environmental news of nevada and the eastern sierra from the toiyabe chapter of the sierra club

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TOIYABE aPRil - may - jUNe 2020

TRAILSEXPLORE, ENJOY, & PROTECT THE PLANET.

earthday 50thIssue

National Sierra Club elections are underway A democrAtic SierrA club needs grassroots participation. those eligible to vote in the national Sierra club election will receive ballots in early march by mail (or digitally if you chose the electronic delivery option). this will include information on the candidates and where you can find additional information on Sierra club’s election website. Your participation is critical for a strong Sierra club. the Sierra club is a democratically structured organization at all levels.

GB Group News . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Bookshelf: AmericanSerengeti . . . . . 2You Win, Earth Wins, Kids Win . . . . .2Service in a Wildlife Refuge . . 3Air Quality & Environmental Justice . . . .3CA Legislative Action Season . . . . . 4Smart Growth, People, & the Planet . . . . 5Mono Lake Needs You . . . . . . . 5S. Nevada Group News . . . . . . . . . . . 6What Does Earth Day Mean to You?. . . . 6S. Nevada Group Calendar . . . 6S. Nevada Group Meetings . . . . . . . . 6ICO Kids Go to Clark Co. Museum . . . .7Range of Light Group 50th Earth Day . . 8ROLG Conservation News. . . . 8100% Renewable Energy Talk & Film . . .8Get Your Trails Online . . . . . . . . . . .8Membership Coupon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

in this issue

Please see WHAT’S UP IN 2020?, page 3.

From the Chair

by anne macquarie (annemacquarie@gmail.com)

What’s up in 2020?

toiyabe ChapterexCom Meeting

Saturday, 9a-5pJune 13, 2020

reno, nV or clair TappaanFor details,

contact the Chair,anne MaCquarie

chair@toiyabe.sierraclub.orgdetails forthcoming for this in-person meeting. email the chair for firm date and time. All mem-bers may attend excom meetings, in person or via Zoom meeting for e-meetings. (telecons are evening meetings by teleconference, often third thursday of month, start at 7 pm and end by 8:30 pm). Please contact chapter chair for information on how to join the meeting by phone or computer and also how to arrange participa-tion. You can call Anne at (775-303-2562) or email her (see email address above). members are also encouraged to contact the chair or any excom members with requests to bring certain matters before the excom.

Please see CLIMATE ACTION, page 3.

Please see CLUB ELECTIONS, page 3.

YeSterdAY i hAd An intereSting phone call with a man from north-ern nevada who is concerned about environmental issues in the valley where he lives. he is concerned about urban sprawl and the loss of open space. he was looking for ideas about how his friends and he could organize to make sure their valley remained clean and livable. Someone told him he should call the Sierra club. We talked. We’re going to meet and talk further. but as we talked, i was reminded of all the Sierra club toiyabe chapter has done, continues to do, and plans to do in the future. it’s a long list. this year, we’ll be working on proposed clark county and Washoe county public land manage-ment acts, in which both counties wish designate thousands of acres of public land for urban development. is this the way we want our desert cities to grow? do we need more sprawl? how can we grow sustainably, provide equitable and affordable housing, and live within our ecological limits? the chapter will be working on elec-tions this year – arguably one of the most important elections for the environment in decades. how do we identify, endorse and support candidates at the local, state, and national level who make strong en-vironmental protection and addressing climate change a central part of their platforms?

What is “climate action”?by brian befforT, Toiyabe chapTer direcTor

experts tell us we have about a decade to take meaningful action to avert the worst impacts of global warming. but what does meaningful climate action mean? how can we mitigate the worst impacts here in

nevada and the eastern Sierra? And what can you do to help? As with most challenges that appear overwhelming, the key is to break the problem down to manageable pieces, then get to work on the lowest-hanging fruit first. look for “What You can do” suggestions at the end of this article. in January, nevada’s department of conservation and natural resources released a greenhouse gas inventory of emissions across every sector in the state. As an easy snapshot, emissions are sum-marized in this pie chart (for the purposes of this article, i assume emissions for toi-yabe chapter communities in california are similar). once emis-sions are bro-ken down into these rough categories, it becomes easier to identify the actions needed to reduce them. let’s start at the top. transportation. thanks to the great work by Sierra club’s beyond coal campaign nationwide, more than 300 coal-fired power plants have been closed or are slated for closure soon (still more than 200 to go). this reduction in green-house gas (ghg) emissions from elec-tricity generation makes transportation the leading emitter of carbon dioxide

(and sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, soot, and other toxins). According to the ePA, 59% of emissions come from light-duty vehicles (passenger cars). raising auto emissions standards will help bring these emissions down. but recently, trump revoked california’s permit under the clean Air Act to set stricter auto emissions standards. cali-fornia, nevada, and 20 other states are suing the trump Administration against this move. the toiyabe chapter is teaming up with Sierra club’s clean transportation For All campaign to tackle emissions on other fronts in the transportation sector. led by our organizer, Jasmine Vazin, our volunteer toiyabe transportation team is working on the following fronts: Electric Vehicles. We are working to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, and to support those vehicles with charging stations in public and private spaces throughout the region. Mass Transit. more efficient than passenger cars are buses and trains that

Dear Toiyabe Chapter members, All stories in this issue were written and submitted before coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. And Toiyabe Trails went to print weeks before you’re reading this. A lot will probably have changed by the time you read this. As of March 12, all Sierra Club volunteer and staff in-person meetings and outings have been suspended until April 12th. Staff and volunteers equipped to work from home have been asked to do so. All travel has been postponed for at least 60 days. We are taking these measures in an abundance of caution during these uncertain times to minimize risks to ourselves, our colleagues, you, and the community at large. I f you have any questions about an upcoming outing or event, contact the leader for confirmation. And if you have any questions or concerns regarding Sierra Club’s response to the coronavirus situation, or any thoughts on how we can continue pursuing our mission during this time, please call me directly. Take care of yourselves. Brian Beffort, Toiyabe Chapter Director (775-848-7783)

Sierra Club & coronavirus

aPRil - may - jUNe 2020 toiyabe trails

Serving nevada

& California’S e. Sierra Toiyabe Trails is published four times each year by the toiyabe chapter of the Sierra club, P.o. box 8096, reno, nV 89507, to help keep our members well-informed and better able to protect the environment—for our families, for our future.

Editor – lynne Foster (805-239-3829); lFoster@schat.net.)

Deadlines – contributions are due by the 1st of the month for publication in the following month’s issue: december 1 for January-Febru-ary-march; march 1 for April-may-June; June 1 for July-August-September; September 1 for october-november-december. Submissions – call or e-mail editor before deadline for late submissions. Submit news, story ideas, photos, and letters-to-the-editor to the editor (contact info above). Please include your name, phone, e-mail address, and group with all contributions. Please send your contributions by e-mail. if you don’t have a computer, please ask a friend to help you. For photo return, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. the Toiyabe Trails reserves the right to edit all contributions for reasons of space, clarity, slander, or libel. Subscriptions – Toiyabe Trails is free to all toiyabe chapter members. Subscription cost for non-members is $12 per year. to subscribe, send check for $12, payable to “toiyabe chap-ter,” to Toiyabe Trails Subscriptions, Sierra club, toiyabe chapter, c/o treasurer. (See chapter address in first paragraph, above.) Change of address – Postmaster & members, please send address changes to Sierra club, change of Address, P. o. box 52968, boulder, co 80322-2968 or <address.changes@sierraclub.org>.

