TUESDAY, MAY 24, 5 p.m. Kane Street Garden - Why We Need Local Food Systems Local food production can reduce carbon emissions and alleviate food insecurity. The Kane Street Community Garden has produced an average of 30,000 pounds of healthy, organic produce per year since its founding in 1998. Under the direction of the garden staff, hundreds of volunteers help with weeding, watering, planting, and harvesting each season.
We’ll volunteer for an hour and then, CRSC member, Todd Huffman, who recently retired as the Kane Street Garden Coordinator, will tell us more about the garden and its importance in the community.
The garden is accessible via the #5 MTU bus. If you would like to carpool, please use the groupcarpool.com site. Please wear appropriate clothing. In case of rain, we will skip the volunteering and go straight to the program. For more information about the garden, please visit LaCrosseHTF.org/The-Kane-Street-Community-Garden
MAY 7 MIGRATORY BIRD DAY May 7 is World Migratory Bird Day. Land use changes and the climate crisis are threatening vulnerable migratory birds. It’s important for us to learn about how we can protect these beautiful fellow travelers.
The Mississippi Valley Conservancy will host a Mother’s Day Migratory Bird Hike on May 7 at Sugar Creek Bluff near Ferryville. You must register in advance at tinyurl.com/MVC-0507Birds The La Crosse Audubon Society will host a Migratory Bird Day event at the Myrick Park Center from 6:30 to 11:30 a.m. including a bird-banding demonstration, bird walks at 6:30 and 9:30 a.m., bird-related activities for kids, and more. See couleeaudubon.org/html/events.html
CELEBRATE WISCONSIN MAY 17 Celebrate Wisconsin food, drink, and grassroots activism at the Wisconsin Sierra Club’s annual virtual house party, Locally Grown, Nationally Known. Special guests Diane and Kevin Cain, from Cain’s Orchards in Hixton, will talk about running a sustainable orchard and protecting nature and wildlife. Attendance is free, but donations will be welcomed throughout the evening. Learn more at tinyurl.com/WISC-LGNK22
APRIL EARTH FAIR We hope you had an opportunity to spend Earth Day appreciating our amazing natural world and considering how we can do more to protect the precious Earth we all call home. In La Crosse, CRSC tabled at the April 24 Earth Fair with information about our programs, events, activism, and priorities. In addition, the National Sierra Club sponsored more than 200 Drive Electric Earth Day events around the country including one in Viroqua and one at the La Crosse Earth Fair. In addition to electric bikes and cars, the new La Crosse electric bus was on display. Within about a year, the buses will be fueled by electricity generated from methane gas from the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
HIGHWAY CLEANUP By Pat Wilson The Coulee Region Group contributed to the Earth Fair Marsh Cleanup by doing the spring cleaning on our adopted roadway--River Valley Drive. We had a great turnout enabling us to cover almost the entire section. We collected 21 bags of trash plus two tires. The photo shows just part of the haul; there were six more bags that wouldn’t fit on the truck.
Thank you to the cleanup gang: Kathy Allen, Carol Miller, John Papenfuss, Nancy Hartje, Marty Sellers, Maureen Kinney, David Bange, and Bobbie and Pat Wilson.
Our next group cleanup will be in July.
SOLAR SCHOOLS BIKE TOUR On Saturday, April 23, CRSC members joined students, parents, teachers, and others for a bike tour hosted by Solar on La Crosse Schools (SOLS). The tour began at Hamilton Elementary School which holds almost 100 kW of solar panels. The riders continued to City Hall to learn about the City’s climate action planning and how solar installations on public facilities help reduce carbon emissions. With a beautiful loop through the La Crosse River marsh, the group headed to Summit Environmental School, home of the first solar installation sponsored by SOLS, a stand-alone solar powered marquee sign. The final stop was Northside Elementary School, home of the next full solar installation expected to be completed later in the year. For more information about this initiative, visit SolarOnLaCrosseSchools.org.
CLUB OPPORTUNITIES! The Wisconsin Chapter Sierra Club is seeking two people to join its Executive Committee Board. This is an important leadership position that will help the club set priorities and policies. ExComm members attend monthly meetings (online option available) and should plan to join at least one of the chapter’s teams. For more information, please email us at CRSierraClub@gmail.com or call Pat at 608-788-8831.
Would you like to help lead official Sierra Club outings? The Wisconsin Chapter is offering online Outing Leader training over two days, May 18 and May 25. To become a leader, in addition to completing the two training sessions, you must co-lead an outing with a veteran leader and acquire Basic First Aid training (on your own). Sign up for the two training sessions at tinyurl.com/WISC-LeaderTraining. To learn more, please email us at CRSierraClub@gmail.com or contact Pat Wilson, a certified Sierra Club outings leader, at 608-788-8831.
MORE MAY EVENTS
5/3: Wisconsin Chapter book club meeting about the book, Grain by Grain: A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food. 7 p.m. ONLINE Register: tinyurl.com/WISC-BookClub0522
5/3 and 5/10: Myrick Marsh Bird Walks at 6:30 a.m. Meet at head of main trail. couleeaudubon.org/html/events.html
5/5 and 5/12: Hixon Forest Bird Walk at 6:30 a.m. Meet at parking lot. couleeaudubon.org/html/events.html
5/6-8: High Cliff State Park Camp and Service Outing in Menasha. SIGN UP BY 5/3. tinyurl.com/HCSPOuting
5/7: Astronomy Day at Riverside Park in La Crosse 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 8 to 10 p.m. LCAAS.org
5/11: Wisconsin Chapter Virtual Volunteer Night 6:30 p.m. tinyurl.com/WISC-VolNite0522
5/11-14: Forest Management Tree Planting at Kickapoo Valley Reserve
5/14: Moonlight Hike, Wildcat Mountain State Park. 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Meet at amphitheather Parking Lot. dnr.wisconsin.gov/events/55976
5/14: Plant ID hike at Kickapoo Valley Reserve 9 am to noon KVR.state.wi.us/Events/Calendar
5/14: Wyalusing Birding Field Trip sponsored by the Coulee Region Audubon Society couleeaudubon.org/html/events.html
5/15 Total Lunar Eclipse viewing in La Crosse from 9 to 11 p.m. in Crowley Park, La Crosse. LCAAS.org
5/18 “Reinventing Power” virtual film screening. 5:30 p.m. tinyurl.com/WISC-PowerFilm
5/21: Bumblebee Conservation with Susan Carpenter 9:30 a.m. KVR.state.wi.us/Events/Calendar
For Wisconsin Chapter water outings, please visit tinyurl.com/WISC-WaterGroup
SUPPORT SCHOOL CLIMATE ACTION! Local climate activists are pressing the La Crosse School District to create a climate action plan and commit to using 100% clean renewable energy by 2050 or sooner. Other schools in Wisconsin have taken these steps. It will ensure district plans do not increase carbon emissions or work against the city’s goals of reducing community emissions. If you live in the School District of La Crosse and have not yet signed the petition, please do so now at tinyurl.com/LaXSchools-ActOnClimate.
HELP with our newsletter! Write regular updates about environmental events and activities outside of La Crosse! Also, we are seeking one or two people to help put the newsletter together every month. Please email CRSierraClub@gmail.com
