Thursday, January 31, 2019

February 2019 Newsletter


Tuesday, February 5 at 7 pm The Greener Life - Learn to live more sustainably with CS Sherin, Ho-Chunk Three Rivers House, 8th & Main  Our event was postponed on January 29 due to extremely low temperatures. You’re invited to the rescheduled program!

Explore a holistic approach to sustainable living with Chandra (CS) Sherin, author of Recipe for a Green Life, who will address some of the most pressing issues that impact our environment, habitat, wildlife, resources, and collective health. Learn about the importance of a holistic approach to sustainable living, and the positive impact we can have through our daily habits, choices, and do-it-yourself recipes. Discuss the most effective sustainable living choices we can make at home and with our families.

CS Sherin, MA, has called the rare driftless region home for over 25 years - with great love for all of its bluffs, rivers, marshes, forests, trails, wildlife, and beautiful prairies. She has a decade of experience in kind, plant-based conscious eating, and exploring and creating sustainable living DIY recipes for home and family, CS is an artist, nature photographer, poet, editor, research enthusiast, and owner of Wild Clover, a multi-faced creative enterprise (WildClover.org)

Everyone is welcome to this event. You need not be a Sierra Club member to participate. We will also discuss plans for 2019 including the Ready for 100 program and other national, state, and local initiatives. Refreshments provided!

March - area hiking trails   On March 26, we’ll hear from local hikers and hiking advocates David Bange and Sue Knopf. They’ll talk about local hiking trails - maps, challenges, news - with a special emphasis on the trails of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy. More details will be in our March newsletter.

HELP! Volunteers needed!  We’ll table at some events this spring and need help! If you can help table at the La Crosse Earth Fair on Sunday, April 28 at Myrick Park OR at the May 17-18, Driftless Outdoors Show at Onalaska’s Omni Center, please email or call Pat (608 788-8831) It’s pretty easy - talking to people about the Sierra Club and handing out literature. Please help us spread the word!

PROGRESSTIVAL  The Coulee Region Sierra Club will table at this year’s PROGRESSTIVAL, February 2 from 1 to 5:30 at the Concordia Ballroom. Admission is by donation.

Our Climate Resolutions  Two dozen neighbors gathered at La Crosse’s South Community Library on Saturday, January 26 for a community conversation about Our Climate Resolutions. The La Crosse group joined hundreds of others across the country in envisioning a renewable energy future and identifying steps to get there. We were happy to see WKBT, Channel 8, cover the event. (Watch an interview with CR Sierra Club vice chair Kathy Allen.)

The group decided to focus on communication and education including, learning effective ways to talk about these important issues; supporting educators; ensuring people know about events, groups, actions, and resources;  communicating with elected leaders, neighbors, and the community; and networking with others to spread the word about the importance of working for a sustainable future.

You can read more about the event and its outcomes at the event page.

JOIN US Tuesday, February 5 at 6:15 p.m. (before our regular meeting) at Ho-Chunk Three Rivers House to brainstorm and share ideas about specific next steps toward Our Climate Resolution. Who should we be educating/communicating with and how? What existing resources can we use? What can we start doing right now? Anyone who is interested is welcome to attend so feel free to invite your friends and neighbors to come with you!

Finally, our Community Energy Survey is now up and ready! The goal is to gauge the opinions of La Crosse county residents about renewable energy and learn  what concerns people might have about transitioning to renewables. If you live in La Crosse County, please take it (and share the link with others.)

INVITE the CRSC Ready for 100 team to talk to your neighborhood, community or faith group, or at your workplace or school! 

CLIMATE ACTION FESTIVAL, MARCH 2, La Crosse 1st Congregational Church (Main & Losey)  1 -4 pm Learn how you can make a difference!




JMC Transportation Goals The John Muir Chapter Transportation Team has developed the following recommendations for the state budget currently being developed by Governor Evers.

