In this issue: help protect our public lands and old-growth forests, oppose Duke's rate hike, read about nature oases in Indianapolis and Columbus, and enjoy our regular features - like photos from you, our readers - and much more!
Rebecca Dien-Johns
Chapter Coordinator.
A prime opportunity to expand and preserve our public lands in Indiana
Flourishing natural areas and parks are indispensable to people’s health, prosperity, cultural traditions, and enjoyment. They also play a critical role in combating the climate and extinction crises.
Hoosiers have an important role to play in helping us achieve this goal by supporting legislation that would more than double the size of the Charles Deam Wilderness Area and establish the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area.
Upcoming Public Hearing on August 8 in New Albany to say NO to dirty coal!
Public pressure is working -- on July 12 the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency who represents customers interests, recommended that Duke’s rate case be reduced by more than 60%. Let’s make sure the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission doesn’t allow Duke to have more money for polluting coal! This is the final opportunity for Duke customers to speak at a public hearing opposing Duke’s rate increase and to share the impacts of the proposal directly with decision makers at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Citizens Action Coalition is hosting an Informational Town Hall on July 30, click here for details and more information about the rate case.
Thank you to all the Hoosiers across the state who are demanding Duke move away from polluting and expensive fossil fuels -- keep an eye on your emails and on Indiana Beyond Coal Facebook page for news and opportunities to take action. Click here to sign-up to volunteer with Beyond Coal. Questions? Contact Senior Campaign Organizer, Megan Anderson at megan.anderson@sierraclub.org
Update on our regional groups
The Hoosier Chapter is planning on updating its structure, which will formally remove the Dunelands Group and the North East Indiana Network as sub-entities of the Hoosier Chapter. Members are welcome to comment at our online Chapter ExCom meeting on Aug 10, 2024 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time before a final vote is taken. Register here: ExComm: Listening Session (Dunelands Group and NE Network)
Take action to protect old-growth forests!
Did you know that old-growth forests on our federal lands are still not protected from logging even though they are loved and cherished across the country? Our National Forests -- managed by the Department of Agriculture -- are too often treated like crops to be harvested, rather than the valuable climate resources that they are. The U.S. Forest Service is taking comments on a proposal that could protect old-growth forests from logging.
I’ve lived at Wildergarden since 1990. Folks from the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter recently visited. They invited me to write this article.
Briefly, I’m a native of Bloomington, Indiana. From ages 10-12 I gardened at Hilltop Garden and Nature Center. In our neighborhood we had bushes and low-branched trees as hideouts and clubhouses.
Today, soil, plants, and habitat remain my passion in life. The Sierra Club mission rings true for me, because at Wildergarden we have re-wilded our turfgrass lawn into an urban oasis.
L-R Jesse Kirkham (Sierra Club Heartlands Group chair), Julia Wilder (president and founder of Wildergarden), Rebecca Dien-Johns (Chapter Coordinator at the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter) and Robyn Skuya-Boss (Chapter Director at the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter) at Wildergarden in June, 2024.
Columbus National Pollinator Week - blog from Eric Riddle, volunteer leader
On Juneteenth, Wednesday, June 19, seven Sierra Club Winding Waters Group volunteers gathered at 8:00 AM to celebrate National Pollinator Week. Their morning mulching mission was replenishing the 15 native plant beds along the Columbus AirPark Pollinator Path with donated mulch from the Columbus Recycling Center. They were able to complete the job before lunch, in part motivated by the 90 degree heat!
Dean Schertz, Danny Hollander, Eric Riddle, Natalie Perry, Dave Wildemann (not pictured: Julie Lowe and Dennis Tibbetts) volunteering during Pollinator Week on Columbus AirPark Pollinator Path
Throwback Thursday
Welcome to this occasional feature, where we look back and share photos from our past.
This month, we're taking it all the way back to July 1983! This flier is for a Sierra Club Uplands Group meeting, featuring a photographic journey through the Deam Wilderness with photographer Steven Higgs.
The Uplands Group was active in the 1980s and recently bloomed again as the Uplands Network, which has just celebrated its two year anniversary. If you live in or around Bloomington, contact marilynbauchat@gmail.com for how to get involved!
Sierra Club staff and volunteer leaders are passionate about getting out there and spreading the word about issues that matter to Hoosiers!
Volunteer leaders Joab Schultheis, Rossi Wingler, and Jesse Kirkham at the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter table at Veg Fest.
Three Sierra Club volunteers - Joab, Rossi, and Jesse, pictured here - tabled the 2024 VegFest, an annual vegan festival, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse earlier this month. Attendees who came up to the Sierra Club table were most interested in learning about the proposed expansion of the Deam Wilderness area and subsequent animal habitat protection. We received over 50 petition signatures urging Senator Todd Young to support the legislation.
