In This Issue...Letter From The Director ............................. page 2 Colorado Oil & Gas Roundup ...................... page 3Legislative Update ........................................ page 3No To Fossil Fuels, Yes To Clean Energy .... page 4Social Media Volunteer ................................. page 5 RMC Group Reports ................................ pages 6, 7

Coming Up: Pesticides, Bugs, Bees ............. page 8Amazing Apathy Cartoon ............................. page 8Mark Your Calendar ...................................... page 8Safeguard Windpower, Protect Eagles ......... page 9Media Watch ................................................page 10Vote Yes To Label GMOs ............................page 10RMC Contact List ........................................ page 11RMC Thanks Our Contributors ..................page 12

ElectionIssue 2014

See Page 14 for CandidateStatements &

Page 15 for Ballot

Volume 48, No. 4 www.rmc.sierraclub.org Fall 2014

The Wilderness Act celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2014. It enables Congress to permanently designate for protection from development natural areas administered by the federal government. In 50 years more than 109 million acres of public land have received wilderness protection. Colorado

boasts 43 wilderness areas across the state, including James Peak.

By Bill IklerRMC Indian Peaks Wilderness Team Chair

It was the winter of 1974. My girlfriend, Kay, and I rattled up the washboard dirt road from Rollinsville, Colo., in my VW Beetle. From there we pulled into the small parking area at the Moffat train tunnel. We unloaded our skis and gear in the howling wind, walked across the railroad tracks, and disap-peared into the trees. We put some blue wax on our pine-tarred wood skis, clipped into our three-pin bindings, and were off with our bamboo poles. We would take turns breaking trail through the deep, powdery snow, or we’d be lucky and an earlier bird would have done it for us. Up we climbed through a big snowy meadow with the

crumbling remains of cabins that housed long-ago miners. We clambored over frozen creeks. As the trail steepened, we passed ancient towering pine and fir trees that, when breezes blew, sifted crystals of snow in the sunlight. Beautiful and challenging We often climbed to Heart Lake, which lay frozen beneath deep snow and seemed to be only a stone’s throw from the Continental Divide. Heading back, we careened down on the edge of control—with many wedge turns and lots of laughing and screaming. We also visited in warmer temperatures that yielded wildflowers, rushing waterfalls, and high lakes — Crater, Heart, Arapaho, and Forest—that were perfect for hiking or fishing. Over the years, while ski equipment has evolved and wedge turns have become telemarks, the James Peak Wilderness Area, in every season, has remained as beautiful and challenging as ever. Those early visits gave me firsthand knowledge of the area, its opportunities for solitude, and a deep sense of attachment.

continued on page 4...

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Octobergreat

month togo solar

Wilderness Act 50th AnniversaryJames Peak: beauty and

solitude preserved

James Peak Wilderness Area

By Carol CarpenterRMC Communications Team

October is a great month to take advantage of a special offer to install solar panels on your home’s rooftop. This month only, all homeowners will get a $1,000 discount to heat,

cool and light their home with clean renewable energy through Sierra Club’s innovative partnership with Sungevity, a leading national solar company. If you go solar this month—Sun-gevity will also send your Sierra

Phot

os b

y Bi

ll Ik

ler

Peak & Prairie page 2

September marked the 50th anniversary of the Wil-derness Act, and I wrote a special Director’s mes-sage dedicated to this celebration—you can read it at

