YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Celebrate the women of Loma Prieta Chapter that show up every day to fight the good fight.
► Read our comment letters on the harms of artificial turf, and protection of San Jose waterways.
► Register for our San Jose Clean Energy webinar, and our Forest Protection Forum.
► Watch our new Bay Alive Campaign video and learn about this urgent and unprecedented opportunity. Then sign up and join the campaign.
► Sign up to be an Outing Leader.
► Attention veterans! Check out our Military Outdoors events focused on Pole Walking and Hiking.
► Take a hike! See the comprehensive list of activities available with your chapter through mid-March.
► Your local rental property could support local conservationist.
Celebrating Women's History Month
March is Women's History Month and we'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate the women who serve as leaders with the Loma Prieta Chapter and dedicate so much of themselves to the amazing conservation work that you all see magically happen. Learn more about them and the work they do!
Harms of Artificial Turf Comment Letters
Our Plastics Prevention Committee has been calling for the rejection of artificial turf use locally. Plastic grass is bad for our children’s health, harms the environment, and doesn’t save money when lifecycle cost is factored in. Fortunately there are healthy, drought tolerant, high performance alternatives.
Letters have been submitted to Fremont Union High School District, the City of Mountain View, Campbell Union School District Board, and Campbell Union High School District Board. Read them all.
Webinar: San Jose Clean Energy - Renewables
Wednesday, March 13th
7:00 - 8:00 pm
Learn about how to help our climate and environment by using more renewable electricity.
San Jose Clean Energy, a Community Choice Aggregator, serving all of San Jose, will be presenting the essential information on how you can choose your electrical energy provider, and help to save the planet at the same time. Learn more and register.
Outdoor Leadership Training for Outing Leaders
Thursday, March 14th
6:30 - 9:00 pm
Peninsula Conservation Center, Palo Alto
To become an outings leader, you must be over 18, be a Sierra Club member, take an approved First Aid course, take this course, Outdoor Leadership Training (OLT), and be mentored and approved by an existing Outings Leader. A vegetarian meal will be served. There is no fee for this course. Bring your laptop, writing materials, and a thirst for learning. Learn more and register.
Pole Hiking Training
Monday, March 25th, 9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Mori Point, Pacifica
Urgent and Unprecedented Opportunity to Protect Our Communities and Preserve Our Healthy, Living Bay
2024 will be a crucial year for Bay Advocacy! Our Bay Alive Campaign’s efforts are yielding promising results and we have an unprecedented opportunity to help ensure that our whole region plans for sea level rise in a visionary, equitable, and coordinated way. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) will complete a Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan by the end of this year that will set the standards for local sea level rise planning in every city on the Bay shoreline. We’ll all have to live with the results for decades to come. Please help us make sure that BCDC gets it right!
Check out our new video and revamped Bay Alive Campaign website to learn more and please join us to shape a resilient and sustainable future for our beloved San Francisco Bay and leave a lasting legacy for generations to come. Read more.
This is the first of an awareness through artwork series, by our 15 year-old volunteer Aiden Chen, that we introduced next month.
Burrowing owl nests are underground and face flooding from sea level rise. Compounded with increasing urban development, burrowing owls’ habitats along the bay are rapidly declining. To conserve and save these birds, Sierra Club's Bay Alive and 30x30 campaigns promote the use of nature based solutions to protect the San Francisco Bay wetlands, associated habitats, and human communities from sea level rise. The 30x30 campaign works to conserve 30% of California’s lands and waters by 2030. Learn more.
Beneficial Reuse of Excavated Material in Tidal Marsh Restoration Project Comment Letter
"We support the project concept as a multi-benefit, innovative approach to address sediment needs for wetland restoration and sea level rise resilience, and particularly its value for sustaining wildlife habitat on the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. However, we are concerned that the soil acceptance criteria in the Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) may not be ecologically appropriate for the proposed use of sediment in this setting. We offer the comments below in the spirit of collaboration to strengthen the environmental review and assure long term project efficacy and sustainable benefits for Bay shoreline communities and ecosystems." Read the full letter.
Sea Level Rise Webinar Series
How can local cities and residents use nature-basedadaptations to sea level rise? Watch recordings of our webinar series with SF Bay experts and please share with your local elected officials.
San Jose Stormwater Permit Requirements, Homelessness and Neighborhood Considerations Comment Letter
"In recent times, impacts of homeless encampments along San Jose waterways have been accumulating with trash, toxic debris and human waste, as well as erosion and denuding of riparian vegetation. The impacts have devastated ecosystems along the creeks and impaired water quality locally, downstream, and in the Bay. Clean-up efforts have removed millions of tons of trash, and yet the problem persists. The people experiencing homelessness in these conditions and our waterways deserve better, and so do San Jose residents in all city neighborhoods." Read the full letter.
Forest Protection Forum
History lives on: The changeless face of industrial redwood logging in California March 18th, 4:00 pm
FeaturingGreg King, award-winning writer and activist
How is it possible that humanity was ultimately able to protect just 80,000 acres, or 4 percent, or California’s original expanse of coast redwood forest? The answer lies in a century-long determination by capitalists to preserve as much ancient redwood as possible not for parks, but for industrial uses. Learn more and register.
