A Message from our Chapter Chair
Dear Friend of the South Dakota Sierra Club Chapter,
After three years of being South Dakota Chapter Chairperson and acting Chapter Treasurer Dana Loseke will step down at the end of this year. This complies with national guidance limiting terms of chapter leaders. The chapter executive committee (leadership team) is actively seeking nominations from all members of candidates who would like to lead the South Dakota Sierra Club.
We’re seeking talented individuals across the state of South Dakota who are eager to explore, enjoy and protect South Dakota. There are exciting opportunities ahead to build on our success in the area and you could be part of leading that success.
There are many skills you could bring to the table to lead the South Dakota Sierra Club. Your knowledge, management skills, facilitation, planning, volunteer recruitment, media, fundraising, and community organizing are some skills on a long list that you could bring to support the new leadership team.
If you’re interested in restoring and protecting our local successes, and helping to lead the way, please apply today.
The Sierra Club is aspiring to have our country move to 100% clean energy, protect 20 million acres of public lands both near and far, encourage youth to get outdoors and enjoy our beautiful America, and create a far more equitable and diverse movement by 2030. Be a part of this vision and help us to grow the movement in the South Dakota Chapter.
Apply today or nominate someone you feel would provide leadership to protect South Dakota. E-mail or call the following with your name or a likely candidate:
morgan.carnes@sierraclub.org 605-659-1171
sandralss@earthlink.net 605-342-4335
dana.loseke@gmail.com 605-370-8575
Thanks for your participation in protecting and enjoying our state's natural landscapes!
Dana Loseke
Chapter Chairperson
South Dakota Sierra Club
Upcoming Events
Rapid City
Whoopup Canyon Hike
The Black Hills Group of the Sierra Club is sponsoring an outing to Whoopup Canyon on Saturday, September 10th. beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the BLM office on US Highway 16 at the east edge of Newcastle, Wyoming. Whoopup Canyon contains some of the best pictographs and petroglyphs in the Black Hills, and is a locked, secure site on BLM land. The hike is not very strenuous and will be led by BLM staff. Anyone who is interested in carpooling from Rapid City should meet at 8:00 a.m. in the middle of the parking lot at Baken Park shopping center.
Vermillion
River Appreciation Days
River Appreciation Day, September 8th, is a wonderful event which brings 150 school-aged students into nature to learn about and celebrate the Missouri River. Sierra Club is an official sponsor of this event.
Save the Date for Art of Sustainability
Art of Sustainability is an event which celebrates the ways in which artists help to sustain communities and how the act of working together to sustain our planet is, in itself, an art. This year we will be celebrating the fifth annual Art of Sustainability and we will have speakers on topics from organic farming to water quality. We will also have a presentation and live art by Sioux Falls artist Jennifer White. The event will be held on Saturday, October 22nd from 5-9 PM. Check back to the website for more details including a full schedule in the coming weeks.
Sierra Club South Dakota Updates
CAFO Struggle in Clay County, SD
Members of the Living River Group were well represented at the August 15 public hearing regarding efforts to loosen regulation of animal feeding operations in Clay County. Members presented well-reasoned arguments against proposed changes that would allow dairies with up to 5,600 cows, reduce setbacks from Waters of the State and private wells, permit some existing small operations to expand up to 1,000 cattle, 2,500 hogs, or 125,000 chickens without increasing the separation distance from residences or other incompatible land uses, and allow animal feeding operations in the Natural Resource Conservation District, which has long protected our rivers and streams from pollution.
This was the eighth public hearing on proposed Ordinance changes since a newly-elected commissioner began pushing two years ago for CAFO-friendly rules in a heavily-populated county where half the land overlies shallow aquifers. Sierra Club members and other conservation-minded citizens have successfully beaten back even more radical changes, but the struggle continues. Meanwhile, two Living River Group members are on the November ballot to replace the pro-large-CAFO commissioner.
Sierra Club South Dakota and Beyond Coal
Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign is working with South Dakotans to protect our beautiful National Parks. Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks are threatened by regional haze from Nebraska’s Gerald Gentleman coal plant. Haze pollution limits views affecting not how far we can see, but also the color, sharpness, and quality of the view. It also makes the air unhealthy for people, wildlife and natural resources. We are working with South Dakota residents to request that the EPA enforce the Regional Haze Rule, which protects National Parks from pollution from coal plants. South Dakotans have been writing letters to the editor, signing petitions, and recording video petitions.
How you can help
We encourage South Dakotans to write letters to the editor, sign a petition which is sent to the EPA, or record a video petition. If you are interested in taking action, please reach out to Morgan Carnes of South Dakota Sierra Club at morgan.carnes@sierraclub.org or (605)659-1171.