http://goo.gl/s24ctp. The Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Johnson in 1964, but it was President Reagan who signed the most wilderness designations: 43 laws / 8 million acres / 22 states. President Carter signed the most wilderness area into law: 50 million acres. Today there are 758 areas com-prising 110 million acres of wilderness designation—about 65 percent more land than Colorado has. We await congressional action to protect Colorado areas such as Browns Canyon and Hermosa Creek, which enjoy strong local and bipartisan political support for wilderness designation. Unfortunately, though, Congressional gridlock is blocking such designations these days. In the meantime, we celebrate the 50th anniversary throughout Colorado this year! Find an event near you by visiting www.wilderness50th.org. Our Wilderness Team has been working with others to plan several events, many of which feature John Fielder’s photography. See an ad on page 9. Our Rocky Mountain Chapter (RMC) Groups have been quite active across the state, including our newest, the Denver Metro Network (DMN), which had a fast victory this year! They identified restaurants in the Denver metro area that were still serving shark fin soup, asked them to re-move the item from their menus, and won! Check out what the other active groups are doing on pages 6 and 7. The RMC Beyond Oil and Gas Team, working with new national club Keep Dirty Fuels in the Ground staffer Cathy Collentine, has worked with our Legislative, Politi-cal, and Executive Committees. Five bad oil and gas bills hit early in the 2014 legislative session; these staff and volunteers worked well together to defeat them. After the session ended, Gov. John Hickenlooper wanted to call a spe-cial legislative session over the summer. Our staff, teams and committees led the environmental community to monitor the situation and communicate with legislators, ultimately guaranteeing that the Governor couldn’t secure the votes he needed for a special session that would have produced a bad compromise. By the time we knew the added session wouldn’t happen, we were faced with only two remaining responsible oil and gas ballot initiatives, both funded by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis. We endorsed both, for which many of our members and supporters were already collecting signatures, only to have them rescinded in an early August deal struck among the Governor, Rep. Polis, and the fracking industry. During this harried time, Sierra Club was accused of bringing pressure to scrap the very initiatives we had endorsed. We quickly issued a press release correcting the original report (http://goo.gl/EFAFM5). The Governor has announced the composition of the task force membership in the deal; our teams are paying close attention. For more on the actions of our Legislative Committee in the 2014 session, see the May and June Peak and Prairie e-newsletters (http://rmc.sierraclub.org/pandp/). The session began with five threats to shut down the state’s renewable energy mandate, but our Legislative Committee worked with others to shut these bills down. This committee is success-ful in large part due to your fast responses to their calls for action (those e-mail action alerts we send out so that you can communicate with decision-makers). Each alert garners thousands of responses almost instantaneously, making a big difference. Thank you!

Our Legal Committee is a set of volunteer lawyers quietly working pro bono to make sure that all of the RMC’s legal cases are fully coordinated between the national Club and external attorneys. They support all our teams, committees and local groups. Our Political Committee has been working through a blizzard of politi-cal endorsements for the upcoming November election. Check our website (rmc.sierraclub.org/politics_issues.shtml) for our 2014 endorsements. Our chapter priority campaign on genetically modi-fied organism (GMO) labeling really took off with RMC members and supporters working with various organizations to gather thousands of signatures to get a GMO measure onto the November statewide ballot. The issue is now on the ballot, and our GMO Team is on its way to carrying out the second phase of the campaign to make sure Colorado passes this GMO labeling initiative. Our new RMC Conservation Programs Coordinator, Matt Reed, introduced in our April Peak and Prairie e-newsletter, has been working with our conservation teams to make progress on active campaigns. He immediately orga-nized our chapter and local DMN leadership to participate in a nationally-coordinated Keystone XL pipeline rally at the state Capitol; we received several statewide media hits, and were featured in several national Sierra Club feature pieces. Matt is working with our Wildlife Team’s campaign to protect eagles and other birds from unnecessary wind turbine hazards, working to return wolves to the Southern Rockies, and submitting technical comments about pos-sible endangerment designation for sage grouse to state and federal agencies. The team, Matt and I also met with the new Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director, Bob Broscheid, to initiate a positive working relationship. Matt is also working to form an updated Water Re-sources Team around a campaign to work on the Colorado Water Plan, and is generally supporting all our conservation issue teams and local groups to establish excellent cam-paigns. Our resident national club Beyond Coal Campaign Organizer, Bryce Carter, worked his organizing magic in tandem with staff who flew to Colorado, with chapter and group leaders, as with hundreds of Colorado members and supporters, to show the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that we mean business when it comes to clean air and stronger climate safeguards. Over 500 of our people showed up in person before the EPA to testify and support a strong Clean Power Plan and carbon standard. Most (5:1) of the testimony at the Denver hearing—the only hearing location for the entire western U.S.—was in favor of strong carbon standards. Great job, Bryce, and all who were involved! Our Outings Team now has an effective new Chair, Chris Applegate, who is training new certified outings lead-ers and creating excellent outings for your enjoyment and learning. The Awards Committee is currently seeking nomina-tions for volunteer award candidates. If you know of a volunteer whose performance is outstanding, let Chair Mark Stevens know at: mark@designprojectinc.com. The Fundraising Team does a spectacular job at orga-nizing our Step Strong Colorado hike-a-thon and our Winter Gala, and they could use some help. If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact

Letter From the Directorof the Rocky Mountain Chapter, Joshua Ruschhaupt

Published by the Sierra Club

Rocky Mountain Chapter

1536 Wynkoop Street, Suite 200

Denver, CO 80202Ph: 303.861.8819

www.rmc.sierraclub.org

Editorial StaffDirector:

Joshua Ruschhaupt

Copy Editor/Reporter:Carol Carpenter

Reporter: Hilary Froman

Reporter: Jim Luidl

Media Specialist: Gail Bell

Photographer/Social Media:Michael Ace

Social Media/E-Newsletter Layout:Tiffny Shanaughy

Graphic Designer/Artist: James E. Anderson

Contact:rmc-communications-team@

lists.sierraclub.org

The Peak & Prairie is published based on thebudget, volunteer and staff capacity available.

In 2010 — 2014, this was one printednewsletter. In 2011, we initiated

monthly e-newsletters. If you are not receivingthe monthly e-newsletter, please “opt-in” here:

rmc.sierraclub.org/pandp/subscriptions.All past e-newsletters are archived here:

rmc.sierraclub.org/pandp

Peak & Prairie

Fall 2014Volume 48 - Number 4

Have you seen our Facebook page?

facebook.com/sierraclubrmcmeetup.com/sierraclubrmctwitter.com/sierraclubrmc

continued on page 13...

By Rick BlotterBeyond Oil & Gas Team Secretary

Events of the summer have left many in Colorado rethinking our options for stem-ming the tide of roughly 3,000 hazardous new drilling and fracking operations opening shop here each year—too often in communities, near water supplies, and in natural areas.

Local rights/setback initiatives withdrawn. Statewide Ballot Initiatives 88 and 89—which would have increased setbacks between new wells and occupied buildings to 2,000 feet and provided communities with the right to protect their air, water and environment—were withdrawn by Rep. Jared Polis, the initiatives’ sponsor. Instead, a compromise proposal was introduced that included the appointment of a “Blue Ribbon Commission” to study the issue and make recommendations to the state legislature. Many on the “front lines” of the fracking expansion felt betrayed, as though politics trumped public health and safety.

Longmont ban ruling to be appealed. This August, Boulder County District Court and Judge D. D. Mallard found that Longmont did not have the right to ban fracking, and ruled that state law preempts local initiatives. In announcing her decisions, she cited a previous Colorado Supreme Court case that took place in Greeley before high-volume, slick-water, horizontal fracturing was developed, before the industry obtained exemptions from the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act, and before the recent expansion of drilling into communities on Colorado’s Front Range.

Fort Collins and Lafayette ballot measures invalidated. Judges also ruled that the Fort Collins fracking moratorium and Lafayette’s ban conflicted with our state constitu-tion. The cities may appeal as well.

Greeley faces more drilling. With local control authority suffering a setback, drilling continues. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is likely to

approve more and more drilling in Gree-ley. At a recent COGCC meeting, Gree-ley residents voiced concern about oil and gas well projects proposed within city limits, most notably the planned mineral resources project near Frontier Elemen-tary playground. While the company has sited its project farther from the school, many parents say it isn’t enough. Gree-ley residents also voiced concerns about “forced pooling”—the forced leasing of privately owned mineral rights—as well as environmental and health concerns due to drilling, fracking, wastewater injection, and water usage.

Erie residents’ pleas ignored. Per-mits to drill up to 13 wells in Erie near homes and community buildings are also being prepared by the COGCC. Erie’s town trustees unanimously approved 13 new oil and gas wells close to two densely populated subdivisions. Residents asked the board to reject a proposal they say could be detrimental to health, property values, water quality, and more. The 13 wells have been in the works for two years, since Erie entered into a memoran-dum of understanding with Encana.

