VOTE November 5. Find your voting details at https://myvote.wi.gov
NOVEMBER 16 - BLUFFLAND WORK DAY on Stry Prairie, Miller Bluff, La Crosse from 8 a.m. to noon. Friends of the Blufflands (FoB) and the Coulee Region Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts schedule many opportunities for volunteers to help ensure the perpetuation and recovery of important local areas. The work day starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at noon, but times could change as the weather turns cold and participants may volunteer as it fits their schedules. The site is steep, but there are options to work on flatter sections. Wear long pants, sturdy shoes, and bring water and a snack if desired. Tools will be supplied, but if you have a favorite pair of hand pruners or loppers, bring them. To participate with CRSC, please register by November 14 at https://tinyurl.com/CRSCFOB1116 or by calling 608-315-2693. The meeting point is at the end of Rim of the City Road. Location details will be sent to those who register and we will notify registered participants if schedules change.
NOVEMBER 12 - BOOK CLUB - Winter Counts The Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter’s book club will meet from 7 to 8 p.m. on November 12 to discuss the new crime thriller Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. Winter Counts is a propulsive crime novel and a wonderfully informative book about life on Rosebud Reservation. Learn more and register to participate at https://tinyurl.com/WISC-1124Book.
NOVEMBER 13 - CHAPTER AWARDS! Every year, the Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter recognizes some of our many wonderful volunteers and community leaders for their dedication, passion and leadership. We could not do our work alone, and celebrating our award winners is one of the best parts of our year. This virtual ceremony will allow us all to be together and celebrate these environmental leaders from across the state. RSVP for this online event at https://tinyurl.com/WISC-24Awards or by calling 608-315-2693.
CRSC BOARD ELECTIONS We are seeking candidates for the Coulee Region Sierra Club board. Elections will be in December. New terms begin in 2025. Terms are two years. The board meets monthly and plans club activities and events. If you are interested in serving your club, please email CRSierraClub@gmail.com OR call or text 608-315-2693 by November 15 with your name and a statement about why you are interested and your pertinent experience. If you need more information before deciding, please email, call, or text us. We encourage club members living outside the La Crosse area to self-nominate, but everyone is welcome to run. Members will get voting instructions, by email or postcard, later in November with online voting available from November 25 through December 30 and a paper ballot, to print out and mail, in the December newsletter. Please consider serving your club so we can remain strong, active, and effective in the new year!
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANTS For spring 2025, CRSC will offer grants of up to $200 each for environmental education projects to schools or community organizations involving young people at the elementary and middle school level within the CRSC region: Crawford, Grant, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau, and Vernon counties.
Applications may be completed online, emailed or mailed. The deadline for applications is January 5, 2025 with awards by January 31. Learn more: https://sierraclub.org/wisconsin/coulee/Education. Funding for this program is possible thanks to an annual grant from the Paul E. Stry Foundation, shared dues from club memberships, calendar sales, and donations made by community members. To donate, email CRSierraClub@gmail.com or call 608-315-2693.
NOVEMBER 18 - FILM - PEOPLE AND WOLVES On Monday, November 18 at 7 p.m., the Wisconsin Chapter will host an online screening of this new 30 minute documentary. After the film, there will be an interactive Q&A session with the producer & director as well as several members of the cast. RSVP to attend: https://tinyurl.com/WISC-1119WolfFilm
OCTOBER EVENTS Thank you to those who participated in Week Without Driving, September 30 through October 6. Our October 5 Transit to Trails outing was postponed due to lack of sign ups. We will try again in spring. On October 8, four CRSC members helped pick up litter along River Valley Drive. Thank you! On October 23, Kathy Allen, our Board Chair, tabled at a UWL event about the environmental plans included in Project 2025.
MORE NOVEMBER EVENTS
- 11/ 2: Waterfowl Fall Migration Celebration 9 - 11 am Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge Observation Deck https://trempealeau.net/events/waterfowl-fall-migration-celebration
- 11/ 6: Enviro Wednesday at the Nature Place, La Crosse 6:30 pm
- 11/ 8-14: Jackson in Action fall hike at Skyline Golf Course https://www.blackrivercountry.net/event/jackson-in-action-2024-fall-hike-series/2024-11-08/
- 11/ 8: Fundraiser for Mississippi Valley Conservancy. 5:30 p.m. at The Radisson, La Crosse. https://www.mississippivalleyconservancy.org/events/fall-fundraiser-2024
- 11/ 9: Waterfowl Observation Day 10 am - 2 pm Brownsville, MN https://explorelacrosse.com/event/waterfowl-observation-day-3/
- 11/10: Films: Kiss the Ground and Common Ground at the Rivoli in La Crosse hosted by Habitat for Humanity. More details at https://habitatlacrosse.org/events
- 11/10: Science Cafe - Eye in the Sky 6 p.m. JavaVino, La Crosse. https://www.uwlax.edu/calendar/?e=31063
- 11/13: La Crosse Area Planning Committee Metropolitan Transportation Plan Update Open House. 4 to 6 p.m., La Crosse County Admin Building, 6th & State Street, La Crosse. https://www.lacrossecounty.org/metropolitan-planning-organization/planning-and-programming/metropolitan-transportation-plan
- 11/14: Film: Warrior Lawyers 5:30 pm Rm 196 Viterbo School of Nursing https://tinyurl.com/uwlenviroeventslist
- 11/19: Wisconsin Chapter webinar on Regional Transit Authorities - What are they? What’s their history in Wis-consin? How can they help improve public transportation in our state? 6:30 p.m. ONLINE. Register at https://tinyurl.com/WISC-RTAWebinar
Review - An Invitation to Wonder: Waubesa Wetlands by Emily Grandy
Situated on the southeast corner of Lake Waubesa, not twenty minutes from downtown Madison, lies a hidden sanctuary of life. Waubesa Wetlands is one of the highest-quality and most diverse wetlands remaining in southern Wisconsin, and it is inhibited by one curious man.
Calvin DeWitt has been living with his wife Ruth on the edge of this ancient marsh for over fifty years. It was Cal who worked with his neighbors to establish the marsh into a 1000-acre nature preserve. He later used the wetland as an outdoor classroom to teach hundreds of UW-Madison graduate students.
In the spring of 2020, his grandson, Ben Albert, set out to document and to explore his grandparent's backyard. In his deeply personal first documentary film, “An Invitation to Wonder: Waubesa Wetlands”, Ben Albert recalls the curiosity and awe he experienced there as a child. His hope was not only to discover the marsh’s extraordinary, challenging beauty but to understand his grandfather’s relationship with this particular wetland.
It was a difficult filming process: everything’s wet and muddy, mosquitoes swarm, and the peat is unimaginably deep and unstable to walk on. A wetland is a humbling environment. But with humility, and a little help from his grandfather, Ben Albert came to appreciate the age and complexity of this preserve, and all the wondrous life it supports. In making this film, he also hoped to spread the message “that if you want to be awed by the natural world, you must only go as far as your own backyard.”
You can learn more and watch a trailer at https://www.wisconservation.org/waubesa-wetlands-film
NOVEMBER 17 - RETHINGING THANKSGIVING WEBINAR at 3:30 p.m. https://www.mobilize.us/surj/event/727474/
CRSC BOARD MEETINGS The CRSC board meets monthly online and members may attend. Email CRSierraClub@gmail.com or call 608-315-2693 for the Zoom access information. The next meeting is November 25 at 6:30 p.m