Membership information – there is a mem-bership coupon in each issue of Toiyabe Trails. You can also call a group membership chair (see directories on pages 4, 8, and 10) or the Sierra club office in San Francisco (415-977-5663).

Other Sierra Club information. call the toi-yabe chapter chair or conservation chair (see chapter directory online at http://toiyabe.sierra-club.org) or the Sierra club information center in San Francisco (415-977-5653). Also, see group pages for website addresses of groups.

2

Toiyabe Trails

Great Basin Group

by kaTy chriSTenSon, greaT baSin group chair

Group news

chair Katy christensen* mabelnv@hotmail.com

Vice-chair david von Seggern* vonseg1@sbcglobal.net

Secretary lori bellis* loriann.bellis@gmail.com

treasurer Webmaster

roleigh martin*

Peter Johnson

roleigh@pobox.com

peter.j.johnson@charter.net* ExCom

greaT baSin group officerS

american serengeti: the last big animals of the great plains

by dan floresuniversity press of kansas: 2016.

Bookshelf

Great Basin Group ExCom. Seven members make up the current gbg excom. the excom meets on the first tuesday of each month. the excom met for a full morning in January for review/discussion on topics related to long-range gbg planning, Sierra club Standards of conduct, gbg officer/chair responsibilities, and other issues. A recruitment plan is in the process of being developed as well. the excom is committed to holding a long-range planning meeting each year. Great Basin Group Monthly Pro-grams. the gbg continues to host well-attended monthly programs at the bartley ranch Western heritage center on the 2nd thursday of each month — except June, July and August. upcoming Thursday programsApril 9, 2020: History of Camping, Kimberly robertsMay 14, 2020: American Discovery Trail, ted oxborrow and Samantha Sz-esciorka, nevada Adt coordinatorAugust 23, 2020: GBG Annual Members Picnic, bear mat picnic site in galena creek regional Park

earth day, 2020Sunday, April 26

celebrate with us in reno, at mayberry Park. the event is aiming at zero waste. great basin group, 5r team, and toi-

dAn FloreS hAS PubliShed 10 informative books on the history and prehistory of the American West, with an environmental perspective. his writing credentials are solid, most recently (2014) having retired as A.b. hammond chair in Western history at the university of montana. American Serengeti probes the role of humankind in the collapse of megafau-nal populations across north America following the end of the Wisconsin ice Age, roughly 12,000 years ago. the author then goes on to relate the more recent, and more complete, destruction of large mammals across the high plains and into the West, starting about 1800, as trappers, explorers, and military person-nel entered on the scene. enormous herds of bison, elk, horses, antelope, and deer, along with their main predators, the cougars, wolves, and griz-zlies, were wantonly eliminated in the West over the course of a century and a half. the destruction, as we know, was nearly complete. the author clearly laments this fact and is interested in large-scale restoration efforts. meanwhile, he describes how the lowly coyote has filled much of the vacuum, extending an initial limited range in the West to the entire u.S., adapting to any and all circumstances. the author has little appreciation for the standard narrative of westward ex-pansion, wherein farmers, ranchers, and others have cleared that space of com-petition for land uses. he is especially vitriolic about the programs of state and federal government to poison wildlife on a massive scale. dan Flores paints a broad, colorful canvas of the former ecosystem on the great Plains, backed by solid research and by an obvious personal passion for the subject. i recommend this book to all with any interest in wildlife.

-- contributed by David von Seggern

yabe chapter will host tables at the event. come by and check us out! May: Truckee River Month. the one truckee river organization is planning a full lineup of events! cel-ebrate the river by participating in a Sierra club hike and check out all the events at http://onetruckeeriver.org/one-truckee-river-month. Outings. in 2019, the great basin group hosted 263 outings, with 37 (22 active) outings leaders. the annual total of rSVPs to the meetup site is 2905. the gbg motto is “We get You outdoors!” gbg adventures meet all abilities and interests. Join us by check-ing these websites: www.meetup.com/Sierra-club-hiking-reno and www.sierraclub.org/toiyabe/great-basin. Get Kids Outdoors (GKO) Pro-grams. the gbg grant program sup-ports outdoor science-based exploration field trips primarily for low-income elementary school students. the un-derlying purpose behind the gKo pro-grams is to raise youth awareness of the outdoors and preservation of nature. the gbg excom has already ap-proved four grant requests for 2020 supporting field trips for 243 students. A total of 26 grants were approved from 2014 – 2019, with about $10,000 spent supporting field trips for about 1600 students.

you win, earth wins, kids win! by Sue Jacox, SueJacox@nVbell.neT

Win, Win, Win! gear hut has the fun and easy new way to divert items from the landfill, give outdoor gear new life, and help get kids outdoors all at once. A family-owned reno shop, they are dedicated to finding new homes for your outdoor gear and clothing and let you designate one of their selected nonprofits such as great basin outdoor School to benefit from the sale of gear you bring in. many local teachers whose class out-ings are supported by our Sierra club great basin group get Kids outdoors grants choose great basin outdoor School to provide outdoor learning adventures for their students. Proceeds from gear designated for great basin outdoor School at gear hut further reduce program expenses for disad-vantaged children who need multiple sources of community support to get off the pavement and into the forest. What’s not to love? Shopping, outdoor stuff, bargains, recycling, and support-

ing a good cause all at once! April is spring cleaning month, so give yourself more space in your closet or garage by selling at gear hut and selecting great basin outdoor School to benefit. buy yourself a treat, too, as new items arrive all the time and cost a fraction of their original price. Skis, poles, boots, fleecies, jackets, gloves, etc., are on their way out and clothing and gear for hiking, camping climbing, kayaking, biking, and other warm weather activities are on their way in. take in seasonal items to sell now, and save out-of-season items for later, as gear hut does not have a lot of storage space. gear hut is at 1245 South Wells, across from uS bank, just north of Vassar in reno. they are open from noon until 7 pm Wednesday through Sunday. they’re set back from the street, so look hard so you don’t miss it! Say “hi!” to owner rusty and thank him for providing such a valuable service.

thanks for supporting great basin out-door School and helping get kids out-doors with y o u r d o -nated gear! And have fun shop-ping! See m o r e a t www.gear-h u t r e n o .com, 775-219-4612, o r g e a r -hutreno@gmail.com.

aPRil - may - jUNe 2020toiyabe trails

— Sign up —for Toiyabe Chapter’s monthly e-newsletter

Toiyabe Trails is just part of the story. catch up with more news, events, and action alerts in the toiyabe chapter’s new monthly e-newsletter. if you’re not getting it already, send an email to toiyabe.chapter@sierraclub.org, and we’ll make sure you’re on the list.

