Wednesday, January 1, 2025

January Newsletter

 

JANUARY 14 at 6:45 p.m. COMMUNITY TRAIL FARM with Josh Hein, Outdoor Recreation Alliance. ONLINE.     The Outdoor Recreation Alliance, or ORA Trails, in La Crosse, has taken on its biggest project yet! With the purchase of a 277 acre old farm just minutes from downtown, ORA is creating a space that is truly for everyone. Plans include building 15 miles of trails, restoring various prairies and savanna, removing invasive species, enhancing wetlands, and improving trout habitat and stream ecology. ORA is also teaming up with schools, universities, municipalities, and other organizations to establish education and community programs and events that celebrate all the space has to offer. We will hear from Josh Hein, ORA’s Trail Farm Project Administrator, about the organization and the project, with time for your questions following his talk. Register for this online program at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HWlLbYKyQ023yg3-ZdoA6Q and, after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. If you would like to join the meeting by dialing in on your phone, please call 608-315-2693 or email CRSierraClub@gmail.com to sign up. You can learn more about the Community Trail Farm at oratrails.org/trail-farm. 

JANUARY 7 - CHAPTER BOOK CLUB     The first book club selection of the new year is Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb. Sign up for the 7 p.m. discussion, held online, at https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000002HuZmAAK&mapLinkHref= or call or email to learn how to join by phone. Crossings is an eye-opening account of the global ecological transformations wrought by roads, from the award-winning author of Eager. Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience, so ubiquitous they’re practically invisible to us. But wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the U.S. alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill.

JANUARY 5 - ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANTS DEADLINE!     Applications for CRSC environmental education grants of up to $200 each are due by January 5! 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) are eligible to apply. Applications may be completed online, emailed or mailed. Please share this information with educators you know! Learn more at www.sierraclub.org/wisconsin/coulee/Education or www.tinyurl.com/CRSC-Education. 

JANUARY 23 - WISCONSIN CHAPTER VIRTUAL VOLUNTEER FAIR     Start the new year by learning how you can get involved and make a difference. There are countless ways to volunteer with the Sierra Club and this event will help you find your fit and get started.There are in-person, virtual, regular, or occasional opportunities that fit all types of schedules. Join the virtual volunteer fair to learn more, ask questions and meet others who are also looking for ways to make a positive impact and protect the environment. Register here for the 6:30 p.m. fair: https://tinyurl.com/WISC-2025VVF

CRSC BOARD ELECTIONS     Congratulations Dorothy Lenard, Flo Sandok, and Avery Van Gaard who were elected to the  CRSC Board of Directors for 2025-2027! Thanks to all who voted! And special thanks to Carol Miller whose term has ended. The CRSC Board meets monthly to plan club activities and coordinate actions with local and state club members and allies. The next board meeting will be online at 6:30 p.m. on January 28. CRSC members may attend. Email or call for access information.

OUTINGS LEADER TRAINING     If you have a love for the outdoors or have special places or activities you'd like to share with others, please consider becoming an outing leader. As an outing leader you are the bridge that helps connect the people and places in your community. Once trained, you plan the outing and we will help promote it - let’s work together to get people outside in 2025! Leader training may be done online OR there will be one full in-person day on March 23rd in the Black River Falls area. For longer, overnight outings or water based outings, additional training is required. If you are interested, sign-up by filling out the interest form at https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Wisconsin?actionId=AR0493110 or contact Heather at heather.wittrock@sierraclub.org for more information.

RIGHTS OF NATURE     CRSC member Diane Cain forwarded information about the Rights of Nature movement, a decades-long effort, deeply rooted in indigenous knowledge, to officially recognize the natural world and its right to survive and thrive in our legal processes. Since 2006, communities, states, and countries have used the RON to combat environmental degradation and species extinction. In 2008, Ecuador became the first country to recognize RON in its constitution. In Wisconsin, the Ho-Chunk Nation, the Wisconsin Farmers Union, and the Milwaukee County Board have passed RON resolutions. If you are interested in signing the petition encouraging Governor Evers to “enshrine the Rights of Nature in our communities and constitution,” sign here:  https://www.change.org/p/rights-of-nature-unite-wisconsin  Learn more about the RON movement in Wisconsin at https://www.rightsofnaturewi.org/

2024 YEAR IN REVIEW     by Kathy Allen, CRSC Board president      Our Coulee Region Group kept busy this year, hosting our own programs and co-hosting events with partners! Here are some highlights from each month.

  • January - We awarded two environmental education grants, one to the Longfellow Middle School Outdoor Adventure Club in La Crosse and another to Westview Elementary's first graders in Platteville for a Monarchs and Milkweed project. See reports from the recipients in our September newsletter online.
  • February - With the Wisconsin Chapter, we co-hosted an online program about the Sierra Club’s new "Transit to Trails for All" initiative as part of Transit Equity Days. A recording of the program is still available on the Chapter's Facebook page (Find "Videos" in the "More" tab).
  • March - We co-hosted a "Know Your Co-op" educational webinar about rural energy, electric rates, and getting involved in your local Rural Electric Co-op. Many of our group members in rural areas belong to rural electric cooperatives. A recording is also available on the Chapter's Facebook page.
  • April - With several local partners, we co-hosted a "Spring into Energy Savings" program about the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act for homeowners and the climate. We also co-sponsored a very popular screening of "Bad River" at the Rivoli in La Crosse and completed our first roadside cleanup along River Valley Drive.
  • May - We hosted an online program, Climate Action in a River City,  with La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds. During his time as co-chair of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, the mayor attended international conferences on climate and plastics. A recording of this program is available on our group's Facebook page (search for CRSC - Coulee Region Sierra Club).
  • June - We hosted a "Transit to Trails For All" outing to Mississippi Valley Conservancy’s Hass Tract trail (see photos in our July newsletter). We also co-hosted a rally for clean energy and press conference outside of the Dairyland Power Cooperative annual meeting at the La Crosse Center. And just for fun, we held our summer group potluck at Goose Island!
  • July - We completed our second roadside cleanup of the year.
  • August - We awarded our 2024 High School Environmental Stewardship Award to Logan High School's Rachel Greany (read more in our September newsletter). We also tabled at the City of La Crosse Parks Department's Bluff Bash, a celebration of outdoor recreation.
  • September - We hosted "Clean Energy Benefits and YOU", an online program with Quinn Rowe from WI Conservation Voters. Quinn summarized the information from the program in our October newsletter.
  • October - We completed our final roadside cleanup of the year, co-sponsored Week Without Driving, and tabled at an "Understanding Project 2025" event organized by the UW-La Crosse College Democrats to raise awareness about potential impacts on climate and clean energy programs.
  • November - At the Wisconsin Chapter awards, our group board member and newsletter editor Cathy Van Maren received the JJ & Pat Werner Award, the chapter’s highest honor, given to Sierra Club leaders who have shown an undying commitment to its goals and missions throughout the years. You can see the presentation on the Chapter's Youtube page.
  • December - We closed out the year with a spirited holiday potluck at the home of one of our board members!

VEGANUARY     Veganuary is a world-wide event that encourages and supports people to be mindful of how our food choices affect our health, environment, and climate.  Those who sign up for the month-long challenge will receive information, recipes, support, and ideas to try a more climate-friendly way to eat. Learn more and sign up at https://veganuary.com/en-us/

KNOWLES-NELSON LOBBY DAY     Knowles-Nelson Lobby Day, a chance to advocate for our environment, will take place in Madison on March 12.  More details will be available in our February newsletter for those who might wish to share rides to this important event. Learn more at https://knowlesnelson.org/lobbyday/    

MORE JANUARY EVENTS


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