Well-known as one of the best and prettiest Florida rivers to paddle, with over a dozen freshwater springs on our route, the Santa Fe River has an amazing combination of sparkling springs and natural beauty. On any given day, we can encounter deer, otter, snakes, birds, river frogs, and many turtles. The trip is great for beginners and experienced paddlers alike.
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson will be our river guide. Merrillee is an exceptionally experienced and knowledgeable guide. She is part owner of Rum 138, was president of Our Santa Fe River, and was a campaign organizer for the Sierra Club. We are thrilled that Merrillee has offered to guide this trip.
Join us Friday, June 30th at 9 am at Rum 138 (2070 SW County Rd 138, Fort White) for a half day paddle. There is enough current to do the trip with ease. Bring your own lunch, hat, sunscreen and water; we will bring snacks and all the necessary equipment for a great day on the water.
Rental rates: Single / double kayak ($39/$59), canoe (2 person; $55) or SUP ($45). Return shuttle for your personal boat, $25. FL Sales tax and park entry fees are not included in the prices listed
Please register on our website by Wednesday June 28 at 6pm.
Registration requires two steps. First, please register on the Sierra Club website. Next, to reserve your kayak, canoe, SUP, and/or shuttle, please call Rum 138 at (386) 454-4247 and reference “Sierra Club June 30th paddle.”
Contact David Hastings, dwhastings@gmail.com (727-692-7795) to answer any questions.
On July 1 across the state of Florida, we will demonstrate our collective resistance against the far-right extremism of Governor DeSantis and his allies.
This legislative session, working-class, Black, Brown, and queer Floridians were under attack like never before. The Florida Legislature solidified its alliance with corporations and far-right billionaires.
We will not lie down quietly and let this happen. When many of the bills passed during the 2023 legislative session will go into effect on July 1, we will be heard across the state telling the true story of what impact these bills will have on our communities.
We will raise awareness among Floridians and voters across the country about the devastating repercussions emanating from the 2023 Florida legislative session. Our protests will be serious yet joyful displays of solidarity, emphasizing our commitment to safeguarding our rights, liberties, and democratic values.
No matter who you are or what issues you care about, this legislative session hurt us all, and we are organizing to fight back.
Every Floridian should have the freedom to be healthy, prosperous, and safe. Whether it comes to having safe, secure, and affordable housing; being safe and learning true history in our schools; accessing the full range of reproductive health care; or being free from gun violence, we all deserve leaders who put protecting our freedoms first.
We refuse to allow our freedom to be trampled on. We reject the far-right extremism of Governor DeSantis and his allies that promotes extreme ideologies and undermines the interests of working Floridians. We reject their divisive tactics. We will not allow manufactured culture wars to divide us because we are building a movement that cannot be bought.
We believe in the power of the people. By uniting, we demonstrate the strength of our movement, our determination to protect all Floridians, and the joy we find in demonstrating the solidarity between us.
We invite you to join us on July 1st, anywhere you find yourself, to stand up to protect our freedom and demand change. Together, we will be a force that cannot be ignored.
Our protests across the state will be a testament to our determination, resilience, and unwavering commitment to preserving the freedom and democratic values we hold dear.
This is why we fight.
In addition to the Gainesville event listed in the artwork above, there is a Joyful Resistance - Palatka in the works for the morning of July 1. Please email or call Jyoti Parmar at (352) 641-0095 if you wish to attend or volunteer for the Palatka event.
Stand up for No Mining in Bradford County Wetlands
July 6, 2:00 PM Location: Starke, TBD
Meet up before workshop at noon in Hampton, please RSVP for directions
Bradford County is considering revisions to their Land Development Regulations for mining permits and we request your assistance in advocating for stronger regulations. As Bradford County is home to the New River and many other tributaries that serve as the headwaters for the Santa Fe River, this activity should also concern residents in Alachua County. (See attached LIDAR map)
On June 15 the Planning and Zoning Board considered a resolution, titled CPA 23-01, to recommend revisions to text in the Bradford County’s Future Land Use Maps to include both the Santa Fe River and New River to the 100-year flood maps; and establish special buffer requirements for mining activities in the Comprehensive Plan as well as prohibit mining in wetlands. The revisions drafted were modeled off the language that had been adopted previously by Union County.
Chemours Company sent attorney Beth Moore with the Sodl & Ingram PLLC firm in Jacksonville to provide comment. She asked that the board instead schedule a workshop where Chemours and other business interests in the county could “improve” the language, especially the prohibition of all mining in wetlands. The lawyer then went on to suggest that any alteration of wetlands is only temporary and that they are put back in place through reclamation.
This last statement is patently false as Chemours has not been able to reclaim wetlands to a state that they were in before mining operations began.
Over the years there have been some very real concerns by residents in Bradford County about the effects of Chemours mining on local water quality and quantity. Recent independent research has uncovered reports of releases of radium that were more than double the allowable levels.
Sierra Club applauds the Bradford County Planning and Zoning Board in considering how to tighten the regulations for mining activities in wetlands. We are also very conscious of the deliberate efforts that Chemours is making to undermine (no pun intended) this forward-thinking revision. Instead of recommending the revisions to the Commission for a first reading, the Planning and Zoning Board voted to recommend a workshop that would open the process allowing Chemours to recommend new language.