Silicon Valley LGBTQ+ Health and Wellness Fair
Saturday March 23rd
9:30 am - 2:00 pm
Mark your calendars to celebrate National LGBTQ+ Health Week at the 2024 Taking Stride with Pride: A 5K + Health and Wellness Fair at Hellyer County Park in San Jose.
Loma Prieta Pride Sierrans will be staffing our own table at the Fair. Come on by and say hello! This is a FREE event with different workshops, resources, and entertainment. It's a celebration of our LGBTQ+ community and allies where health and fitness meets community wellness and Pride! Learn more.
Loma Prieta Pride Sierrans (formerly GLS) is excited to offer their 22nd Annual Death Valley National Park camping trip. Join them! The campsite is located in the Furnace Creek area with views of the surrounding hills. It offers picnic tables, drinking water, dishwashing stations, flush toilets, a grill, nearby commercial showers, plenty of room for tents and on-site parking with space for a couple vans. Cost: $80 per person. Learn more and register.
Power in Nature and 30x30 Meet with Assemblymember Addis's Staff
Power in Nature, the statewide lobbying group for 30x30, hosted a meeting with Assemblymember Addis' staff, Kylie Baranowski, on February 27th. Assemblymember Addis is a member of the California Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. This committee's focus is on water resources, flood management, fish and game, parks and recreation, and wildlife. The Sierra Club Loma Prieta 30x30 is a member of the Power in Nature Central Coast Regional Group that is made up of five counties, San Benito County being one of the three counties served by Loma Prieta. Read more.
"Radioactive" Video from Sierra Club
Registration for a free viewing from March 7 through March 11 of the documentary film, “Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island” is now open. The film will be available at no charge for video on demand viewing anytime from March 7 through March 11 thanks to an educational grant from the Grassroots Network of the Sierra Club to the Nuclear Free Team. This is the first offering of the Sierra Club Grassroots Network Nuclear Free Team Free Film Series.
In the Community
Naturalist Training webinar (March13th), BioBlitz (March 16th), Planting (March 17th), Naturalist Walk (March 23rd), and Cleanup (March 24th) from our friends at Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful.
The Loss of Our Dark Sky
Life on Earth has a lot in common. Together we have evolved under consistent cycles of day and night. These rhythms are deeply intertwined with our most important behaviors and biological functions. Today, one thing which most living beings have in common is the loss of our dark sky. 80% of the world’s population lives under light-polluted skies, which is so extensive that the Milky Way, a band of white in our sky, remains hidden from more than one-third of humanity. The stars, which have inspired humans for generations and shaped our biology for far longer, have vanished.
What do we lose when we lose the night sky? The loss of beauty is itself worth mourning. Unfortunately, when we lose the night sky we lose a lot more than a muse; loss of the night sky is detrimental to our physical health and the health of our ecosystems. Read more.
Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant and Permanente Quarry Public Meeting
Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian will hold the annual Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant and Permanente Quarry public meeting with various oversight agencies at the Cupertino Community Hall on Wednesday, March 27. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions about the quarry and cement plant located in the Cupertino foothills.
Our Chapter was a vital player in the decision to close the cement plant. Read more.
Spring Backpacking Courses
Basic Backpacking Course
This multi-part class begins on April 3rd. Learn the essentials of backcountry travel with a special emphasis on the gear, skills, and planning required to be responsible stewards. Registration required.
Lightweight Backpacking Course
April 6th and 19th-21st
Imagine backpacking, and feeling like a you're on a day-hike. How much farther could you go? How much more could you see? Find out in our class for experienced backpackers on lightweight and ultralight backpacking skills, gear, and techniques. Registration required.
One of the best ways to safeguard a thriving and just future is by ensuring that your Loma Prieta Chapter remains a champion for the environment of Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Benito Counties. Naming us as a beneficiary in your bequest will provide meaningful and enduring resources that will allow continued local and powerful environmental activism.
Please contact our Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman for the specific language for your estate planning and/or read more here. For additional information about planning a bequest please contact Julia Curtis, (800) 932-4270.
Photographers, see the great images in our Chapter Annual Summaries and 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.
Historic Notes March is Women's History Month
March 1, 1872, 1st National Park, Yellowstone, established by President U.S.Grant
2024.03.03 Chapter Director with Loma Prieta Day Hikers on Mt. Umunhum: 16 miles, 2700 ft elevation gain.
"...all who have achieved excellence in any art, possess one thing in common, that is,
a mind to obey nature, to be one with nature, throughout the four seasons of the year."
Your Local Rental Property Can Support Conservation
Your Loma Prieta Chapter Director needs to find a new home before April 1st: 1+ bedroom, 2+ bathroom, >800 sq ft, w&d, ac, 1+ garage, 3+ total parking, patio/balcony./yard. If you know of an opportunity, please contact James.Eggers@sierraclub.org.