3

Service in a Borderland Wildlife Refugefebruary 2-8, 2020

by daVid Von Seggern (VonSeg1@Sbcglobal.neT) & doroThy hudig (hudig@Sbcglobal.neT)

We traveled to southern Arizona’s buenos Aires national Wildlife refuge (bAnWr) in early February to participate in a Sierra club

service trip on the refuge. the national wildlife refuge system comprises 568 units across almost all states. having done several years of weekend service trips in nevada’s Sheldon national Wildlife refuge (SnWr), some comparisons and contrasts are possible from our experience. nevada has 11 refuges while Arizona has 8. While buenos Aires has 128,000 acres, the Sheldon has 578,000 acres and so is nearly five times larger. We learned that bAnWr has eight full-time employees, with a couple of those unfilled at the time of our visit. SnWr has three full-time employees. given the acreage size comparison, the staffing seems like quite a mismatch. While bAnWr has a number of active wildlife and habitat restoration projects, these projects do not seem to justify the disparity in staffing. enormously helpful to bAnWr is Friends of the bAnWr, an organiza-tion of volunteers, one or more of whom are at the refuge on almost any giv-en day. lead volunteers rob and reta rutledge were the effective coor-dinators for the Sierra club work efforts and warm hosts at the lodge where we all stayed. their knowledge of the refuge, with their dedication to it, is an element of stabil-ity that offsets the turn-over of staff at bAnWr. nevada’s SnWr needs a similar committed group of Friends! in Arizona, ranching ac-tivity in the late 1880s to the late 1900s severely impacted the original bAnWr open grassland. thus the habitat is now still degraded, with natural conditions having given way largely to non-native grasses such as lehmann’s lemongrass (deliberately planted to benefit cattle) and to mesquite trees, which also overtook the land to further deplete the scanty water supply. in contrast, in nevada, cheatgrass is the invasive plant that has taken over large parts of SnWr, while its long vistas still remain mostly free of tree cover. For native plants, a mixture of many cacti species, including saguaros, and arid-tolerant shrubs is found throughout bAnWr; and they are well placed to puncture the careless traveler. bAnWr has almost no surface water and thus is limited in the amount of wild-life it can support, as is most of the sur-rounding Sonoran desert of southwest Arizona. however, our lodging at the environmental education center was in a beautiful canyon on the western side of the refuge, with a running stream of water. Foxes, cougars, bobcats, coyotes,

deer, pronghorn, and many bird species can be found on the refuge. All of these animals are also found on SnWr, with pronghorn especially being more abundant (roughly 1000, compared to 30) due to more water being available in the northwestern corner of nevada. bAnWr’s 30 pronghorn are native to the area and were more plentiful within

the refuge area prior to ranching. Jaguar sightings in bAnWr are rare but well authenticated. currently, it is estimated that 5-7 jaguars roam the refuge and surrounding areas. our service group of 19 took out about three miles of aged barbwire fencing in 4 days of work, a project designed to allow pronghorn and other wildlife to roam freely. in nevada, toiyabe chapter members have removed many miles of such fencing on SnWr for the same reason. We encountered castoff items from unnamed migrants who have crossed the border at the refuge’s southern boundary with mexico. We learned that hundreds of migrants have perished over the years in and near the refuge after perilous travel. With a large presence, the border Patrol (bP) vastly outnumber the refuge staff. two bP personnel came out to check on us at work. in all seasons, the bP hunt “game” other than deer and, thankfully, were uninterested in Sierra club volunteers.

Rolling wire on the BANWR.

And what about preparing for the 2021 session of the nevada state legislature? We need to build on our clean energy successes of the 2019 session and move our state further towards a 100% clean energy economy. many of our members are passionate about waste reduction and recycling. how can we work with legislators to draft and pass a bill to reduce waste? there is much to do, and i am grate-ful that the Sierra club and our fellow grassroots environmental organizations exist, and provide us with a structure within which we can be effective – much more effective than if we each were working alone – in working to-wards maintaining a healthy planet. thanks, everyone, for all you do.

a reminder:We need leaders

the Sierra club toiyabe chapter is a “small-d” democratic grassroots orga-nization. Part of what that means is that members elect our leadership. What

WHAT’S up In 2020? . . .continued from page 1

thAt means is that we always need new leaders to step up, because every year about half the positions on our executive committees open up. (the executive committees are the elected governing bodies of the toiyabe chap-ter, the tahoe Area group, the great basin group, the range of light group, and the Southern nevada group.) Please consider throwing your hat in the ring for one of these positions. You’ll meet great new colleagues in the environmental movement, you’ll learn much about the issues we work on (mining, wild horses, public lands, wildlife, renewable energy, outings, environmental policies at the state and national level and more), and you’ll get a chance to do good work and be an environmental leader. if you have any interest in becoming one of our leaders, please contact me at annemacquarie@gmail.com and i will pass your name on to our 2020 nominat-ing committee.

Sierra club requires the regular flow of views on policy and priorities from its grassroots membership in order to function well. Yearly participation in elections at all Sierra club levels is a major membership obligation. our grassroots structure is strengthened when participation is high and provides an opportunity for members from all walks of life to have a say in what the future of the Sierra club looks like how can you learn about the candidates? members frequently state that they don’t know the candidates and find it difficult to vote without learning more. each candidate has provided a written statement about themselves and their views on the official election ballot. You can learn more by asking questions of your group and chapter leadership and other experienced members you know. You can also visit the Sierra club’s elec-tion website for additional information, including campaign videos from each candidate: www.sierraclub.org/board/election.Voting online is quick & easy! even if you receive your election ma-terials in the mail, we encourage you to use the user-friendly internet voting site to save time and postage. if sending via ground mail, your ballots must be received no later than April 22, 2020 (Sierra club election day).

nATIOnAL CLuB ELECTIOnS unDERWAY . . .continued from page 1

transit solutions with the regional transportation commissions in reno and las Vegas and elsewhere, where we can. Healthy Communities. the best way to reduce driving is to design our com-munities in ways that allow people to work, play, and find services and food without having to drive. We’re advocat-ing with local and regional planning agencies to emphasize infill develop-ment and walkable neighborhoods that invite human connection instead of more lanes for more cars. Electricity Generation. Sierra club is working on several fronts to create more electricity from renewable sources. the nevada legislature’s passing of Sb 358 in 2019 committed nevada’s electricity utilities to provide at least 50% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, with a goal of 100% by 2050. nevada energy has responded by pursuing industrial-scale solar farms on public lands around southern nevada. While Sierra club supports the technol-ogy, we are working to see these projects sited appropriately, so they don’t conflict with desert tortoise or other wildlife or ecosystem services (like carbon seques-tration from healthy plant communities, biodiversity, soil function, stormwater management, access for recreation, preservation of beautiful views, etc.). A great option is to encourage distrib-uted energy generation — more solar panels on more rooftops in town, closer to where the energy is needed. Sierra club will be pursuing legislation in 2021 that encourages just that. Possibili-ties include brownfields development (installing panels on already-impacted landscapes), better net-metering poli-cies to incentivize individual investors, microgrids (which also provide com-munity defense against rolling blackouts and natural disasters), and community solar (local installations owned by com-

Please see CLIMATE ACTION, page 5.

