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SIERRACLUB.ORG/ATLANTIC/IROQUOIS
IROQUOIS
MESSENGER EXPLORE, ENJOY & PROTECT THE PLANET sierraclub.org/atlantic/iroquois
ATLANTIC CHAPTER - IROQUOIS GROUP FALL/EARLY WINTER - 2015
The Atlantic Chapter - especially the Iroquois Group - should
take great pride in the recent election of Schenectady resident
Aaron Mair as President of the National Sierra Club. An
epidemiological-spatial analyst with the New York State
Department of Health, Mair brings more than three decades
of environmental activism and over 25 years as a Sierra Club
volunteer leader to his position as the Sierra Club's first
African American president. Nearly twenty years ago, when I was elected chair of the
Atlantic Chapter, which is comprised of eleven groups from
across the state, the four obligatory meetings of the Chapter’s
Board of Directors were held in New York City (3) and
Albany (1). In a move for more inclusiveness, the Chapter
decided to include all of the Groups as possible hosts.
We held the first ever Chapter meeting outside of New York
City or the Capital region right here in Cazenovia. At that
meeting, a tall, young African American man requested to
give a presentation. His name was Aaron Mair. At the time, Mair was involved in fighting the Albany New
York Solid Waste to Energy Recovery (ANSWERS) plant,
which provided steam to heat and cool Albany's Empire State
Plaza. The emissions from the plant were visibly polluting the
inner-city neighborhood of Arbor Hill. Several residents,
including Mair and his family, developed health issues from
the airborne pollutants, which included arsenic, lead and
mercury. At the meeting, Mair spoke on behalf of the Environmental
Justice (E.J.) Movement, which champions the development,
implementation and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations and policies that are fair to all people, regardless
of their race, color, ethnicity or income. While racial minority
and low-income populations have traditionally been subject
to a higher environmental risk burden than the general
population, these populations have also been excluded from
meaningful participation in decision making. Mair asked to speak to our Chapter’s Executive Committee
on behalf of the E.J. Movement, hoping we would get
involved in the issue. He gave a compelling presentation, and
I invited him to become the chair of a new committee called
the E.J. Committee. The E.J. Movement was in its infancy,
and Sierra Club at that point had not dealt with diverse
populations. History now shows that this was the very first
E.J. Committee in all of Sierra Club.
Aaron Mair, president of the Sierra Club, with members of the Sierra
Club’s board of directors. Front row, left to right: Loren Blackford, Mair,
Jessica Helm, Jim Dougherty; second row: Susana Reyes, Allison Chin, Liz Walsh, Chuck Frank; third row: Steve Ma, Dean Wallraff, Margrete
Strand Rangnes, Spencer Black; top row: Donna Buell, Michael Dorsey,
Robin Mann. Photo courtesy of Sierra Club.
Mair was involved in many Atlantic Chapter issues, and
eventually became Chair of the Chapter. He was then elected
to the National Board of the Sierra Club. Recognized as a
leader in forcing General Electric to clean up the Hudson
River, he was presented with the Environmental Protection
Agency’s Environmental Quality Award in 2000. He also
became an internationally known leader in the environmental
movement. Mair has been active in the Friends of a Clean
Hudson and served on the Board of Directors of the New
York League of Conservation Voters. He has visited our
region many times, assisting us in several local issues. The Iroquois Group congratulates Mair on this prestigious
election. We look forward to his leadership, and we are
confident that the skills and insights he developed while a
member of our Chapter will help him lead the Sierra Club’s
two million members and supporters.
