Loma Prieta Chapter eNewsletter: December, Volume 1
December 16, 2024
YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Stay tuned for opportunities to take action as local jurisdictions take the lead turning the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan into action.
► Double the positive impact of your support with our dollar-for-dollar year-end match.
► Attend the panel discussion on local industrial-scale wood pellet plants.
► Read about the amazing positive impact San Jose Inspiring Connections Outdoors is having on the lives of local youth.
► Learn what our Bay Alive Campaign Sea Level Rise Committee leaders have to sayabout the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan in recent KQED and POLITICO articles.
► Take a hike! See the comprehensive list of Chapter activities available through December.
Victory for Bay Resilience!
We made it! Thanks to your advocacy, on December 5th, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) adopted a groundbreaking Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP). Despite opposition and complex competing priorities, your 250+ letters (90 percent of comments received!), your 650+ petition signatures, and your powerful public comments helped secure an equitable and actionable RSAP. The adopted plan emphasizes the crucial importance of Bay ecosystem health for our region’s resilience and includes required standards that support complete and connected ecosystems, prioritize natural and nature based solutions, and reduce contamination risks.
The Plan is a big win, but implementation is key. Local jurisdictions now take the lead in turning the RSAP into action so your voice will be crucial. Stay tuned for opportunities to influence sea level rise planning in your community. Together, we’ll keep making a difference!
Our Year-end $15,000 Dollar-for-dollar Challenge has Arrived!
This is your chance to double your positive impact, as every dollar you give will be matched to support our Chapter's critical environmental work. Did you know that 70% of our funding comes from individual donations? Little comes from membership dues to Sierra Club National. Don’t miss this opportunity to amplify your support, so please check your mailbox or view our invitation online to participate in our year-end match.
If you have already accepted the challenge, we thank you for enabling and inspiring local environmental protection.
Forest Protection Forum Panel Discussion
Golden State Natural Resources is proposing to build two industrial-scale wood pellet plants in Tuolumne and Lassen counties, exporting one million tons of wood pellets a year out of Stockton to overseas energy markets.
Although it’s being billed as a wildfire mitigation strategy, community members and advocates are concerned about incentivizing the destruction of our forests, the loss of critical carbon sinks, perpetuation of severe wildfire conditions, and negative health impacts to people who live near the plants or the Port of Stockton, through which the wood pellets would be shipped to Europe and Asia. Register today.
Black Mountain Hiking Section Holiday Party
Black Mountain Hiking Section Holiday Party
Saturday, December 21st
11:45 am - Noon
This event is opened to Black Mountain Hiking Section past and current hikers and leaders. Several decades of Black Mountain tradition is finally back after five years of hiatus since the pandemic. Gather with a lunch potluck to celebrate the holidays, reconnect and plan for the future. RSVP is required. Event location will be sent to those rsvp'd on December 17th.
Many Firsts for English Language Learner High School Students with Sierra Club ICO
Sequoia High School students from a low-income community in Redwood City recently embarked on their first wilderness adventures, with several unforgettable trips made possible by Sierra Club ICO (Inspiring Connections Outdoors) volunteers. For many students, it was their first time camping, visiting the beach, or experiencing the thrill of white-water rafting. The students, some of whom have immigrated from Central America in the past year, worked seamlessly together, setting up tents, washing dishes, and showed respect for one another and their natural surroundings. Read the full article.
KQED: "The Bay Area Now Has Its First-Ever Regional Sea Level Rise Plan"
"Arthur Feinstein, who chairs the Sierra Club’s Coordinated Bay Alive Committee, said he’s disappointed that the new plan 'weakened some standards' around preserving undeveloped shoreline lands and nature-based sea level rise adaptation strategies.
'They could have gone back and said that you must apply these standards instead of you must consider these standards,' Feinstein said. 'That alone would change how it’s going to be implemented because it’s so much more forceful.'"
POLITICO: "Turning San Francisco Bay into a bathtub"
"Environmental groups, though also generally supportive of the plan, aren’t happy with those changes. Forty environmental groups including the Sierra Club and San Francisco Baykeeper argued in a letter to the agency that any weakening of the standards leaves the door open to uneven adaptation, with better-resourced areas pushing flooding and toxic contamination on to disadvantaged neighbors.
