Please join the MTU and the City of La Crosse for an open house to roll out the new electric buses at 10 a.m. at the La Crosse Center!
Moving our public transit system to electric fuel will have a significant impact on our community's carbon emissions. And, as upgrades are completed at the city's wastewater treatment plant, soon, the fuel for these buses will be generated by gases released during the treatment process.
Transportation emissions are the top of all sectors, with everyday travel by fossil-fueled cars and light trucks making up the majority of sector emissions. Moving your travel to any bus, but especially to an electric bus can help our city reach its zero carbon goals.
Come on down to the La Crosse Center to see and learn about the new electric buses.
Tuesday, June 28, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Summer Potluck Get Together
Shelter #2, Veteran’s Memorial County Park, Highway 16 just west of West Salem
After a long break, we are happy to invite you to our annual June potluck get together on Tuesday evening, June 28 starting at 5:30 p.m. We’ll meet this year at Veterans Memorial County Park in Shelter #2.
Please bring some food to share and, if you are able, your own plate and utensils. The club will supply beverages. The shelter is near the river, so bring your bug spray, too! We’ll have horseshoes (adult and child), as well as information about upcoming events and environmental news.
If you are driving, consider using this link to sign up to ride or drive with others: groupcarpool.com/t/qi75cg or call 608-315-2693. The park is also accessible by bike using the La Crosse River State Trail (milepost 5 on the trail - five miles east of Medary/two miles west of West Salem).
You need not be a member to attend! Bring friends and family if you wish.
June 1: the Biggest little Farm Join the Wisconsin Sierra Club Water Team in an online screening of the award-winning documentary about one family’s epic odyssey to attempt to farm while reawakening the land. This screening is free and open to all. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. Please register for the link at tinyurl.com/WISC-BigLittleFarNm
June 20: Solar Show and Tell Join Solar on La Crosse Schools on Monday, June 20 from 4 to 6 at Northside Elementary/Coulee Montessori, 1611 Kane St., La Crosse, to learn about the plan to install solar panels on the school in 2022 and how solar on schools is a win-win-win for our schools, our communities, and our planet. Learn more at SolarOnLaCrosseSchools.org.
May Garden Crawl A small but enthusiastic group toured community gardens on La Crosse’s north side on May 24 guided by local garden leaders, Tamra Dickinson and Todd Huffman. Tamra met the group at Logan High School to introduce us to the community gardens funded with a grant from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. With the help of Logan High construction students, concrete block and half-barrel beds grow a variety of greens, herbs, flowers, and vining edibles. A storage shed is now under construction, too. We visited the Northside Elementary/Coulee Montessori gardens near Gilette and Charles Streets next. Tamra shared some of her favorite heirloom seeds. See the list at tinyurl.com/TamrasFavSeeds.
We made an unscheduled stopped at the urban home-stead of Willie and Kate Bittner. Though we arrived without an appointment, they were eager to show off their garden, chickens, rain barrels, fruit trees, solar shed and more! Our last stop was the Kane Street Community Garden. Todd, who retired last year as the garden's coordinator, gave us a tour of the grounds.
Community gardens don’t need to be large to have a big impact. To learn more about these and how you can help, visit facebook.com/KaneStreetCommunityGarden or LaCrosseNeighborhoodGardens.org or sign up to help care for the GROW La Crosse school gardens at GrowLaCrosse.org/volunteer-2 Learn to start a community garden: tinyurl.com/startacommgarden.
June 22: Right to Harm On Wednesday, June 22 at 4:30 p.m., the film Right to Harm will be shown at the Platteville Public Library hosted by Grant County Rural Stewardship. The film exposes the devastating public health impact industrial animal factories have on many rural communities in the U.S. Learn more at tinyurl.com/GCRS-HarmFilm
Sign Up: Family Water Outing Mark your calendars and get out the water toys and camping gear! The annual Black River Family Canoe Camp will be held July 16-17! This kid-focused trip on the Black River brings young families, adults with kids, and the young at heart together to play, explore, hike, cook out, and sleep in tents on a sand bar. Preregistration and screening are required. Participants must provide all their own water craft and gear, food, clothing, drinking water, etc.
This year’s leaders will be Carol and Kevin Olson and Beth and Justin Piggush. Learn more about it and how to register at tinyurl.com/2022-BRFamCanoe
Responsible Investing for Positive Climate Action by Nancy Hartje With rising gas prices, there is already a strong push to open U.S. oil reserves and increase domestic oil production. While these measures may eventually lead to lower gas prices, the situation also presents an opportunity to, once and for all, wean ourselves from reliance on fossil fuels.
