Help Protect Waldo Lake!

Early morning on Waldo Lake in central Oregon.

In 2010, the Oregon State Marine Board prohibited the use of internal combustion motors on Waldo Lake in response to a broad public call to preserve the unique water purity of the lake.  Today, the Oregon State Marine Board is considering reversing that decision due to pressure from a small group of motorboat users and seaplane owners.

Waldo Lake is bordered on three sides by Wilderness and the other side by old growth forest. It is now one of the few large lakes that offers a quiet semi-primitive nature experience to hikers and campers. It is one of the purest lakes in the world with visibility that exceeds Crater Lake. This makes it a world treasure. Gas motors create a real risk of pollution from usage and fuel spills that can destroy this unique treasure, a risk that is unacceptable. There are numerous options for motorized recreation nearby on Odell Lake, Crescent Lake, Davis Lake, Crane Prairie Reservoir, Wickiup Reservoir, and Cultus Lake.

Click here to learn more.

TAKE ACTION!
 Click here to send an e-mail to the Marine Board and Governor Kitzhaber!

If you have more time, consider sending personalized letters or submitting a letter to the editor to the newspapers listed below.  These actions take a bit more time, but can be more effective in making your voice heard than just clicking on the e-mail link above.

Write or call:

• The Marine Board
  • Email: marine.board@state.or.us. In subject line put: Scott Brewen, Director. cc: Randy Henry, Operations Policy Analyst
  • USPS: Oregon State Marine Board, PO Box 14145, Salem, OR 97309-5065
  • Phone: 503-378-8587 (Hours: 8am – 5pm), Fax: 503-378-4597
• Governor Kitzhaber
  • Email contact form: http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/contact.shtml
  • USPS: Governor Kitzhaber, 160 State Capitol, 900 Court Street, Salem, OR 97301-4047
  • Governor’s Citizens’ Representative, Message Line: 503-378-4582, Fax: 503-378-6827
• Bend Bulletin
  • “My Nickel’s Worth”: limit 250 words, include address and day phone for verification.
  • Email: bulletin@bendbulletin.com
  • Fax: 541 385-5804
• The Source Weekly
  • Letters to Editor: go to their web page to submit - www.tsweekly.com/contact-us/Letter-to-Editor.html?catid=12
    
• The Oregonian
  • Letters to Editor: limit 150 words, include address and day phone for verification.
  • Email: letters@oregonian.com
  • Fax: 503 294-4193

Talking Points

Here are some recommended talking points for your letter, email, or phone call (open these bullets in a pdf file for printing here - Motor Ban Talking Points):

• Waldo is one of the purest lakes in the world with visibility that exceeds Crater Lake. This makes it a stunning world treasure. The presence of gas motors creates real risk of pollution from usage and fuel spills that are likely inevitable. This risk is unacceptable.
• Waldo is bordered on three sides by designated wilderness and the other side is old growth forest managed by the Forest Service as primitive area with no motorized access. The character of current Waldo Lake experiences would be irreparably altered by the presence of motorized craft.
• Over 10 years of work went into the creation of the motor ban on Waldo with all the major stakeholders participating, and the public supports the ban by a wide margin.
• Waldo is the only large body of water in the state with a motor ban that allows a quiet experience uninterrupted by the noise from gas motors. This is a unique and valued experience that is highly prized by the public.
• Visitors have many options for motorized recreation in the central Cascades including Odell Lake, Crescent Lake, Davis Lake, Crane Prairie Reservoir, Wickiup Reservoir, Cultus Lake, and several others. With such diverse access to motorized recreation already available, adding Waldo Lake would have little positive economic impact on local businesses.
• The idea that Waldo is needed for float plane operations is nonsensical considering all the available nearby landing options listed in the previous point. Float planes landing and taking off from Waldo would completely destroy the quiet experience currently available there.
• Waldo has been managed as a semi-primitive camping area from the outset, and is widely used by sailors, kayakers, hikers, mountain bikers, and campers who cherish the opportunity to have an area that is free of noise from gas motors.

