Thursday, October 1, 2026

October newsletter

 

OCTOBER 16 at 5:30 p.m. CRSC Action Gathering - Elections     Join us at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, October 16, for pizza, education, and action. This month, we’ll be back at the UU Fellowship on West Avenue. This month we'll be talking about the upcoming election - how can we help strong pro-environment candidates get elected, and what should we encouraging our officials to act on once they're elected! Please email CRSIerraClub@gmail.com or call or text 608-315-2693 with questions about this event. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

VOTING HAS STARTED!     Request an absentee ballot from your municipal clerk now and return it to an official drop box or your clerk’s office. Absentee in person voting is October 20 through October 30. Get more information about voting at myvote.wi.gov. Voters will see three proposed amendments to our state constitution on their ballots. Please research these referendums before voting.  See the Wisconsin Chapter’s Election Center here: https://tinyurl.com/wisc-26electioncenter. 

OCT. 1 - ORA TRAIL FARM TOUR     We hope to see you at 5:30 at the new ORA Trail Farm, W5723 HWY 33, for a talk, hike, and camp fire! Josh Hein, Trail Farm Project Manager, will be our guide! RSVP (optional) by calling 608-315-2693 or here:  https://tinyurl.com/crsc2ora-rsvp and consider carpooling (use this link: https://tinyurl.com/crsc2ora). 

OCT. 14 - HIGHWAY CLEAN-UP     Our fall clean-up of River Valley Drive will be Wednesday, October 14 at 5:30 p.m. Meet at the Gillette Street pumping station to get bags and vests. If you have questions, please call Pat at 608-788-8831. 

VERNON ACTION!  You're invited to talk about data centers with the Coulee Region Group on Friday, October 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the Vernon County Historial Society, 410 S. Center Avenue, Viroqua. Pizza will be provided!

WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING - OCT. 1-8!     How do you get around? What if you couldn’t drive? How do limited transportation options affect individuals’ access to full lives? How do car-centric policies affect greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, family finances, health, and safety? Learn more at https://tinyurl.com/wwdlacrosse.

OCT. 21 - TOUR HARTERS RECYCLING     At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21 join CRSC members and friends for a tour of Harter’s Quick Clean Up Material Recovery System Recycling Center, 2850 Larson Street, La Crosse. We’ll tour the recycling facility and mattress recovery center. Optional happy hour after! Consider carpooling - use https://tinyurl.com/crsc2harters. If you drive, use the lot at 2800 Larson Street or along the long brick wall at 2850 Larson Street or the gravel lot behind 2831 Larson Street. Please RSVP so we can contact you if there are changes: https://tinyurl.com/rsvp-crsc2harters or call 608-315-2693. Consider bringing ear plugs.

OCT. 6 - FILM: VS. GOLIATH - PORT ARTHUR     Join us at 7:00 p.m. on October 6 for a virtual screening of VS GOLIATH: Port Arthur. What happens when ordinary people take on billion-dollar industries? Port Arthur, Texas is the biggest oil and petrochemical hub you’ve probably never heard of. John Beard Jr. worked in an oil refinery there for decades, as did his father before him, in the refinery town of Port Arthur, Texas. After retiring, John watches Port Arthur get hollowed out economically, while his neighbors die from pollution-related illness, as more dirty plants appear and expand. Experiencing the climate-driven devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey, John is called to fight back. He becomes a leading opponent of fossil fuels in his community, as he takes on the latest extractive frontier threatening Port Arthur and the world: liquid natural gas export terminals. Following the film, join Bill McKibben, and others for a live Q&A. Screening link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUVGcqyVHtA

WOLF AWARENESS WEEK - OCT. 18-24     Our theme this year is “Wolf families,” using a different lens each day to examine Wisconsin wolf families - how wolf families survive together and the challenges our Wisconsin wolf families still face today. Sign up for our educational week and receive an email for each day with fun content, an opt-in activity you can do on your own, as well as invitations to join us for special virtual evening events throughout the week. You will automatically receive a special 2026 custom Wolf Awareness Week sticker in the mail and also be entered to win a 1,000-piece wolf jigsaw puzzle by Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik, an Ojibwe artist whose work we featured during Wolf Awareness Week last year! Learn more and sign up here: https://www.sierraclub.org/wisconsin/wolvesaction

OCT. 21 - CHAPTER BOOK CLUB: WOLFISH     This month’s book club falls within Wolf Awareness Week, so we will be discussing Erica Berry’s book Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear. WOLFISH blends science, history, and cultural criticism in a years-long journey to understand our myths about wolves, and track one legendary wolf, OR-7, from the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. While charting OR-7’s record-breaking journey out of the Wallowa Mountains, Erica simultaneously details her own coming-of-age as she moves away from home and wrestles with inherited beliefs about fear, danger, femininity, and the body. Sign up for the book club by calling 608-315-2693 or visiting https://tinyurl.com/wisc-wolfbook1026. 

CRSC BOARD ELECTION     The Coulee Region Group is guided by a board of seven directors elected from the region’s membership. The board usually meets monthly online to discuss club priorities and plan activities and events for our group. Three directors’ terms expire at the end of the year. We will hold elections in December. To nominate someone or yourself to serve from 2027 through 2028, please email CRSierraClub@gmail.com with name, contact information, and a short statement about the nominee’s background and why they would like to serve. Please email by October 31 if possible. If you aren’t a member, you can join at https://tinyurl.com/crsc-join.

