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Committee Chairs
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Conservation
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Volunteer for this position! Call 247-1876
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Environmental Education
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Volunteer for this position! Call 247-1876
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Outings
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Bill Armstrong
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Website
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Bill Armstrong
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Programs, Ponte Vedra
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Larry Lickenbrock
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Programs,
Duval
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Cindy Baker
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Membership
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Volunteer for this position! Call 247-1876
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| Newsletter |
Julianne Mammana
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Legal
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Volunteer for this position! Call 247-1876
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Publicity
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Volunteer for this position! Call 247-1876
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| Legislative |
Gabe Hanson
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Jacksonville Program
Monday, September 12th @ 6:30pm: Lakewood Presbyterian Church
Resource Stewardshiip and Partnership and the NPS Mission: Relevancy to the Next Generation
'America's best idea', our National Park system is turning 100 years old! Our area's own National Park, the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is looking forward to the next 100 years. Where should it focus it resources for the next generation- bike trails, emphasis on the salt marshes and maritime hammocks, the importance of its historical value?
Shauna Ray Allen, Chief of Resource Stewardship and Partnerships for the Park will discuss the challenges and opportunities of this National Park in our own backyard, so that it can remain a national treasure for generations to come!
September 12th, Lakewood Presbyterian Church, 2001 University Blvd W, rear of Ed. Bldg. 6:30-7:00 Social Time. Program begins at 7:00. Free. All welcome.
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Meeting Calendar
Monday, September 12 @ 6:30
Jacksonville Program:
Resource Stewardship & Partnership
Lakewood Presbyterian Church
Wednesday, August 17 @ 6:30
C
ombined ExCom & Conservation Committee Meeting
6850 Belfort Oaks Road, Jacksonville
Both the Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra Programs will be continuing their well-deserved Summer break during the month of August.
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St Johns County Commissioner Race
Sierra Club has completed its endorsement process in these races. Please consider voting for Al Abbatiello and Jerry Cameron for our August Primary. These races will be determined in the primary.
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Resources needed for Ponte Vedra/Palm Valley Greenway
The July 2016 Sierra Sentry outlined the efforts of a citizens' group to start a Ponte Vedra/Palm Valley Greenway.
The Project is in need of volunteers to help with mapping, landscape architecture and website creation.
Volunteers should please contact Deb Chapin at [email protected]
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Marcy Silkebaken has passed away
Marcy passed away peacefully on June 21.
Marcy was an energetic and effective environmentalist and advocate for preserving the quality of life in Ponte Vedra and Palm Valley. One of her numerous civic accomplishments was leading the development of the addition of sidewalks throughout Palm Valley. Marcy was also a founding Board Member of the North Florida Land Trust. Additionally, Marcy worked tirelessly on the Architectural Review Board to ensure the continued beauty of the community, and battled with developers over questionable variances, and, in general, worked with St. Johns County officials for the betterment of our community. Marcy was a true community advocate in the very best sense of the word.
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Good News for the Matanzas River
Sierra Club NE Florida Group would like to recognize the outstanding efforts of Commissioners Bennett, Morris, and McClure upheld in their vote to protect the health of the river. These three individuals voted to deny the zoning change for land adjacent to the River to ensure for now its preservation and health. We applaud their thoughtful decision!
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New British government closes Environmental Department
New British Prime Minister Theresa May has closed down the Department of Energy and Climate Change and has folded the Department into the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband criticized the closure of the Department for Energy and Climate Change as "just plain stupid", Green MP Caroline Lucas said it was a "deeply worrying move", and Lib Dem leader Tim Farron called it a "backward" decision which "clearly downgrades our commitment to tackling climate change".
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Sierra Club Statement on Black Lives Matter Movement
In response to recent violence, Sierra Club Executive
Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
"It is impossible to not be outraged by the devastating images of black people being gunned down by police on a shockingly regular basis and it should be impossible to remain silent in the face of this sustained injustice any longer. Sadly, the tragedies that are unfolding before our eyes are just a fraction of the violence that has been happening off camera in our nation for far too long.
The Sierra Club believes all people deserve a healthy planet with clean air and water, a stable climate and safe communities. That means all people deserve equal protection under the law and the right to a life free of discrimination, hatred and violence. Unfortunately, those aspirations and goals are not a reality in our country, and that is why the Sierra Club stands in solidarity with all of those saying Black Lives Matter, demanding justice, accountability, and action to confront the racism and inequality that has allowed these tragedies to persist. We can do better and by standing together to work for the changes that are needed, we will."
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Vote YES on Amendment 4
Businesses will no longer be required to pay a property tax on solar panels and other renewable energy equipment if a minimum of 60 percent of voters are in favor of Amendment 4. Homeowners are already forgiven from these property taxes when utilizing clean energy equipment and this amendment will allow and encourage business owners to do the same. A vote for Amendment 4 is a vote for clean renewable energy sources in the state of Florida. That is why we urge you all to vote YES on Amendment 4 in the upcoming election August 30th.