CLIMATE ACTIOn . . .continued from page 1

june 1Deadline!

for july - aug - sept issue

TRailS

aPRil - may - jUNe 2020 toiyabe trails4

conservation roundupWhy air quality is an

environmental justice issueby JaSmine Vazin

nevada suffers from some of the worst air quality in the country, with las Vegas being ranked as 13th in the nation for air pollution. the public

health effects of this pollution were estimated to cost nevadans $898 million in medical costs in 2012 alone. but are some in our cities carrying more of the burden from dirty air than others? environmental injustice occurs when marginalized groups face dispropor-tionate impacts from a range of envi-ronmental threats. Poor air quality is just one way this happens. redlining, or the practice of cities blocking off entire neighborhoods of color for loans, investment, and development, made it easier for these communities to become hotspots for polluting industries, road-ways, and crippling infrastructure. this is true throughout the u.S. in las Vegas, much of the west side and north las Vegas suffered from a history of redlining that kept businesses and loans out of these areas for decades while making these communities targets for highway corridor construction. this type of systematic oppression is still tak-ing a toll today; with air pollution risks that are unequally impacting minority groups in these areas, and in others like them throughout nevada. most of nevada’s air quality issues are due to automobile exhaust, with ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and other poisons spewing from millions of cars every single day in our cities. high traffic corridors cut right through communities of color in las Vegas and reno, meaning these neighborhoods are on the frontlines of emissions exhaust (see maps below). this is not to say that our poor air quality is not impacting all nevadans, but it is harming communities of color (particularly children) to a higher de-gree. Air pollution is known to impact

the growth of developing lungs. numerous studies show children are more susceptible to health impacts when exposed to pollution and other toxicants. data from the clark county school district 2006-2007 academic year shows that Af-rican American students had the highest rates of asthma by race (13.4%) followed by hispanic/latino students (6.6%). Furthermore, asthma is the single leading cause of missed school days in the nation, and has been shown to be a significant factor in absenteeism lead-ing to being held back a grade in clark county Schools. Putting this information together, this infers that black and hispanic stu-dents are suffering from higher rates of asthma, higher risk of missing school, and greater risk of being held back from academic advancement due to a disease that is likely caused by their polluted environment. Air pollution has been found to have a huge impact on intelligence and life expectancy as well; and all of these fac-tors can create barriers to personal suc-cess and long-term community growth for areas that are impacted by severe levels of air pollution. ] this is why air quality in our state is a clear environment justice issue, and it is our moral imperative to mitigate these disparities and provide clean, healthy air to all those who live in nevada. clean Transportation for all

campaign this campaign is working to do just that

maps of Traffic corridors & minority neighborhoods in reno & las Vegas

by working towards clean transportation solutions that will provide cleaner air, healthier lungs, and more sustainable cities for all. to clean our air, we are advocating for these solutions:

• beginning the transition to electrified transportation. Starting with govern-ment fleets like school buses, public transit, and public service vehicles. every single diesel burning vehicle contributes to further air pollution, and the positive impacts of transiting state fleets are a great first step in bringing down pollution levels. • Passing stricter emissions standards in nevada, by joining the 14 other states that have adopted california’s low-emission Vehicle (leV) and Zero-emission Vehicle (ZeV) rules, so that all cars sold in the state are transitioned to more sustainable, cleaner models. • Seriously pursuing statewide public transit reform by focusing on multi-modal options such as light rail and eV buses, as well as city planning that encourages carbon-neutral transit such as walking, bikes, scooters.

if public transit can meet the needs of everyone to get around our cities, per-sonal vehicles will become obsolete for many, which will drastically reduce the daily pollution into the air, as well as the congestion on our roadways.

if these recommendations can be implemented, nevada will benefit from cleaner air throughout our entire state, improving everyone’s lives. not only that, but the cars on our roads are the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in our state. reforming our transportation sector will not only ben-efit our people, but also the planet.

how you can help Join the toiyabe transportation team. We’ll be laying out our view of what options lay ahead to change policy and improve our communities. Join the conversation to help us establish our priorities. help bring about our cam-paign initiatives and organize within our community! if you’re interested, contact the clean transportation For All organizer Jas-mine Vazin at Jasmine.Vazin@Sierra-club.org.

Maps were created via the EPA’s EJSCREEN tool, and show heat maps with darker areas indicating higher concentration of the following variables:

• Percent minority: Percent minority as a fraction of population, where minority is defined as all but Non-Hispanic White Alone. Calculated from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year summary estimates. (2018)

• Traffic Proximity and Volume: Count of vehicles per day (average annual daily traffic) at major roads within 500 meters (or nearest one beyond 500 m), divided by distance in meters. Calculated from U.S. Department of Transportation National Transportation Atlas Database, Highway Performance Monitoring System. (2017).

legislative action season has begun in Sacramentoby kaThryn phillipS, Sierra club california

the heart of the second year of this two-year legislative session has arrived in california. on February 21, the deadline for legislators to submit new bills came and went. our staffer daniel barad sifted through all the introduced bills and determined that about 650 of them had some environmental issue content. Fortunately, a huge number of those bills are so-called “spot” bills. those are bills that haven’t yet been developed and may very well not become full-fledged environmental issue bills. they are often placeholders for other is-sues and don’t require a lot of attention now. during the next week, we’ll compile and post a list of priority bills on our website (sierraclubcalifornia.org). because this is the second year of a two-

year session, there are still some bills left from last year that are awaiting action on the floor of the second house. that includes the very important plastic waste reduction bills, Ab 1080 and Sb 54. if this year is like the average year, between 100 and 125 bills that we’ve taken positions on will land on the governor’s desk by September 1. About 90% of those usually are signed into law. throughout this process, Sierra club california staff identifies times when a push from legislators’ constituents can make a difference. At those critical moments, Sierra club california representatives in your chapter will receive emails, texts, or calls asking them to contact their assembly member or senator about a bill.

aPRil - may - jUNe 2020toiyabe trails 5

Smart growth can save people & the planetby JaSmine Vazin

the American dream has been portrayed since the postwar period to include a large house with a sizable yard and white picket fence, located in a perfectly manufactured suburban neighborhood. the American morning consisted of homeowners rushing out the door to speed away on their commute to work in the city, on repeat twice a day, every day, until they retired.

many u.S. families now have two parents working and children in school, and these giant houses in the suburbs sit empty for a majority of the lives we lead, and there are often at least two cars per family to be able to keep up with our ever-busier schedules.