Fracking waste disposal triggers earthquakes. A wastewater disposal well east of Greeley was closed while the COGCC investigated the cause of earthquakes in the area. Scientists from CU have determined there is a high prob-ability that fluid injected into the strata triggered the earthquakes. The operator of the well, NGL Water Solutions, operates 11 of 29 fracking wastewater injection wells in Weld County. When the COGCC allowed NGL to resume activities, it began injecting 7,500 barrels per day. It doesn’t appear that trusting politicians, relying on the sensibility of regulations or regulatory agencies, or asking our legal system for assistance will adequately protect our public safety, health and property values. We are considering our options, including an-other attempt at changing Colorado’s constitution with a ballot initiative in 2016. ❦

Peak & Prairie page 3

By Karen DikeLegislative Committee Chair

I recently got an alert that it was a high pollution day, which made me realize—I am now afraid of the air! Air used to be a benign thing: hot or cold, windy or still, dry or humid. Now it frightens me because of toxic VOCs, ozone, CO2 and global warming. When you can smell the pollution and see the haze looking toward the mountains, you realize what is lost. I think our politics also suffers from dirty air. After the ballot initiatives intended to mitigate harm from fracking were pulled in August, when so many held high hopes, I realized that I had been too naïve in taking for granted

that citizen voices would be heard. What do we do now? It would be easy to give up. Instead of teetering on the edge of politics, I could move to a place without air pollution or spend my retirement playing bridge and golf. But I won’t give in. This is my home… my air… my democracy. Letter to Hickenlooper Upon hearing that a Blue Ribbon Panel would be formed to address conflicts over oil and gas development, the RMC Legislative Committee, in conjunction with our Beyond Oil and Gas Team and Executive Committee, sent a letter to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. We asked that the panel be transparent, provide op-portunities for citizens to give input, and issue frequent updates. We voiced hope that the outcome will be a bill or bills that protect the health and safety of Colorado citizens and also our air, land and water. We also suggested indi-viduals we would support for the panel—known environ-mentalists with experience in Colorado politics and law. Our next steps will be to closely monitor the panel, keep you informed and ask you to e-mail, testify and make calls when and where needed. The panel is to report in March,

which leaves little opportunity to pass other oil and gas legislation in 2015. When draft legislation is available, we will act rapidly to support or oppose the bills. Other diverse topics expected in the upcoming legislative agenda include pesticides and uranium. We will also watch for bills affecting energy, water and forests. Thanks to everyone who is in this fight to preserve our environment. We can win this war and reclaim the earth to make it healthy and remain steadfast in protecting our democracy. ❦

~ Legislative Update ~

What do wedo now?

~ Colorado Oil & Gas Roundup ~

Rethinking optionsto fight harmfuldrilling, fracking

Peak & Prairie page 4

Today, at the trailheads, you might hear the sound of a train horn or the fan from the train tunnel. But I like hearing those sounds disappear as I hike or ski further into the wilder-ness. Twenty years later Twenty years after our early experiences in James Peak, I learned the Sierra Club had started an initiative to designate the James Peak Roadless Area as a federally protected wil-derness area. Getting James Peak designated as wilderness would be the last link in a chain of protected areas that stretch from Rocky Mountain National Park south to I-70. I thought permanent wilderness protection was a good idea. It would leave something wild to future generations and also protect wildlife habitat. So, I joined the Sierra Club, became a member of the Indian Peaks Group Wilderness Committee, and began the task of getting grassroots support for a wilderness bill. What I thought would be a one - or two-year effort turned into eight years of endless public hearings, e-mails, phone calls and letters to the editor. Our Wilderness Committee sometimes faced hostile crowds at public meetings—which often felt like a lynch mob. The James Peak Roadless Area covered four counties, two Congressional districts, three

Forest Service districts, and several municipalities. Getting grassroots approval meant get-ting many entities on board. Our committee had key help from Republican Gilpin County Commissioner Web Sill, who considered himself a “Teddy Roosevelt conservationist.” Eventually, then-Rep. Mark Udall’s staff worked out compromise legislation with Rep. Scott McInnis’ staff that, in 2002, established the James Peak Wilderness Area and James Peak Protection Area. Wilderness designation ongoing Today, three areas in Colorado: Hermosa Creek Watershed, San Juan Mountains and Browns Canyon, are being considered for wilderness designation and other protection. It is a difficult time to get wilderness bills through Congress due to the highly partisan atmo-sphere that can table a bill that has grassroots and bipartisan support. Only two wilderness bills have passed Congress in recent years. In considering wilderness, Edward Abbey wrote in Desert Solitaire: “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.” Whether you call or e-mail, it is important to let your senators and representatives know what wilderness means to you and that you support wilderness legislation. ❦