One concrete action we can take as individuals is to put our money where our values are and make sure our financial decisions and investments are not supporting fossil fuels. A group that can help is Third Act, www.thirdact.org. Their website has many resources for taking actions which positively impact climate change. Check out the “Align Your Money With Your Values” link.
Another valuable site is AsYouSow.org which promotes corporate responsibility by providing investment and retirement scorecards using filters, including Fossil- Free Funds, Deforestation-Free funds, and other social or environmental justice filters. Use the “Invest Your Values” link.
Check it out, and let your money work to advance your values and shape a better future.
More June Events June is RIDE TRANSIT Month! Pledge to ride public transit at least five times during June.
6/ 3: Wisconsin Women in Conservation Spring Gathering from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. www.wiwic.org/event-details/south-west-spring-conservation-gathering
6/ 4: Wildflowers of Savannah Oaks at 10 a.m. Greens Coulee, Onalaska. Register: tinyurl.com/MVC-060422
6/ 4: Robinson Creek Paddle (Jackson County) at 11 a.m. tinyurl.com/0604RobinsonPaddle
6/ 4-5: Wisconsin state lands Free Fun Weekend. Admission fees, trail passes, fishing licenses waived. dnr.wisconsin.gov/events/57206
6/ 4-12: Jackson County Bike Week Challenge. www.jacksoninaction.org/jcbikeweek
6/ 7, 14, 21, 28: Frog Walk starts 15 minutes after sunset at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. tinyurl.com/KVR-JuneFrogs
6/ 8: Learn about “The Blufflands: A Plan for Conservation and Recreation Throughout the La Crosse - La Crescent Region” at 6 p.m. in Room 432 (basement) of the La Crosse County Administration Building, 6th & State Street.
6/ 8: Wisconsin Chapter virtual volunteer night from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. tinyurl.com/WISC-June22Vol
6/11: Plant ID Walk starts at 9 a.m. at Kickapoo Valley Reserve tinyurl.com/KVR-PlantID611
6/11: Using the iNaturalist app at Wildcat Mountain State Park at 10 a.m. wisconsin.gov/events/57716
6/12: Sierra Club Outing Leader Training from 8:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Madison. Must register: tinyurl.com/WISC-LdrTraining0622
6/15: Kickapoo Pearls Revisited at 6:30 p.m. at Kickapoo Valley Reserve. tinyurl.com/KVRPearls
6/24: Dark Sky “Out All Night” event. Middle Ridge. www.lcaas.org
6/25: Geology Hike at 10 a.m. at Wildcat Mountain State Park. dnr.wisconsin.gov/events/57726
6/25: Raptors at 7 p.m. at Wildcat Mountain State Park ampitheater. dnr.wisconsin.gov/events/57751
6/25: Cranberry Blossom Day at the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center. www.blackrivercountry.net/event/cranberry-blossom-day/
7/ 1: Crawford Stewardship Project “Love the Land” party and fundraiser from 5:30 p.m. to midnight at Soldiers Grove Park. www.crawfordstewardship.org/will-you-join-us/
For Wisconsin Chapter water outings, please visit tinyurl.com/WISC-WaterGroup
STOP LINE 5 We have some Sierra Club STOP LINE 5 yard signs available. If you would like one, please email us at CRSierraClub@gmail.com OR call 608-315-2693 and leave a message for a call back.
CRSC Education Grant Report COVID-19 caused many delays and schedule disruptions, including environmental education plans funded by CRSC last year! But, we are happy to report that grant recipients Amoreena Rathke and Mariah Bigelow, art teachers at Northside Elementary School and Coulee Montessri, have been able to complete their activities!
“During 2020, we were able to create the pottery and start, propagate, and care for more than 650 plants just prior to the quarantine. But the other part, a sale hosted by our fourth and fifth grade students, could not take place, because many classes were being held online.
“This May we were finally able to hold the plant sale. Our students have been propagating, starting seedlings, and learning about more than 700 plants, and the sale took place at the school on May 13 and 14.
“We will use the proceeds to purchase playground equipment while reserving some to invest in seeds and plants for next year.
“Thank you so much for your support for our students! We will send pictures soon.”
Bluffland Conservation The Bluffland Coalition is dedicated to protecting regional blufflands as natural treasures and to expanding bluffland recreational opportunities available to the public. The Coalition is made up of local units of government and local non-profit organizations. This unique arrangement was developed in 2016 and documented in “The Blufflands: A Plan for Conservation and Recreation Throughout the La Crosse - La Crescent Region”.
There will be a series of meetings to understand this plan and its importance to the region. The first meeting is Wednesday, June 8, at 6 p.m. in the La Crosse County Administrative Building Room 430 (Basement). People interested in local bluffland conservation are encouraged to attend.
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.