For more information on this amendment please
click here.
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Featured Photo
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"Three hikers resting during a Sierra Club High Trip in 1915"
Source: Sierra Club Instagram
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Greeting Sierra Club Members...
This month, we would like to encourage each one of you to vote in the upcoming primary election on August 30th (or partake in early voting August 15-28th). Be sure to vote YES on Amendment 4 and check out our endorsements for the St Johns County Commissioner races! For more information on these two topics, see below. We hope you all are filling your summer with exciting outdoor adventure and hope to see you out exploring soon!
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Sierra Club's Statement to Governor Scott on the Florida Algae Crisis
Presented by Diana Umpierre, Sierra Club Everglades Coordinator, to the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board on July 14, 2016
"For six years, the Scott Administration has failed to acquire Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) land, despite repeated ecological collapses in our estuaries from Lake Okeechobee pollution and the insufficient flows of freshwater going to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay. Our coastal communities along the Indian River Lagoon and the Southwest Florida Gulf Coast continue to face complete devastation. The water is guacamole thick. The air is rancid. Even those who wear industrial respirators are overcome.
You must stop releasing Lake Okeechobee water east to the Indian River Lagoon, southeast to the Lake Worth Lagoon, or west to Fort Myers and the Gulf of Mexico. You must take emergency action to move that water south. And you must start planning now for storage, treatment, and conveyance in the EAA for the purpose of Everglades Restoration, and do so in a way that does not negatively impact the residents of the EAA represented here today. Sierra Club joins the communities around Lake Okeechobee in demanding immediate federal and state action to expedite needed repair and strengthen the
Herbert Hoover Dike
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The world has taken notice. The national and international press has descended. The state's
tourism brand is tainted. Fish and manatees are dying. Beaches are closed. As the algae
spreads, home values are plummeting. It's a taking, depriving residents of the value of their
property. It's hard to find someone who wants to buy a home surrounded by foul-smelling,
green algae.
Governor Rick Scott is squarely to blame. The South Florida Water Management District's near daily press releases mirror the talking points of the sugar industry. Governor Scott's 2013
hunting trip to Big Sugar's King Ranch in Texas is indicative of just how inseparable they have
become. If he had pursued the US Sugar land purchase years ago, we could be sending this
water south today. But now he protects them by shifting blame to the coasts. He says septic
tanks are the cause, but this is a red-herring. The proof is the algae bloom in Lake Okeechobee, now seen from space, so large it has a footprint the size of Orlando and Tampa combined. It's time to send the water south.
We need a plan to store, clean and convey the water south in the sugar lands. This has to begin now. The money is there to acquire the land. The voters voted for it. The sugar industry must share some adversity in this time of emergency. Why is it okay to flood the estuaries, but not the land planted in sugar? Why aren't the sugar growers offering to help? Why don't you make them? There is too much pain going around. It's devastating people's health and their property. It's killing fish and manatees. It's hurting Florida. It's time to send water south for the sake of us all."
http://www.sierraclubfloridanews.org/
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Sonar Testing: Good news for Marine Mammals
By: Brian Paradise
A federal appeals court ruled on July 15 that the U.S. Navy was wrongly allowed to use sonar that could harm whales and other marine life.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision upholding approval granted in 2012 for the Navy to use low-frequency sonar for training, testing and routine operations.
The five-year approval covered peacetime operations in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.
The appellate panel sent the matter back to the lower court for further proceedings.
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Peer Review of Proposal to Downlist Manatees Leads to Opposition by Scientists
By: Brian Paradise
A proposal to change the status of West Indian manatees from 'endangered' to the less concerning 'threatened' has been repudiated by several scientists who were invited by the U.S. Fish and Wild Service to give peer review to the proposal.
Click the following link to see a summary of the scientific peer review comments submitted to the Service (links to the full comments are included at the end of this release).
The Service's downlisting proposal stated for the Antillean manatee that "...population trends are declininog or unknown in 84% of the countries where (Antillean) manatees are found." Patrick Rose, Executive Director of Save the Manatee Club, said that based on the agency's own findings, it makes no sense for the Service to downlist Antillian manatees. For the Florida manatee, the Service concluded that threats are being "addressed and reduced throughout the species' range," but Rose said, "It is absolutely false that threats are being adequately addressed or reduced. The Service is turning a blind eye to the ongoing destruction of the manatees' habitat even though the Endangered Species Act requires the agency to base its listing determination, in part, on the destruction or modification of a species' habitat." Rose said that the likely loss of winter warm-water habitat, identified by the Service as one of the main threats, is barely being addressed at all.
Dr. Katie Tripp, the Club's Director of Science and Conservation, further explained that Florida manatees have experienced unsustainable levels of mortality linked to Unusual Mortality Events (cold-related deaths and deaths from largely unknown causes in the Indian River Lagoon), and that Recurring Mortality Events (red tide) have not been properly addressed in the downlisting proposal. "Much work needs to be done to safeguard Florida's water quality and spring and river flows before the Service can say the manatees' future is secure," Tripp said.
