by Carla Klein, Ozark Chapter Director
When John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892, he realized the importance of taking elected officials and club members out to the special places that he wanted to protect. Allowing individuals to experience the wonder of nature first hand was so critical to the foundation of the Sierra Club that it is imbedded in our mission statement:
To explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the Earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the Earth’s ecosystem and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment, and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.
In honor of this founding principle, and as a means to honor the critical role that our generous donors play in the vital work we do, the Ozark Chapter held the First Annual “Sierra Club Donor Appreciation Outing.” Generous donors to the Ozark Chapter were invited to spend the weekend in one of the most beautiful places in the world—the Ozark National Scenic Rivers area. Our reasons for choosing this region were twofold; first because of its beauty, and second because it gave us the opportunity to show our members firsthand the challenges we face in protecting this amazing and fragile region. It also provided us an opportunity to highlight some of the ongoing work being done by Sierra Club staff and volunteers in the area.
Due to the generosity and support of local business, Rivers Edge Resort, Air Corp and Acres Canoe Rental, our members were able to experience the beauty of the area in a truly unique fashion. Fifteen members and supporters of the Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club spent the weekend with local experts. Those arriving Friday evening enjoyed a dessert reception and time around the campfire getting to know one another. Saturday morning Don and Becky Horton led an educational hike for Sierrans to show the matchless beauty of Greer Spring. Greer is the second largest spring in Missouri, which in normal flows offers a gallon of water for every American every day. The Hortons explained that in 1992 the US Forest Service allowed the Doe Run Company to drill six exploratory holes just a mile and a half north of this natural wonder. We learned the threat is far from over. New geologic maps, produced by USGS, based on Doe Runs core samples, show the area near Greer Spring is the location of a sizeable deposit for lead and other minerals. We must be vigilant to ensure that this area remains free of industrial lead production. This area is truly a treasure; I had seen photos before of Greer Spring but they do not do justice to the beauty and awesome power of this natural wonder.
Later that afternoon the group floated a short stretch of the clear and threatened Jacks Fork River. They learned that unregulated gravel mining, out of control horse trail rides and ATVs threaten the Jacks Fork’s water quality and stream bank integrity. That evening we enjoyed a fabulous riverside dinner prepared by Chapter staff. As we gathered around the campfire, resort owner Alan Peters spoke to the group about some of the problems in the lower Jacks Fork and why that section of a National Scenic River is on the state’s impaired waters list.
Sunday morning, Tom Kruzen guided the group to the “New Lead Belt” known as the “Viburnum Trend.” This informative tour showed the ravaged landscape filled with “tailings ponds,” mines, mills, spilled lead concentrate along the highways and other effects of thirty years of lead mining. Kruzen explained that much of the destruction caused by mining, milling and smelting of lead are not always obvious. Some streams in the region are actually runoff from dewatering the mines— devoid of fish and the insects that feed them. They went on to see tailings dams made of tailings (sand-like material) that had almost collapsed into the West Fork of the Black River few years ago when it became water-logged after five days of soaking rains.
We also observed numerous past clear-cuts on both public and private lands; the contrast to the single tree selection methods of Pioneer Forest was apparent. The weekend ended with a real sense of camaraderie. Donors left the event with a renewed sense of how their support of the Club was being used. They also had a personal relationship with Sierra Club staff and a better understanding of the challenges the Club faces in protecting this region.
Many members are unaware that the local and state levels of the Sierra Club receive very limited financial support from National Sierra Club. We must conduct our own fundraising to pay for the operation of our office, our Chapter staff, including the ability to have a full-time lobbyist at the Capitol in Jefferson City. The Ozark Chapter Sierra Club is the only statewide environmental organization that has consistently had a presence at the state level to monitor and report critical environmental legislation that impacts Missouri’s environment. We depend on financial support from our members to carry on our critical work.
The essential ingredient of the Sierra Club’s success has always been the commitment of extraordinary people— not only its activist leaders and staff, but also its members, through their participation in the Club’s campaigns and through support of the Club by their contributions.
We plan to make the “Sierra Club Donor Appreciation Outing” an annual event to thank those that help make our work possible through their generosity.