Big Coal Eyes Oregon – Oregonians Fight Back

Big coal companies are eying Oregon. With coal fired power plants closing across the Northwest and nation due to public demand for cleaner energy, big coal companies want to export the dirty fossil fuel to fast-growing countries in Asia were environmental standards are far lower than in the U.S.

In 2011, the Port of St. Helens along the Columbia River, and the Port of Coos Bay on the southern Oregon Coast, revealed they were in confidential negotiations with unnamed coal companies seeking to export tens of millions of tons of coal to Asia. The Ports have kept the plans secret for months.

But things have been heating up recently. In late December, the Oregon Department of State Lands approved a controversial dredging in north spit of Coos Bay necessary for huge ships that export coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG). On January 18, a coalition of conservation groups and local citizens appealed the decision, arguing that the dredging would cause significant harm to water quality in Coos Bay, and that environmental and public health impacts of exporting LNG and coal were never considered. Read the coalition press release.

Meanwhile, the Port of St. Helens has announced a public meeting to hear from two companies vying to build a coal export terminal on the Columbia River. This is in addition to a coal export terminal proposed for the Washington side of the river in Longview, and another in Bellingham, WA. Read the press release on St. Helens’ coal export plans.

The Sierra Club is fighting multiple coal export plans in the Pacific Northwest as well as plans to export LNG.

Apply Now! Sierra Club Beyond Coal Internships

Intern Rachel Langley addresses a crowd at a joint Sierra Club/Occupy Portland rally to hold corporate polluters accountable.

Internship Supervisor
Laura Stevens, Sierra Club Associate Organizing Representative for the Beyond Coal Campaign

Coal-Free Northwest Campaign

The Sierra Club is leading groundbreaking regional efforts to make the Pacific Northwest a coal-free zone, including leading in the recent success of putting Oregon’s largest polluter, the Boardman coal-fired power plant, on the path to transition no later than 2020.  The Coal Free Northwest Campaign involves a variety of grassroots, communications, and legal strategies end the use of coal-fired electricity and prevent the mining and export of U.S. coal offshore through Northwest ports.

The internship will primarily be focused on various aspects involved in stopping proposed coal export terminal proposals in southern Washington and Oregon.  This is an exciting effort – the new frontier of unraveling the coal industry’s grip on our local communities and our politics, aimed toward building a movement that achieves healthy communities, equity, and justice.  It is a critical component to creating a truly Coal-Free Northwest, and is an important linchpinforimpacting the global flow of coal as a fuel source.

Beyond our work regionally to stop coal exports, this is a critical yearforboth defending the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Clean Air Act, as well as urging the support of strong rulemakings from the EPA on air and water quality standards that would protect our health from the pollution from coal’s life cycle, and interns will dedicate a portion of their time towards these federal issues.

Roles and expectations

Interns will play an active and important role in the local, national and global effort to move away from coal to clean energy.  This is a tremendous opportunity to gain experience around environmental campaigning.  Interns will also gain insight into the structure, operations, and methods of one of the country’s most effective conservation non-profits.

We ask that interns commit to a minimum of 15 hours per week for 10 weeks (not necessarily consecutive), with the exception of the Grassroots Outreach Internship position which has more flexibility for shorter hours and shorter time commitments.  You may choose to arrange for college credit for your internship.  Internships typically correspond with a semester or term schedule, or with summer vacation.

Internship Areas of Focus

Interns will typically spend approximately half of their time on campaign priorities and half of their time in a specialized realm of campaign activities chosen together by the intern and supervisor.  We encourage applicants with experience, coursework, or a strong interest in the environment, grassroots organizing, or any of the areas of focus listed below to apply.  Internship areas of focus may include:

• Community Organizing
• Communications and Media
• Environmental Policy and Research
• Public Health and Safety
• Sustainable Business/Sustainable Economy
• Grassroots Outreach

To apply please send cover letter and resume to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@sierraclub.org
Ph: 503.238.0442×305 Office: 1821 SE Ankeny St. Portland, OR 97214    Questions are welcome!