Since the flight of the upper and middle class to the suburbs, the American urban landscape has completely changed, with crumbling urban centers surrounded by sprawling neighborhoods being the norm. this history of sprawl not only created vast economic and racial inequalities, it has decimated our envi-ronment.[ ecosystems have been com-pletely wiped out, city water is polluted or is dwindling, and urban air is harming the health of millions nationwide. our roads are congested and the number of commuters is at a critical mass in all ma-jor cities. green spaces and wilderness are in short supply in many major urban centers, threatening or contributing to the extinction of American wildlife and the biodiversity that supports us.] but this shift hasn’t just changed our cities and our environment, it’s changed us. We spend our lives in our homes, in our cars, at our jobs, and back again, with little exposure to outside air and nature unless we make a concerted ef-fort. Anxiety and depression are on the rise [nationwide, but both have been shown to be mitigated by exposure to green spaces and nature. We are more disconnected from each other than ever before, with] 35% of Americans over 45 reporting being physically isolated and chronically lonely. the current status quo of urban design forgets that humans are by nature no-madic and social animals, that we have evolved to interact with one another and travel about (but not in cars) to meet our basic needs. even the seemingly mundane interactions with our world and each other can ground us and make us happier. “talking to his wife about going to buy an envelope, ‘oh,’ she says , ‘well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet?’ And so i pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because i’m going to have a hell of a good time in the pro-cess of buying one envelope.i meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And i give them the thumbs up. And ask a woman what kind of dog that is, ‘ i don’t know . . . .’ And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. What the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And, we’re not supposed to dance at all anymore.”

Kurt Vonnegut, in A Man Without a Country

The Smart growth Solutionurban spaces that provide seamless pub-lic transit, dense mixed-income housing, walkable streets, and green spaces pro-

ripple effects of urban structure

vide a community structure that favors interaction with our surroundings rather than isolated movement throughout our lives. Smart growth is a well studied and applicable model for urban planning, and in the face of climate change we have everything to gain in revolution-izing urban development now. catherine cortez masto has released a bill draft that proposes to sprawl las Vegas by 42,000 acres (that’s 1.5 times the size of San Francisco). Washoe county is pursing similar legislation without any mention of climate change or sustainable development requirements. this business-as-usual approach to growth is contribut-ing to the climate, pollution, congestion and social woes mentioned above. We can do better by mandating sus-tainable planning regimes in all new developments in nevada. Smart growth principles offer the solutions we need to ensure a better future, but this planning needs to be done in a thoughful, respon-sible manner and not be overshadowed by bill timelines or developer inter-ests. We don’t have time to wait. both Washoe and clark legislative processes are opportunities to begin implementing these changes now. the clean transportation For All campaign is working to revise these bills and advocate for a healthier, more sustainable future. our cities need your input in developing a new vision for

what nevada could be. For exmple:• our state suffers from some of the worst air quality in the nation, but ozone and carbon monoxide pollution would begin disappearing almost im-mediately if we make public transit a central mode of movement through our lives.• if we build denser, more efficient housing options in our cities, elec-tricity and water use will decrease while creating community spaces for us to congregate and more easily socialize.• using mass transit can turn our com-mutes into time for us to catch up on reading, planning our days, or relaxing before our daily work begins, instead of the mad dash to make it to work in the drudgery of rush hour traffic.

We can change how our lives impact the planet and ourselves through advo-cating for a holistic change to our cur-rent urban planning paradigms. Smart growth has been applied in communities around the country. nevada can follow suit if we create a grassroots move-ment advocating for a sustainable and equitable future. You can help design a healthier, more liveable future for our communities.

how you can help Sign up to volunteer. We will inform you of opportunities to engage around

these issues as they come up in the fu-ture. by taking action around climate, transportation and urban development, we can create a beautiful future for everyone. We will be planning events to engage our communities in shaping these trends. Join the conversation to help us establish our pri-orities. help form our campaign initiatives and organize within our community! if you’re interested, contact the clean transportation for All organizer Jas-mine Vazin at Jasmine.Vazin@Sierra-club.org.

can move more people more efficiently along major transportation corridors. We’re advocating for mass transit solu-tions with the regional transportation munity organizations). Buildings. to address the ghg emis-sions that come from residential and commercial buildings, there are two main strategies: Energy efficiency. because the clean-est, most affordable energy is what we do not use. Sierra club is working with partners to encourage stronger building codes that increase insulation and other energy-efficiency measures, with the gold standard being net-zero energy — buildings that produce at least as much energy as they consume. Building electrification. Sierra club is also working to electrify all build-ings, replacing all gas heat and appli-ances with electric ones — powered by renewable energy. here’s a blog post about building electrification with the details. Industry. reducing ghg emissions from industry requires a case-by-case, life-cycle analysis of each industry. You can support progress on this front by contacting the companies you do busi-ness with and urging them to eliminate ghg-emitting and other toxic chemi-cals from their processes. Are you a shareholder in any company? Join a shareholder-led motion to encourage more sustainable practices. And please stop using toxic products with a short life span and no option for recycling.Waste the toiyabe chapter’s northern ne-vada 5 r revolution is building a team of volunteer activists, who are tackling a number of significant issues on this front: diverting organic matter from landfill, pursuing legislation to ban (or apply fees to) plastic containers, encouraging people to carry reusable bags, cups, utensils, etc. Join us to make a difference in the plastics you use. Decarbonizing Nevada. the nevada legislature last year passed Sb254, requiring nevada to inventory green-house gas emissions across every sector (giving us the pie chart above) and reco

CLIMATE ACTIOn . . .continued from page 3

Please see CLIMATE ACTION, page 8.

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Group news

Southern nevada group

Southern nevada GroupCalendar

ALL eVenTS inCLuDe ConSerVATion eDuCATion ACTiViTieS

all phone numbers are 702 unless otherwise noted.all hikes and service projects are led by certified outings leaders.

(Please use email when leaders state that they prefer email,especially if you have a long distance telephone number.)

Nevada Tour Operator – Registration Information, Nevada Tour Operator Ref. No. 2008-0041.

a full calendar of our outdoor activities can be found online at www.sierra-club.org/toiyabe/southern-nevada. you can also visit us on facebook at

www.facebook.com/sierraclub.sng, and please “like” our page.

S. nevada group plans an eventful earth Week

the WeeK Surrounding the 50th anniversary of earth day is turning into a whirlwind of activities for the Southern nevada group, which is participating in no fewer than a half-dozen earth day-related public events. Saturday, April 18. earth Week opens on this day, with the Sierra club office transformed into a grassroots gal-lery for the “earth day 50 Art exhibit.” on display will be artwork submitted in the Sierra club-sponsored Art & es-say contest on the theme “What earth day means to me.” gallery hours are 2-7pm daily through Sunday, April 26 (dark on Wednesday, April 22); admis-sion is free. Saturday will also see the group tabling at the las Vegas electric Vehicle Asso-

Southern nevada Group

chair taj Ainlay* 702-576-6815 tajainlay@aol.comVice-chair Janet carter*Secretary Jane Feldman*treasurer bobby mahendra*coal Power Plants Jane Feldman*conservation Jane Feldman*endangered Species Jane Feldman* & Wildlifeenergy Jane Feldman*las Vegas ico Janet carter lasvegasico702@gmail.commembership Justin mcAffeeoutings nick Saines greatunc@aol.comPolitical openPrograms taj Ainlay* 702-576-6815 tajainlay@aol.comrecycling mhansi Pandhitransportation Jasmine Vazin jasmine.vazin@sierraclub.orgWebmaster taj Ainlay 702-576-6815 tajainlay@aol.com

* ExCom member

officerS

What does earth daymean to you?