By Becky EnglishRMC Clean Energy Specialist

I represented both Sierra Club and the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) at the Clean Power Plan hearing held in Denver in late July by the Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA). I encouraged the EPA to wean the U.S. off fossil fuels that drove the industrial age, and to move with all possible haste to renewable fuels and extreme energy efficiency. The proposed Climate Action Plan that led to the hearing was announced last year by President Obama. The plan instructs the EPA to craft rules that would lower carbon emis-sions of power plants 30 percent below 2005 standards by 2030. I’m disappointed that the proposed rule has settled on such a modest goal. Researchers have determined that a 50 percent reduction can be achieved by 2030, and 100 percent by

2050. We are in an emergency, and I’d like the EPA to con-sider more aggressive rules and very soon. The human fallout of green-house gas (GHG) accumula-tion, the largest percentage due to coal fired power plants, is considerable.

Polluted air, poor health I have friends and colleagues who have developed persistent coughs or who have had to cur-tail outdoor exercise because of poor air quality caused by accumulations of CO2 in parts of Colorado’s Front Range. My heart also goes out to the people who work and live in the shadow of coal plants. One is the Cherokee coal plant near

I-25 and I-70. When driving in that area, I try to breathe the air as little as possible. Researchers have analyzed the acute and sub-acute effects on health caused by coal

plant GHG emissions and associated toxic releases, and the results are not good. It’s time to go beyond demanding that the costs of these atrocities be internalized by the utilities and the businesses in the fossil fuel production and the supply chains. We need to dramati-cally curtail the fossil fuel industry and the polluting, toxic practices in the utility industry. Not in the distant future, but now. I won’t dignify the howls over lost jobs in the mining industry with a response, except to say this: individuals need to make a job transition plan if their job is associated with making people sick and killing those who are already vulnerable. People concerned about jobs should join CRES, and learn how to make a decent living transitioning their families, schools and commercial buildings to clean renewable energy and to dramatically improve energy efficiency. The renewable sector is growing by double digits annually and is the kind of work that lets you sleep peacefully at night. Or they can join the Sierra Club and work for clean energy, clean ecosystems, and a viable way for-ward. Nuclear energy concern I asked the EPA to delete support for nuclear energy from its Clean Power Plan. There is no need for nuclear power in a world where all the power we can ever use, and then some, comes abundantly through our atmosphere as sunshine and wind. The subsidies that states are offered for aging, non-economical nuclear power plants are misguided, at best, and would have dangerous or catastrophic results, at worst. The EPA says 6 percent of U.S. nuclear capacity is expected to diminish over the next few years. This would be about 5.7 GW of electricity, or less than 1.5 percent of the na-tion’s electricity supply—a very low level easily replaced with renewable energy resources. The lifecycle for both carbon emissions and other toxic and radioactive substances in the nuclear energy production cycle are sky-high; all of that nastiness should stay under-ground forever. I also asked EPA to include the following renewable thermal energy resources in its plan: geothermal, solar thermal, and thermal power derived from biomass and co-gen-eration. These are renewable resources that can reduce carbon in our atmosphere. The electricity sector is important, but so is the heating and cooling sector. Thermal pollution, caused by CO2 accumulation, is a concern. I strongly encouraged the EPA to remember its general mission. Not only is the agency charged with the protection of human health, but also the protection of animal and plant systems upon which all life depends. Public input for the Clean Power Plan continues until October 16, 2014. Information about how to submit comments can be found at www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-stan-dards/how-comment-clean-power-plan-proposed-rule. ❦ Editor’s Note: Becky English serves on the RMC Executive and Legislative committees. She also is a co-founder of Swift Tram, a Boulder-based startup that will soon provide rapid transit for people and cargo. She was recently part of a project to analyze opportunities for deployment of renewable thermal energy for the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

Becky English testifies at Clean Energy Hearing.Photo provided by Becky English

No to fossil fuels;yes to clean energy

James Peak... continued from page 1...