•  No new highway expansion projects identified for funding
•  A $36 million increase in public transit spending per year
•  Increase local road spending by 35%
•  Increase funding for specialized transit (for disabled and elderly riders) by 10% in the first year with ongoing increases of at least 3.5% per year
•  Prevent removing transit funding from the transportation fund

These goals are based on the 2018 Wisconsin DOT report, Keep Wisconsin Moving and emphasize the need for improved pubic transit over roads to efficiently meet our future transportation needs.
The goals also use data and conclusions found in the 2018 Sierra Club report, Arrive Together: Transportation Access and Equity in Wisconsin.

The John Muir Chapter’s Moving Beyond Oil to Clean Transportation campaign includes analyses of environmental, community, personal, and social costs of our current fossil fuel based transportation system. Besides investing more in local “complete streets” roads and public transportation systems, the Sierra Club believes that, “expanding investments in transit, biking, walking and local roads is essential for protecting our environment, attracting businesses and young professionals, and for meeting mobility needs of low-income and disabled individuals and our state’s growing senior population.”

Western Wisconsin Water (Pat Wilson, chair)   Governor Evers has declared 2019 the Year of Clean Drinking Water.  That’s a critical goal for much of Wisconsin, and I hope he’s going to develop programs to start responding to the many issues. The Wisconsin DNR has already developed rules to start dealing with the nitrate and bacteria levels in northeastern Wisconsin where Kewaunee County has been the poster child for contaminated wells. There, cows outnumber people five to one and 28% of wells test positive for nitrates or fecal bacteria. Unfortunately, these new rules on manure spreading don’t take effect until 2020, and they only apply to that particular area of the state.

UW-Stevens Point recently released data that shows that the problems with nitrates and fecal bacteria in well water are just as much of a problem in southwestern Wisconsin counties with karst geology. Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette counties announced a two-year groundwater study which will start with a broad survey of wells for coliform and nitrates and then delve into well construction, geology, and source contamination for wells that are positive for coliform.  At this point, Grant county has approved funding and Iowa and Lafayette counties are nearing final approval. Assembly leader Robin Vos has called for a task force at the request of Representatives Travis Tranel and Todd Novak to dig deeper into the problem and suggest possible solutions.

The Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater & Geology Study (SWIGG), will assess how widespread well contamination is, identify sources of any contamination, and analyze risk factors. More info can be found online.  A public information meeting on the study was held Oct. 17 in Mineral Point.  At a Grant County Rural Stewardship meeting January 22 in Platteville, results of the SWIGG study were discussed.

In La Crosse county’s Brice Prairie and Town of Holland, 30% of tested wells showed excessive nitrates. The Coulee Region Sierra Club and the La Crosse County Board have requested that the DNR hold a Public Information Session before reissuing the Wisconsin Pollution Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit for the county’s only CAFO, Babcock Genetics. This will be a good test of whether 2019 will be the Year of Clean Drinking Water.

For those who want to learn more about groundwater issues, check this webinar series.produced by Wisconsin Land and Water.  

Wisconsin Conservation Voters is hosting a Conservation Lobby Day in Madison on Wednesday, March 27. A free bus will leave Eau Claire, stopping in Black River Falls, Tomah, and Wisconsin Dells, returning in the evening. Seating is limited. Sign up at  tinyurl.com/0327ConsLobbyBus

World-renowned nature photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen will be the featured speaker at this year’s Aldo Leopold Day observation, Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7 pm at the Viterbo Fine Arts Center. Related  activities in the community are planned for February 28 and March 2. For more information, see tinyurl.com/ALDay19-LaX                             

JMC River Touring Section   The River Touring Section (RTS) of the John Muir Chapter offers a variety of paddling outings throughout the year from whitewater to quiet rivers, lakes and streams. RTS also provides instructional clinics.  Most trips are free and all are welcome - canoeists, kayakers, and sea kayakers. The RTS annual trip list will be available early in February at their website.  