thAt’S the queS-tion we put to clark county residents of all ages in the “earth day 50 Art & essay contest,” and they responded

by the dozens in words and pic-tures. on the 50th anniversary of earth day, April 22, we will reveal the winners, with selected essays published in the las Vegas Sun newspaper. the best artwork will be on display at the Sierra club of-fice, which we are transforming into a grassroots gallery for the entire week surrounding earth day. And to mark the historic occasion, we are holding a gala Awards Presentation at the clark county library theater, where the clark county commission will be presenting us a special Proclama-tion, commemorating the 50th anniver-sary and commending the Sierra club and others for bringing environmental awareness to the local community. Volunteers welcome! if you have an interest in helping out as a volunteer at the gallery or the Presentation, we need greeters, ticket handlers, ushers, stage hands, gallery hosts and docents. it will be fun, productive work with like-minded environmentalists ... and our “staff” will receive compli-mentary earth day t-shirts as well as free admission to the events. So show us what earth day means to you by pitching in. What you can do. Join us by contact-ing Sng chair taj Ainlay (tajainlay@aol.com) today — and happy earth day 50!

april 4 (SaTurday)Geology Hike in Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. Spring mountain ranch has magnificent scenery and best exposures of triassic chinle Formation in greater red rock canyon. moderate hike, less than 4 mi up Shinarump conglomerate ridge and into Sandstone canyon. less than 300 ft gain. discuss geology, including mystery of reported volcanic deposits. leader: ge-ologist nick Saines (greatunc@aol.com, 702-896-4049).

april 11 (SaTurday)Lovell Canyon, Spring Mountains Na-tional Recreation Area. lovell canyon is a scenic and lightly visited canyon W of great red rock canyon escarpment. easygoing dog-friendly hike, 6 mi, gradual 700 ft gain. Well-groomed trail; a pleasant walk through the woods. What wildlife lives here? leader: bill marr (702-433-0743, wrmarrwilliam@aol.com).

april 17 (friday)Flower & Photography Hike with David Morrow. Flower hike in red rock canyon or in another park. Slow-paced hike to find, identify, and photograph wildflowers. less than 3-4 mi and 300 ft gain. leader: david morrow (david.brenda.morrow@gmail.com, 702-703-9486).

april 18 (SaTurday)Red Rock Escarpment from Mountain Springs (Rainbow Mountain Wilderness). Park at mountain Springs trailhead off route 160 and hike up to top of red rock escarp-ment on S end of national conservation Area. dog-friendly hike, steep in places, but mainly on good trail. Any rock scrambling will be easy. About 5-6 mi, gain 1000 ft. breath-taking views. explore an area of red rock canyon that few hikers go to. See Key-stone thrust Fault. leader: bill marr (702-433-0743, or wrmarrwilliam@aol.com).

april 18-26 (SaTurday-Sunday)Earth Day 50 Art Exhibit. come see the artwork entered in the earth day 50 Art & essay contest, as the Sierra club office becomes a “grassroots gallery” displaying the best of the competition and a continuous slide show of art on the theme, “What earth day means to me.” Free admission; open 2pm-7pm daily (dark Wednesday, April 22, earth day). For details, visit tinyurl.com/earthday50gallery.

april 22 (WedneSday)Earth Day 50 Awards Presentation. Join us for our gala earth day celebration from 6pm-9pm at the clark county library theater, where we will be awarding $2020 in prizes to the winners of the earth day 50 Art & essay contest. Admission is free, but only ticketed guests will be seated. For details, visit tinyurl.com/earthdaytickets.

april 23 (ThurSday)Desert Hills Mountain Bike Trails. About 5 mi loop, 500 feet gain. great views from this ridge hike on SW side of las Vegas. this hike is like walking on top of world! may have beautiful spring flower bloom. guided/silent meditation before

lunch. leader: Vern quever (715-587-4341, vern.quever@gmail.com).

april 25 (SaTurday)“Dinosaur Dreaming: Our Climate Mo-ment”. Please join award-winning author gail collins-ranadive at the Sierra club office for the launch of her new book, in which she shares her own private reac-tions to the climate crisis and invites you to participate in solutions already embed-ded within the problems. For details, visit tinyurl.com/uajjsgk.

may 2 (SaTurday)Flower & Photography Hike with David Morrow. Flower hike in red rock canyon or in another park, perhaps in Spring moun-tains. A slow-paced hike to find, identify, and photograph wildflowers. may also see birds. less than 3-4 mi, 300 ft gain. leader: david morrow (david.brenda.morrow@gmail.com, 702-703-9486)

may 9 (SaTurday)Bird Watching & Photography Hike with David Morrow. Join Sierra club hike leader/naturalist/photographer david mor-row on a visit to henderson bird Preserve, Floyd lamb Park, or another location, to observe local and migratory birds. less than 3-4 mi, 300 ft gain. bring binoculars and a bird identification guide, if you have one. leader: david morrow (david.brenda.morrow@gmail.com, 702-703-9486).

may 14 (ThurSday)Red Rock Escarpment from Mountain Springs (Rainbow Mountain Wilder-ness). From mountain Springs trailhead, 5 mi, 1200 ft gain. out and back hike, steadily uphill. View las Vegas from 4400 ft above Strip. gorgeous views of backside of red rock canyon. hike as similar to hiking mary Jane Falls, only a little longer. Short guided/silent meditation on top of mountain before lunch. leader: Vern quever (715-587-4341, vern.quever@gmail.com).

may 15-17 (friday – Sunday)Hackberry Canyon Backpack. three-day moderate backpacking trip into fabulous sandstone country of brilliant reds, yellows, and more. About 40 mi east of Kanab, ut; requires driving on over 10 mi of dirt road, so a high clearance vehicle is needed. About 5-7 mi in with packs. most of terrain is easy walking. hike begins in a narrows with a creek so plan on wet feet. canyon opens up but closes in again. middle day we will dayhike further up canyon and explore Stone donkey canyon, a narrows leading to “Stone donkey.” leader: david hardy (hardyhikers@embarqmail.com).

may 21 (ThurSday)New Member Orientation. our first ori-entation of the year is open not only to new and prospective members but also to current members with an interest in learning more about the Sierra club, the toiyabe chapter, and the Southern nevada group. We will be meeting from 6pm for about 90 minutes

upcoming meetings open to all members, the monthly meet-ings of our Executive Committee (ex-com) are now held on the first thursday of each month, unless otherwise noted. We meet from 5:30pm to 8pm at the Si-erra club office, 3828 meadows lane, las Vegas 89107. Please join us on April 2, May 7, or June 4. Among other events scheduled at the office, there’s a Members Orienta-tion & Open House coming up on Thursday, May 21, from 6pm. it’s an opportunity for members new and old, as well as prospective members, to learn all about our organization and activities in Southern nevada. light refreshments will be served, and family members are welcome. Also, look for notices of activities via email, on the chapter website, and on our Facebook Page (Sierra club - Southern nevada group).

Please see S. NEVADA EARTH WEEK, page 7.

Please see sn CALENDAR, , page 7.

