

   • Select ‘Click Here to Get a License!’

   • Under ‘Shop by License Category,’ select ‘Hunting’

   • Select Type 165, ‘Hunting – 1 Year’ ($17.00)*

   • Check the box to defer the certification requirement 

   • Add to cart and check out

2. Apply for a bear tag as many times as you want, for $5 per application*, between September 12-22:

   • Online: 

     • Log into your Go Outdoors Florida account (via web, App Store, or Google Play)

     • Select “Apply for Limited Entry/Quota Permit"

     • Select any harvest zone

       • Note: Panhandle and South zones have been designated the most permits

     • Select desired tag quantity

     • Finish and check out

   • In person: 

     • Submit an Application Worksheet at any license agent or tax collector’s office.

After you apply:

• Applications will be processed by random drawing with three rounds of claim periods.

• Results will be posted in Go Outdoors Florida customers’ accounts.

• Selected customers must purchase their permit by the claim round deadline. Permit costs*:

  • Florida residents: $100

  • Non-residents: $300

For full details:
Need help using the Go Outdoors Florida website or app? 

Contact FWC at 855-779-5907.

Sierra Club's statement on RYAM’s proposed cellulosic ethanol plant.

The momentum is real, but the fight is not over, we need your help.

Nassau County Sierra Group is opposing RYAM’s proposal to build an ethanol plant on the Rayonier property in the City.

RYAM’s proposal is to produce 7.5 million gallons of high quality ethanol per year. This is to create a bio-fuel that will be used to make the European airline industry sustainable. A good idea for the future, however when production is being sited within the densely populated community of Fernandina Beach it is not a good idea for ‘our future’.  

A few of Nassau Sierra’s concerns are:

• The ethanol process is very dangerous when placed on the edge of a densely populated (within a quarter of a mile) of residential neighborhoods and a 1/2 mile from our historic downtown
• The City’s Comprehensive Plan prohibits additional chemical manufacturing and refining.
• Ethanol plants have a history of fires and explosions. There have been more than five in the last 2 years across America.
• Currently, the City does not have equipment with adequate amounts of fire protection foams that are ready to respond to any large-scale emergencies that could happen at an ethanol storage/manufacturing facility.
• If there is ever a need to evacuate in an emergency from an explosion or chemical release, adequate evacuation presents unique challenges due to limited routes on and off the island.
• RYAM’s sister plant in France has not met its projected Ethanol production. They are currently suspending their manufacturing operation to invest in genetically modified (GMO) yeasts. They found it difficult to ferment the sugars from the cellulose and get the ethanol production that was needed. Will GMO yeast be used here?
• GMO fermentation methods raise concerns if microbes accidently escape and disperse through the air. They potentially impact ecosystems and human health. Novel proteins produced by GM microbes could trigger allergic reactions in humans. Comprehensive risk assessments are needed to evaluate potential environmental and health impacts of using GM microbes.
• Antibiotics are also often used in the fermentation process. If thousands of gallons of effluent are released into the Amelia River, it bodes poorly for our aquatic residents including fish, dolphins, manatees, crabs, sea turtles, sharks, otters, oysters and other animals that share our environment.
• With the current designs for controlling emissions, they could be problematic over time. FDEP has told Nassau Sierra that it will only require ‘one' air quality report from the processing plant when it goes on-line, not one every year that it’s in production.
• More trucks on an already failing road like 200 and 8th Street do no one in this community any good.
• The ethanol plant will generate more noise. What site buffers will minimize this problem for residential areas?
• RYAM is a large corporation and it’s out of country owners (Bourregard and LignoTech) shouldn't have more of a say about what happens in our community than residents do.

Help us be pro-active and not sell out to a production process that will potentially affect our health, our property values, and our aquatic environment! 

We have received great support from the residents of Fernandina, people on the island and in the community. We have stood up, mobilized, made phone calls and sent emails to the FL legislature when RYAM was trying to interject wording in state legislation that would allow them to build by overriding Fernandina’s Comprehensive Plan.

Avoiding Clean-Air Rules

In June, the Trump Administration announced two proposals to roll back restrictions on pollution from gas-and coal-fired plants.

The administration proposed repealing Clean Air Act Section 111 carbon pollution standards, which limit greenhouse gas emissions from gas- and coal-fired power plants, and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which limit mercury, acid gases, and other heavy metal emissions from these plants.

The proposed rollback is part of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s deregulatory agenda. It purports to lower the cost of living, but EPA’s own analysis shows that industry will pocket the cost savings due to the repeal, leaving everyday Americans with nothing but dirtier air.

Click here to read the full article

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 Meeting and Events

Join us as we enjoy, explore and protect the planet! Check out The Nassau County Sierra Group's Facebook Page for other environmental news and announcements. 

*For more information, contact our meeting and event coordinator - Mary Libby (libbymaryl@gmail.com)

Explore the tabs on top of this page to find more information!