Photo from POST: Sam McDonald and family visit “his” street within the Stanford campus.
February serves as a symbolic month of reflection and acknowledgement of the impacts, contributions and successes of Black Americans in all spaces, both visible and unknown. Black environmentalists, outdoors enthusiasts, and environmental justice organizers have achieved victories that are rooted in our mission to rededicate ourselves to uprooting environmental racism, achieving collective liberation, and working to build a democracy where every person, voice and vote counts.
Learn about the trailblazing and charitable life of Sam McDonald, who's legacy continues through Sam McDonald County Park, where you can find our Chapter's Hiker's Hut. |
Honoring Charles Young
In 1903, Colonel Charles Young (1864 – 1922), the third African-American graduate of West Point, became the first Black national park superintendent. In honor of Black History Month, Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) would like to provide some insight into this important leader. He blazed trails for people of color who have been too often overlooked in the conservation stories of our country. Read more about Charles Young's inspiring history.
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Presentation: Sargent Ranch Quarry Proposal Threatens Environment & Justice
Attend the Climate Reality Project: Silicon Valley Chapter monthly meeting (2/27) to learn more about this proposed open-pit mining operation’s potential negative environmental, climate and tribal impacts and what you can do to protect this land.
Read more event information here.
Register here to learn about and support local environmental justice. |
Free Webinar: Planning for Life Sciences in Bay Area Communities
Thursday, March 2, 2023, 2pm
Click here to register.
Decision makers and agency staff will hear from seasoned professionals on what issues need to be considered for successful development of projects in their communities. Many Bay Area cities are currently considering life sciences lab development and can learn about early planning considerations, the bio safety measures that are taken to regulate labs and special measures needed to protect communities and the environment. |
Have you received our special package?
Only twice a year our Chapter mails a special postal package inviting you to become a local environmental changemaker, and I hope that by now you have received it. If you have already responded, we thank you. If not, please take a minute to do it now. Please remember that only a sliver of your Sierra Club membership dues is returned to Loma Prieta to support our work for a healthy environment, but 100% of your gift made directly to the Chapter will be spent locally.
See donation options, including employer matching opportunities. |
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Environmental Stewardship Program 8.0
Applications Open for 2023
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After a pandemic-induced hiatus of 3 years, we are resuming our highly successful Environmental Stewardship Program, which provided participants with thought-provoking educational presentations and opportunities to take action. ESP graduates have gone on to run for office and have assumed leadership positions in their local communities, including leadership roles in the Sierra Club. This year’s Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP) 8.0 will focus on critical environmental issues, and we will mentor participants who choose to work on advocacy projects. Click here for more information about ESP 8.0 and to apply, |
Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center Call for Volunteers 2023
The Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center is looking for Sierra Club Members who would like to spend a week camping in Yosemite National Park to assist with interpretation. The YCHC is open May 1 through September 30 from 10 am until 4 pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Volunteers receive free entrance into Yosemite National Park, free camping in a designated YCHC group campsite, and have Monday and Tuesday to explore the Park. There are no accommodations for family, friends or pets. All volunteers bring tents, food, and supplies. Contact Bonnie Gisel at Bonnie.Gisel@sierraclub.org or call 209 347-7300. |
The Anderson Collection is partnering with Stanford Live and the Stanford Office of the Vice President for the Arts to present Todd McGrain’s The Lost Bird Project. With outdoor locations in front of the Anderson Collection and Bing Concert Hall and along Campus Drive, five bronze sculptures represent five North American birds driven to extinction.
The five bronze sculptures are available to see throughout the Stanford Arts District through February 1, 2024. Click here to Learn more about the lost birds. |
Basic Backpacking Course 2023
Wed, Apr 5, 2023; 7:00 PM
Click here to learn more and register.
