Eastern Missouri Group E-Newsletter
May 2012
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May 24, 2012, Sierra Club General Meeting
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Litzsinger School, 10094 Litzsinger Road, third traffic light south of I-64 (map)
The program will be presented by one of the most accomplished canoeists and guides in America. Mike Clark, Proprietor of Big Muddy Adventures, is a youth leader and a champion of America's Rivers.
June 28, 2012, Sierra Club Annual Potluck Picnic
6 p.m. to 8 p.m., South Shelter, Shaw Park, City of Clayton
Enjoy good food and fascinating conversation at our annual June picnic. In addition
we will recognize some of the many volunteers that are the life-blood of the Eastern Missouri Group.
EMG Political Committee to meet May 30
The EMG Political Committee has sent questionnaires to candidates in Eastern Missouri. The committee will meet again on Wednesday, May 30, at 7 p.m. to discuss the responses from the various candidates and to recommend Club endorsements. Candidate interviews will follow in June. New committee members are always welcome! For further information, contact Richard Egan.
Trivia Night Fundraiser: Save the Date!
The Eastern Missouri Group is hosting a trivia night and silent auction on Saturday, October 27, at The Heights community center in Richmond Heights. Information on registration will appear in a future E-Newsletter.
We are also looking for businesses to sponsor the event and/or provide donations in exchange for advertising opportunities. If you know of a business that would be interested, please email Sarah Merida, or call 660-988-1412
Green Time TV -- Preserving Natural Missouri
Missouri's natural areas can be found in its rivers, streams, and hiking trails. They are also in urban back yards, rural prairies, and urban prairies.
Green Time now airs on KNLC stations in four Missouri areas. In the St. Louis area it appears at noon on Saturdays on Channel 24-1 and at 8 pm on Mondays on Channel 24-2 on these dates:
Saturday, June 2 & Monday, June 4: "The Sustainable Backyard Tour"
Saturday, June 9 & Monday, June 11: "Native Grassland Conservation"
Saturday, June 16 & Monday, June 18: "Ozark National Scenic Riverways"
Saturday, June 23 & Monday, June 25: "Threats to the Ozark Riverways"
Saturday, June 30 & Monday, July 2: "Cosmetics: The True Story."
Green Time guests include John Hickey, Greg Iffrig, Kally Coleman, Jacquelyne Aubuchon, Terry Winkelman, Jay Fish, Jon Wingo, Mare E. Florentino and Christen Gates. For more information email Don Fitz or call 314-727-8554.
Ozark Trail Sightings
Left: Mill Mountain Shut-Ins |
A profusion of prairie dock was growing on fens along the Ozark Trail in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways near Rocky Falls on May 13, 2012. Prescribed burning was used this spring with the hopes of restoring the native plants in the Mill Mountain Natural Area. These plant communities are fire-dependent! In fact, cutting invasive cedars and doing prescribed burning may produce rare fen plants that have not yet been recorded.
Dan Drees, Fire Ecologist, NPS Ozark Highlands Group, says "In mid-September there should be hundreds of blooming Riddell's goldenrod mixed in among the prairie dock [at Mill Mountain Natural Area], if we ever get some rain."
The wild lands of Alaska once again need you to take action
Comments on the management plan is due June 1, 2012.
The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve) is the largest single unit of public lands in the nation. The name does not reflect the beauty and wildlife in this vast area in the northwest corner of Alaska. Encompassing 23.5 million acres, the Reserve harbors rich and vital wildlands and wildlife, important in their own right and to the Inupiat people of Alaska's North Slope for their subsistence culture.
For the first time ever, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is considering a new management plan for the Reserve that protects key habitat areas from oil and gas development. The plan developed through this process will replace existing plans with a single plan that covers all lands within the Reserve. The goal of this management plan is to help the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) identify actions that are needed to reduce impacts to the area's biological resources from oil and gas and other development activities that may occur in the future.
Alternative B is the best option to provide the most responsible and balanced management plan for the Reserve – to allow for future oil and gas development while also safeguarding key habitat areas that are vital to healthy wildlife populations in America's Arctic.
Please submit your comment electronically now.
Or mail your comment to:
NPR-A IAP/EIS Comments
AECOM Project Office
1835 South Bragaw Street, Suite 490
Anchorage, AK 99501
Or FAX to (866) 611-9420 or (907) 268-4224.
Current River Clean-up on Saturday, June 16!
Sierra Club member Mary Ficker is leading a clean-up on the Current River on Saturday June 16. Registration is at Cedar Grove, Akers, or Pulltite between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Pick up mesh bags at these points. For information email Jack or Mary Ficker or call them at 573-729-7065.
Eastern Missouri Group Outings Schedule
Sierra Club members and non-members are welcome to join Club members on our outings.
Visit the Eastern Missouri Group website for more information about outings, activities, and issues.
Please consider making a donation to the Eastern Missouri Group today!