Yes, I am still off on the boat, but that doesn't explain the headline. I am changing the content of Chair Chat for the next few issues.
For an important reason. Yes, everything I put in Chair Chat is important, but this topic goes to the very core of our being.
We are an organization of grassroots VOLUNTEERS! Perhaps the largest and most effective one on the planet.
To do our work, we need volunteers.
So for the next few months, I'm going to talk about volunteering opportunities open to all of you. I will dive deep on only one or two jobs, not just hand out a long list, so you can understand fully. If you looking for a way to contribute to the Sierra Club, but not sure what you want (or can) do, stay tuned because we have many options to choose from.
This month's opportunity is very important, for without this volunteer, you wouldn't be able to read this or any of the other articles in Turtle Tracks.
We need an editor to join the Turtle Tracks Newsletter Team. Volunteer Opportunity Newsletter Editor needed!
Our newsletter, Turtle Tracks, is a monthly, emailed publication. The newsletter editing team collects articles and photos, edits and sends them to the newsletter editor. The newsletter editor formats them into a single email using a software called Marketing Cloud.
The newsletter editing team needs a volunteer to convert these articles and photos into the Marketing Cloud email. This volunteer will be trained in the use of the Marketing Cloud software through the National Sierra Club digital staff and guided along the way by an already-experienced member of our newsletter team.
Training is estimated to take four to five hours, all online and mostly at your own speed. Once trained, the time commitment would at first be about six hours toward the end of each month. The time spent on each issue will decrease significantly with practice.
This position does not require writing or editing. The volunteer simply uses the edited material from the other team members and plugs it into the newsletter format. Computer experience is necessary and layout skills a plus. Experience with Marketing Cloud or other composition software would be very valuable.
Program: Learn about AlgaePower, a systems integration solution to the problem of fertilizer run off and sargassum blooms that kill fish, sicken humans and damage ecosystems. AlgaePower is starting a fertilizer business to produce organic, no-runoff fertilizer by harvesting algae, sargassum and or wastewater treatment biomass. AlgaePower reduces the use of chemical fertilizers, ultimately protecting the ecosystem from the harmful impacts of toxic chemicals and toxic runoff.
Speaker: Sharon Seagren, CEO & Founder of AlgaePower, has a history of leading teams developing innovation in tech and biotechnology. Professional highlights include spearheading cellular and two-way radio technology to provide clean drinking water and food for people worldwide. Cellular technology has advanced precision agriculture and enables regenerative agriculture practices.
Governor Ron DeSantis’ plans to put three golf courses and a hotel at Jonathan Dickinson State Park and install other ‘amenities’ at a slew of other state parks were shelved just days ago in the face of massive public protest. Off the table “for the year,” he says.
Many thanks to all of you who responded to the several Sierra Club calls to action and to those who appeared at the formal protest on August 27 in Stuart and spontaneous demonstrations at other times and places.
YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! NEVER STOP BELIEVING YOU CAN.
Will this be back? Yes! This is Florida, where developing public land for private profit is a sport. Remember the “Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail” idea that was poised to rampage through state parks in 2011? We thought it was over when we beat that back.
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America
A book review
by Mary Cassell,
Elaine Usherson Scholarship Chair
With the rise of wildfires on our planet, The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America, by Pulitzer-Prize winning nonfiction author and New York Times columnist and reporter, Timothy Egan, is a very informative and swift-moving read.
Egan tells a dramatic two-in-one tale; one about the largest ever, though not most deadly, forest fire to date spanning over the weekend of August 19-20, 1910. The other tale is about the early and zealous beginnings of the conservation caucus as told through the friendship and politics of President Teddy Roosevelt, his chief forester, Gifford Pinchot, and their older brilliant mentor, John Muir. The story transpires soon after the formation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1891, and its expansion into the Division of Forestry, as well as the founding of the Sierra Club in 1892.
For an armchair traveler like me (at least for now!), the stories of these men in their younger years, boxing each other and taking numerous camping trips out West through the snow-capped peaks of the Northwest are really exhilarating. After their tour together in 1896, along with members of the forest commission, they advised President Grover Cleveland to create two national parks (Mt. Rainier and Grand Canyon) and several forest reserves covering other lands they had explored.