Join the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club for our 2023 Basic Backpacking Course. The course is offered as a four-part online symposium followed by a day of outdoor instruction, demonstration, and hiking. You’ll learn the essentials of backcountry travel that make it safe and enjoyable for you, and sustainable for the places you visit. We will place special emphasis on the gear, skills, and planning required to be responsible stewards of our precious wilderness ecosystems. |
Photo of Kelley Park by Grey3k
Kelley Park BioBlitz
Location: Kelley Park (Disc Golf Course Area), 740 Phelan Ave, San Jose, CA 95112
Saturday March 18th, 9AM - 11AM
Click here to RSVP
A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to get an overall count of the plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms that live in a place.
Docents will guide you and teach you to use the iNaturalist app on your smartphone to record all the living things you encounter. Flowers, trees, butterflies, dragonflies, and beetles, birds, and squirrels. We love them all - now let's go find them! |
CNPS Santa Clara Valley Chapter's annual Growing Natives Garden Tour
Saturday - Sunday, April 1 - 2, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Are you interested in gardens that are waterwise, low maintenance and attractive to humans as well as birds and butterflies? Click here to learn more about Native Gardens |
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Military Outdoors Program
The inaugural year of Sierra Club Military Outdoors program was a local success and it has been renewed for 2023. The Loma Prieta Chapter is inviting veterans and their family members for three types of trainings in beautiful locations around the Bay Area. Sessions are designed to help people learn how to use POLES for Hiking, for Balance and Maintaining Mobility, as well as Nordic Walking for Exercise. Skills learned help people of many ages and abilities to more fully enjoy their outdoor adventures. Participants experience improved endurance, posture, strength, spine function and confidence. Poles are provided at all trainings and practice walks/hikes, which are listed on our calendar. |
Environmental Book Club Reading List
To join contact Gladwyn d'Souza
January: Water Always Wins- thriving in an age of drought and deluge, by Erica Gies
February: Nomad Century- How climate migration will reshape our world, by Gaia Vince
March: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
April: The Intersectional Environmentalist- How to dismantle systems of oppression to protect people plus planet by Leah Thomas
May: Regenesis- Feeding the world without devouring the planet by George Monbiot
June: Euphoria by Lily King
July: The Flag The Cross, And The Station Wagon by Bill McKibben.
August: Rescuing the Planet- protecting half the land to heal the earth by Tony Hiss.
September: The New Wilderness by Diane Cook
October: There Are No Accidents- the deadly rise injury and disaster, who profits, and who pays the price by Jessie Singer
November: Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman
December: How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue |
Where does your recyled material go? The answer may not be pretty.
"Palo Alto found that some 60% of its recyclables got shipped abroad, with little transparency as to their fate."
Read here the full article about recycling
To volunteer on zero-waste issues in your city, contact Gladwyn d'Souza |
Your Opinion is Needed; Inform Housing and Community Needs in San Mateo County
Voice Your Input on the Development of the San Mateo County Consolidated Plan; 5 - 7 Minute Survey
Click here to read about the development of the San Mateo County Consolidated Plan and learn about upcoming community workshops.
Click here to take the 5 - 7 minute survey. |
Tell the Metropolitan Transportation Commission how to Improve Community Outreach
Take the 2023 Public Participation Plan Survey by clicking here.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission makes decisions on how hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent. We encourage those who take the survey to select the option for "provide online/telephone options for participating rather than in-person events", as some in-person meetings are difficult to attend. |
Looking to Electrify but Don't Know Where to Start? Begin Here!
The Switch is On provides the resources you'll need to electrify your home, click here!. Explore the benefits of an all-electric home and learn about how you can swap from gas to electric!
Incentives are available! Click here to learn more. This tool allows you to find the right incentives that apply to you. |
YOU Can Make a Difference for Local Environmental Protection!
Our Environmental Legislative Action Team and Climate Action Leadership Team will show you how.
Your Loma Prieta Chapter is organizing a network of advocacy teams at the city level.
These are city-focused teams with the twin goals of spearheading actions to combat climate change and to conserve and restore natural habitats.
You will be working with city council members, key city staff, county officials, and other environmental activists. We welcome and educate those who are new to climate policy.
