June update from your local Southwest Indiana Network
June 17, 2026
Join us on the trail!
Welcome to the latest from the Southwest Indiana Network of the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter.
In this newsletter:
🌳 Tales From the Trail: Jasper Parklands Urban Hike 🥾 Join Us on the Trail: Walk the Wabash River in New Harmony 📢 Keep up the pressure: Tell Gov. Braun and AG Rokita to challenge Trump's illegal and costly coal orders! 📚 You're invited to the Hoosier Chapter Book Club 🥾 Find out about upcoming events and outings ✍️ Keep in touch and get involved in our work.
Happy reading! Rebecca Dien-Johns Chapter Digital Strategist
Tales From the Trail: 🌳Jasper Parklands Urban Hike🌳
Attendees at the Jasper Parklands outing holding a Sierra Club banner. Photo: Nicole Chandler.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Jasper and a perfect day for the Sierra Club’s urban hike at the Parklands.
The hike was led by Hoosier Chapter Outings Leader and Indiana Beyond Coal Campaign Organizer, Nicole Chandler.
The Parklands of Jasper is a 75-acre urban renewal endeavor which turned a 9-hole golf course and surrounding woodlands into an urban oasis with two miles of walking trails, a wetlands area for nature studies, 25-acres of woods and a large variety of all native plants, wildflowers and pollinators.
The group walked the 1.5 mile outer loop stopping at several locations to observe the many wonders of the park.
Nicole: "We had a fantastic time at the Jasper Parklands, exploring the beauty of this relatively new urban trail. We saw many beautiful flowering plants and stopped to enjoy the wetland area and enjoyed spending time outside in community."
Mark Nowotarski Volunteer Leader
Attendees of the outing observing the wetland area. Photos: Nicole Chandler.
Join Us on the Trail: 🥾Walk the Wabash River in New Harmony 🥾
Join our Sierra Club community as we enjoy a Sunday evening walk in community along the Wabash River. The Jane Blaffer & Kenneth Dale Owen Heritage Trail is an easy walk along a fairly level gravel pathway.
Register here:
Sun, Jun 21, 2026; 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (Central) Walk the Wabash River in New Harmony New Harmony, IN
(Note- this is a rescheduled date)
📢 Keep spreading the word 📢 Tell Gov. Braun and AG Rokita: Challenge Trump's illegal and costly coal orders!
The Trump administration has continued using illegal orders keeping these costly and polluting coal plants online. We filed a lawsuit in response and other state Attorney Generals have also joined the fight and are challenging the administration’s use of 202c orders.
Thank you to the 800+ of you who already took action, demanding Governor Braun and AG Rokita speak out against this costly and illegal act! Continue to share this petition, get the word out, and keep the pressure on. Gov. Braun says energy affordability is a concern of his; well challenging these 202c orders is an easy way to advocate for Hoosiers and our pocketbooks.
If you’ve already taken action, thank you! Please send this link to five of your friends to help spread the word: sc.org/INcoalorders
Join the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Book Club!
Join us for the 2nd year of our Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Book Club! This year we have some fantastic reading selections as well as opportunities for members to submit suggestions for future books.
Have a book you want to see us read this year? Submit your recommendation here or via email to colleen.curtin@sierraclub.org.
Join us this month for our Pride Month read, Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian.
Gentle reminder that it is totally okay to show up to Book Club having read all of the book, some of the book, thought about reading the book, or looking for a pitch to sell you on reading the book. ALL are welcome! Also a reminder that the goal of this space is to facilitate conversation and there is not a quiz at the end or an objective beyond learning more about issues we care about and cultivating community with one another.
We look forward to the opportunity to connect, share about, and reflect on the issues, themes, and excerpts that resonated with you in the book.
Colleen Curtin Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Outreach Coordinator
Upcoming Events and Outings
From Sierra Club:
Our next Repower Ohio River Valley team meeting will be Thursday, June 18th. Email nicole.chandler@sierraclub.org if you’d like to be added to the calendar invite.
Sun, Jun 21, 2026; 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (Central) Walk the Wabash River in New Harmony New Harmony, IN
Tue, Jun 30, 2026; 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Eastern) Hoosier Chapter Book Club: Forest Euphoria by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian (Virtual)
Thu, Jul 9, 2026; 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM (Eastern) Hoosier Chapter: Monthly New Volunteer Onboarding Training Virtual (evening session also available)
Sun, Jul 5, 2026; 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Eastern) MC-IRIS/Hoosier Nat'l Forest & Sierra Club Weed wrangle Bloomington, IN
Have a place you’d love to see us hike? Reach out!