'If everybody reacts to the sea level rise with a levee or a sea wall, then the bay would turn into a bathtub,' said Gita Dev, vice chair of the Bay Alive campaign for the region’s three Sierra Club chapters. 'You still need a plan that works for the whole region and will take care of sea-level rise over time into the future.'"
Learn how nature can help us fight sea level rise with cost-effective and sustainable solutions. Watch recordings of our webinar series with SF Bay experts and please share with your local elected officials.
Donate Your Hiking and/or Camping Equipment
Do you have hiking and/or camping equipment in good condition that you're ready to share with others? Donate them to the Loma Prieta Chapter! We have multiple channels to share them with those in need. Tents, sleeping bags, child carriers, and emergency equipment are especially needed.
Due to ongoing health concerns and based on feedback from those who have signed up, we have made the decision to transition our upcoming Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP) from an in-person format to an online format, while making the registration free!
Furthermore, we have also included sessions on Climate Action by popular demand. Our outings will serve as an opportunity to socialize, form city teams, and work on local environmental issues together.
If you have any questions or need further assistance with the transition, please feel free to reach out. The details for the online meeting will be shared once you register. Thank you for your understanding - we look forward to your participation!
"We have been advocating for a reduction of light pollution in the region, and have advocated against electronic billboards and the proliferation of light pollution in San Jose and in other Bay Area cities for many years. We submit the following comments on the Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the installation and operation of six programmable electronic signs on five City-owned parcels in the downtown San José area (Project). We believe that the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report should be required for this Project."
San Benito County Voters Approve Measure A to Control Sprawl
The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter endorsed the San Benito County Measure A (Empower Voters to Make Land Use Decisions) that was approved by the county’s voters, 55% yes vs. 45% no. Going forward, changes to General Plan land use designations for land designated as Agriculture, Rural, and Rangeland will require a vote of the people.
The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter supports the local organizations in San Benito County in their ongoing efforts to preserve the rural, agricultural character of the County in the face of increasing sprawl development. Read the full article.
Sunnyvale residents near Lakewood Park will continue to access grass fields now that, on Nov. 19th, the Sunnyvale City Council approved a Staff plan for grass athletic fields at the park. This is the culmination of a two-year effort to keep Lakewood Park free from plastic turf.
Your vote is simple but powerful to say thank you to the volunteers that annually dedicate thousands of hours for your priorities. It's time again for you to choose your local conservation representatives, the next members of the Loma Prieta Chapter Executive Committee (ie, the local Board of Directors) and Group Executive Committees.
Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and oldest grassroots environmental organization, is proudly democratic and member-driven. The at-large delegates which you elect will direct the work of our Chapter, along with the local Group delegates that represent geographic regions. Those elected will start their terms in January, 2025.
This year, five individuals have been nominated to run for the five at-large Chapter seats. Visit here to see voting instructions and candidate statements. Paper ballots should have been received by all eligible members by November 15th; alternatively you may cast your ballot online! If you haven't received your paper ballot and would like one, call 650-390-8411. Voting extends until December 15th; paper ballots must be received at our office by then.
California Coastal Commission’s California King Tides Project
What are King Tides? They are predictable high tides that occur annually. King Tides form naturally from the alignment of the sun, moon and earth's gravitational forces. The King Tides Project is a visual representation (your photos) of what SLR may look like for the Bay Area. It helps determine which areas may have the greatest impact from SLR and allows decision makers to be informed with planning and adaptation. See our King Tides Project webinar recording for more information. King Tides will occur: December 13 - 15, 2024. Learn how you can participate in the project.
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.
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.
2024.11.27, Chapter Director joined Loma Prieta Day Hikers, from Russian Ridge, facing north, with this view of San Franciso Bay on the right and the Pacific Ocean on the left.
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself,
and you are the easiest person to fool."
Richard Feynman, California Institute of Technology physicist and Nobel laureate