In a show of overwhelming support not to reclassify the manatee at this time, the Service received nearly 87,000 comments and petition signatures in opposition to the downlisting during its 90-day public comment period, which closed on April 7th. In stark contrast, the Service
received only 72 comments supporting downlisting.
It will likely be early in 2017 before the Service announces its final determination about the manatees' status. Although the public comment period is over, Save the Manatee Club says there is still time for citizens to contact their members of Congress and ask them to speak up and oppose the manatees' downlisting at this time and until the species' future is secured.
"It is categorically premature for the Service to continue down this dangerous path," said Rose. "The public wants to see manatees protected for the long term. I have worked for more than 45 years to secure the manatee's future and to eventually celebrate the species' removal from the Endangered Species list. But because of escalating threats, manatees still need to retain their endangered status and the protective measures that only the Endangered Species Act can provide to ensure the species and its habitat can persist for centuries to come."
For more information on manatees and the downlisting issue, visit
www.savethemanatee.org.
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Monthly Outings
Saturday, August 6, 8:00 a.m.: Hike the Guana Reserve Trail System
We will hike approximately seven miles on the beautiful, wide, and flat Guana Tolomato Matanzas Research Reserve trail system. The trail has several scenic waterway views, and some parts of the trail are sandy with a few protruding tree roots while other parts have oyster shells. For the most part, the terrain of this trail is flat and not very challenging, but what may be challenging to some will be the hike distance and August heat.
We will meet at the trail parking lot located at 450 Guana River Rd, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082. Once you turn in off of A1A, pay the $3 per vehicle fee and then head straight until the road ends in a dirt parking lot. There are restrooms available at the trailhead! Notice the early start time for this beat-the-heat hike!
To get there from the Jacksonville area, take Butler Blvd until it ends at A1A and head south for 17 miles; the park will be on your right. From St Augustine, head over the Vilano Causeway and turn north. The park will be on your left in 8 miles.
Though it will be hot, about 90% of the trail is shaded, but still bring a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellant, and plenty of water. We will be hungry when the hike is over, so please join a group lunch at Caps on the Water, located five miles south of Guana.
RSVP on Meetup.com (Sierra Club Northeast Florida) or with outing leader Ken Fisher at
904-210-7765 /
[email protected].
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Thursday, August 18 and Saturday, August 20, 9:00 am: Hike the Theodore Roosevelt Area
Due to the popularity of our hikes, we are offering a choice of two dates -
August 18 and August 20.
We'll walk the beautiful Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve in the Theodore Roosevelt area of Jacksonville. Experience a few miles of peaceful, wooded nature trails, vast grasslands supporting water and land animals, and ancient piles of oyster shells revealing clues about an extinct culture. This will be about a two- hour hike of three miles. Some of the hiking will be up steep inclines and on uneven trails.
The trail entrance is at 13165 Mount Pleasant Rd., 1 mile southeast of Fort Caroline National Memorial.
DIRECTIONS:
Coming from the west of Fort Caroline National Memorial on Mount Pleasant Rd., pass the entrance, go about 2 miles more on Mount Pleasant Rd, and turn left at the Sierra Club sign.
Coming from the east of the Memorial, pass signs for Spanish Pond development and go 1/4-1/2 mile on the right. Look for the Sierra Club sign.
Carpooling is recommended for Saturday as parking at the trail head is limited.
Bring water and insect repellent. Children are capable of hiking three miles are OK. No pets, please.
RSVP on Meetup or to Outing Leader Janet Stanko at
[email protected] or
904 208 1341.
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Saturday, August 27, 10:00 a.m.: Hike Stokes Landing
This three-mile easy hike through beautiful old oaks with several opportunities to view the marsh and Tolomato River.
Stokes Landing is located just north of the St Augustine airport. Bring water, snacks, and bug-spray. Please arrive 15 minutes early so we can get started on time.
There are no restrooms at the trailhead, so plan accordingly. Children capable of hiking 3 miles are welcome, but please no pets. Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged. See More/Files in Meetup for a trail map.
After the hike, we could go to the King's Head Pub for some bangers and mash, fish and chips, Guinness beer, etc.
DIRECTIONS: The trailhead is located at 479 Lake Shore Dr., St. Augustine. Take U.S. 1 south from Jacksonville or north from St. Augustine. Turn onto Venetian Blvd, which is where the red double-decker bus at King's Head Pub is located. Follow Venetian as it curves slightly to the left and make a right on Old Dixie Dr. Drive a short distance and make a left on Lake Shore Dr. Drive almost to the end of Lake Shore and the parking area for Stokes Landing will be on the right.
RSVP on Meetup or to outing leader Bill Armstrong at
[email protected].
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"Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the people of the Earth.
Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it."
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