YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Learn and be inspired through our Environmental Stewardship Program 2025 - 2026.
► Celebrate your historic win with the Permanente Creek Restoration Project.
► Honor local environmental heroes at our 2025 Guardians of Nature Benefit.
► Learn what's at risk from sea level rise and join our Bay Alive watchdog network.
► Take a hike! See the comprehensive list of Chapter activities available through August.
Environmental Stewardship Program 2025 - 2026 Registration is Open
If you are curious about environmental issues and would like to take action to protect our environment, this is the program for you. Space is limited so register today.
At our in-person Environmental Stewardship Program you will learn about critical environmental issues, learn how to be an activist, enjoy nature through connections to optional outings, and receive a certificate of completion. These goals will be accomplished through screenings of award-winning environmental documentaries, discussion, presentations and learning to work with legislators.
Previous program participants have afterwards played integral roles in various environmental organizations, both grassroots NGOs and government agencies, including elected officials, and have ranged in age from high school students to senior citizens. They are continuing to work to build a better world.
Ribbon Cutting for Start of Permanente Creek Restoration Project, finally!
On July 23, Heidelberg Materials invited a few dozen involved parties to celebrate the start of construction to restore Permanente Creek within their property. The restoration is required by a 2013 Consent Decree between the Sierra Club and Lehigh Southwest Cement Company (the previous owner of the quarry and cement plant) requiring the company to stop releasing toxic levels of selenium into the creek, and to fix damage caused by dumping overburden and waste into the creek. The restoration will remove mining-related fill and sediments, remove man-made barriers, restore the creek bed and
Celebrate Environmental Leadership: Garnetta Annable at 2025 Guardians of Nature Benefit
We are thrilled to announce that the 2025 Guardians of Nature Benefit will honor Garnetta Annable, a pioneering local land conservationist and a founding member of the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority. Join us on Friday, October 10th at 6:00 pm at Mitchell Park Community Center to celebrate Garnetta's inspiring legacy and to empower regional environmental advocacy. Sponsorships and tickets are available. Read Garnetta's full biography and learn more about how you can become involved and attend the event for free.
What’s at Risk from Sea Level Rise?
We all depend on a living Bay. Our Bay ecology cleans our water of pollution, removing nitrogen, heavy metals, harmful wastes, and toxins! Our shoreline plants are more effective at absorbing carbon than even tropical rainforests. Our sponge-like marshes soak up huge amounts of storm, flood, and tidal water. The powerful energy of waves hitting the shore are buffered and dispersed by our wetlands.
Our shallow Bay waters, tidal marshes, and mud flats are home and nursery for thousands of creatures which makeup our complex ecosystem. And our eelgrass meadows and marshes act as lungs of the Bay area, a tremendous source of fresh air and oxygen for us all.
It’s easy to take for granted how much we all depend upon those ecosystem services. They will only become more essential as climate change worsens and our communities grow. Learn more about what's at risk from sea level rise.
Community Wellbeing at Risk from Sea Level Rise
Flooded areas may facilitate the spread of waterborne diseases, while rising seas contribute to erosion, property loss, and loss of vital infrastructure, disrupting travel and emergency services. Displacement, job loss, stress, and compromised sanitation in affected communities further escalate health risks.
Due to historical land-use decisions, discrimination, and market forces, residents in under-recognized, socially vulnerable communities are disproportionately vulnerable to sea level rise threats. Residents of these communities are more likely to live near contaminated sites where groundwater rise can mobilize soil-borne hazardous materials. They have high housing vulnerability and often live in flood-prone zones exposing them to property damage and displacement. Aging or poorly maintained infrastructure in these areas may offer less protection against sea level and groundwater rise, increasing the risk of damage to health, homes, and public facilities. These communities often lack the resources to invest in infrastructure improvements, protective measures, or relocation efforts.
We Know Seas are Rising, But How?
