YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Purchase your 2024 Guardians of Nature Benefit tickets today at Early Bird rates.
► Register for the Bay Alive Campaign's Letter to the Editor Writing Workshop on August 7th.
► Sign the Bay Alive Campaign petition letter to BCDC Commissioners.
► Apply to be a Chapter Executive Committee candidate.
► Take a hike! See the comprehensive list of Chapter activities available through July.
Reserve Your Spot Today!
We are thrilled to announce that you can now reserve your spot for our 2024 Guardians of Nature Benefit. Early Bird tickets are available for a limited time, so be sure to take advantage of the special pricing. Our annual fundraiser brings together a fantastic crowd of Sierrans, environmental activists, and community leaders for a joyful celebration. Secure your ticket today to join us in celebrating our 2024 Guardians of Nature Honoree, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, for her decades of environmental leadership, and the remarkable work of your fellow Sierrans. We look forward to celebrating with you!
2023 Chapter Summary
We are delighted to share with you the Loma Prieta Chapter’s 2023 Summary, where you can read how you have helped us to positively impacted our region. All the successful advocacy and education we undertake are possible because of individual donations, which provide 70% of our annual budget, and the thousands of volunteer hours that leverage our Chapter staff's work. We thank you for your continuing partnership.
16 New Ansel Adams Commemorative Stamps
Former Loma Prieta Executive Committee Member Les Kishler attended a very special event in Yosemite on May 15th, 2024, and was gracious to report on it.
"The Yosemite Valley dogwoods were in full bloom and the waterfalls were roaring. A ceremony was held to issue 16 new Ansel Adams commemorative stamps. Adams was one of the most influential Sierra Club members in its history. He served on the Sierra Club national board and inspired a significant increase in Sierra Club membership by taking a strong public stand in protection of the environment and wilderness during the 1980's." Read more.
Letter to the Editor Writing Workshop Wednesday, August 7th
7:00 - 8:00 pm
Are you looking for ways to get involved with the Bay Alive campaign, but not a fan of public speaking? Join our new Letter to the Editor writing workshop where you will be trained and equipped with all the resources you need to use your words to influence the future of sea level rise planning around the Bay.
Sign Our Petition Letter to BCDC Commissioners
Time is racing towards a final decision at the end of this year for Bay Conservation and Development Commission's (BCDC's) Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP). We're intensifying our efforts to build public awareness and engagement.
Sea level rise poses an undeniable threat to the Bay Area. The RSAP presents a crucial opportunity for coordinated regional action to bolster the resilience of our communities and ecological assets against climate change.
San Francisco Bay’s shoreline habitats are invaluable public assets. Beyond mitigating flood and storm surges, these ecosystems sequester carbon, filter pollution, and moderate temperatures, services that are vital for our region’s health, safety, and ecological balance. As climate change worsens, they will become even more indispensable as our first, and arguably most cost-effective, defense against sea level rise.
California Least Terns at Risk
This is the fifth of an awareness through artwork series, by our 16 year-old volunteer Aiden Chen, that we introduced in January.
The California Least Terns are an endangered migratory seabird species that nest in colonies on the ground along parts of the coast of California. They rely heavily on open, sandy dune habitats both for nesting and for the anchovies and smelt in nearby waters for food. Increasing human disturbances, like development and beachgoers, along with other sources of habitat loss, like sea level rise, forces the terns to nest in urban environments and in concentrated areas so that access to food would be preserved. This, in turn, makes them very vulnerable to predation by threats ranging from feral cats to crows to raccoons. An example would be the tarmac at the closed Alameda Naval Air Station, which supports a successful colony but must be managed annually by the USFWS and its volunteers to limit urban predators. To conserve and save these birds, Sierra Club's Bay Alive and 30x30 campaigns promote the use of nature based solutions to protect the San Francisco Bay wetlands, associated habitats, and human communities from sea level rise. The 30x30 campaign works to conserve 30% of California’s lands and waters by 2030. Learn more.
Case Study for Sea Level Rise Contamination Threat
One of the biggest threats our Bay Area communities will face as a result of sea level rise is the movement and spread of soil-borne toxins due both to surface flooding and the underground movement of shallow groundwater tables, pushed upward by salt water intrusion from the Bay. As these waters pass through contaminated soil, they carry the contamination, creating new exposure pathways that could impact the environment or public health. Because of historical injustices, lower-income communities and communities of color are more likely to live near contaminated sites making them disproportionately vulnerable to exposure. Our friends at the Richmond Shoreline Alliance did a great job explaining the problem in this excellent virtual toxic tour of the Zeneca Super Fund site in Richmond.
