March update from Uplands Network, connecting Monroe and surrounding counties
March 5, 2025
Come and join us on the trail!
Having made our way to the Indiana Statehouse three times so far this year, we plan to head back soon as harmful bills and conservation budgets are further discussed. Thank you to those who have come along to show your concern for energy and conservation.
Whether we are attending an outing, tabling at an event, carpooling to the Statehouse, or attending the Indiana Sustainability and Resilience Conference, we find an incredible sense of community.
As citizens are being told that we are hopelessly divided, these experiences remind us that we are more powerful together – that true power happens when we connect to one another.
Volunteer leader Lora Kemp Lora Kemp spoke to folks about bat habitat at Conservation Day at the IN Statehouse. Photo: Marilyn Bauchat.
Protect our Progress towards Renewable Energy
If passed into law, the Energy Inflation Act (House Bill 1007, and Senate Bills 423/424) could leave Hoosiers stuck with billions in electric rate increases for experiments with Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMR’s) and reverse our progress in transitioning away from coal towards renewable energy.
The good news is that our voices are making a difference — already House Representatives adopted an amendment to House Bill 1007 which would require large users like Google to pay 80% (up from 75%) of the costs of adding new power resources to meet their data center needs.
If we can organize more of our friends and family to contact our lawmakers, we stand a chance of blunting these bad bills. Tell your legislators to vote no at: sc.org/nobailout.
You can find a sample script to invite your friends to take action, along with information about how to volunteer with Sierra Club at tinyurl.com/takeaction25.
Join the Spring Briefing with our Director, Robyn and the Hoosier Chapter, March 18, 7:00 PM
On the call you will hear from our Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter leaders, volunteers and staff about our successes and challenges in advocating for the environment and Hoosier families at the State Legislature. You’ll hear about the incredible work of our Sierra Club community in Indiana including our favorite outings, how our Beyond Coal campaign is challenging Duke Energy to transition to clean energy, and our efforts to expand protections for our forests.
We will also take the opportunity to highlight the Spring schedule and ways you can get more involved in our work in Indiana to explore, enjoy, and protect our planet and our communities.
Our Chapter Outings Committee continues to grow and to scout new areas. We’re looking forward to exploring the Owen-Putnam State Forest, Green’s Bluff, Cave River Valley, and the Nina Mason Pulliam EcoLab. Our first service hike to rid the Hayes Trail of invasive species starts this week. We look forward to our 3rd Annual Like Creek hike in March. We encourage you to check the Outings and Events page regularly as it evolves.
Hoosier Chapter hikes are scouted ahead of the hike and have two trained leaders. Training is free and available online for Sierra Club members. Let us know if you’d like access to the training.
Partner Projects
Artists for Climate Awareness, founded here and growing internationally, reached out for guidance on activism.
Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Director, Robyn, led an in-person Seeds of Democracy workshop on Sunday, February 16, at the Mill. They planned a phone bank right away to ask folks to take action against HB 2007. Much appreciation to ACA!
Chapter Director, Robyn Skuya-Boss, presenting. Photo: Marilyn Bauchat.
The Uplands Network will partner at Earth Day with Artists for Environmental Restoration to provide art activities that connect to nature. We will also promote a Family Hike to be scheduled in July that will include an art workshop follow-up.
The event takes place from 12-4 PM, April 19, 2025 at Switchyard Park, Bloomington, IN. Volunteer to help at our table at marilynbauchat@gmail.com.
Green Drinks Bloomington has provided our Uplands Network with active folks in the area. Join us Wednesday, March 26 at 6 PM at Upland Brewing Wood Shop, to hear David Konisky, Associate Dean for Research at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU, for a presentation entitled “Energy Insecurity in the Age of Climate Change.” In Indiana, about 150,000 households are disconnected from their utility service each year due to nonpayment of their bills.
Please Join Us for Outings and Events
Since June, 2022, Uplands Network has held monthly informational meetings (mostly virtual) and regular hikes in the area. We partner with local groups to uplift social and environmental justice while working to conserve our public lands and protect the watershed. Our mission includes facilitating “Outdoors for All” while supporting other local groups working on conservation and equity.
November Uplands Network Meeting (virtual)
Mon, March 10; 6:30 PM - 7:45 PM; Uplands Network Meeting (Register for link)
Please join us for our monthly virtual meeting! Open to the public, each gathering features current environmental and social justice issues. Learn how we are making a difference in our community and discover volunteer opportunities and how you can be part of our work. What are issues that you would like to learn more about or teach us more about?
About the Uplands Network
Our leadership team includes dedicated people who plan meetings and outings, table at events, and connect with other groups. We welcome anyone who wishes to volunteer with our network. Open volunteer positions are: co-chair, treasurer, social media coordinator, conservation committee members and outings leaders. Shorter volunteer commitments include tabling at events and at local farmers’ markets. To volunteer write Marilyn at marilynbauchat@gmail.com.
Folks attended the 2/28 outing to tour the Locally Based, Globally Relevant Exhibit at the IU Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology. PHD student, Beatriz Lima Rebeiro, explained how indigenous people around the world are identifying rights and protecting their control over land and cultures in the face of pressure from development. Photo: Marilyn Bauchat.
No matter your level of expertise and interest, we are confident that you can find community and purpose in the Uplands Network and the Hoosier Chapter.
Explore. Enjoy. Protect.
Marilyn Bauchat and the Uplands Leadership Team
Marilyn Bauchat and Greg Grant at the Indiana Sustainability and Resilience Conference Friday, 28 Feb. Dr. Kim Novik shared new data that may prove forests sequester 40-70% more carbon than previously thought.
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." -
Martin Luther King, Jr.