OCT. 27 - SUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE - INSPIRING SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS     Join our local sustainability community in-person at a mix & mingle celebration as we recognize local organizations and individuals who have inspired sustainable action within our community. Advance tickets are required. Ticket sales close October 19th at 8 p.m. Learn more here: https://sustaininstitute.com/upcomingevents.

CRSC ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANTS     Every year, the Coulee Region Sierra Club offers grants of up to $200 each for environmental education programming for students in grades K through 8. Teachers, schools, and programs that serve students in the eight-county CRSC area (Crawford, Grant, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau, and Vernon counties) are eligible to apply. The deadline will be January 8, 2027. Learn more at https://sierraclub.org/wisconsin/coulee/education.

CRSC hopes to promote student exploration, protection, and enjoyment of the natural environment. 

Projects must:

  • Provide hands-on experience for students to learn about and explore the natural environment.
  • Promote a world which allows all life forms to live and prosper.
  • Show students that they can make a difference in their environment, whether rural or urban.
  • Be completed within the school year.  A follow-up report will be due upon completion.

Grant recipients will be asked to: 

  • Take pictures and write an article for the CRSC newsletter
  • Be open to making a presentation to at a local Sierra Club meeting
  • Be accessible to local media if publicity is desired

To apply, visit the link. For questions, please email CRSierraClub@gmail.com or call or text 608-315-2693. Please help spread the word in your community, too!

SEPTEMBER ACTION GATHERING REPORT     We gathered at the First Congregational Church on September 18. Chris Miller, CRSC board member, presented an outline of the program and showed an excellent video that explains why so many cities are clogged with dangerous car traffic and how some cities have tackled these  traffic jams by challenging conventional wisdom with the goal of highlighting effective strategies for sustainable public transportation and urban mobility that truly serves the needs of a "sustainable city." Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/M8Tobzn1qeM?si=pSodOYXGWExxvZ7t

Cathy Van Maren, CRSC board member and organizer of La Crosse’s Week Without Driving event, talked about why we even need a week without driving, since non-driving is the natural state of humans. We looked at the history of cars and car infrastructure, the role of marketing and lobbying in maintaining this car-centrism, and the very real problem of “car brain” or motonormativity.

In the city of La Crosse, the Wisconsin DOT estimates that 40% or more of residents (more than 20,500 people) do not drive cars. In our state, it’s about 31% of residents. Yet, most transportation funding and planning prioritizes cars. We then looked at some of the challenges non-drivers have in our area.

The Scenic Mississippi Regional Transit service, that provides rides from La Crosse to Tomah, Viroqua, and Prairie du Chien, will stop at the end of this year, leaving a gap for many non-driving students, workers, patients, and travelers. Even though La Crosse’s city bus system is one of the best in the state, service is slow, infrequent, and not 24/7. Many neighborhoods are not served by this bus. There are other connections in our area, but sometimes they are hard to get to. For bicyclists and walkers, conditions vary. Some improvements are nixed for budget reasons or because decision-makers are reluctant to replace parking spaces with safe biking spaces.

Week Without Driving is supported at all levels by the Sierra Club because goals align. The Sierra Club’s Outdoors for All and Transit to Trails initiatives bring attention to the need for more and better public transit in order for everyone to access wild, natural, and green spaces, from national parks to city recreation facilities. Reducing car emissions by improving and supporting cleaner travel options is key to the Sierra Club’s climate action goals. Fewer cars also mean less air and water pollution from exhaust and tire wear, another important Sierra Club priority. And better transportation options mean that everyone, no matter their age, income, ability, or status, can get to their lives which is an important goal of the Wisconsin Chapter Transportation Access and Equity Team.

Several personal action items were presented, from pledging to try going a week without driving, to completing a WWD Bingo Card or participating in local WWD events. Chris prepared a letter to state legislators in support of Regional Transit Authority enabling legislation, a way for local governmental units to join together to effectively fund and administer regional transit systems that connect communities and provide a more comprehensive non-car travel network.

Learn more about Week Without Driving at https://tinyurl.com/wwdlacrosse. View the Powerpoint presentation at https://tinyurl.com/crscaction-0926wwd and the updated informational handout at https://tinyurl.com/WWDCRSCActionHandout. If you would like to email your state legislators encouraging them to support RTA enabling legislation, find a template here: https://tinyurl.com/crsc-rtaletter.

YOUTH ACTION     Saanvi Muduganti is a student at Onalaska High School who is very interested and active in local youth climate action and environmental initiatives. We’re delighted that she will help inform us about local student environmental events and actions through monthly columns!

This summer, Wisconsin’s Children's Trust's Corps Coordinator Saanvi Muduganti advocated for federal climate action by writing to Representative Mark Pocan in support of the congressional resolution, the Children's Fundamental Right of Life and a Stable Climate System. These efforts paid off when Representative Pocan became one of the 90 cosponsors of the resolution, recognizing the government's responsibility to protect young people's right to a safe, livable future. 

She also joined youth plaintiffs from Dunn v. Wisconsin Public Service Commission on a virtual congressional meeting with Senator Tammy Baldwin’s staff to share their climate harms and urge her to cosponsor the resolution. 

Now, join the fight for children's climate rights! Call or email Senator Baldwin at www.baldwin.senate.gov/contact and urge her to cosponsor the Children’s Fundamental Rights to Life and a Stable Climate System resolution (S.Con.Res.18)! 

OTHER OCTOBER EVENTS:

2027 CALENDARS!     It’s calendar time! Wall calendars are $19, engagement calendars are $20. Calendar sales help pay for our Environmental Education grants and High School Environmental Stewardship awards. Contact Maureen Kinney at CRSierraClub@gmail.com or call 608-797-8442 to order yours.  

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