Aaron Mair Elected National Sierra Club President By Rhea Jezer
ATLANTIC CHAPTER - IROQUOIS GROUP FALL/EARLY WINTER - 2015
From the Chair
Dear Tree-huggers, Summer is racing by, so we’ll have to grab
quickly to get the last of it. Hope all are
enjoying the tail end! From my summer lake home, surrounded by
trees and in the company of family and friends,
I enjoy a different set of critters than I typically
find in my back yard. Two raucous crows to
wake up with, merganser families on the lake,
one lonely loon, hawks, one bald eagle, several
eager kingfishers and a nearby shallow bay full
of sex-crazed carp. No gray or black squirrels, just lots of
chipmunks, red squirrels and small, thrush-like
birds that have nested under the eaves. None
have paused long enough for a good I.D. There must be fewer birds, as I
actually got to pick and eat two blueberries they missed! One quick bird report from back home. There were two new (to my yard)
birds; a rose-breasted grosbeak and a Baltimore oriole. Always fun to have
new members! Speaking of new members, if you join the Sierra Club online, the Iroquois
Group gets 100% of your dues! Hope prospective members will take
advantage of this great opportunity. For the Earth and all its critters (even those that ate my shrubs last winter), Martha Loew
Iroquois Group Officers
Chair Martha Loew [email protected]
492-4745
Vice Chair Jack Ramsden [email protected]
424-1454
Secretary Tasha Cooper [email protected]
415-5650
Treasurer David Kapell [email protected]
637-8745
Chapter Delegate Martha Loew [email protected] David Fischer (Alternate)
492-4745 876-0355
Committee Chairs
Calendar Sales Rocki Malamud [email protected]
446-7823
Climate/Energy David Fischer [email protected]
876-0355
Conservation Linda DeStefano [email protected]
488-2140
Corp. Challenge Lisa Daly [email protected]
428-1384
Membership Laurie Walker [email protected] Donna Boyd
492-9740 661-8277
Outings Michelle Wolfe [email protected]
451-5091
Political Actions Lisa Daly [email protected] Rhea Jezer
428-1384 727-0123
Programs ExCom Committee
Publicity Carol Fedrizzi [email protected]
449-2603
Sustainability Debby Shanahan [email protected]
446-1273
Water Issues Rich Slingerland [email protected]
298-3130
Support
Webmaster Dan Shanahan [email protected]
461-7393
Newsletter Editor Emily Dillon [email protected]
440-9690
Sierra Club - Iroquois Group
PO Box 182
Jamesville, NY 13078
sierraclub.org/atlantic/iroquois
New Members are Always Welcome! Membership is an important piece of the Sierra Club’s mission, as it allows us to be a
major political force and have the impact we
need to create change in our world.
Membership starts at just $15, and you can join online by visiting sierraclub.org/atlantic/iroquois. Join the Sierra
Club today, and add your voice to the thousands of
Americans committed to leaving our children a legacy of
clean air, safe drinking water, and natural grandeur!
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Engagement - $14.95 Qty _______ Total ______________
Wilderness - $13.95 Qty _______ Total ______________ GRAND TOTAL _______________
Name________________________________________ Address______________________________________ City_____________________ St _____ Zip_________ Phone (___)___________________________________ Email _______________________________________
Please make checks payable to “Sierra Club” and mail to:
R. Malamud, 201 Deerfield Road, Apt. 1, East Syracuse, NY 13057
Bags and bags of leaves - even huge piles of unbagged leaves -
set out to the curb as trash. It’s a sure sign fall has arrived in
Central New York. Another common sight is the flotilla of dump trucks and
payloaders - machinery designed to handle heavy loads -
endlessly traveling the streets scooping up these lightweight
leaves. What an unfortunate source of fossil fuel pollution! And why are we throwing away this rich source of organic
material, anyway? As Sara Stein said in Noah’s Garden,
“Recall, before laying down a mulch of pine bark, that each
bush or tree is accustomed to a cover of its own dead leaves
below it, and so are the decayers that refeed it. Keep a
compost pile for kitchen wastes and cornstalks, but remember
that fallen leaves, dead stems, and pulled weeds left in place
supply a steadier source of humus than a once-in-a-springtime
dole of rotted compost.” So why do we treat fallen leaves as trash? The main reason,
of course, is that a lawn left covered by a layer of leaves will
suffer. Here are two solutions: First, Westchester County has developed a “Love ‘Em and
Leave ‘Em” program to reduce organic yard waste by
mulching leaves in place (each municipality in the county
saves from $100,000 to more than $750,000 in yearly pick up
and disposal costs). A free “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em”
toolkit may be viewed/downloaded at www.leleny.org. An even better solution? Replace your lawn with beds full of
native plants that support life - no mulching necessary. Just
leave the leaves where they fall, and the soil will become
healthier year by year. Visit www.ourhabitatgarden.org/earth
-friendly/soil.html for more information.
