Footnotes Issue #94: March 9th, 2015
Announcing the 2015 John Muir Outings Series!
Join us for our annual John Muir Outings Series as we Explore and Enjoy Georgia's beautiful wild places, and discuss how you can be a part of protecting them for generations to come!
This year, on each Weekend in April, let’s get outdoors together for the 2015 John Muir Outings Series! Based on the philosophy of the Sierra Club's famed founder, John Muir, these unique outings offer you the opportunity to learn about conservation efforts happening to protect the environment while also enjoying and exploring some of the most beautiful places Georgia has to offer. Join us, along with our special guests, as we share our environmental visions of how to enable a grand and sustainable Georgia, one of which our founder would be proud. There is a $25 suggested donation for each outing.
For additional details on each specific outing and to sign up, please visit the links below:
April 4th |
Easter Egg Hunt on the Beltline Join us as we explore the Atlanta Beltline and the Atlanta Streetcar, two projects that are transforming the city by combining biking, walkability, and rail to connect 45 intown neighborhoods. This trip highlights the Beltline’s future light-rail system, which would connect with the existing Atlanta Streetcar. We will walk the Beltline Eastside trail from Historic Fourth Ward Park to the Streetcar stop in front of the MLK Jr. National Historic Site (1.8 mi), and then catch the streetcar. Be sure to keep an eye out for eggs filled with goodies along the way! We will ride the 2.7 mile streetcar loop, stopping at Sweet Auburn Curb Market for lunch. We will then return to the Beltline and walk another 1.8 miles back to Historic Fourth Ward Park. |
April 11th |
Hike-Up Ocmulgee Monument Expansion The Ocmulgee National Monument is poised to become middle Georgia's first National Park! The National Parks Service has issued a boundary study report for the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds, which could mean the addition of a whopping 2,100 acres to the monument! This would greatly advance efforts statewide to secure national park designation for the area stretching from the Mounds south through Bond Swamp and along the Ocmulgee Water Trail towards Hawkinsville. Join us for an easy Saturday stroll through the monuments beautiful grounds along the Ocmulgee River, and hear from local leaders about how you can help support a new National Park in Georgia! |
April 18th
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The Forest Service has proposed an enormous timber sale in and around the Cooper Creek watershed in the Blue Ridge Ranger District of the Chattahoochee National Forest. Much of this so-called "Cooper Creek Watershed Project" is really a disguised timber project that targets some of the oldest oak stands in the watershed and doesn't promote forest health. Join us for a hike through these forests. We will see several stands that are part of the Forest Service's Cooper Creek Watershed Project, taking time to examine the stands and talk about the proposed treatment (cutting) of them. Join us for one of two hikes: David Govus will lead a liesurely hike along an old logging road, stopping for lunch on the trail. A more strenuous hike will also be available that offers both trail and road walking, as well as cross-country trekking over steep terrain and dense forest. Note, this hike is approximately 5 miles. |
April 25th |
Join us for a 10-mile float on the Coosa River as it winds through western Floyd County on its way to Weiss Lake in Alabama. The trip begins at Lock and Dam Park, a historic site where steamboats laden with cotton once stopped. The journey will also take in two significant industrial sites: International Paper's pulp mill and Georgia Power Co.'s Plant Hammond, a coal-fired power plant. An estimated 30,000-60,000 fish each year may perish at this power plant's water intake and the warm-water discharge from the plant further disrupts fish habitat downstream. Representatives from the Sierra Club and Upper Coosa Riverkeeper will help participants understand how these problems can be corrected and how individual citizens can take action to protect the Coosa. |
April 26th |
Following in the Footsteps of John Muir: A Bonaventure Excursion Savannah figures prominently in the life of the great naturalist John Muir who started out life as a mechanical genius with a successful career in manufacturing; until at age 28, he embarked on a life-changing 1000-mile walk from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico. His money ran out when he reached Savannah, so he camped out for five nights under the famously beautiful tillandsia-draped oaks of Bonaventure Cemetery awaiting the money he needed to resume his journey. What better way to celebrate John Muir's legacy than to explore with a naturalist's eye the place where he "camped among the tombs". |
What better way to honor the Earth and our founder, John Muir!
Suggested donation $25 per person per outing; Additional equipment fees may apply.
We Want to Hear Your Stories!
Have you ever been on a Sierra Club National Outing or Service Trip? We would like to share your story in our next Sierran newsletter! Please email maria.adams@sierraclub.org if you are interested.
Sierra Club Meetings
Wildlands & Wildlife Committee Meeting, Monday, March 16, 7:00 p.m. RAIL Committee Meeting, Monday, March 23, 7:00 p.m. Smart Energy Committee Meeting, Monday, April 6, 7:00 p.m. |
Don't live in Atlanta? Check out our Local Groups.
Other Events
March 11 & 12th - Greenprints Conference - Expand your knowledge of green building, policy and sustainable design while networking with industry professionals at Southface’s 18th annual Greenprints Conference. Greenprints is a forum for regional and nationally-renowned building industry, building science and design experts and professionals. Since 1998, the Greenprints conference has facilitated conversations between researchers and on-the-ground practitioners that have promoted sustainable buildings and communities. Get up to date on toxic building materials, regional development, solar in Georgia and more! Click here for more information to register.
March 11th - Atlanta Green Drinks - Atlanta Green Drinks is a monthly social/networking event for anyone interested in sustainability. All are welcome—bring a friend! Whether a regular or newbie, there are always good new green people to meet in our city. Join your fellow enviros this month at Ri Ra Irish Pub for some early SPD drinks, good food & giveaways. Click here to register.
March 18th - Sierra Club & Beer - Every other month, Sierra Club and Beer provides a space and great beer from Marietta-based Red Hare Brewing Company for meeting like-minded people, while learning something new. This month, we will hear from Georgia Chapter Chair David Emory about the Transportation Funding Act in the Georgia Legislature, and the need to balance funding to expand alternatives like mass transit, biking and walkability. Click here to register.
March 26 & 27th - 2015 Welch Symposium “Plastic GYRE: Artists, Scientists and Activists Respond” - In an effort to raise awareness and discourse on the global crisis of plastic pollution, the Welch Foundation at Georgia State University, David J. Sencer Museum of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Plastic Pollution Coalition are jointly hosting a two-day symposium as part of the Atlanta Science Festival, and will feature a wide array of experts discussing the most current research, creative response, activism mobilization and industry best practices in a quest to address runaway global plastic pollution. More details and RSVP here.
Looking for more? Check out our Meetup Group for even more events!
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