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Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary 

Proposed Sanctuary Expansion
Upcoming Public Meetings in Galveston, July 12, and in Houston, July 13.
Building on more than 30 years of studies and numerous reports released in the last decade calling for additional protections, NOAA’s Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is proposing to expand its boundaries to protect areas of national significance off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

Your help needed! The Houston Bike Plan final draft has been presented to Houston City Council and will be voted on later this summer. Please join citizens across Houston in asking City Council to vote YES on the Plan (sample letter below). Even if you are not a bicyclist, please support this plan. Better bikeways will provide an environmentally friendly transportation option that will benefit all citizens.

2016 is a pivotal election year with key elections from the White House through your local county court house. Key environmental issues from climate change to the Trans Pacific Partnership/TPP, and from Texas air and water issues to Houston area Super Fund sites and dozens of other key environmental issues will be in play. Now is the time for Sierrans to get involved and help elect environmental advocates. Our local group will connect with candidates, learn about their environmental positions and help some of those who are true environment supporters.

For three years the Houston Sierra Club has assisted the U.S. Forest Service (FS) in restoration of blackland prairies in Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF). Scattered over the western and central part of SHNF are small (approximately 2-20 acre) natural prairies that are created from the Fleming geological formation. These native grasslands are commonly called “blackland prairies” due to the dark soils that they have, with high shrink-swell characteristics (cracks in and movement of the soil), and due to their marine origin which gives them a high calcium or calcareous content.

Jaime Gonzalez (Community Conservation Director at Katy Prairie Conservancy) has recorded an informative and nicely illustrated lecture, now available on You Tube, to discuss the reasons why planting native plants, instead of exotic plants, is better for saving monarch butterflies, native bees, and birds and for creating a sense of place. This 28 minute video covers a wealth of info on the benefits of native plants and features a number of local community planting sites.

Monday, July 18, at 7:00pm
Brazos Book Store
2421 Bissonnet St., Houston, TX 77005

The Texas Landscape Project: Nature and People, is a newly published environmental history atlas for the state. The book presents more than 40 chapters on land, water, energy, wildlife, air quality, and the built world. It provides an accessible, highly visual approach to understanding the conservation challenges of our time, with discussions on a wide range of topics including hunting preserves and public parks, dams and aquifers, wind farms and coal plants, lead emissions and tobacco laws, billboards and sprawl.

For City of Houston residents, curbside glass pick up is not an option under the City of Houston’s (COH) current contract with Waste Management. However, you can recycle your glass at the Westpark Recycling Center off of Westpark south of 59, and several other COH recycling drop off locations around the city (check the COH website for locations).

On the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in the United States the words “Hurricane or Tropical Storm” have bad connotations. On the Upper Texas Coast, names like Carla, Rita, Alicia, Allison, and Ike all bring back memories of surging streams and rivers in ever widening floodplains, storm surge, waves, tidal influences, high winds, broken or blown over trees, roofless houses, rain, rain, rain in or on our flooded streets, businesses, parks, and houses, and human misery, injury, and loss of life. We have all suffered from the effects of hurricanes and similar natural weather phenomena.