As for the outcome, the “Big Blowup” managed to shift public apathy towards public land and forest management which also included firefighting policy. Perhaps you’ll be intrigued as I was, and you’ll want to read or even listen to the book! You’ll also appreciate the little-known background about the influential John Muir and his roamings in the West.
Other books by this author:
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
The Good Rain: Across Time & Terrain in the Pacific Northwest
Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West
Executive Committee Elections
By Linda Smithe, Executive Committee Chair
Elections for the Loxahatchee Group Executive Committee (ExCom) are coming up and it is time to submit your nominations to the Nominating Committee.
There are 4 two-year terms available in this year’s election.
If you know of someone who might want to serve on the ExCom, encourage them to run.
If you have been on the sidelines but feel now is the time to get off the bench and become more active, nominate yourself.
Candidates will be interviewed by the nominating committee and will need to provide a short resume for publication.
Please let one of the Nominating Committee members know if you want to nominate someone of if you want to run.
Members of this year’s Nominating Committee to date are:
If you have any questions, please reach out to any of the members of the Nominating Committee listed above.
Vote NO on Amendment 2 on Nov. 5
By Grant Gelhardt, Sierra Club Florida Conservation Committee Chair
The right to hunt and fish has been the law of Florida (Section 379.104 F.S.), for generations. Florida law recognizes that hunting and fishing are part of Florida’s cultural heritage and traditions; albeit, in concert with the conservation and protection of those species and their habitats through science-based hunting and fishing regulations promulgated and updated as needed on an annual basis by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
The proposed Amendment 2 includes ill-conceived elements that conflict with FWC’s constitutional and statutorily mandated role to manage hunting and fishing and, threatens the conservation of Florida’s fish and wildlife and their habitats.
The Amendment:
1. Designates hunting as a preferred method of managing wildlife and appears to allow hunting at city parks, county parks, State Parks, and wildlife sanctuaries.
2. Creates a constitutional right to hunt, appears to allow hunters to trespass on private property to exercise their constitutional right to hunt.
3. Allows “all traditional methods” of hunting and appears to allow hunting bears with dogs as well as the potential for the courts to overrule the existing net ban on the use gill nets and seine nets, and the devastating impacts on the fishing resources.
For these reasons: Vote NO on Amendment 2, an ill-conceived and ambiguously worded constitutional amendment.
Local Governments and Nonprofits Will Learn about Easy Climate Money at Our Oct 9th Webinar with the Department of Energy
By Meryl Davids, Inspiring Connections Outdoors Chair
An easy path to federal money for clean energy investments for local governments and nonprofits is flying under the radar: Direct Pay provides money directly from the IRS, even if the organization doesn’t pay taxes.
On Wednesday, October 9th from 1- 2 PM the Loxahatchee Group will join the Sierra Club Florida Chapter to host a free webinar with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Policy.
DOE staffer Alex Kate Halvey will share how governments and nonprofits can recoup 30 percent of their clean energy investment—equal to the clean energy tax credits businesses receive.
Every organization exempt from paying income taxes under §501-530—including §501(c) and §501(d) organizations—is eligible for this direct cash payment. This includes county and city governments, school districts, hospitals, colleges, charities, Native tribal agencies, and religious organizations/houses of worship. The credit covers numerous clean energy investments, from clean energy generation and storage to clean commercial vehicles, certain EV chargers, and much more.
During the webinar, Halvey will describe how easy it is to get back 30 percent of each clean energy investment. There is no application or selection process; any project meeting criteria for the credit is eligible to receive the money after the project is complete. The credits can generally be combined with other sources of federal financial assistance.
Please help spread word of this informative webinar to all nonprofits and local governments that might be interested in learning about this great Direct Pay option.
THE PALM BEACH SOLAR CO-OP IS SHINING BRIGHT!
Exciting news!
The Palm Beach Solar Co-op has selected Go Solar Power to install solar panels for the 26-member group. Co-op members selected the company through a competitive bidding process over seven other firms.
Please share this with any solar interested homeowners, nonprofits, and small businesses you know in Palm Beach County.
