Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter News & Newsletters

Riogrande Sierran Newsletters

Click here for the July/August 2009 Riogrande Sierran issue (pdf 1.9MB).

Senate Passes Historic Protection for Wilderness, Rivers, Parks

Washington, D.C.- The Senate voted today to safeguard millions of acres of new wilderness, protect hundreds of miles of rivers, expand Everglades National Park, and protect critical habitat in Wyoming from oil and gas leasing.

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 passed 73-21. The bill protects more than two million acres of wilderness in eight states, including the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, Oregon’s Mt. Hood, and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

"This is the biggest wilderness protection bill in decades," said Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope. "Through their leadership on this bill, Senator Reid and Senator Bingaman have helped ensure that we will have a wild legacy to pass on to our children and grandchildren. Now future generations will be able to hike in pristine forests from California to West Virginia. They'll be able to fish America's untouched rivers, watch antelope migrate through Wyoming, and enjoy the majesty of treasures like Everglades National Park."

In addition to protecting new wilderness, the lands package codifies the 26-million-acre National Landscape Conservation System, protects hundreds of miles of free-flowing rivers in six states, and designates numerous new National Scenic Trails, Natural Historic Sites, and, National Heritage Areas across the United States. It also protects over a million acres of key hunting and fishing grounds on the Wyoming Rangefrom oil and gas drilling.

"Wilderness, rivers, trails and parks support important tourist economies across the country," said Pope. "This legislation will protect the tourist dollars and jobs that outdoor recreation generates by keeping our last, best places safe from unchecked industrial development."

Overview of the Omnibus Lands Package:

The bill codifies and adds permanence to the National Landscape Conservation System, which includes all of the Clinton/Babbitt-era national monuments, wilderness study areas, and other protective designations, encompassing more than 26 million acres.
The bill will protect more than 1 million acres of the Wyoming Range from oil and gas development.
The bill also includes the Forest Landscape Restoration Act and the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act.

The package includes five important ocean protections:

NOAA Undersea Research Program Act
The Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act
The Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act
The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act
The Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program.

Wilderness Protection includes:

Wild Monongahela Wilderness - WV
Virginia Ridge and Valley Wilderness - VA
Mt. Hood Wilderness - OR
Copper Salmon Wilderness - OR
Cascade Siskiyou National Monument (Includes Soda Mt. Wilderness) - OR
Owyhee Public Land Management - ID
Sabinoso Wilderness - NM
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Wilderness - MI
Oregon Badlands Wilderness - OR
Spring Basin Wilderness - OR
Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wilderness - CA
Riverside County Wilderness - CA
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness - CA
Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness - CO
Washington County - UT

Contact: Kristina Johnson 541-914-9744

A Message from Carl Pope

By Carl Pope, Executive Director of Sierra Club

From Rio Grande Sierran, January/February 2009

In 2008, Americans chose change. “New Energy for America” trumped “Drill, Baby, drill,” marking a major change across the country.

Now that the celebrations are done, we must roll up our sleeves and get to work. Barack Obama’s top priority is investment in clean energy and energy efficiency in order to jumpstart our economy, create green jobs and make us more secure – and the Sierra Club’s Climate Recovery Agenda closely follows that priority. Energy is now a national priority, and it’s clear that the steps we need to take to help our economy recovery will also help our climate recover.

The Sierra Club’s Climate Recovery Agenda:

Fixing our economy, transforming our energy future, slowing and ultimately reversing climate change and its consequences will require a clear agenda and aggressive timetable that will allow us to repower, refuel and rebuild America.

The Sierra Club’s Climate Recovery Agenda will help our economy recover, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050, and protect our natural heritage, communities and country from the consequences of global warming.

Putting our planet on the path to economic and climate recovery will require Congress, working with the Obama Administration, to:

1. Invest $150 - 500 billion in clean energy to create millions of new, high quality jobs.

2. Reduce our dependence on oil by increasing vehicle fuel efficiency, increasing the use of alternative fuels, and deploying innovative transportation technology like plug in hybrids.

3. Move America to 100% renewable energy for electricity and dramatically increase the efficiency of our buildings and homes.

4. Tackle global climate change by establishing an economy-wide cap on carbon emissions. Ensure that carbon permits are auctioned.

5. Take action that acknowledges the consequences global warming is already having and the need to protect vulnerable communities, wildlife and their habitat from drought, intense flooding, wildfires and the other changes we are already experiencing.

Congress’ first step working with Obama Administration should be serious investments in high performance technologies and energy productivity improvements that will create millions of immediate jobs. Public and private building energy upgrades, mass transportation improvements and grid modernization should also be part of any economic recovery package.

America can lead by example. By taking actions at home, we can provide leadership on the international stage to both work with and be competitive with other nations. This agenda will be hard work, but the good news is that these are proven ways to face our economic and environmental challenges – and the solutions help everyone.

—Carl Pope is Executive Director of the Sierra Club.

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We Did It! And Now the Real Work Begins

by Ellen Cavalli

From Rio Grande Sierran, January/February 2009

More than a month after the elections, it’s still sinking in that come January 20, we will have a dramatic shift in Washington, DC. With President Obama at the helm, the United States will be headed in the right direction for a clean energy future – much to the elation of millions of Americans and billions of people around the world.

New Mexico is also undergoing a sea change, with Tom Udall – one of the state’s and the nation’s foremost environmental champions – replacing Pete Domenici as U.S. Senator. And our new congressional delegation is a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively, as they promise to fight for clean air and water, sustainable growth, and renewable energy for New Mexico and the country.

Locally, we saw several upsets in crucial NM legislative seats, and the Roundhouse will be infused with new energy and more pro-environment allies this upcoming 60-day session.

While the candidates uniformly ran excellent campaigns, it can’t be overstated how much of these successes is due to volunteers like you. Sierra Club members from all walks of life were instrumental in helping to elect strong leaders to guide our state and country into the 21st century. Many of you took time off from work and your busy family schedules to canvass, phone-bank, and rally for change. Along the way, we made new friends and built new community bonds. It was amazing to watch millions of people around the country and the world spontaneously break into tears, song, and dance when Obama was announced the winner. The amount of public participation and passion was unprecedented, and it was exciting to be a part of this shared mission. Thank you!

We face difficult times ahead. But we know we have the power to make good things happen. Let’s celebrate our victories, but not yield to complacency.

There still is much to be done, but as we have shown over the past year, but as we have shown over the past year, when we work together, we can change the world.

—Ellen Cavalli, Editor of the Rio Grande Sierran

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Donate and receive a Richard Sloan Bird Print

To raise funds for our conservation and climate change initiatives, you can receive a limited edition print of one of seven different raptors, painted by Richard Sloan, by donating $140. You can decorate your wall, make an investment, and help the cause. Details.

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