Club Rocky Mountain Chapter (RMC) $1,000 to protect local wildlife and wild lands, keep our air and water clean, and move us toward a clean energy future. Over the course of their lifetime, Sierra Club solar homes will generate 190,374,422 kWh of solar power and offset the same amount of dirty carbon as taking 1,273

cars off the road for 20 years, or planting 7,488 acres of trees! RMC Director Joshua Ruschhaupt encourages Sierra Club members and friends to add solar panels to their homes this year through the Sungevity program—doing it in October to get the special $1,000 discount is an espe-cially good time. “If a Sierra Club member or supporter wants to make a tangible difference to make the world a better place, install-

ing solar panels for electricity use is one of the best ways,” Ruschhaupt said, adding that he likes to consider the posi-tive impact of large numbers of Colorado homeowners switching to 100 percent renewable this fall. Getting started with solar is quick and easy. It takes less than three minutes. Request an iQuote from Sungevity by going to (www.sierraclub.org/solarhomes) or calling 415-977-5668 to speak with the Sierra Club Solar Homes coordinator. ❦

Peak & Prairie page 5

Solar... continued from page 1...

By Carol CarpenterRMC Communications Team

If there is one thing Tiffny Shanaughy would like to do as a Sierra Club volunteer—and for activists there is never just ONE thing—is to “get people a bit fired up” to help protect the environment. Rocky Mountain Chapter’s tal-ented Convio administrator who designs and lays out our monthly Peak & Prairie, Tiffny astutely comments: “We’ve got a lot to be fired up about!” One of Tiffny’s top suggestions to improve the planet and reduce one’s carbon footprint is this: Be a more thoughtful consumer by considering where things come from and where they will go before buying them. “These are items that end up in landfills, floating in ocean garbage patches, or worse, in an animal’s stomach. I’m not a big fan of consumerism and believe we could all live with a heck of a lot less stuff ” she states with conviction. A fan of social media and a member of RMC’s Com-munications Team, Tiffny gets particular satisfaction from posting articles on RMC’s Facebook and Twitter pages—topics can start discussions or get people excited. Among them: human population control, the decreasing potable water supply around the world, GMO foods, fracking, climate change, factory farms and polluted oceans. “The list goes on and on. I don’t think we can stand idly by and wait until governments figure stuff out,” she notes. Particularly upsetting to her is the breakdown of governmental political systems that serve the interests of only a select few who control the purse strings. “This is definitely a hot topic for me,” Tiffny emphasizes. “It is very disheartening when a back-room deal takes prece-dence over what is best for the bigger picture. It’s frustrat-ing to see politicians cave to big money, especially since it’s so hard to find those who have an agenda outside of their own interests. We have scientists around the world agree-

ing on climate change, yet many representatives in our government won’t even acknowledge it.”

Something ‘extra’ to do Volunteering is not something this relatively new Den-ver resident has been doing for a long time. Moving here from the Philadelphia area more than three years ago with her husband and young son, she soon decided she needed something extra to do part-time. Seeing a Sierra Club ad on craigslist seeking a Communications Team volunteer, she responded. “Now I can share with others environmental articles I find interesting and informative,” she says, adding that she chose Sierra Club because of its long and well-respected history to preserve the environment. “Grassroots efforts can still work and more and more people are joining the cause(s).” Inspired by other RMC volunteers, she is pleased to have seen, for example, successful efforts that led to mora-toriums on fracking in Longmont and Broomfield. More recently she has felt dismayed that the oil and gas industry “is much stronger than the morals and integrity of our politicians and that those bans were lifted.” One favorite volunteer task has been learning how to use the Convio communications system. “As I become more familiar with the system, I hope to help out more with action alerts, and soon I’m going to be working on an electronic ballot for the upcoming fall Chapter elections. This will make it easier for our members to cast their votes via e-mail.” Looking ahead, Tiffny would like to become involved more socially with other Club members. For example, she is considering taking part in hiking outings, such as Denver Metro Network’s popular Hike & Writes. “Getting out, meeting other members, hiking the trails and seeing beautiful scenery sounds wonderful,” she says. “Everything about Colorado has exceeded my expectations. After what I’ve seen so far, I can’t wait to see more.” ❦

~ Volunteer of the Month ~

Activist seeks to ‘get people fired up’

Your Chapter Needs Volunteers!Would you believe that the Sierra Club runs more from volunteer leadership than staff leadership?