For more information contact Loma Prieta Chapter's Conservation Organizer dashiell.leeds@sierraclub.org. |
Securities and Exchange Commission Climate Rules
Financial regulators are hoping to force big companies and investment managers to disclose climate information. If you'd like to join local grassroots effective work to make these changes happen, please contact Sue Chow, sue2042@gmail.com
Loma Prieta Chapter, Chair of Environmental Legislative Action Committee |
Take a hike! Here's what's available with your Loma Prieta Chapter.
Note: regardless of the name/origin of the outing section, all are welcome!
Mon 2/27/23, 9:00 AM. POLE Hiking Training, Mori Point, Pacifica
Wed 3/1/23, 9:30 AM. Hike Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve
Thu 3/2/23, 9:30 AM. Hike Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve
Sat 3/4/23, 8:00 AM. Classic Tahoe Ski Tours
Sat 3/4/23, 9:00 AM. Bay Area Ridge Trail: Montebello, Skyline Ridge, Russian Ridge and Coal Creek
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Peninsula Clean Energy rebates
Peninsula Clean Energy is providing homeowners in San Mateo County and the City of Los Banos interest-free financing and new rebates to install electric appliances and make other energy-efficiency upgrades.
The agency’s new Zero Percent Loan program will provide interest-free financing for up to $10,000 per home for projects that include installation of electric heat pump equipment, including water heaters and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) units. Gas-powered equipment will not be eligible for the financing. |
Do You Need Space to Spread Your Wings?
Donate a Vehicle to Support the Critical Local Environmental Work of Your Chapter.
It’s easy to give and the pick-up is free; just call 844-6-SIERRA or 844-674-3772 or give online at https://careasy.org/nonprofit/Sierra-Club-Foundation-Loma-Prieta-Chapter.
If you would like to donate a Mazda Miata, please contact your Chapter Director personally.
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In Case You Missed It
Previous volumes of our Chapter eNewsletter can be found here.
IN THE NEWS
EJ: EVs are becomng cheaper, their impact is increasing, they are not the complete solution, while walkable cities expansion and service shift solutions are nowhere in sight.
Tick talk, science and safety
Silicon Valley's vast wealth disparity deepens as poverty increased
Join the campaign to protect 30% of California Lands and Waters by 2030
Earthjustice and Sierra Club Release Comprehensive Guide to Environmental Impacts of Cryptomining
Photographers, help protect local nature with your images! Share with us your high-resolution photos of local nature, with or without people, to inspire local residents to support Loma Prieta Chapter work. Please contact Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman, justyna.guterman@sierraclub.org
Too much Sierra Club email? You have control! See this simple tutorial.
How can local cities and residents use nature-based adaptations to sea level rise? Watch recordings of our recent webinar series with SF Bay experts and share with your local elected officials!
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Your Loma Prieta Chapter was founded in 1933, at Hidden Villa
What other important events happened in that year?
Keep reading the Loma Prieta Chapter eNewsletter this year to discover much more!
If you know of important local events that happened that year, then please let us know.
Other Important February Events
Feb 18, 1909, was the birthdate of Wallace Stegner, "the Dean of Western Writers" and Pulitzer Prize Winner, with a dedicated bench in Long Ridge Open Space Preserve (text).
Feb 20, 1902, was the birthdate of the great photographer, environmentalist and Sierra Club Member and Board Director Ansel Adams (1). Local Note: Santa Cruz County was originally part of the Loma Prieta Chapter, but when Adams founded the Ventana Chapter in Monterey County, members in Santa Cruz County chose to join Adams' new chapter.
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“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness
be destroyed ... We simply need that wild country available to us,
even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.”
― Wallace Stegner, The Sound of Mountain Water
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Thank you to our 2022 Guardians on Nature Benefit Sponsors
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| The COVID-19 crisis has not passed and continues to disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people and other communities of color. The pandemic has revealed how the communities hardest hit are often the same communities that suffer from high levels of pollution and poor access to healthcare. The fight for environmental justice cannot be separated from the fight for racial justice. |
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