Visit: http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/coalexport/

New Video: Power Past Coal!

Check out this awesome new video about the coal exports fight that the Sierra Club is leading in Oregon and Washington!  Share this with your friends!  Let us know if you want to get involved!

We’re currently fighting three proposed coal export terminals in Oregon — the Ports of St. Helens, Coos Bay, and Morrow. These dirty and destructive projects would bring coal trains and barges through the Columbia River Gorge, and coal trains through Portland, Eugene, and many more communities–spewing toxic coal dust and diesel pollution, clogging our rail lines and holding up traffic, and stoking the climate crisis all the way.  If you are interested in getting involved in the campaign to stop coal exports in Oregon please contact Laura Stevens at 503-238-0442 x 305 or laura.stevens@sierraclub.org.  The Oregon Beyond Coal Task Force meets every fourth Tuesday  from 6:30 to 8:00 pm at the Sierra Club office in Portland at 1821 SE Ankeny St.

2011: An Environmental Year in Review

2011 was a great year for the environment in Oregon, and the Sierra Club played BIG role in a number of key victories!

This year we have much to celebrate.  We’ve brought an and to an era of burning coal for electricty in Oregon.  We’ve helped homeowners across the state invest in rooftop solar and energy efficiency projects for their homes.  We’ve stopped the development of liquefied natural gas facilities and pipelines along Oregon’s coast.  We held the line during a challenging state legislative session– fighting to protect Oregon’s wolves and advance energy efficiency programs that will create jobs and save money for schools.  And, we led the fight against efforts to ramp up unsustainable logging on our state lands.

Here’s a look back at a few of our key success in 2011 and a look at the struggles we’ll contineu to face in 2012.  For a more complete review of our successes in 2011, check out the annual report that we released last month!

AN END TO AN ERA OF BURNING COAL FOR ELECTRICITY IN OREGON

After years of effort from the Sierra Club and our allies, the Pacific Northwest’s only two coal plants and biggest sources of harmful air pollution are on the path to being phased out.

In September, a federal judge approved a settlement agreement between the Sierra Club and Portland General Electric addressing the company’s violations of the Clean Air Act at the company’s coal plant in Boardman, Oregon. The agreement secures a court enforceable shutdown date of 2020 for Oregon’s only coal fired power plant, significant reductions in haze causing pollution in the near term, and the creation of a $2.5 million fund for restoration in the Columbia River Gorge and Hells Canyon, air pollution reduction, and the deployment of distributed renewable energy such as rooftop solar panels.

With a date-certain phaseout plan for Oregon’s only coal plant, the Sierra Club is now focusing on helping people across Oregon be part of shaping Oregon’s renewable energy future. Over the summer, our members have installed over 100,000 watts of solar on their roofs through our Go Solar with the Sierra Club Program! We have also reached out to thousands of homeowners to sign them up for Clean Energy Works, a program to weatherize homes across Oregon.

In 2010 we also worked with the Sierra Club’s Washington Chapter and other allies to secure a coal-free future for the Pacific Northwest.  On the heals of the announcement that the Portland General Electric’s Boardman coal plant would be shut down, the Governor of Washington announced a deal to close the Transalta coal plant in Centralia, Washington (just 90 miles north of Portland) in two phases beginning in 2020. One boiler for the 1,460 MW plant will close in 2020, the other in 2025, with interim pollution controls for haze being installed in 2013. Additionally, the company proposing to export as much as 80 million tons of coal from the Port of Longview across the Columbia River from Oregon has withdrawn its permits after getting caught misrepresenting the scope and impacts of its operation.

We will remain vigilant in 2012 to stop a variety of potential coal export schemes from Columbia River ports in Oregon and Washington.

DEFEATING LNG TERMINALS AND PIPELINES IN OREGON

In 2011, the Sierra Club and our allies defeated multiple proposals for liquified natural gas (LN G) terminals on Oregon’s coast and hundreds of miles of LNG-related pipleline that would have harmed forests, farms, and waterways across our state.