Respected climate organizations and government agencies have been researching the phenomenon for decades and have concluded that there are several different mechanisms that contribute greatly to global sea level rise.
Thermal expansion: As water molecules in the ocean warm, they expand.
Ice melt: Ice melt from glaciers and ice sheets are the dominant contributor to rising sea levels
Groundwater depletion: USGS estimates half of the nation’s drinking water comes from underground aquifers.
Subsidence: Not only is the sea rising, the land is also sinking.
Do you want to learn more about sea level rise planning in the San Francisco Bay? This summer, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) is holding a four-part webinar series showcasing their plan for our region to address sea level rise, the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP). Our Bay Alive Campaign has been heavily engaged in the RSAP process since its conception and continues to advocate for proper implementation of the plan, highlighting its emphasis on natural and nature-based solutions (NNBS), environmental justice and shoreline contamination concerns. Register for BCDC's next webinar on August 13th to get up to speed on the RSAP, and then contact us to get involved, and advocate for strong RSAP implementation in your community!
Knee Deep Times: "Bayfront Redevelopment on a Landfill Sparks Pollution and Flood Concerns"
"A contentious plan to redevelop an office park at the edge of Belmont Slough is spotlighting the challenges that closed landfills can create for planners and cities trying to protect their shores from rising waters. The property is one of approximately 50 such sites ringing the Bay. [...]
Gita Dev, of the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter, says her group is concerned that not enough is known about the condition of the landfill and the impact of development on the surrounding ecosystem, including the Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve.
“What might drilling hundreds of piles do in terms of releases of toxins into the Bay, into the wildlife refuge? We think they should not proceed until they have a better idea of the potential damage,” she says." Read the full article.
Seeking Bay Alive Campaign Remote Volunteer Librarian
The Remote Volunteer Librarian will be responsible for organizing and maintaining a searchable online database of resources, including articles, websites, videos, and photos, that focus on nature-based solutions to sea level rise and related environmental challenges. This database will be crucial in developing educational content, and making resources easily accessible for our advocacy efforts and development of comment letters. This librarian could take on searching for new materials as well, depending on their time constraints. This is a volunteer position, ideal for the right person with strong organizational abilities, attention to details, skills at helping other volunteers succeed, and a passion for environmental issues. Knowledge about assessing research is also a plus. Help support the many volunteers of the Bay Alive Team who are making a difference. Learn more.
Sea Level Rise Webinar Series
Learn how nature can help us fight sea level rise with cost-effective and sustainable solutions. Watch recordings of our webinar series with SF Bay experts and please share with your local elected officials.
Help Save the Planet Through Local Action
Help Inspire the Public about Local Environmental Issues; Training Provided.
Join other Loma Prieta Chapter volunteers at Foster City Summer Days, August 16th and 17th, to inform the public about environmental issues and local Sierra Club activities. Volunteering by tabling at a community event is an opportunity for environmental activists to talk and interact one-on-one with people to ask about their environmental concerns, to educate them about important local environmental issues, and to encourage them to learn and take action to combat climate change.
(Photo: tabling at Foster City Earth Day Celebration. Pictured, left to right: Inna Magner, Susan Lessin, and Eileen McLaughlin.)
Healthy, Responsible, Resilient, and Feasible: Sustainable Sports Fields
As climate change intensifies, marked by record-breaking heat domes, deadly floods, and destructive wildfires, it’s increasingly clear that local decisions are connected to global results. Reducing plastic use, for example in municipal infrastructure, is such a decision. Plastic turf, which is made from fossil fuels and contributes to pollution and climate change, is a prime candidate for leaving behind.
Its replacement? Sustainable, pesticide-free, drought-tolerant natural grass fields. McKegney Green in Tiburon, CA, offers a successful example.
A recent event we hosted highlighted practical methods for sustainable grass field installation and care, drawing officials from multiple Bay Area cities and counties.