CR Sierra Club chair, Pat Wilson and his wife, Bobbie, are RTS trip leaders. We will announce RTS outing opportunities in our region as they are scheduled. All outings are listed at the RTS web page.

Sustainability Institute MPower Program: Vision and Action by Casey Meehan, PhD, Sustainability Coordinator, Western Technical College and Sustainability Institute 

If the precedent of unprecedented flooding in the Coulee region over the past decade hasn’t been enough to convince your neighbors that we are in a climate crisis, perhaps this number will:  408. 

Four hundred and eight is the number of consecutive months where the average monthly temperature has exceeded the 20th century monthly average. 

Said differently, no one under the age of 34 has ever experienced a month in which the average temperature was cooler than the 100 year global monthly average.

Let that soak in for a moment.

Environmental activist Bill McKibben writes about “Eaarth,” a new planet we have created due to our hubris and addiction to cheap fossil fuels. Eaarth, while still recognizable, has a climate that behaves in fundamentally different ways than the climate on which human civilization developed.

Why is this a big deal? Think about it in terms of a computer operating system. Operating systems work largely unnoticed in the background, yet on any given computer they dictate what we do and how we do it. Those who have ever switched between the Apple iOS and Windows Operating System know the disruption this can cause in workflow.

Climate is earth’s operating system. It works in the background (pending extreme weather events), yet dictates what humans do and how we do it. Indeed human civilization is built upon systems and cycles that assume particular climate givens:  a reasonably known amount of rain falling within a particular time of year, temperatures that rarely go above a certain point, snow pack lasting through dry months, extreme weather events remaining within general temporal and geographic bounds, to name a few. Everything from our economy to our infrastructure to our cultural norms is connected to assumptions about how climate operates.

And herein lies the problem: our society continues to operate as if we lived within the old climate, the one that no longer exists. 

In order to stave off the worst case-scenarios, we need immediate, systemic changes to stem greenhouse gas emissions. Simultaneously we need to help people reimagine how to live on this new planet in ways that optimize the well-being for all inhabitants, instead of maximize profits for a few.

The Sustainability Institute, a not-for-profit organization housed at Western Technical College in La Crosse, Wisconsin, is taking steps toward those ends.

Borrowing from a program originating at SustainDane in Madison, Wisconsin, the Sustainability Institute runs the MPower Business Champion program. MPower is a year-long, cohort-based program that connects businesses & organizations who want to learn about, implement, build upon or showcase sustainability. Participating organizations attend ten monthly sessions around our community, network with other local organizations, and engage in eco-challenges while spearheading their own sustainability related projects.

In the four years the Sustainability Institute has offered the MPower program, we have delivered 84 hours of sustainability education over 42 separate sessions, we have worked with 16 different businesses and organizations in the Coulee Region representing about 7,000 employees, and we have inspired 77 sustainability-related projects.

It’s hard to quantify the totality of the environmental and social impacts of MPower due to the wide range of sustainability projects participating organizations take on. However, we do know that participating organizations have collectively conserved over 49 million gallons of water, re-used or diverted well over 10,000 tons from various waste streams, kept 796 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and returned $260,000 back into local communities. 

We realize that our collective action still doesn’t make a dent in what the world needs to do, but if the history of social movements is any indicator, society can transform quickly once a critical mass normalizes a behavior.

And how do we normalize a behavior?  Show people compelling examples of others engaging in the desired actions. In this case, the more businesses we can encourage to take even small actions that promote sustainability and resilience and the more people we can get talking about the climate crisis and how to respond, the sooner we hit the tipping point that pushes society towards a new narrative—one that offers a better chance for all to thrive despite the challenges we face.

Do you belong to a business or organization who values more than just the bottom line?  There is still time to register for this year’s MPower cohort. For more details, check us out online at SustainInstitute.com/mpower

Climate and Energy Dialogue to Continue

We have two announcements related to our recent climate and energy discussion. First, as part of our Ready for 100 campaign, we've created a community energy survey to better understand our community's feelings/thoughts on transitioning to renewable energy. At this point we are limiting it just to La Crosse County, since that is where we are working on Ready for 100% resolutions (city and county level). We will be sharing the results with any city and county decision makers that are interested. Click here to take the survey, and feel free to share it with others! If you know of other communities in the Coulee Region that would like to start a Ready for 100 campaign, let us know and we can help get them started!

