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June 2018 Edition
June 14, 2018 — the Diamond-Backed Terrapin
On June 14, Dr. George Guillen, Executive Director of the EIH and Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at U of H – Clear Lake, will talk about the diamond-backed terrapin. He is engaged in a multi-year study of the diamond-backed terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin littoralis) in the marshes of the upper and central Texas coast. Why is it so significant? …. because it is the only turtle species to live exclusively in brackish water. With their limited distribution and restricted habitat requirements, they could be an important indicator species.
The event is free and open to the public at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1805 West Alabama, Houston. Main program starts 7:30 PM. Doors open 7:00 PM.
On June 20, join the Bay Area Sierra Club for a presentation by Brandon Reddell, Ph. D., about what a planetary habitable zone is, and provide some additional considerations on what is really needed for habitability on planets outside our solar system.
Go here for more information.
Harris County will hold a special bond election on August 25, 2018 to approve flood mitigation projects. The date chosen marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey’s landfall. The public will be asked to approve the $2.5 billion of projects which may include home buyouts and widening and dredging of our bayous; however, the final project list is not definitive.
Go here for more information.
Houston Sierra Club attended the 5th annual Houston Hackathon on May 19 and 20. Hackathon is a weekend-long, friendly competition among coders who develop websites or apps to solve a range of problems. This year’s winning ideas ranged from where to find groceries during extreme weather events, like Hurricane Harvey, to making money mowing vacant city lots, to aggregating political campaign activity of Texas politicians.
Go here for more information.
Congratulations to Amanda Hsieh for successfully publishing her viewpoints essay, Air Quality, in the Friday, May 18 edition of the Houston Chronicle. Amanda is a volunteer for the Houston Sierra Club’s Rapid Response team. Amanda incisively revealed the author’s use of a false choice to force the public to side with either clean air---benefiting anyone who breathes or higher fuel efficiency standards---risking job loss. Amanda correctly concluded you can have both, clean air and keep jobs even if we set higher fuel efficiency standards.
Go here for more information.
An April 2018 report from Natural Resource Economics for “Environment Now” entitled, “Potential Jobs and Wages from Investments in Defensible-Space Approaches to Wildfire Safety”, details how a focus on wildfire safety in the urban-wildland interface and not logging of large areas, can create more jobs and wages.
Go here for more information.
Current e-waste recycling options in the Houston area can, and do change over time. It is important that citizens recycle their e-waste, because electronics often have hazardous components; and with the ever mounting volume of disposable e-waste those materials need to be kept out of the waste stream, and out of landfills and the environment.
Go here for more information.
For about three years (2014 to 2016), David Boyd and Brandt Mannchen of the Houston Sierra Club (HSC) participated in the development of a Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan (DBWPP). David is a property-owner in Chambers County where the DBW is. The DBW is primarily agricultural and boasts rice farming, cattle grazing, oil production, navigation, recreation, and small town or community activities.
Go here for more information.
Project C.U.R.E. is the largest provider of donated medical supplies and equipment to developing countries around the world. It has a four-star rating with Charity Navigator and is rated by Forbes as one of the 20 most efficient large U.S. charities. They will accept most any leftover medical supplies, but not medicines, ranging from hospital beds to leftover wound dressings.
Go here for more information.
By Cheryl Conley, TWRC Wildlife Center
If you’re hearing twittering followed by rapid, high-pitched chirps in your fireplace, you’ve got Chimney Swifts but before you call an exterminator to have them removed, it’s important to know that the birds have the law on their side. They are protected by federal law under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Go here for more information.
Stewart “Brandy” Brandborg, a legendary leader for wilderness designation and protection of wilderness died on April 14, 2018. “Brandy” was the last link to the 1940s and 1950s wilderness movement that resulted in the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act.
Go here for more information.
Get Outdoors!
For current information on upcoming outings in the Houston area, check out our MeetUp site.
By Tom Douglas
It was a fine Sunday for an outing, with clear skies, moderate temperatures, and little wind. The site was Champion Lake, which is part of the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge. Starting out from the boat ramp, we headed southwest along the rim of the lake until we reached a marked trail leading back to several of the forest clearings that are numbered for use by hunters during duck season.
Go here for more information.
By Brandt Mannchen
Huntsville State Park is a beautiful place with a lush, getting older, forest, Lake Raven, and plenty of hiking trails. But sometimes you can get a bit confused. Recently, the Houston Sierra Club had an outing to Huntsville State Park to hike the Chinquapin Trail. This trail is about 6.8 miles and has the distinction of circling Lake Raven.
Go here for more information.