Sea Level Rise Webinar Series
How can local cities and residents use nature-basedadaptations to sea level rise? Watch recordings of our webinar series with SF Bay experts and please share with your local elected officials.
Our chapter is looking for people who can contribute to our chapter’s highest governing board. Our ExCom, ensures that our finances are in good condition, discusses and votes on important issues, engages in policymaking, appoints committee chairs, and writes bylaws as well as standing rules. ExCom members are elected each November for two-year terms starting in January, and can serve for a maximum of three consecutive two-year terms, after which they are eligible to run again after a one-year hiatus. If interested, please contact Sue at sue2042@gmail.com. The application deadline is July 20, 2024.
POLE Hiking Training
Monday, July 29th
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
This session is for HIKERS. If you have mobility challenges of any kind, please consider the POLE Walking for Maintaining Mobility class as a better way to start with poles.
COMMENT LETTERS
Support for Water Resources Protection Zone Ordinance
"The undersigned organizations write to express our strong support for the proposed Water Resources Protection Zone Ordinance No. 24-XX. We commend the Santa Clara Valley Water District for taking a proactive stance to safeguard our water resources, natural habitats, and the safety of our communities. Our organizations have a strong interest in the protection of waterways, riparian ecosystems, wetlands and the San Francisco Bay. For more than a decade, we have been advocating for measures that would distance homeless encampments from creeks, and create shelter that houses people without polluting our creeks and our bay."
Reject Providing Discounts on Park Impact Fees for Market-Rate Residential Developments
Industrial Forestry and the Water You Drink
Monday, July 15th
4:00 pm
Presented by Chuck Willer
Chuck will examine the transformation of the U.S. economy over the past three decades and its impact on corporate forest ownership and management. He will link Wall Street finance to landscape forest conditions and explain how such conditions harm watersheds and aquatic life. Please register here.
We are organizing an Environmental Stewardship Team in Palo Alto. This will be a pilot program that will serve as a template for teams in other cities in our chapter. If you live in Palo Alto, we invite you to join us in our environmental advocacy activities. You can do as much as you would like, depending on your time and inclination. You can limit your involvement to just making public comments at official meetings a few times a year. Or, you can participate in our regular meetings, meet fellow activists, join socials and hikes, write op-eds and articles, and more.
One of the best ways to safeguard a thriving and just future is by ensuring that your Loma Prieta Chapter remains a champion for the environment of Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Benito Counties. Naming us as a beneficiary in your bequest will provide meaningful and enduring resources that will allow continued local and powerful environmental activism.
Please contact our Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman for the specific language for your estate planning and/or read more here. For additional information about planning a bequest please contact Julia Curtis, (800) 932-4270.
Your connection: Local environmental protection needs you; the Loma Prieta Chapter's Plastics Pollution Prevention Team is one of many opportunities.
Marshes Could Save Bay Area Half a Billion Dollars in Floods
What, precisely, is the value of habitat restoration? While answers tend to aim for pristine nature and thriving wildlife, one approach — recently published in the journal Nature — has assigned salt marsh restoration projects a dollar value in terms of human assets protected from climate change driven flooding. This novel approach uses the same models engineers use to evaluate the value of “gray” solutions such as levees and seawalls.
Your connection: If you'd like to join us and spread the word of the varied and immense benefits that marsh restoration has in protecting our communities from climate change and sea level rise, join our Bay Alive Campaign. Learn more about the Bay Alive Campaign.
Photographers, see the great images in our Chapter Annual Summaries and help protect local nature with your images! Share with us your high-resolution photos of local nature, with or without people, to inspire local residents to support Loma Prieta Chapter work. Please contact Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman.
July 9th, 1970: creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
July 10th, 1856, Nicola Tesla's B'day
July 12th, 1817, Henry David Thoreau's B'day
Your Chapter Director was delighted to attend the annual picnic of the Loma Prieta Singleaires outing section, established more than fifty years ago, which has chosen to update their mission and their name to Sierra Pathfinders.
Seven Great Quotes from Henry David Thoreau
“What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?”
“Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.”
“It is never too late to give up your prejudices”
“Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”
“The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.”
“A taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors”
“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”