Sign the Petition to Save San Bruno Mountain
A massive threat looms over one of our most cherished natural treasures. San Bruno Mountain is not just any mountain, it is a sanctuary for endangered butterflies, a haven for rare plants, and a refuge of unparalleled ecological significance. The proposed project threatens to unravel the delicate balance of this natural treasure, and we urge you to take action to protect it.
The City of Brisbane is considering a plan to build a massive 1.3 million-square-foot warehouse, 100 feet tall, right in the heart of San Bruno Mountain, at the historic Guadalupe Quarry. This industrial facility would bring hundreds of workers (1,500!) and an incredible amount of traffic through our city and into the heart of sensitive habitat. Sign the petition today.
COMMENT LETTERS
San Mateo County Southern Bayside Cities Shoreline Resilience Plan
"We strongly support the development of a multi-jurisdictional sub-regional shoreline adaptation plan that will include nature-based adaptation solutions, keeping Bay ecosystems healthy, and include meaningful engagement of local residents and community stakeholders, while considering the appropriate adaptation strategies for the varying shoreline. We understand that the project will update vulnerability assessments and develop a sub-regional adaptation plan that will align with the guidelines required by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s (BCDC) Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP)."
"The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the Draft Water Supply Master Plan (WSMP) 2050. We commend Valley Water staff and the Board of Directors for making many updates that improve upon the WSMP 2040. Still, we see many opportunities to provide additional contextual information. We also have some suggestions for future Monitoring and Assessment Program topics. Our comments are as follows."
The Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) passed the House and was reintroduced in the Senate. Sierra Club is opposed to the bill.
If passed, FOFA could open millions of acres of federal public forestland to virtually unchecked logging. Excessive logging can diminish our water supply, deplete biodiversity, and destroy habitat. When overdone, logging can expose forest floors and leave numerous slash piles, making forests more dry and flammable.
In our last eNewsletter, the treatment of Zone 0, the “zero combustible” (immediate) zone to achieve maximal defensible space around a home or structure, was discussed. To reduce wildfire risk, defensible space also requires a well-tended (intermediate) Zone 1, which encompasses the area 5 - 30 feet away from a home or structure, and an (extended) Zone 2, which stretches to an additional 70 feet for a total defensible perimeter of 100 feet around a home or structure. Do these zones also need to be devoid of living greenery, and must the aesthetics and beauty of plants and trees be sacrificed?
While having little to no vegetation is necessary for an ideal Zone 0 (and, in California, may soon become mandatory), this is not the case for Zones 1 and 2. It is, however, important to consider removing highly flammable vegetation, especially non-native species, in Zone 1. Learn more about Zones 1 and 2.
"Trish was an environmental champion of monumental proportions. She was instrumental in the success of a host of water-related local and regional projects that have had profound and long-lasting impact in the communities along our creeks and the bay. Though a passionate and outspoken advocate, Trish always remained calm and steady, never losing her patience. She was a model for us all trying to make our world a better place." - Jerry Hearn, long standing Sierra Club member and Loma Prieta Chapter supporter. Learn more about Trish Mulvey.
In the Community
Cleanup (August 3rd, 9th, and 12th), and Restoration (August 17th) from our friends at Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful.
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.
In History
Aug 2nd, 1924, James Baldwin's birthday Aug 9th, 1916, establishment of Lassen Volcano National Park, CA
“Tobacco industry executive memo, 1969: Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the minds of the public.” Reported in Jake Sigg's Nature News, June 23, 2025 Reference the PBS Frontline episodes 1 and 2.
2017.01.20: Chapter Director's first hike with Loma Prieta Day Hiking Section, 19.4 miles, 3,415 ft elevation gain, in Enid Pearson - Arastradero Open Space Preserve. This park inspired my search for any parks in our chapter that were named for other conservation activists, not just land owners; I found only one other, the Emily Renzel Marshlands. Enid and Emily became our 2019 Guardians of Nature Honorees. Join us this year to honor another local conservation leader, Garnetta Annable.