Second, we will be hosting an informal brainstorming session next Tuesday, Feb. 5 from 6:15-6:45 pm (before the Sierra Club program) at the Three Rivers House (724 Main St.) to follow-up on our Climate Resolutions discussion. The goal will be to come up with ideas for accomplishing the priority next step of communication/education that we identified: Who should we be educating/communicating with and how? What existing resources can we use? What can we start doing now that will make a difference? Anyone who is interested in talking about climate and renewable energy is welcome to attend, whether or not you were at the original community discussion. If you have any questions, or if you can't attend but have ideas you'd like to share, please feel free to contact us (crsierraclub@gmail.com)!

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Ready for 100 Wednesday

A couple months ago, we started a new feature on our group Facebook page called "Ready for 100 Wednesday". Each week, we share a story, tip, or other information about transitioning to 100% clean, renewable energy. We're also going to start sharing these posts here on our blog!

This week, we're sharing 5 great TED talks on renewable energy and recent innovations - something interesting to do on a day when it's too cold to go outside! And if you haven't yet, you really should check out the Sierra Club's national Ready for 100 campaign homepage!


Monday, January 28, 2019

Green Life program rescheduled

The program on Living the Green Life with CS Sherin originally scheduled for January 29 has been rescheduled to 7 pm, Tuesday, February 5 at the Ho-Chunk Three Rivers House, 724 Main Street. See the January newsletter for details about the event.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Tuesday, Jan 29 meeting POSTPONED!

[Update: Because of the forecast for extreme cold on Tuesday evening, our meeting is POSTPONED. We hope to reschedule to Feb. 5 but need to confirm availability. Please WATCH THIS SPACE for updates!]

We hope you can join us [rescheduled date TBA] for our meeting featuring guest speaker, CS Sherin, author of Recipe for a Green Life. We'll also have news about recent events and upcoming opportunities. You don't need to be a Sierra Club member to attend!

Saturday, January 26, 2019

The house is on fire



"Adults keep saying, 'We owe it to the young people to give them hope.' But I don't want your hope. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house was on fire. Because it is."

Thank you Climate Conversationalists!

We had a great group at today's Community Conversations about Our Climate Resolutions! 

We now have a dedicated page to this event and post-event news. It will be completely updated by Monday. If you attended or couldn't make it, you can find out what we're doing next, what resources we already have, and where there are opportunities for new initiatives.

In the meantime, we hope to see everyone at Tuesday's Sierra Club meeting (7 p.m. at the Ho-Chunk Three Rivers House, 724 Main Street, La Crosse. CS Sherin will talk about Living the Green Life.




Thursday, January 24, 2019

DNR requests our help

Read entire release at link: https://dnr.wi.gov/news/releases/article/?id=4687


DNR seeks comments and data to assess surface water quality

By Central Office January 22, 2019
Contact(s): Ashley Beranek, DNR water resources management specialist, 608-267-9603, Ashley.Beranek@Wisconsin.gov

MADISON - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is seeking public assistance to improve evaluation of the state's surface water quality. Assistance is requested in two forms: guidance comments and water quality data. The submission period for both runs from January 22 to March 1, 2019.
Guidance Comments
The Wisconsin Consolidated Assessment and Listing Methodology, known as WisCALM, provides guidance to assess surface water quality and trends against standards set by the Clean Water Act. The methodology is updated for each biennial surface water assessment cycle and the current guidance is being updated for the 2020 cycle.
This year's updates include:
  • An updated definition of the Impaired Waters List and creation of the Restoration Waters List and Healthy Waters List;
  • Chlorophyll-a lake listing benchmark and terminology change; and
  • Addition of a Quick Link section with links including Wisconsin administrative code, federal guidance documents, and monitoring strategies and protocols among others.
"Wisconsin's surface water quality is good and improving in many areas, but by updating the technical guidance and maintaining the impaired waters list, the state works to address changes through targeted improvement plans," said Ashley Beranek, DNR water resources management specialist.