It’s true! Some of the critically important volunteer opportunities you can sign up for are:Webmaster with experience in HTML and Drupal, fund-raising volunteers

unafraid to “make the ask,” reporters, oil and gas leaders, and many, many more.You can fill out, cut out and mail us the form on page 13

along with your ballot on page 15 or you can fill out the volunteer form on theRMC Website at: http://rmc.sierraclub.org/volunteer.shtml.

Tiffny Shanaughy

Peak & Prairie page 6

Rocky Mountain Chapter Groups Report ActivitiesDMN expands,

plans new outreach

By Mat ElsnerDenver Metro Network Chair

The Denver Metro Network (DMN) celebrated its first anniversary this year. A dedicated Leadership Team, enthusiastic volunteers, and support from the Rocky Mountain Chapter all contributed to our success. The DMN has worked hard to embrace Sierra Club’s motto to “explore, enjoy, and protect the planet.” There also are many “behind-the-scenes” aspects of being a successful organization. Our Communications Commit-tee, led by our indefatigable Vice Chair Jim Luidl, has cre-ated a robust social media and web presence to facilitate communications with our members. This past spring, the DMN scored its first conservation victory when the remaining restaurants in Denver serv-ing shark fin soup agreed to remove the item from their menus. The DMN’s Outings Program has been a high prior-ity. Driven by the tireless enthusiasm of Outings Chair

Colleen Finnerty, our program has expanded dramatically since 2013. We scheduled outings all summer and expect to offer even more in 2015. One favorite outing, the “Hike & Write” series, led by Richard Fleck, will continue. Later this year we will roll out geology-focused hikes. The Outreach Committee, led by Kathleen Butler, hosts monthly educational/social events to bring people together. The DMN has hosted speakers, including Denver’s Chief Sustainability Officer Jerry Tinianow and national Sierra Club activists, including Catherine Collentine (Beyond Oil & Gas) and Bryce Carter (Beyond Coal). The Outreach Committee also hosts “Movie Mondays,” screenings of sustainability-related documentaries the first Monday of each month, showing blockbusters like “Food, Inc.”, and “Gasland 2”. Other notable events this past year included working with the RMC to host the anti-Keystone XL pipeline rally at the Capitol, and working with the Beyond Coal cam-paign to get Sierra Club members to provide public com-ments to the Environmental Protection Agency about its new Clean Power Plan. Other DMN leaders, including Lauren Swain, have continued to fight against expanding oil and gas extrac-

tion in Colorado. The DMN Conservation Committee, led by Paul Arell, has identified a comprehensive list of priorities to work on in 2015. We plan to improve recycling of single-use plastic shopping bags in Denver, fight fracking, stop the Keystone XL pipeline, and help to protect our wild places and creatures everywhere. ❦

DMN co-hosted Keystone XL rally at Capitol.

UG active, seeksnew leaders

By Carole Chowen

Uncompahgre Group Co-Chair The Uncompahgre Group (UG) has been busy in 2014 and looks forward to 2015. We assisted this past year in recycling efforts in Grand Valley. We also joined other environmental groups to table at Conservation Colorado’s “Quiet Commotion” to educate and facilitate writing comments on the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area Draft Management Plan. At the Alternative Christmas Fair we raised over $300 to plant native trees in Nepal. One meeting featured a presentation from Hazardous Materials Manager Hope Petrie and Solid Waste and Sustainability Division Direc-tor Cameron Garcia of the Mesa County Hazardous Waste Facility. This facility is leading the way in keeping hazardous materials out of landfills, repurposing usable materials and turning organic matter into compost.

Everyone enjoyed our annual February Full Moon cross country ski and potluck at Mesa Lakes Lodge. At Grand Junction’s Earth Day celebration, UG had a booth to spread the environmental message. We also supported Citizens for Clean Air urging the state Air Quality Com-mission to include protections to improve safeguards from oil and gas pollution—a success! We submitted comments on the proposed change of the Colorado National Monument to National Park status, and raised funds with calendar sales and a hugely successful yard sale. UG continues working on clean air issues, including those that could result from the proposed FRAM drilling in Whitewater. We will be among several environmental groups cel-ebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act with John Fielder’s slide presentation on Nov. 19. Hikes and Bureau of Land Management road closings are on our fall calendar. Our small group of active members encountered a set-back in January when both co-chairs experienced health issues. We invite other members to step forward with the

energy to carry on. One person has made a commitment, but cannot do it alone. Thanks to Chapter leaders Joshua, Matt, Catherine and Mark for traveling from Denver and Glenwood Springs to support us in our restructuring ef-forts. ❦