The year got off to a great start with a major decision on January 12.  The Clatsop County Commission voted 4-1 to withdraw its previous approval for 41 miles of gas pipeline intended to serve the proposed Oregon Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import terminal near Astoria. Sierra Club volunteers were actively involved in efforts to influence Clatop County decision-makers, and the vote wass a major setback for LNG development on the Columbia River – it was the first vote for three new commissioners swept in last November in a tide of anti-LNG sentiment. Then, in another victory in the struggle to prevent LNG development in Oregon, on March 9th, the Clatsop County Commission voted 4-1 to revoke Oregon LNG’s land use approval for its controversial pipeline and LNG import terminal.

Similarly, the federal Ninth Circuit Court on March 2nd threw out Bradwood Landing LNG’s license, finally killing its proposed LNG import terminal 20 miles up the Columbia River in Astoria. In late March, thanks to the tireless work and actions of thousands of Sierra Club members and citizens across the state, NW Natural Gas finally withdrew plans for the controversial Palomar Gas Transmission line which would have crossed the Mt. Hood National Forest and was initially proposed to import LNG from the proposed Bradwood Landing LNG terminal.

But, we weren’t just working to stop natural gas pipeline in Oregon!  In November, President Obama made a decision to delay the development of the Keystone XL Pipeline. This massive pipeline would bring oil mined from the tar sands underneath the wild boreal forests of Alberta to oil refineries on the Texas Gulf coast, further hooking the US on the dirtiest of fossil fuels. The Sierra Club was instrumental in this effort, participating in events from Portland to Washington, DC.

Nonetheless, LNG companies are now moving full steam ahead on plans to export gas from Wyoming and Colorado overseas through Oregon’s ports.  For example, Jordan Cove Energy plans to export from Coos Bay and build more than 200 miles of pipeline across wild rivers and old growth forests in southwest Oregon.  Similarly, the Oregon LNG company is eyeing export from a proposed site near Astoria, which could revive the 217-mile Palomar Pipeline that would stretch from central Oregon to the Pacific Coast. The Sierra Club will remain vigilant in 2012 to block these LNG export proposals.

PROTECTING OREGON’S STATE FORESTS

In 2011, the Sierra Club and our friends at the Wild Salmon Center, Northwest Steelheaders Association, and Trout Unlimited turned the tide in the effort to protect core wildlife and salmon habitat in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests.

In May, following intense efforts to educate Clatstop County Citizens about the value of their state forest lands, the Clatsop County Commission voted to send a letter to the Oregon Board of Forestry calling for them to use the ‘best available science’ in decision making and pressing for a more balanced approach to management in the Clatsop State Forest than what was decribed in a draft 10-year implementation plan developed by the Department of Forestry.  Because Clatsop County receives the most money from logging state forests, their stand for sound science and balance is significant, and marked a break from neighboring Tillamook County which has called for weakening forest protection rules. In the days before the Commission vote, the Sierra Club organized a community meeting attended by local members and supporters, many of whom later testified before the Commission in a hearing attended by roughly 200 people – one of the largest in Clatsop County history!

The Clatsop County letter also came about two weeks after a scathing report from OSU’s Institute for Natural Resources on the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) draft plans which noted that the ODF consistently failed to used the ‘best available science.’

And, in November, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber issued a call to the Oregon Board of Forestry to create first-ever protected conservation areas on state forests. Such conservation areas would be managed primarily for values like clean water, fish, wildlife, and recreation. The Board of Forestry is now considering creating such protected areas as part of its work plan for 2012. Currently, Oregon’s state owned forests contain no significant areas off-limits from logging and roadbuilding for the long term, a fact the Sierra Club has been working to change. Over the past year, we have collected over 1200 signatures on a petition calling for the creation of state forest conservation areas, led hikes to state forest areas deserving of greater protection, and testified at numerous Board of Forestry meetings to help change management on state lands.