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S. nevada GroupCaLendar

continued from page 6

Las Vegas ICO : Inspiring Connections Outdoors

ico visits clark county museumby beTTy gallifenT & Sharon braShear

at the Sierra club office on meadows lane. light refreshments will be served. info: justin.mcaffee@gmail.com.

may 23-25 (SaTurday-monday)Telescope Peak, Panamant Range, Death Valley National Park. three-day, 2-night car camp at mahogany Flat campground; 1-day climb of telescope Peak. this peak is on W edge of death Valley national Park; it offers a 360-degree view of surround-ing region, including mount Whitney and Sierra nevada range to west, and Spring mountains to east. At night, stargazing is at its best. leave las Vegas Saturday morning to arrive at our destination by early afternoon, set up camp, and do a little exploring. on Sunday, hike in 7 mi and have lunch at summit. gain 3000 ft, from 8200 to over 11000 ft. return to las Vegas on monday. contact leader for details, in-cluding what to bring. high clearance and four wheel drive vehicles needed to take us up to campground, which sits at 8200 feet. leader: Sasson Jahan (sasson702@gmail.com; 702-499-9218).

may 25 memorial day (monday)Big Falls, Kyle Canyon, Spring Moun-tains NRA (Mt. charleston). hike to big Falls – one of treasures of Spring moun-tains – a 100-ft-high waterfall. examine a feature i interpreted as a glacial moraine on way up. Perfect time of year to be hik-ing on our beautiful high country trails. boulder and log scrambling for 2 mi, unless there is still a carpet of snow. have Spring mountains been glaciated? if so, what geological features would we expect to find? About 4 mi rt,1000 ft gain. leader: geologist nick Saines (greatunc@aol.com, 702-896-4049).

June 6 (SaTurday)North Loop Trail, Kyle Canyon, Spring Mountains NRA (Mt. charleston). hike on north loop trail up to crest, before rain tree, if snow conditions allow. if not, alternate trail will be taken. About 4 mi, up to 1600 ft gain. . leader: david mor-row (david.brenda.morrow@gmail.com, 702-703-9486).

June 9 (TueSday)Primary Election Day. the polls are open from 7am to 7pm for Federal/State Prima-ry elections, including representatives for congress, State Senate, State Assembly, county commission, and Judicial offices. Please vote for environmental champions

and make America green Again!June 13 (SaTurday)

Lower Kyle Canyon, Spring Mountains NRA. return to Spring mountains for a moderate dog-friendly hike on escarpment trail across from mount charleston Visitor center. We may include an extra 2 mi on Acastus trail that leads to Fletcher canyon trailhead. About 4-5 mi, gain about 700 ft. What animals live here in winter? leader: bill marr (702-433-0743 or wrmarrwil-liam@aol.com).

June 15 (monday)Upper Bristlecone Trail, Lee Canyon, Spring Mountains NRA (Mt. charleston). take this scenic trail from ski area at lee canyon to junction with old road; then take switchbacks up to top of ridge; last, loop back, reaching 10,000 ft. hike through strange, ancient, enchanted bristlecone Forest. About 5 mi rt, 800 ft gain. how old are bristlecone pines? Why did Presi-dent roosevelt stop construction of road? leader: geologist nick Saines (greatunc@aol.com, 702-896-4049).

July 2-5 (ThurSday-Sunday)Wheeler Peak, Lehman Caves, Great Basin National Park, Baker Nevada. A 4-day, 3-night car camp at park ($15/night). one day of hiking to summit and one day of visiting lehman caves, nevada’s only gla-cier, and other aspects of park. Also, we can do some brook trout fishing to add to dinner menu. Arrive thursday late afternoon, set up camp, explore a little, then cook dinner. Friday, hike to summit (13,065 ft); 4.3 mi in and 2900 feet gain. Saturday, visit caves, do short hikes around park. Sunday morning, head back to Vegas. leader: Sasson Jahan (sasson702@gmail.com; 702-499-9218).

July 9 - 13 (ThurSday – monday)Mt. Jefferson, Toquima Range, Central Nevada Backpack. begin from a camp-ground on Pine creek in scenic and remote toquima range of central nevada, about 5-hr drive n of las Vegas. hiking up Pine creek, expect to have wet feet. Widespread aspen forests cover much of area we’ll explore. on first day, hike in about 3 mi. there’ll be more hiking with day packs as we cover three peaks of mt. Jefferson. then return same way. up to 2500ft gain and 15-20 mi rt with backpacks on trails. leader: david hardy (hardyhikers@em-barqmail.com).

Why did indigenous people choose to settle in the Southern nevada area thousands of years ago? Why did people come here in the

1850s, in the early 1900s? What brought them here in the 1930s and during the Second World War? by the end of the tour of the clark county museum on Saturday, January 25, 2020, eight youngsters, ages 8-11, from Pearson center, were able to an-swer all those questions. this was the first las Vegas ico tour of the museum and it was not a typical outdoor ico (in-spiring connections outdoors) outing, but one worth repeating. our tour guide, Paul, made the day with his wit, humor, and techniques for getting the kids to stay attentive and re-member what they learned. he started at the indoor museum explaining the geo-graphic and historical timeline of the las

Vegas area covering early signs of life from trilobites to dinosaur footprints, then early Paiute inhabitants, mining ventures, early european settlers, the railroad, gambling, and World War ii industries. he used pictures, trinkets, artifacts, and museum exhibits to tell the stories along this timeline. he engaged the youngsters in the mining exhibit, for example, by asking, “What is the nickname of our state? is it the artichoke state?” then he pulled out a silver nug-get from his shirt pocket to give them a clue. Students toured the outdoor ex-hibits includ-ing the jail, a general store, and a 20-mule-team wagon which Paul referred to as their u-haul. he challenged students to try to push the wagon with everyone getting behind it, then showed them a picture of the 20-mule team required to move the wagon. Students got to go inside a Paiute wikiup and pose for pic-tures. his timeline of las Vegas history and what brought people here continued with the visit to the railroad station and caboose. Students were also given the task of finding particular artifacts as they toured

early and mid 20th century homes which were moved to the museum grounds and restored in the style of the period. in ad-dition, they explored an old-time print shop and a wedding chapel that once graced the las Vegas Strip. the tour ended with a walk along the nature trail where the guide pointed out a variety of native plants and told how native Americans were able to use re-sources the desert provided to survive our harsh climate. For example, agave leaf tips and strands of fiber were used as needle and thread to mend torn clothing. tuberous roots of cattails were nourish-

ing food (they taste like po-tatoes), creosote leaves were crushed, dried, and mixed with water to produce an antibacte-rial salve, and ground seeds from mesquite beans pods became flour for bread. At closing circle, the young visitors shared favorite parts of the museum exhibits that they liked: “everything . . . how it was when native Americans were here . . . learning about the dire wolf and how people came to nevada . . . seeing the

trains and little houses . . . seeing how you play that ancient game” (Paiute stick game). A memorable quote: When the guide passed around a replica of a Wooly mammoth tooth, the size of a basketball, one student said, “that would take a long time to brush.” For more information. to find out more about las Vegas ico visit us on our Facebook page at: las Vegas ico,

or at our website: www.lasvegasinspir-ingconnectionsoutdoors.org, or email us at: lasvegasico702@gmail.com.