On June 18, Pope Francis issued his eagerly awaited
encyclical on the environment, a 192-page document that
calls global action on climate change and environmental
degradation a moral imperative for all humans. A particularly
poignant excerpt: [...] Human beings must intervene when a geosystem reaches a
critical state. But nowadays, such intervention in nature has become
more and more frequent. As a consequence, serious problems arise,
leading to further interventions; human activity becomes ubiquitous,
with all the risks which this entails. Often a vicious circle results, as
human intervention to resolve a problem further aggravates the
situation. [...] We must be grateful for the praiseworthy efforts being
made by scientists and engineers dedicated to finding solutions to
man-made problems. But a sober look at our world shows that the
degree of human intervention, often in the service of business interests
and consumerism, is actually making our earth less rich and
beautiful, ever more limited and grey, even as technological advances
and consumer goods continue to abound limitlessly. [...] [34]
Martha Loew, Iroquois Group Chair, spoke on behalf of the
Group at the June meeting of the DeWitt Town Board,
defending the Group’s opposition to the use of wild animals
in circuses. Unfortunately, the Dewitt Town Zoning Board
had granted a permit for the Cole Brothers Circus to set up a
tent in the parking lot of ShoppingTown Mall in
DeWitt. Cole Brothers uses elephants, tigers, ponies and
dogs. After hearing Loew’s presentation, as well as that of
Jan Markarian (member of People for Animal Rights), board
members expressed concern and said they would plan to write
an ordinance banning circuses with animals. In July, the circus did go on, in spite of many calls to
ShoppingTown Mall management to uninvite the
circus. About 20 people with signs stood on the public
sidewalk in front of the mall and received several honks and
thumbs-up from passing cars. Why the fuss? It was stressful for the animals to be performing in a parking
lot in the heat of July. But that’s only a small part of the
abuse of animals used in circuses. Animals are trained in
cruel ways. For example, baby elephants are separated from
their mothers even though, in the wild, they would stay with
the herd for life (if a female elephant) or years (if a
male). Their spirits are broken by such means as tying them
down “spread eagle.” Bull hooks are used to jab elephants on
their sensitive skin to keep them obedient. Some elephants
have gone berserk with this abuse and run from the ring,
endangering people. I’ll never forget the video of one elephant
who ran from the tent and down a street before being shot
and killed. So much for her bid for freedom. We urge readers to frequent only circus’ with only human
performers, such as the well-renowned Cirque du Soleil.
ATLANTIC CHAPTER - IROQUOIS GROUP FALL/EARLY WINTER - 2015
Leave Leaves By Janet Allen
Conservation Chair Report By Linda DeStefano
THINK OUTSIDE THE METER. When you go solar with the Sierra Club and Sungevity, you’ll save $750 upfront and Sungevity will send $750 to the Iroquois Group. Get your free solar iQuote today at: SIERRACLUB.ORG/SOLARHOMES
GO SOLAR.
Pope Francis Speaks Out Encyclical Addresses Climate Change
Iroquois Outings & Events Iroquois Outings & Events Iroquois Outings & Events OUTINGS - We’re always looking for interesting places to explore. Have a favorite spot you’d like to share? Interested in leading one of our outings? Email Michelle Wolfe at [email protected]. Worried the weather may postpone an outing? Need directions? Call David Fischer at 876-0355 or Michelle Wolfe at 439-2213. Oneida Shores Sunday, September 13, 2015 - 2:00 p.m. There’s more to Oneida Shores than water and sand. Join us for an easy walk as we explore some of the park’s nature trails. We may find a mushroom or two, and there may be an expert along to identify them. Park/meet at the park’s main entrance, 9400 Bartell Road, Brewerton. Labrador Hollow Unique Area & Tinker Falls Sunday, October 4, 2015 - 2:00 p.m. This fascinating and beautiful landscape is full of diverse wildlife and rare plant life, but it’s the topography - formed over 10,000 years ago by massive ice sheets - that gives this hollow its character. We’ll wander the trails and work our way to Tinker Falls. Park/meet at the main parking area, just north of the pond off Markham Hollow Crossroad. Charlie Major Nature Trail (Train Buffs Welcome) Sunday, November 1, 2015 - 2:00 p.m. The Charlie Major Nature Trail is a natural and historic trail that runs along Skaneateles Creek. We’ll spot remnants of the Skaneateles Short Line Railroad as we take a leisurely walk down memory lane. Meet at the parking area in Mottville, at Crow Hill Road and Frost Street.
Erie Canal Park Sunday, December 6, 2015 - 2:00 p.m. Join us for a winter walk with a focus on the Butternut Creek Aqueduct. Built in 1856, the aqueduct is 80 feet long, has three spans, and is a popular spot for photographs. Park/meet at the first parking lot, just 500 feet north of Kinne Road, on Butternut Drive, DeWitt.
PROGRAMS - All programs are held at 7:30 p.m. at the University United Methodist Church, 1085 East Genesee Street, Syracuse. Please park and enter on University Avenue. Programs are free and open to all. Covered Up: The Onondaga Nation’s View of Onondaga Lake Wednesday, September 23, 2015 The Onondaga Nation has a unique view of the Onondaga Lake remediation process. The lake is sacred to the Haudenosaunee, and their legal team has reviewed/commented on the remediation for years. Join representatives of the Onondaga Nation to hear about the information they believe is being withheld from the public. Citizens’ Climate Lobby - Building Political Will for a Livable World Wednesday, October 28, 2015 The use of fossil fuels is so thoroughly embedded in the economic activities of all industrialized countries that a global solution is required. Kyle Thomas, Syracuse Group Leader of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, will discuss CCL’s Carbon Fee-and-Dividend proposal and how every one of us can make a difference by participating in our political system and building the political will for a solution to climate change.
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ATLANTIC CHAPTER - IROQUOIS GROUP FALL/EARLY WINTER - 2015