A copy of the draft guidance can be downloaded by clicking on the following link: Draft 2020 WisCALM. For more about these changes, visit dnr.wi.gov and refer to the Water condition assessments & reporting page. Public comments on the latest WisCALM guidance can be submitted to: dnrimpairedwaters@wisconsin.gov or via mail to Ashley Beranek, DNR, Bureau of Water Quality, 101 S. Webster St. WQ/3 Madison, WI 53707.

Read more at link: https://dnr.wi.gov/news/releases/article/?id=4687

Monday, January 14, 2019

Proposed wetlands mitigation bank - Monroe County

We received info about this project and public input from Frac Sand Sentinel. As wetlands are destroyed for industrial development, other areas must be made available so replacement wetlands can be constructed. Many studies conclude they rarely work. "Once you degrade a wetland, it doesn’t recover its normal assemblage of plants or its rich stores of organic soil carbon, which both affect natural cycles of water and nutrients, for many years. Even after 100 years, the restored wetland is still different from what was there before, and it may never recover.”

The Army Corps of Engineers page highlighted below has several proposed mitigation banks around the state. Public comments are accepted. See links.

2018-03694-EMN (Monroe County, WI) Devil’s Hole Wetland Mitigation Bank 1/8/2019: PUBLIC NOTICE: The bank sponsor is proposing to develop the Devil’s Hole Wetland Mitigation Bank. The proposed bank site is approximately 188 acres in size, including any potential upland buffer areas.   Expiration date: 2/7/2019

Please be advised a public notice regarding a Wetland Compensatory Mitigation Bank Proposal in an area of interest to you has been posted to our website from the Department of the Army (Corps of Engineers).

CORPS FILE NUMBER: 2018-03694-EMN
SPONSOR: Jeff Menn
PROJECT LOCATION: Monroe County, Wisconsin
PN EXPIRATION DATE: February 7, 2019

The direct link to this mitigation bank public notice is:


If you are unable to open the direct link, you can view the public notice on the Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District's Regulatory web page:

Friday, January 11, 2019

Community Conversations - Our Climate Resolutions


Here's a link to the FB event page: https://facebook.com/events/981225988733244/

More about the current state of our climate from the recently concluded COP24 in Poland:

“In my opening statement to this conference one week ago…I warned that climate change is running faster than we are and that Katowice must — in no uncertain terms — be a success, as a necessary platform to reverse this trend,” said Secretary-General Guterres.
"Since 2 December, the conference has brought together thousands of climate action decision-makers, advocates and activists, with one key objective: adopting global guidelines for the 197 parties of the 2015 Paris Agreement, when countries committed to limiting global warming to less than 2°C – and as close as possible to 1.5° – above pre-industrial levels.
"To waste this opportunity in Katowice would compromise our last best chance to stop runaway climate change. It would not only be immoral, it would be suicidal" - UN chief Guterres
The World Was Just Issued 12-Year Ultimatum On Climate Change (Smithsonian Magazine). "Today, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report on the forthcoming impacts of climate change. The consensus? It’s not looking good. As Jonathan Watts of The Guardian reports, unless the world makes some drastic and immediate changes to combat the damage already done, hundreds of millions of people may be irreversibly imperiled by drought, flooding, extreme heat and increased poverty in the decades to come."

Ocean warming is accelerating faster than thought (New York Times) "A new analysis, published Thursday in the journal Science, found that the oceans are heating up 40 percent faster on average than a United Nations panel estimated five years ago. The researchers also concluded that ocean temperatures have broken records for several straight years."