Girls in a wikiup. Photo: Sharon Brashear.

Students pose with cargo wagon. Photo: Linda Kristensen.

10am to 2pm, as well as the earth day 50th Anniversary Party at Art Square in down-town las Vegas from 11am to 4pm. Sunday, April 19. in Searchlight on this day, Sierra club national Special Achievement Award winner Jim boone will lead an outing called “earth day 50 – Save our native bees.” Participants will be knocking down illegal mining markers that serve as death traps for local insects, birds, and reptiles. Wednesday, April 22 , is earth day! on this day, the group will host the “earth day 50 Awards Presentation” at clark county library theater, beginning at 6pm. tabling by a dozen local environ-mental groups in the library lobby will precede the presentation of $2020 in cash prizes to the winners of the Art & essay contest.

As a special highlight of the evening, the clark county commission will is-sue a Proclamation commemorating the 50th anniversary of earth day, while commending the Sierra club and others for organizing earth day 50 activities. Saturday, April 25. closing out the eventful week at the Sierra club office is the launch of a new book, “dinosaur dreaming: our climate moment,” by award-winning author gail collins-ranadive. From 2-4pm, she will share insights on the climate crisis and ac-tions individuals can take to avert the mass extinction of species. More information. For details and and links to events, visit the earth day 50 calendar at www.tinyurl.com/earth-day50calendar or email earthDay50@toiyabe.sierraclub.org.

S. nEVADA EARTH WEEK . . .continued from page 6

june 1Deadline!

forjuly - aug - sept issue

aPRil - may - jUNe 2020 toiyabe trails

Range of Light Group

8

by lynn boulTon, range of lighT group chair (chairrolg@gmail.com)

2020:The 50th Anniversary of Earth Day

People tell me all the time that they are worried about the impacts of climate change. People care. People are paying attention. but, “What can i do?” Answer: A lot! We each have to up our game. We have to dedicate time to working on the solutions and that might require drop-ping an activity to make the time. We might want to consider spending our money now when it would have more of an impact than bequeathing it later or waiting for the government to fund something. on February 9, 2019, Sierra club california passed a resolution declaring a climate emergency. At the current rate of warming, the iPcc has calculated that earth’s average global temperature will be 1.5 degrees c hotter by 2030 than pre-industrial levels. Fighting climate change has to be the focus of our lives in these next 10 years. in 10 years, when we look back on our lives, will we wish we had done more? What can each of us do? lots. here’s a list:

• Vote for candidates who will address climate change.• Support a type of tax on carbon.• make sure your home and rental properties are energy efficient. get an energy audit and find out what more can be done. • convert your home to all electric appliances. • replace your refrigerator and A/c re-frigerant. refrigerators that use hFcs (hydrofluorcarbons) are greener than hFcs and chFcs. • Add solar panels to your home. if you have little sun, put solar panels on a public facility instead.• divest from fossil fuels. Are your mutual funds green? if not, change funds or firms.• buy a hybrid or all electric vehicle and use it for backup power in the event of a power outage. don’t wait 10 years for your gas car to die. it will be too late.• change your diet to a more plant based diet -- less meat, less dairy.• Work with your local 350.org or ready for 100 group to plan projects

to shift your community to renewable energy and a reduced carbon footprint. through them, work with your town/county and local businesses to:• Phase out hFc refrigerants and dis-pose of them properly.• Work with counties to capture meth-ane from landfills.• have all emergency services, hospi-tals and schools on microgrids that can island off the grid as needed.• have ordinances that will incentivize rooftop solar and energy efficiency • create a community choice Ag-gregate to increase renewable energy sources for your community’s elec-tricity.• improve public transportation and facilitate non-motorized travel.• have public, universal electric ve-hicle charging stations in your com-munity.

What you can do. We need more voices. When only a handful of us go to the town council or county board and ask for change, it isn’t enough to sway them from the status quo. if the community shows up, change can happen. We only have 10 more years. together, we can save the earth. Adjust your life so you are ready to work and then contact us:

Ready for 100:Mammoth/Mono County

lynn boulton, amazinglynn@yahoo.com don condon, condon.don@gmail.com

350Mono.orgJanet carle jcarle@qnet.com

Inyo350.orgharold mcdonald, hmcdonald19@icloud.com

CLIMATE ACTIOn . . .continued from page 5

the state plans to release a climate Action Plan by the end of the year. much of this work will require new legislation — and your support — in 2021. Regional Efforts. in 2019, reno unanimously adopted a Sustainability & climate Action Plan, which identifies short- and long-term goals in nine differ-ent action areas: from renewable energy acquisition, green buildings, climate-re-siliency, increasing the urban tree canopy, reducing waste, developing better sources of local food, and safeguarding our water sources. . reno is leading implementation teams to make progress on each of these fronts. Join us to be successful. clark county is also pursuing a Sus-tainability plan. the county is leading a Sustainability task force to engage citi-zens with actions to improve transporta-tion and urban planning best practices. caring people like you are needed to support these efforts. contact us. the towns of mammoth lakes, truck-ee, and South lake tahoe are also mov-ing forward pursuing climate, renewable energy, and sustainability solutions. contact us to get involved. What you can do. if you are waiting for others to put climate solutions into place — our federal government, your state, county, or the Sierra club locally or na-tionally — then you will be disappointed with the results. our climate crisis is an all-hands-on-deck situation. contact me at the email below to get involved. While you’re at your keyboard, sign up for toiyabe chapter’s enewslet-ter, which delivers monthly updates on events and opportunities for action around nevada and the eastern Sierra. Send an email to brian.beffort@sierra-club.org with your zip code, and i will add you to our outreach list. NOTE. A digital version of this story, with links to the studies and articles mentioned, is available at https://www.sierraclub.org/toiyabe/blog/2020/03/what-climate-action

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opt out of the paper Toiyabe Trails and walk the Sierra club talk by saving our nat-ural resources. email us at “optout@toi-yabe.sierraclub.org” (put that address in the “to” line). then put “optout” in the “Sub-ject” line — that’s all you have to do.

make a tree happy! get your Trails

online

thursday • april 2 • 7 pm

here iS A liSt oF enVironmentAl issues that rolg has been active in since the beginning of the year. rolg is looking for members to become in-volved in one or more of these issues to help those currently addressing these issues. For more information contact malcolm wmalcolm.clark@gmail.com, or lynn chairrolg@gmail.com.

• Keep long Valley green • radius gold exploration activity in the bodie hills• gold mining on conglomerate mesa• exploratory wells in the Panamint Valley (inyo county) • tangle Free Waters project • Pumped Storage projects• uSFS cattle grazing leases in hum-boldt-toiyabe national Forest near bridgeport• renewable energy and fighting cli-mate change in mono county• campaign to protect the bodie hills from mining

ROl Conservation News

uSfS auditorium, mammoth lakes for info or to help, contact chairrolg@gmail.com

ommend policies that can reduce ghg emissions by 28% over 2005 levels by 2025; 45% by 2030; with a goal of 100% carbon-free economy by 2050.