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BANNING THE BAG IN PORTLAND AND CORVALLIS

In late July, the Portland City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that prohibits plastic shopping bags at checkstands of major grocers and certain big-box stores. The new rules took effect October 15. Mayor Sam Adams introduced the ban after the 2011 Legislature declined to enact Oregon-wide restrictions. Sierra Club staff and volunteers worked with our partner organizations to lobby and testify before the City Council in favor of this ordinance. Click here to learn more.

Similarly, in April the Sierra Club volunteers in Corvallis submitted to their City Council a Resolution in support of Senate Bill 536, which would ban single-use checkout bags. The Council passed the resolution on April 4th with a vote of 8 to 1. After the state legislature failed to act, Sierra Club volunteers launched a high profile campaign to ban disposable bags in Corvallis.  The ban is now being reviewed by a committee established by the Council and will be voted on in 2012.

STOPPING OLD GROWTH LOGGING

After years of denial, in 2011 the Bureau of Land Management finally conceded that it’s Western Oregon Plan Revision was fatally flawed. Originally proposed by the Bush administration to double logging across over 2 million acres of public land, the BLM’s Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR) would have significantly increased clearcutting in old growth forests.

But in early July, the BLM finally conceded that the WOPR (pronounced ‘whopper’) is fatally flawed in a court filing in response to timber industry litigation to put the plan back in effect. Though Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar originally voided the WOPR in 2009, calling it legally indefensible, the timber industry won recent court rulings to put it back in effect, and until this week, it was unclear how the Obama administration would react. The Sierra Club has campaigned for years to stop the WOPR, which was originally approved by the outgoing Bush administration amidst a cloud of political tampering from the White House.

FIGHTING FOR ENDANGERED COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON

In early August, for the third time, federal judge James Redden rebuked the federal government’s inadequate plans to restore Columbia and Snake River salmon. In a case the Sierra Club has been involved in for years, the judged referred to the federal government’s “lack of, or at best, marginal compliance” with the Endangered Species Act and called their plan “neither a reasonable, nor a prudent, course of action.” The judge has ordered the government to present plans that include a wide range of options, including breaching salmon killing dams on the Snake River, by 2013.

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Want to help us succeed in 2012?

Please consider making a donation to the Oregon Chapter.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY!

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Caring for 7 Billion Earthlings

John Seager, president of Population Connection, spoke at PSU on December 8th on caring for 7 billion earthlings. Photo by Roger Cole.

By Sierra Club volunteer Ramona Rex

This October the earth’s population hit 7 billion, with one billion people added to the planet since 1999.  Global population was only 1.6 billion at the beginning of the 20^th century, and climbed to 6.1 billion by the year 2000.  The Oregon Chapter hosted a program Thursday evening December 8^th focused on the impact this growing number of people has on the planet, “7 billion: It’s Time to Talk”. The event featured Mr. John Seager, President of Population Connection, and 2 films; “Mother: Caring for 7 Billion” and “Growthbusters: Hooked on Growth”.

Rather than a gloom and doom handwringing session, the evening provided information about how we can meet the challenges presented by more people on the planet.  There are 3 things that everyone should know about the population issue, according to Mr. Seager.  Firstly, we know how to address population growth; contraception works.  In fact, John pointed out that contraception is one of the most significant technological discoveries of the 20th century, granting women the opportunity to control their fertility.  Contraception is cost effective as compared to other technological ‘fixes’ proposed to halt environmental degradation.  Finally, women especially want to control the trajectory of their lives by using contraception to plan when and how many children they have. Women thus gain greater opportunities for education and career development, and most often choose on their own to limit their family size.

Both films reinforce Mr. Seager’s core message of improving access to contraception worldwide and empowering women, while at the same time challenge the notion of endless economic growth and consumption in the industrialized nations. “Mother: Caring for 7 billion” features Beth, a child rights activist, as she meets with Zinet, a young woman from a large family in Ethiopia.  Zinet cares for her HIV infected niece, milks goats, helps care for her family, and attends university classes.  Zinet found the courage to persuade her father to allow her to study, rather than enter into marriage at an early age. “Growthbusters: Hooked on Growth” follows Dave Gardner, an anti-growth activist in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as he reviews the negative environmental impact of unending economic growth and advocates for an alternative way of living.