The solar co-op is free to join. Joining is not a commitment to purchase panels. Go Solar Power will provide each co-op member with an individualized proposal based on the group rate. By going solar as a group and choosing a single installer members can save on the cost of going solar and have the support of fellow group members and our solar experts.
Laura Tellez
Associate Florida Program Director, Palm Beach County Solar Co-op
954-546-2444
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
Here’s what some of our Loxahatchee members and activists have been doing lately
When you're finished reading them, let us know if you’ve done something you’d like to share with others. We’d love to read it.
So let us know what you’ve been up to. Maybe you read a book on the environment, attended a meeting, sent a letter to an elected official or to a local paper, or went on a hike? If you did something last month or this month and you want to tell others about it, send a brief description of what you did with a possible image to Linda Smithe, DestinationLoop@gmail.com.
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
FOR OUR ANNUAL GALA NOV 9
This year online bidding for our silent auction begins BEFORE the event
Jenny Staletovich, Environment Editor at WLRN, is named our 2024 Environmental Champion
The Loxahatchee Group’s annual fund-raising gala Under the Sea is November 9 at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties in West Palm Beach.
Our auction will have new, online bidding, whIch closes one week prior to the event. However, there will be a chance for you to place a final bid in person. Visit here to go to the bidding section. It will be active closer to the event.
The auction benefits our Inspiring Connections Outdoors program, the Elaine Usherson Scholarship program, and the Loxahatchee Group’s conservation efforts.
Come join us to have fun, raise some money, and congratulate our 2024 Environmental Champion, Jenny Staletovich, Environment Editor at public radio station WLRN in Miami.
Jenny has reported on many of South Florida’s major environmental stories, including impacts from climate change, Everglades restoration, invasive pythons, diseased coral, 2018’s devastating red tide and blue-green algae blooms, and a host of other critical issues around the state.
In the last few months, you might have heard her podcast “Bright Lit Place” about the Everglades, or her report on efforts to save coral reefs, as well as a sawfish die-off and fish exhibiting strange behaviors due to distress from unknown causes.
Jenny has won several state and national awards, including the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment, the Green Eyeshades and the Sunshine State Awards.
And if you can’t be there with us on Nov. 9, don’t feel left out. You can donate here.
Here's WLRN Environment Editor Jenny Staletovich
enjoying some of that South Florida environment. (Photo Provided)
Broward Doings: A Roundup of the activities of the Sierra Club Broward Group
Saturday, September 14, 6 PM – Broward Group Monthly Meeting. Celebrating 20 amazing environmental advocates. Our 5th Annual Awards Banquet will be held at Broward County PBA Banquet Hall, 2901 SW 26th Terrace, Ft. Lauderdale. $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers. All Zelle payments via Zelle Max Goldstein (954-296-3411) by September 10. Checks payable to Broward Sierra Group mail to Max Goldstein, 220 Lakeview Dr., Apt. 305. Weston 3326-1040. Please also RSVP here.
Sunday, September 15, 8 AM – 10 AM – Broward Fall Migration Birding at Tall Cypress Natural Area in Coral Springs. Register here. Leader: Jordan Holaday, holadayjf@gmail.com
Sunday, September 29, 8 AM – 10 AM – Broward Fall Migration Birding at Plantation Preserve Linear Trail in Plantation. Register here. Leader: Jordan Holaday, holadayjf@gmail.com
Sunday, October 13, 8 AM – 10 AM – Broward Fall Migration Birding at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale. Register here. Leader: Jordan Holaday, holadayjf@gmail.com
Sunday, October 27, 8 AM – 10 AM – Broward Fall Migration Birding at Long Key Natural Area in Davie. Register here. Leader: Jordan Holaday, holadayjf@gmail.com
NEW PETITION FOR 2026 BALLOT
Right to Clean Water Petition Drive
We need your help!
There is an important campaign under way RIGHT NOW to get a Right to Clean Water amendment on the ballot in 2026.
This amendment would create a fundamental right to clean and healthy water by legally holding Florida State executive agencies accountable for actions or inactions that harm or threaten to harm Florida’s waters.
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