Please act now as the workshop has been scheduled for July 6th. We will need your help in Bradford County to share that all parties that live downstream, not just the business interests of those who extract and mine resources from the land, need to be at the table. We must protect our clean water for future generations.
Thank you for your continued support in protecting our water resources.
Join us for our next working meeting to assist the residents of East Gainesville in preparation for their administrative hearing to stop the expansion of the Florence Construction and Debris Landfill. Please bring your laptop or tablet to assist in the research.
A number of East Gainesville residents are contesting this landfill expansion because it is too close to Boulware Springs (which runs into Paynes Prairie), as well as immediately adjacent to a neighborhood including homes, churches, schools, playgrounds and farms provide fresh food to hundreds of local families.
This landfill should have been closed and capped years ago, as permitting implied would happen. Instead, its planned to double in height in an area that has historically been a dumping ground for wealthier, whiter businesses and residents.
Background on the landfill expansion's FDEP permitting can be found here:
Nominations for voting Conservation Committee members are being accepted at ssjsierra@gmail.com.
Sign up here to attend our next meeting as we want to hear from you!
EMILY IN GAINESVILLE
Emily Gorman paid us a visit earlier this month.
Photo: Left to right
Jyoti Parmar, Sanna Saare, Raja Weise, Sarah Younger, Moksha Now, Leslie Pearsall, Emily Gorman, Derek Lamontague, Michelle Rutledge, David Hastings
As Executive Director of Sierra Club Florida Chapter, Emily stopped in with us for a listening tour and as a bonus we also had the pleasure of Communications Director Leslie Pearsall make the journey to meet us.
Introductions were made at our Summer Picnic at Depot Park, which brought us all together under the setting sun to enjoy a potluck meal. It was a warm Friday evening, and the conversations were lively. Emily heard the latest on the power grab by State Legislature to takeover GRU, as well as how UF was planning to cut down over 300 trees and demolish much needed graduate student housing to put up a parking lot.
It was a delight to share good food and company in a relaxing environment and really get to know one another as well as the campaigns we have been working on.
The next day was a trip to the beautiful Cuscowilla Nature and Retreat Center in Micanopy. Volunteers of our Energy and Climate Action Team along with Sierra Club Florida Chapter organizer,
Photo Credit: David Hastings
Jyoti Parmar, had been working for several months to prepare for the first countywide Climate Fair. The afternoon started with a presentation of the findings of the Climate Vulnerability Study. This study was commissioned by Alachua County to explore what impacts climate change will have on North Central Florida.
Crops and livestock will be greatly affected by higher heat indexes. More than 20% of housing in many rural areas is mobile homes and these residents will be most impacted by increased temperatures. Our population will grow due to climate change as people move away from the coast. The number of wildfires will increase as it becomes both hotter and drier.
Suwannee-St Johns Group Vice Chair, Dr. Michelle Rutledge, along with Emily served on a panel that reflected on the findings after the presentation of the study. Emily stressed the urgency of addressing the Climate Emergency by preparing our communities. The first responders will be our neighbors in times of climate disaster. Alachua County has begun the work and we must engage our neighbors to get the word out and ensure no one is left behind.
On Sunday morning we had invited community leaders to Meet and Mingle over coffee and light refreshments. People came from Putnam and Bradford County, as well as residents from Archer and Gainesville.
Photo Credit: David Hastings
Folks shared stories of the threat that Chemours mining poses to our water and health through toxic wastewater. They also railed about how this Legislative Session has impacted public control over our municipal utilities through the GRU takeover. Others spoke of the importance of community engagement for proper siting of solar farms and landfills. Tina Certain, an Alachua County School Board member stressed the importance of preparing voters for this next election to get real representation in Tallahassee.
It was a whirlwind visit and over too soon, Emily got a taste of life in North Central Florida and met some of the good people that work together through Sierra Club here. Thank you Emily and Leslie and we look forward to another visit soon!
Election Schedule for SSJ Executive Committee
SSJ Executive Committee (ExCom) consists of seven members, of which four of these seats are up for election this year. The members of 2023 Nomination Committee (NomCom) are Michelle Rutledge, Tim Martin, and Kristin Rubin.
Oct 2nd- Nominations Due
Oct 23rd- Petition Candidate deadline (additional candidates can petition to be on the ballot by providing signatures of at least 25 members)
Nov 13th- Voting begins
Dec 18th- Voting ends
Jan 2024 - Newly elected SSJ Executive Committee members term begins
If you or someone you know would like to serve on the SSJ Executive Committee, please contact the NomCom members at ftimothymartin@yahoo.com.
By Jose Daubon Urizar, 5th Grade Hidden Oak Elementary
In the dark sky, I saw a rocket fly,
I wondered why are we going to space
When we even have to fix our own place.
For centuries we have been ruining our planet
And no one had made a change.
We’ve made innocent men, women and children suffer
From wars, hunger and injustice,
But what for our only home.
It’s ruined too much
While people invest to plant potatoes in space
The Earth cries and shouts from droughts and hunger,
And without forests to be able to breathe
Floods and fires without a stop
But I look to the sky and
I find a small infinite Hope…
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