The Wilderness Act Turns 50
Two Steps You Can Take to Stop Fracking
Call for Administrative Volunteers
By Edward Moreno
The American Wilderness provides a vital link to human well-being and to American culture. This country has had the privilege of benefiting from the foresight and effort of great conservationists like Howard Zahniser, who worked tirelessly to preserve wild America for generations to come.
On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, thereby establishing the nations National Wilderness Preservation System.
On September 3, 2014, the United States of America will celebrate the 50th anniversary of this act. This year in the spirit of the wild, California Assemblymember Anthony Rendon has authored an Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR 90) which formally recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.
The founders of the wilderness system saw that the American wilderness was disappearing fast and acted “to secure for the American people of the present and the future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.”
In 1964, about 9 million acres of U.S. Forest Service areas received permanent protection. Thanks to the Wilderness Act, more than 106 million acres are now permanently protected.
The wilderness needs to be protected because it offers an array of benefits including:
- It provides a vibrant refuge from the distraction of modern life, realigns us with ancient biological and geological rhythms, and eases an innate spiritual longing for contact with wild nature.
- It preserves the diversity of species that are potentially important to human welfare, such as species with breakthrough medical uses.
- It guards the web of life with its wild gene pools that make life possible on earth.
- It provides critical features that improve air quality, retain water and allow for recreation in nature- all critical for a good quality of life.
Please join Sierra Club California in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Write a letter to Assemblymember Rendon expressing your support for ACR 90.
Also, log on to www.wilderness50th.org and get involved in other ways to celebrate the Wilderness Act!
Two Steps You Can Take to Stop Fracking
By Michael Thornton
This month presents two powerful opportunities to help protect California’s environment and public health from fracking.
First, from the comfort of your own home, you can write a letter to your state senator calling for him or her to support Senate Bill 1132, by senators Holly Mitchell and Mark Leno, which will impose a moratorium on fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods.
Second, you can join the “Don’t Frack California!” Rally and March, that will bring thousands of Californians to the North steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento on Saturday, March 15, from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to urge the governor to use his executive authority to halt fracking and well stimulation.
From communities on California’s Coast, to the Los Angeles neighborhoods already overburdened by pollution, to the oil fields of the Central Valley, Californians have been raising their voices and sending an unequivocal message to Governor Jerry Brown:
“Don’t Frack California!”
Oil companies have been using dangerous fracking and well stimulation technologies that put our air, water, people and wildlife at risk from pollution, while also contributing to climate change.
The legislature and the governor, together, have the power to halt all of this “fossil fuelishness”.
For more information and to RSVP contact Mike Thornton, California Coastal Organizer michael.thornton@sierraclub.org
Call for Administrative Volunteers
Sierra Club California needs a few good volunteers who are passionate about protecting California's environment and willing to offer some extra hands in our office.
In the next few weeks and months we could use help on a number of special projects. Duties may include data entry, legislative alert deliveries, attending hearings at the Capitol, filing paperwork, updating media and bill summaries.
We are looking for someone available Mondays and/or Wednesdays between 9 a.m.-1 p.m..
We welcome enthusiastic, informed, insightful, dedicated volunteers who are willing to support our mission.
Please contact Meg Johnson, Operations Coordinator
Email: Meg.Johnson@sierraclub.org
Phone: (916) 557-1100 x 110
Our office is located in downtown Sacramento, just a few blocks north of the State Capitol Building. We're on a light rail stop and we have secure indoor parking available for your bicycle. Our address is 909 12th Street, Suite 202, Sacramento, CA 95814.
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