Urgency of change highlighted in new report, Drilling Toward Disaster: "This report should be a wake-up call for elected officials who consider themselves to be climate leaders. 'We need a complete overhaul of our economy with a Green New Deal, and that overhaul must include standing up to the fossil fuel industry in order to take us off this path of devastation for our climate and communities. Anything less than a full, swift, and just managed decline of fossil fuel production is too little, too late.'"


Tuesday, January 1, 2019

January newsletter


TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 7 pm, Ho-Chunk Three Rivers House (8th & Main) - The Greener Life- Learn to live more sustainably. Explore a holistic approach to sustainable living with Chandra (CS) Sherin, author of Recipe for a Green Life, who will address some of the most pressing issues that impact our environment, habitat, wildlife, resources, and collective health. Learn about the
importance of a holistic approach to sustainable living, and the positive impact we can have through our daily habits, choices, and do-it yourself recipes. Discuss the most effective sustainable living choices we can make at home and with our families.

CS Sherin, MA, has called the rare driftless region home for over 25 years - with great love for all of its bluffs, rivers, marshes, forests, trails, wildlife, and beautiful prairies. She has a decade of experience in kind, plant-based conscious eating, and exploring and creating sustainable living DIY recipes for home and family, CS is an artist, nature photographer, poet, editor, research enthusiast, and owner of Wild Clover, a multi-faced creative enterprise (WildClover.org)

Everyone is welcome to this event. You need not be a Sierra Club member to participate. We will also discuss plans for 2019 including the Ready for 100 program and other national, state, and local initiatives. Refreshments provided!

JANUARY 26 - CLIMATE RESOLUTIONS  The Coulee Region Sierra Club will host a COMMUNITY CLIMATE RESOLUTION DISCUSSION on Saturday, January 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at La Crosse’s South Library (1307 16th St. S.) This will be one of hundreds of similar events being held around the country between January 21 and 27.

Local action is having major impacts. Our goal will be to collectively envision the climate future we want and discuss ways to continue the work to make change happen. We’ll explore the challenges our community faces in getting to a 100% clean energy future and how clean and affordable energy can create a more equitable and liveable community.

More information about this event will be posted at cr-sierra.blogspot.com after January 10. If you would like to host a similar event in your community, please check out tinyurl.com/SCClimateRes.

SURVEY UPDATE (AND INVITATION)   he first results of our member survey are coming in - thanks to those who have responded! So far, wilderness preservation is the top environmental issue, followed by wildlife protection, climate change, air quality, and water quality. The most popular volunteer opportunity is helping with a work day at a natural area, with attending a march or rally in second place.

We’re still looking for more responses and will keep the survey open at least through the end of January! Find it at tinyurl.com/crscmbrsurvey.

REMINDER: ENVIRO-EDU GRANTS!   The Coulee Region Sierra Club is offering grants of up to $200 for environmental education projects involving young people at the elementary and middle school level.

The application and more details are available at tinyurl.com/crscedugrantapp OR email crsierraclub@gmail and we can mail you an application. The application deadline is JANUARY 5, 2019. Please spread the word about this opportunity available to those in Crawford, Grant, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau and Vernon counties.

BOARD ELECTIONS   Thank you to everyone who voted and to those who volunteered to serve on the board in 2019! Thank you and congratulations to new board members Nancy Hartje and Jake Schnepper. Look for more info about them and their specific interests in next month’s newsletter. Nancy and Jake will join current board members Kathy Allen, Maureen Kinney, George Nygaard, Avery Van Gaard, Cathy Van Maren, and Pat Wilson.

