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!

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.

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!

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.

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

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:

https://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Portals/57/docs/regulatory/mbi_wi/2018003694PN.pdf

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:

http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory.aspx