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January 2019 Edition
January 10, 2019 — “Riverwoods: Exploring the Wild Neches”
Join us on January 10 to hear Author/Photographer Charles Kruvand present his new book about the Neches River, “Riverwoods: Exploring the Wild Neches”. Through beautiful photographs and stirring recollections of his trip along the river, Charles Kruvand weaves a rare portrait of one of the last wild rivers in Texas.
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.
Go here for more information.
Discussion of “Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” edited by Paul Hawken.
Bay Area meetings are on 3rd Wednesday of the month, and start at 6:30pm for social hour; speaker and discussion from 7-8:30 pm at the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park, 5002 NASA Parkway.
Go here for more information.
The Houston Sierra Club presented awards at the December 13, 2018 general meeting. The Awards Committee solicited and selected recipients for all Houston Sierra Club awards except for the Environmental Reporting and Special Service Awards, which were chosen by the Houston Sierra Club Executive Committee.
Go here for more information.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has released its “Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Coastal Texas Protection and Restoration Feasibility Study”. Send your comments by January 9, 2019 by email, CoastalTexas@usace.army.mil
Go here for more information.
Houston METRO has posted the latest draft plan for METROnext, the plan it is developing for future area transit projects. This new draft has been labeled Plan “A Plus” and will be the basis for further discussion and public meetings, where citizens can ask questions and get explanations.
Go here for more information.
Houston Sierra Club is a member group of our regional Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC), and we encourage your support of this year’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Tour, one of the largest environmental film festivals in North America.
Go here for more information.
On November 15th and 28th, the Houston Sierra Club (Sierra Club) met with the U.S. Forest Service (FS) to discuss the Montgomery County Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project (MCWHIP). This project would take place in Compartments 31, 32, and 33 on the west side of Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF), east of FM 149 and south of Osborn Road.
Go here for more information.
The Houston Sierra Club is looking for volunteers in several areas, especially Audio-Visual for our meetings. We also need one more person to help with Social Media.
Help to make a difference for the Sierra Club!
Click the link to see new opportunities to help.
Go here for more information.
Since its founding in the late 1960’s, the Houston Sierra Club (Sierra Club) has advocated for flood management that not only “Keeps people out of harm’s way” but also “Works with, and not against Nature”. These two principles, along with public participation and transparency for public decision-making processes, are the foundation of the Sierra Club’s “Flood Management Policy”.
Go here for more information.
With President Trump and his administration, the public must again fight to keep its public lands from being privatized and dedicated to resource exploitation, particularly energy development. A useful tool for public lands advocates, activists, and plain old citizens of our great country is the recently published “In Defense of Public Lands, The Case Against Privatization and Transfer”, by Steven Davis.
Go here for more information.
There are different programs within TFS’s two divisions: the Forest Resource Development Division and Sustainable Forestry, and the Forest Resource Protection division. The Texas Forest Service has a wide array of issues that it must deal with. Citizens would do well to contact TFS, learn about how it helps private landowners and citizens, and determine what can be done to protect forest resources in Texas.
Go here for more information.
It seems that everywhere we look we are seeing trees being torn down and grassy areas being turned into parking lots. Sadly, there’s not much we can do about it. There are things you can do, however, to help replenish some of the natural resources that are destroyed. You can turn your backyards and even small apartment balconies into areas that attract wildlife, butterflies and even bees.
Go here for more information.
Get Outdoors!
For current information on upcoming outings in the Houston area, check out our MeetUp site. For canoe/kayak outings, visit our Outings page at Canoe/Kayak Outings
The weather was spectacular, and the water level in the cypress swamp was high.
Just two days before our December 1 outing, the US Geological Survey’s monitoring station at Liberty, TX (about 27 miles upriver from where we were) had ended a period of more than 40 days and 40 nights above flood stage.
Go here for more information.