2019 SIERRA CLUB CALENDARS   We still have a few calendars! The calendars cost $14.95 for the wall calendar and $15.95 for the engagement
book. Please order from Maureen Kinney: 608 784-9324/784-5678 or email maureen@
johnsflaherty.com. SIERRA CLUB NOTE AND HOLIDAY CARDS are available at store.sierraclub.org/calendars--cards-c28.aspx

SOLAR GROUP BUY CONTINUES   SunVest and the John Muir Chapter Sierra Club will continue their partnership into the new year! Offering reduced group buy rates for solar panels and installations of systems, SunVest will also provide on site assessment, detailed financial information including costs and payback, and installation. The John Muir Chapter will receive a donation for every system installed through this program. For more information on the group buy, check out www.sunvest.com/programs/sierraclub/

UWL ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES STUDENTS HELP LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS   Service learning projects are a highlight of the UW-La Crosse Environmental Studies capstone course during spring and fall semesters. Students work about two hours per week throughout the semester on environmentally related projects for local organizations and businesses. Recent partners include Citizens’ Climate Lobby, WisCorps, Hillview Urban Agriculture Center, La Crosse Public Schools, Gundersen Health System, Keps Naturals, Coulee Region Ecoscapes, Citizens Acting for Rail Safety, Trout Unlimited, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and GROW La Crosse.

Students initiate and complete a work experience that allows them to refine their environmental interests and professionalism. They gain networking opportunities while helping to advance local initiatives they care about. Projects range from research to assisting professionals to organizing events.

Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary minor at UWL, incorporating courses from a variety of departments on campus The minor is based in the College of Liberal Studies though students in the minor come from all
different majors in all three colleges. All ENV courses are taught in a way that helps students make connections with each other, among ideas, and within the community. The capstone course enrolls 15 students per semester.

New partnerships are welcome with organizations,
businesses, or individuals working on environmental issues. The mentors meet with students at least monthly, in combination with more frequent phone or email communications.
If you have a new project idea for capstone students, please contact Alysa Remsburg at aremsburg@uwlax.edu. Students will select projects for spring semester by the first week of February. All are welcome to hear students present what they learned from the partnerships during the last week of classes (May 7 and 9, 2:15 to 3:40 p.m.)

JANUARY 8 MPOWER SHOWCASE   On Tuesday, January 8, the Sustainability Institute will host its annual MPower Sustainability Showcase from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Lunda Center on the Western Technical College campus in La Crosse. The MPower Business Champions program engages, empowers, and networks businesses working toward sustainability in our area. For more
information and to register for this event (free), visit tinyurl.com/19-MPowerShowcase

2018 YEAR IN REVIEW (by Pat Wilson, CRSC board president)   Looking back, looking forward. The Coulee Region Sierra Club was active during 2018 both in hosting events and actions and in providing opportunities for members and friends to experience the outdoors. The November elections and the Ready for 100 campaign received the most effort in 2018. In 2019, we’ll continue the Ready for 100 efforts and will continue to seek ways to include more members in events held around the region.

Elections
• September-October - We participated in the Sierra Club’s effort to get environmental voters excited about this election and to turn out and vote.
• September-October - The Sierra Club put special effort into the candidacy of Kriss Marion of WI Senate District 17. SD 17 overlaps between the Coulee Region Group and the Four Lakes Group. Kriss was a strong candidate and environmental advocate. The Sierra Club did mailings and phone calls on her behalf.
• October - The John Muir Chapter released the 2017-2018 Wisconsin Legislative Scorecard and the Coulee Region Group called attention to the three Coulee Region Group legislators with 100% scores - Sen. Shilling and Reps. Billings and Doyle – and called out the five Coulee Region Group legislators with 0% scores.
• October - The Sierra Club made endorsements for the November elections, and we publicized the candidates in the Coulee Region who received endorsement for their support for the environment.
• November – We celebrated the election of our endorsed candidates in Wisconsin’s statewide races. Unfortunately, Kriss Marion did not win the election, but this is good experience for future elections.

