Sno-Isle News March 2021

State Forest Lands Management Revision ♦ Salmon Restoration - Lower Snake River Dams Removal ♦ Legislative Update ♦ New Rules For Fossil Fuels
March 8 2021
In this issue...
Join us to Learn How We Can Improve State Forest Management
Mark your calendar:
Third Thursday Meeting & Social
March 18  from 6 to 7 pm
 
Our featured speaker this month, Sierra Club Forest Chair Mike Town, will explain the whys and hows of ending the outdated practice of cutting our forests as part of supporting schools.  We'll also get updated on important environmental legislation and learn about some easy steps we can take right now to build voting power across the nation in preparation for 2022. We hope to see you!
 
REGISTER  to get the Zoom link.
Take Action
Help Decide Snohomish County Planning Policy

Submit comments about the draft Countywide Planning Policies by March 16 and share your views about planning for the natural environment, housing, transportation, economic development and public services. Review the Plan

Current policies were last updated in 2011; new ones are likely to be in place for awhile. Submit Comments
 
Support Dam Removal for Salmon Survival
 
Call our Senators and your Representatives in DC and ask for their support to remove four Snake River Dams to restore salmon runs. To learn more about this bold new plan, see this Video

Senator Murray 202-224-2621
Senator Cantwell  202-224-3441
All House members 202-225-6400
 
Work for Washington State Priority Climate and Environmental Justice Bills

See the status of five Priority Bills with actions you can take to help move them forward.
  1. Low Carbon Fuel Standard
  2. Growth Management Act update
  3. Healthy Homes and Clean Buildings 
  4. Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act
  5. Promoting salmon recovery.
Events
New Rules For Fossil Fuels

We have an opportunity to speak out about how fossil fuel projects are evaluated in Washington state, and we need to learn how to have the maximum effect. Attend one or more of these events and be ready for the May hearings.

March 9 Climate Justice is Protecting Community Health
March 23 Centering Frontline Communities
Register Now!
 
Film Explores Educational Inequities
Virtual screening Sun., March 21, at 4 pm
Teach Us All -- Elevating Equity in Education
for Every Student

This documentary shares powerful lessons from history with a timely context, emphasizing the need to rectify the disparities in educational opportunity among America's children. Sixty years after the Little Rock Nine faced violent resistance when desegregating Central High in Arkansas, broader community engagement is still needed for educational equality. This is one of the monthly Edmonds Diversity Film Series.

Join Zoom Film Screening
 
Edmonds Climate Action Plan Workshop
Thurs., March 25 at 6 pm
 
You are invited to join Edmonds' work in developing a new Climate Action Plan for the city. While acknowledging that one city cannot resolve a global problem, the goal is to do what is possible locally.

Read about it on the City’s Climate Action Plan website.
 
Good News
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency approved funding to update the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. This includes four counties and will provide essential information for climate planning activities. You can’t manage what you don’t measure!

Thank you Paul Roberts, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Board (Chair), Everett City Council member, and Sound Transit Board (Vice Chair).     
Halt to Drilling in Arctic Wildlife Refuge
 
One of President Biden's first actions when he took office was to halt oil and gas leases in the region. The Trump administration had fast-tracked auction of about 1.6 million acres for oil and gas development. Biden's team put a stop to it; and environmentalists convinced all major US banks to refuse funding for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Photo by Peter Mather
Removal of Farmed Salmon Net Pen
 
Thanks to persistent pressure from the conservation community, Indigenous Peoples, and the public at large, another of Cook Aquaculture's disease-ridden Atlantic Salmon net pens is gone. With three more pens to go, and Cook's plan to farm Steelhead, the battle is far from over. But we celebrate this win.

Sierra Club in Action.  Thanks to our volunteers! Their recent work:

  • Co-hosted Growth Management Act webinar with the League of Women Voters and Futurewise
  • Signed on to letter asking State House and Senate Budget Committees to support Trust Land Transfer
  • Shared information backing Snake River dam removal plan
  • Lobbied legislators for Sierra Club enviromental priorities
  • Gathered data and shared information about dangers of tree removal plan at Point Edwards condos in Edmonds.
  • Worked to impove Edmonds Tree Code: Letters in media and testimony to the City Council
  • Created eco-resource file on our website to house relevant research articles
  • Contacted state Department of Health regarding management of sewage waste
  • Helped coordinate the national Sierra Club voter registration drive
  • Worked on Sierra Club Letters to the President program
  • Endorsed three local candidates for the upcoming primary election

Interested in joining our work?  See How and Sign Up!

 
There are years that ask questions
And years that answer.

Zora Neal Hurston
 
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