March 15, 2008

Your monetary support is essential for local Sierra Club activism.

Your contribution, made in response to this Toiyabe Chapter March fundraiser letter, funds exclusively local activities. This fundraiser is your once-a-year chance to help out locally! Every dollar matters. And thank you for your continued membership which adds very critical weight to the Sierra Club’s local voice.

Your money goes to the Chapter which then assigns it to specific projects of the Groups and Chapter. Below, the Group chairs as well as Chapter activists highlight these local projects. Their email addresses and phone numbers are provided if you would like to contact them.

Great Basin Group (Northern Nevada): We need to continue the activities of the Keep Washoe Wild campaign. If we had the funds, “we could hire staff (legal /research/ activist) to help implement real policies to put teeth into our local open space and greenway plans that would guide city councils and county commissioners in making decisions about future growth.” Valerie Andersen, Chair. mailto:mtnval@sbcglobal.net; (775) 828-0302.

Lake Tahoe Group: We need “help funding a part time consultant to follow the 20 year planning update here at Tahoe.” “Other funding we would like most is for legal work. Every time we need to really get TRPA’s (Tahoe Regional Planning Authority’s) attention, it seems we need to have an attorney draft a letter. Each ‘happening’ costs a $1000 or so. And if we have to pursue litigation, we need to have a couple of thousand to support the broader effort.” With more funds, “we would use expert consultants to ensure that the next 20 Year Plan for Tahoe is a good one.” Roger Rosenberger, Chair. Email RRosenberger@Cairnstone.com; (305) 298-6191.

Range of Light Group (Eastern Sierra): We need funds to “continue the close watch & legal actions with LADWP (Los Angeles Dep’t of Water and Power) regarding the Owens Lake dust pollution & LORP (lower Owens River project).” Mary K. Prentice’s words for Brigitte Berman. Email jungberman@mac.com; (760) 924-2140.

Southern Nevada Group: We'd “use the money to beef up the staff program that is focused on encouraging renewable energy sources and fighting the expansion of coal fired plants.” We want to “help fund a study with other local groups on the negative impacts of unmanaged growth in Southern Nevada. To try to abort the water grab from eastern and central Nevada, which will no doubt have a devastating effect on those areas.” Fred Treat, Chair. Email: bigorbad@yahoo.com; (702) 217-5791.

Toiyabe Chapter Wilderness and Wild Lands Committee: “It would be very helpful if the Sierra Club would spend some money on getting water to Walker Lake.” Money would be used for “brochures, publicity” and to raise political awareness of the crisis. Marge Sill, Chair. Email: msill@juno.com (775) 322-2867.

Toiyabe Chapter Water Campaign: “The biggest issue is the proposal to take water from eastern Nevada and pipe it to Las Vegas. Billions of gallons of water per year are at stake. The Chapter water campaign is trying to prevent another Owens Valley environmental and community disaster. We need money for scientific and legal experts at state water hearings and for the pipeline EIS which is a federal process. The experts are needed to counter the shallow claims that ‘There’s plenty of water and no pumping impacts’.” Rose Strickland, Email rosenreno@gmail.com (775) 329-6118

Reach for your checkbook. Your environmental future will thank you and so will we!

P.S. Your contributions also pay for insurance for the local outings programs and for your Toiyabe Trails newsletter.

P.S.S.  Please send your contribution via U.S. Mail to: Toiyabe Chapter, PO Box 8096, Reno, NV 89507.

Return to the Toiyabe Chapter Home Page