Newsletter - March 2023 update from Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
March 30, 2023
Take action for our environment today!
Welcome to our March newsletter.
In this edition- Women's History Month, important updates from our Conservation Committee, a guest blog from invasive species remover extraordinaire, Helen Steussy, plus all our regular features, news and events, and much more.
Be sure to check our Spotted! section to see what our team has been up to - it's been a busy month and we're so grateful to our volunteer leaders for all the hard work they do. Happy reading!
Happy Women's History Month!
March is Women's History Month. On 8 March - International Women's Day - we celebrated all the awesome women that make up our team of staff and volunteer leaders in Indiana.
There is only one month to go in the Indiana 2023 legislative session and the Hoosier Chapter is still engaging on multiple bills that will impact the environment and the lives of Hoosiers in the state.
The Hoosier Chapter Conservation Committee joins the Sierra Club Forests & Climate team and the national Climate Forests Coalition
The Hoosier Chapter Conservation Committee volunteer leaders work tirelessly protecting the State Forests of Indiana as well as the Hoosier National Forest. These public lands belong to the People and Sierra Club policy supports our opposition to logging for timber on public lands.
Mature and old-growth forests are the most effective natural land-based mechanisms for removing and storing carbon from our atmosphere.
Right: A photo courtesy of Julie Lowe, before a hike at Lick Creek Settlement. The hike was in the Hoosier National Forest in the Buffalo Springs Area. Pictured are Winding Waters Group members from Columbus, Richard Crawford and Steve Schoettmer.
100 Days of Honeysuckle: guest blog from Helen Steussy
"And it was sitting out on our south border – new tree in the ground, patting the dirt. I leaned back and felt the sun on my face. I heard a bird sing. And that moment I fell in love.
Teenage-type love. Heart-rending love. But not love for a person. Deep abiding love for The Land."
Sierra Club staff and volunteer leaders are passionate about getting out there and spreading the word about issues that matter to Hoosiers!
(Top) Mark Nowotarski from the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Executive Committee tabled at the Jasper Home Expo, March 3-4. The expo included home products, services, and other organizations. Our focus was to gain more exposure about the Sierra Club in the area and recruit interested members. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!
(Middle) Amanda is attending the Chapter Support Network Annual Meeting to discuss how to best uplift and resource chapters within Sierra Club.
(Bottom) The Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter, advocated for the American Red Rock Wilderness Act in Washington D.C., during Utah Wilderness Week, March 6-8, 2023.
Utah Wilderness Week is a planned lobby week in Washington D.C. and is a chance for grassroots activists, wilderness advocates, and political movers to come together for activism and leadership training, and to put their newly-refined skills to the test.
The bill, America's Red Rock Wilderness Act, is soon to be introduced by Senator Durbin of Illinois and Representative Stansbury of New Mexico. This legislation would protect the largest network of undesignated wilderness quality lands remaining in the lower 48 states -- among the most beautiful and spectacular landscapes in the world and all U.S. public lands.
This is a long standing national campaign and Utah Wilderness Week has resulted in significant protections but much more needs to be done. Success would provide a real boost to the effort to protect 30% of America's land and waters by the year 2030, (30X30).
Sierra Club Executive Committee member, Mark Nowotarski, at the Jasper Home Expo. Photo by Carla Wimer.
Photo courtesy of Amanda Shepherd.
Hoosier Chapter Chair and Conservation Committee Chair, Julie Lowe, joined SUWA Team # 9 for Utah Wilderness Week in Washington D.C. representing Indiana. L-R Julie Lowe, Katherine Williamson, Legislative Assistant to Representative Frank Mrvan-D, Richard Orr from Missouri, Jack Bentley Vice-President of the Ohio State University, Sierra Club Student Coalition, and Lauren Hainsworth of Utah. Photo courtesy of Julie Lowe.
“We appreciate the uniqueness of this place — of quiet green space in the middle of the city that needs to be preserved" - Sierra Club Southwest Indiana Network volunteer leader Niles Rosenquist quoted in Residents Call for New Pickleball Courts Location (WNIN)
Our director, Amanda Shepherd, quoted on the recent EPA drinking water standards announcement: “Indiana has taken some important first steps to test for PFAS in water, and limit the use of PFAS-based fire fighting foams. But EPA's announcement should be a wake up call for all of us.” Read the press release here: EPA Releases New PFAS “Forever Chemical” Drinking Water Standards.
Thank you to Jeremy Radway for sending in this gorgeous golden hour photograph.
Jeremy: "This is on one of the trails at Paul Ruster Park in Indianapolis. My family and I enjoy this place very much. It's not too far from us and it's an easy way to
get a quick taste of being in the woods for that restorative breath of oxygen and being among nature."
Do you have a photograph of Indiana nature that you would like to share?
We'd love to see it and perhaps feature it in a future newsletter!
Use the button below or email
rebecca.dien-johns@sierraclub.org