Ready for 100
• The Ready for 100 campaign is the Sierra Club’s effort to gain commitments from local units of government to move as quickly as possibly to 100% renewable energy sources.
• March – the Coulee Region Group participated in the Climate Action Festival, where board member Kathy Allen gave a program on the Ready for 100 campaign.
• March – the Coulee Region Group was a co-sponsor of the Local Energy Future event in Dodgeville.
• May – Coulee Region Group board members met with La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat and city planners. Mayor Kabat is the one Coulee Region mayor who signed the Ready for 100 pledge. We met with him to offer our assistance and ideas for reaching that goal.
• September – The Sierra Club sponsored the Rise for Climate Rally in La Crosse’s Riverside Park, where Coulee Region Group board member Kathy Allen spoke.
• September – The Coulee Region Group membership meeting program was on sustainability indicators for the City and County of La Crosse. This meeting was on the UWL campus, co-sponsored by the UWL Environmental Studies program.
• October – The Coulee Region Group sponsored a meeting on the John Muir Chapter’s SunVest Solar Group Buy program, encouraging Sierra Club members around the state to install photovoltaic power generation on their home or business.
• October - At its October 2018 meeting, the Sustainable La Crosse Commission voted to recommend partner municipalities pursue Ready for 100 resolutions. This official first step will allow staff and elected officials to work on legislation and encourage public discussion. Coulee Region Group board member Cathy Van Maren is on the commission where she advocates for this goal.

Environmental Education
• January - We continued our environmental grant program, providing two grants, to St. Rose Catholic School in Cuba City for a butterfly breeding project and Sparta Public Schools for a school forest project.
• March – The Coulee Region Group hosted a program on mining issues in Alaska by UW-L Prof. Margot Higgins
• May - The Coulee Region Group sponsored a La Crosse County Land Fill tour.
• August – We sponsored a tour of Chrysalis organic farm on the West Fork of the Kickapoo River.
• The Coulee Region Group supported and had a booth at the Progresstival in January, the Coulee Region Climate Alliance Climate Action Fair in March, the La Crosse Earth Fair in April, and the Open Streets event in September.

Transportation
• February – we had a Sierra Club Clean Cars Campaign media event at La Crosse City Hall with Coulee Region Group board member Avery Van Gaard speaking.
• September – The Coulee Region Group had a booth at the Open Streets Initiative in La Crosse, advocating for better pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit infrastructure.
• October - The Coulee Region Group sponsored a media event at Grand River Station Transit Center in La Crosse to publicize the release of the report Arrive Together, Transportation Equity and Access in Wisconsin which advocates for effective and efficient public transportation systems in Wisconsin. Coulee Region Group board member Cathy Van Maren contributed to the report. (Read it at tinyurl.com/jmctransitrept)
• April, July, October – The Coulee Region Group did highway cleanup on our adopted highway, River Valley Drive in La Crosse.

Water Quality
• January – The Coulee Region Group co-sponsored and had a booth at the well-attended Industrial Ag in the Driftless conference in Boscobel. The conference highlighted the water and environmental issues caused by industrial agriculture operations.
• October – Following our October 2017 water quality forum at the Town of Holland, La Crosse County formed a Water Quality Team. That team released their results in October 2018, which included further study, better education of residents about the need for proper water filtration systems, better zoning and enforcement,
 possible repurposing of currently farmed land, and pursuing local and state legislation to further protect groundwater.
• October – Coulee Region Group members Pat Wilson and David Boen participated in the Kickapoo River cleanup following the record flooding on the Kickapoo River.
• October – Coulee Region Group board member Pat Wilson attended a League of Women Voters program on Upper Mississippi River water issues.
Green Spaces, Natural Areas
• July, September - The Coulee Region Group co-sponsored a canoe outing on the Black River in July and on the Kickapoo River in September.
• The Coulee Region Group is represented by Pat Wilson on the La Crosse Park Department Environmental Leadership Forum.

Coming in 2019
Local and global environmental challenges will continue into 2019, though recent election victories give some hope for a little relief on state legislative issues. We will continue to work on Ready for 100, transportation improvements,
groundwater protection, environmental education, and getting people outdoors. Please let us know if you want to work on the Ready for 100 Team, the Water Team, transportation, or other Sierra Club issues or if you have ideas for programs, events, or group activities!