The Sierra Club Global Population and Environment Program’s mission is to educate Club members and the general public on the benefits of educating girls, empowering women, and reducing consumption.  As we provide access to education, economic opportunity and reproductive health care to women around the globe, we also gain the best chance of stabilizing human population, and protecting the environment worldwide.

www.sierraclub.org/population

Mother: Caring for the 7 Billion
http://www.motherthefilm.com/

GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth
http://www.growthbusters.org/

Take Action! Help us Designate Oregon’s Marine Reserves Today!

A network of marine reserves is the goal of this group of letter writers from the Mary’s Peak Group of the Oregon Sierra Club.

We have one of the most beautiful and productive oceans in the world, but Oregon is the only state on the Pacific Ocean that does not have a marine reserve or a National Marine Sanctuary!

Join us in protecting a small piece of Oregon’s Ocean for the future.  Take Action! Please write your letter urging  Governor Kitzhaber to Designate Oregon’s Marine Reserves Today! These letters need to be in the office of Governor Kitzhaber by the legislative dead line of December 5.

For more information or to get involved in our campaign, please contact Debra Higbee at dwhigbe@juno.com.

Act Now to Stop Nestle from Bottling Oregon’s Water

Nestle wants to bottle and sell water from this publicly owned spring in the Columbia River Gorge.

Nestlé is the largest food company in the world and the largest water bottling company in the US. As of yet, they have no water bottling plants in the Pacific Northwest – but that could change soon. Since 2009, Nestlé has sought to secure water from the publicly owned Oxbow Springs in the Columbia River Gorge in order to bottle it along with tap water from the City of Cascade Locks.

Please contact Governor Kitzhaber and urge him to weigh in with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to withdraw its Oxbow Springs water exchange permit, and call his citizen comment line at 503-378-4582.

Background:

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) holds the water rights for Oxbow Springs in the Columbia River Gorge, which it currently uses for a fish hatchery. To enable Nestlé to bottle and sell the spring water, ODFW has proposed creating a water exchange with the City of Cascade Locks: ODFW would get access to Cascade Locks’ municipal water (to use for its hatchery) and Cascade Locks would get access to the spring water which it would in turn sell to Nestlé (at the municipal water rate).

This water exchange is key for Nestlé being able to bottle water from Oxbow Springs.

ODFW’s water exchange permit proposal has to be approved by the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) which has indicated it will make a decision on the permit as early as mid December. Several organizations and a number of concerned Oregonians have already contacted OWRD asking it to deny the permit.

These organizations (which include the Sierra Club) are now urging Governor Kitzhaber to weigh in by asking ODFW to withdraw its Oxbow Springs water exchange permit.  If ODFW does so it would put an end to Nestlé’s ability to bottle Oxbow Spring’s water and Nestlé would most likely abandon its attempt to build the bottling plant in Cascades Locks.

Bottled water from any source, especially for single use bottles, has many negative environmental and human health consequences.  A typical single-use bottle uses three times the amount of water it holds and ¼ the petroleum to produce. Though some of the bottles can be recycled, many of them end up in our landfills, lakes, streams and oceans, where they never fully decompose.  Typically, the water in the bottles is no safer than what comes out of our taps, and is often the same exact thing. Also, as climate change continues, fresh clean water is growing more scarce. It is important to preserve existing clean fresh water sources that may need to be used in the future as current municipal sources face climate related impacts.

Nestlé has reported that the proposed water bottling plant in the Gorge would require 200 truck trips every day, driving through the small town of Cascade Locks and the Columbia River Gorge. These trips will increase both air and noise pollution in Columbia Gorge, as well as the endangering the tourism that Cascade Locks and nearby areas rely on.

Lend your voice to the effort to convince ODFW to withdraw its Oxbow Springs water exchange permit by emailing Governor Kitzhaber today, and calling his citizen comment line at 503-378-4582.

