Help yourself,
help our work
with new tax break
When filing your income tax return for 2020, you can claim a charitable deduction for up to $300 after if you take the standard deduction—a one-time opportunity under the CARES Act—that you can use to help the Sierra Club in its climate and conservation work.
The act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act), passed by Congress last spring, is the mammoth relief law that provided supplements for many individuals and businesses. The $300 deduction is part of that.
Here’s what you do: Write a check payable to the Sierra Club Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, and send it to the treasurer of our club. She will earmark the money for Northeast Florida programs, then forward it to the Sierra Foundation.
Send your check to Treasurer Lucille Pendleton, Sierra Club of NE Florida, 1144 24th St N., Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250.
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Meetings & events:
Zoom into December
While the pandemic surges, we’re presenting our normal menu of outside group hikes and face-to-face meetings on-line. Here are the events of interest:
Dec. 3, Thursday, 7 p.m. on Zoom. Hiking the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, part 3. Details and registration information are here.
Dec. 9, Wednesday, 7 p.m. on Zoom. Hiking in Gold Head State Park. Details and registration information are here.
Dec. 14, Monday, 7 p.m. on Zoom. John November, executive director and general counsel of The Public Trust Environmental Legal Institute of Florida, will give us an update on the status of Jacksonville's urban forest and volunteer tree planting program. Go here for login information.
John, an Atlantic Beach resident and a graduate of the University of Florida law school, will provide details about recent progress made to revolutionize Duval County’s urban forestry practices aimed at growing a more robust tree canopy.
Anytime
For inspiration and information, Go on a virtual hike with our knowledgable guides and experience North Florida's wonderful parks and preserves, our national park systems, scenic trails, and overseas treks as well.
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Election shows
mixed results
for our candidates
By BARBARA GUBBIN
Group Legislative Chair
We worked hard. We won some, we lost some. Here are the results from the Nov. 3 election for the candidates we endorsed.
U.S. House District 4. John Rutherford re-elected. Donna Deegan (endorsed) lost, 61% to 39%. Note: Deegan did better in Duval County, which went for Biden in the national election, than in St. Johns or Nassau counties.
U.S. House District 5. Al Lawson (endorsed) re-elected. Defeated Gary Adler, 65% to 35%.
State Representative District 11. Cord Byrd re-elected. Joshua Hicks (endorsed) defeated, 68% to 32%.
State Representative District 13. Tracie Davis (endorsed) had no opposition on Nov. 3. Re-elected.
State Representative District 17. Cyndi Stevenson re-elected. Dave Rogers (endorsed) defeated. 68% to 32%.
St. Johns County Commission District 1. This was an open seat. Christian Whitehouse won. Joe McAnarney (endorsed) lost, 66% to 34%.
St. Augustine City Commission Seat 2. Barbara Blonder (endorsed) defeated incumbent Leanna Freeman. 56% to 44%. The turnout in this race was 86%!
Duval County Soil and Water Conservation District Group 4
Ashantae Green (endorsed) won with 39.3% of vote.
We can look forward to a Biden Presidency with positive hearts for change in direction when it comes to climate and the environment, and, I hope, renewed determination to achieve change during the 2021 Florida legislative session.
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Orlando area waterways
get legal protection
Residents of Orange County—Orlando’s county—voted overwhelmingly last month to amend the county charter to give legal protection to rivers. The amendment, which passed with 89 percent of the vote, applies to the Wekiva and Econlockhatchee rivers and other county waterways. It grants the waterways the right to be free from pollution and the right to exist. And it allows citizens to file lawsuits on behalf of the waterways to enforce those rights.
—Brian Paradise
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Bogey Creek Preserve entrance (WJCT photo)
Land trust purchase
promises access
to 30 miles
of pristine trails
The North Florida Land Trust is preparing to expand access from its Bogey Creek Preserve to a trail system that will include 30 miles of government and privately-owned land.
The trust, a nonprofit group devoted to preserving endangered land in our area, recieved an anonymous $100,000 donation late last month that allowed it to buy a final 12-acre addition to the 65-acre Bogey Creek Preserve, the Times-Union reported.
The preserve is the trust’s first public park and abuts the vast Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. This expanded access is being called the 7 Creeks Recreation Area. (This link includes a terrific short video introducing the area.)
The $100,000 donation to expand Bogey Creek Preserve is “a big win for us,” said Jim McCarthy, president of the North Florida Land Trust. “We’re ecstatic.”
The donation was made through a law firm to protect the donor’s identity.
The land trust is scheduled to close on the Bogey Creek addition in January and will begin working to connect it with the existing park. McCarthy said he expects the added land with a trail expansion will open sometime later in the year
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Notes from the chair:
Adapting and thriving
amid change
By LOGAN CROSS
Northeast Florida Group Chair
I am pleased and honored to assume a leadership role in the Sierra Club of Northeast Florida (SCNEF). I am fortunate to accept this position following the long-term leadership of Janet Stanko. Janet has done an excellent job of growing and enhancing the SCNEF and we are all beneficiaries.
Though the SCNEF is a strong organization, it is learning how to function, adapt, and thrive during challenging times. Global warming is accelerating and approaching levels that will be difficult to reverse. This warming appears to be driving many observable environmental changes and is revealing a host of environmental and social justice issues.
We are dealing with a global pandemic that has revealed the intersection between human health and environmental conditions as evidenced by the virus’ disproportionate impact on underserved populations. Numerous instances of social injustice have also spawned an awakening to lingering societal inequities and environmental justice issues.
In the past it might be possible to believe global warming, the pandemic, environmental injustice, and social inequity are things that happen elsewhere, but the impact of these phenomena are now readily observable in Northeast Florida. Given the SCNEF commitment to environmental preservation, engagement with nature, outdoor recreation, and environmental justice, this appears to be a call for action. Though the challenges are formidable, I am confident in the commitment of SCNEF members and their ability to address these emerging issues.
To meet these challenges our organization will need to adapt, improve, and grow. When viewed from a positive perspective, the many issues we face can be viewed as the catalyst to make needed changes that will improve our organization.
You will be pleased to know members of the SCNEF Executive Committee have done an organizational self-assessment and developed a strategic plan to greatly improve our ability to effectively address many regional challenges. Though the plan is well-conceived, its success is based on the assumption many of our members will contribute a portion of their knowledge, expertise, and time to implementation of the plan and assessment of its effectiveness.
In the near future we will be providing more information about the SCNEF strategic plan and how you can assist. In the interim, please give thought to ways you can assist our organization and its causes. Thanks for your membership and support.
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About the Sierra Sentry
The Sierra Sentry is the newsletter of the Sierra Club’s Northeast Florida Group. It is published every month with environmental news and activites of interest to area residents.
Contributions—photos, essays, and poems—from readers are welcomed. Questions and comments? Write to the editor, Robert Blade.
Not a member of Sierra? Go here to join and receive a free tote bag.
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