SIERRA CLUB ENDORSES BONAMICI

Conservation Group Praises Work to Protect Oregon’s Environment

[Portland]: The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club today announced its endorsement of Suzanne Bonamici (D) in the January 31, 2012 special election in Oregon’s First Congressional District.

“We are very pleased to announce today that the Sierra Club officially endorses Suzanne Bonamici for Congress,” said Christine Lewis, the Oregon Chapter Political Chair. “She has a strong track record on environmental issues, and we are confident that she will continue work to protect Oregon’s environment and natural resources in Congress, for our families and for our future.”

Suzanne Bonamici’s record as a State Representative and State Senator is one of distinction amongst environmental champions. A stalwart supporter of renewable energy, alternative transportation, healthy communities, and sustainable planning, she made her mark as chief sponsor of 2009’s SB 637, working with a broad group of stakeholders for over a year to pass legislation requiring school districts to adopt Integrated Pest Management, protecting school children from toxic pesticide exposure and improving air and water quality on school grounds.

“We are deeply grateful to Suzanne for her work protecting children in Oregon schools from dangerous toxins”, said Borden Beck, chair of the Oregon Chapter Sierra Club and a middle school teacher.”She is a true environmental champion who will fight to protect Oregon’s clean air, clean water and special places.”

The Sierra Club also noted Bonamici’s record on opposing a provision in legislation in 2011 to expedite permitting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipelines. Two separate LNG terminals and hundreds of miles of pipeline have been proposed for the first Congressional District in recent years, posing a major threat to small farms, orchards, forests, and dozens of rivers and streams along the way. New plans to export LNG could ultimately harm Oregon families and businesses by raising energy costs. “Suzanne has taken bold stands in support of small farmers, small woodlot owners, and Oregon’s rivers and streams, working hard to stop efforts to expedite harmful LNG export pipelines,” said Lewis.

The Sierra Club also noted that Rob Cornilles failed to respond to the request from the Sierra Club to answer questions about his stances on several key environmental issues important to First Congressional District voters. The Sierra Club engaged in an endorsement process during the special primary and multiple candidates participated. “The conclusion we drew is that Rob Cornilles simply does not see the importance of protecting Oregon’s environment, and has no plan to create green jobs, grow sustainable economic development, or stand up to his own party’s constant attacks on clean air and clean water,” said Lewis.

Along with the endorsement, the Sierra Club will lend volunteer strength to the Bonamici campaign, drawing on thousands of members who reside in the district.

“We pledge to do all we can to help ensure Suzanne Bonamici is elected to Congress,” added Beck. ” Sierra Club volunteers will contact voters on her behalf, knock on doors, and speak to the public about her exemplary environmental record. We look forward to a victory party for the environment on election night and to many more years of Suzanne fighting for the environment as a member of Congress.”

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Learning about Salmon on the Alsea River

Looking down on small creek that feeds into the Alsea River. Photo by Ricardo Small.

By Irene Schoppy, outings leader and outings chair of the Marys Peak Group

On November 6, a group of 15 people from the Corvallis area enjoyed a November morning at Clemens Park in Benton County learning about salmon with Karen Hans, fish biologist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Karen spent some time talking about the salmon life cycle, and describing how female salmon pick just the right spot in a river to lay their eggs.  The gravel in the stream bed needs to be just the right size, not too big and not too small.

We then hiked along the North Fork Trail, a short trail right along the Alsea River.  We were in search of salmon and our efforts paid off.  We saw a female salmon scouting out a spot along the river, but no males were in view at the time.  Karen explained the importance of streamside vegetation and the riparian corridor.

After watching the female salmon we continued on to a smaller side creek where we saw some rehabilitation work that was done a few years ago.  A large log was placed on the streamside and into the stream to help create a pool.  Downed wood in the streams and rivers are very helpful to the fish, even though it might not look clean and neat to us.

This event was so popular that there was a waiting list, and Karen was nice enough to go out with us again 2 weeks later, tailoring that outing more towards the younger generation. The Marys Peak Group of the Sierra Club has a diverse outings program, check out their calendar for upcoming outings: http://oregon.sierraclub.org/groups/marys_peak/events/