UG’s Christina Hoagland, Kathy Slaughter

PCG supports bag fee,open spaces initiative

By Will WaltersPoudre Canyon Group Chair

Poudre Canyon Group (PCG) provided comments on a variety of city and county issues, from fracking to municipal environmental priorities to a recently enacted disposable bag fee ordinance in Fort Collins. The Group passed a resolution supporting the bag fee and submitted comments to the Fort Collins City Council backing it. They were rewarded for their work when the council in August approved a disposable bag ordinance that requires retailers across the community to charge

customers a minimum 5-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags. The new law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. PCG also endorsed the Help Preserve Open Spaces ballot initiative on the Larimer County election ballot this November and is working to get it passed. The Group held two outings this year: one to Pawnee National Grasslands in the spring, and another to Gate-way Park Natural Area in the Poudre Canyon in July. Our Group is seeking new volunteers to help fill a vari-ety of vacant roles and rebuild our outings, membership and conservation programs in the coming year. For more information about the Poudre Canyon Group, please contact Will Walters at 970-690-3543 or will@walters-consulting.com. You may also contact Kelly Giddens at 503-866-5962 or kellygiddens@me.com. ❦

PCG held an outing at Pawnee National Grassland.Photo by U.S. Forest Service

Phot

o by

Car

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SdCG addresses chemicals, more

By Kiera Hatton Sena

Sangre de Cristo Group Chair Our Sangre de Cristo Group (SdCG) in the Pueblo area of southern Colorado has tackled many issues in the past year. We invite other Sierra Club members in our area to help us work on one or more key issues in the coming year. Here is what we have worked on in 2014 and hope to accomplish in 2015: Colorado Smelter Superfund. The Community Advi-sory Group is working with the Environmental Protec-tion Agency to educate the public, post signs, and fence off the slag pile. The Sierra Club hosted an Environmen-tal Law Training to educate club members, Eiler’s resi-

dents and others on the best practices to promote a fast and effective Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act cleanup. Chemical Weapons. The Army will soon use its Ex-plosive Detonation System to destroy damaged mustard agent weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. We’re monitoring the process closely. Fountain Creek Water Sentinels. Our group has submitted a proposal, jointly with the Pikes Peak Group, to the club’s Grassroots Network for funding to restart our Fountain Creek Water Sentinels Program. We are on the list of final applicants for our grant for volunteers to keep watch on water quality in the river. Black Hills Energy. Black Hills Energy’s abuses have become national news. We will continue to be part of the local planning group working on options for turning around or replacing them. Picketwire Canyon Outing. We are working on host-ing an outing in the Comanche National Grasslands.

Legislative Liaison. We have appointed a legislative liaison to work with the Chapter Legislative Committee during the 2015 legislative session. ❦

Peak & Prairie page 7

Rocky Mountain Chapter Groups Report Activities

IPG tacklesfracking, bees, more

By Kirk Cunningham

Indian Peaks Group Co-Chair

In the past year, the Indian Peaks Group (IPG) has principally been involved with three issues: fracking, bees, and wilderness protection. Regarding fracking, the IPG set up an Oil and Gas Team to help our Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Oil and Gas Team and local citizens’ groups pass moratoria and bans, and generally agitate. After the withdrawal of Rep. Jared Polis’ initiatives, we hope now to pressure Boulder County Commissioners to extend the existing county

moratorium for another two years. The IPG, along with the “Bee Safe Neighborhood” citizens’ group, organized a popular program this year which prosletyzed on behalf of using only bee-safe plant-ings and yard care. This concept will hopefully spread to other neighborhoods in Boulder and elsewhere. In June, Sierra Club and Bee Safe Neighborhoods held a rally and press conference in Boulder, revealing to the media test results of plants bought in Boulder County, the response of the stores, and what gardeners can do to protect bees in their gardens. Regarding wilderness, the IPG worked with other groups to keep the Lake Eldora Ski Area from expand-ing its borders to overlap popular backcountry ski trails and riparian wildlife habitat that feed into and off of the Indian Peaks Wilderness. ❦

IPG’s Rebecca Dickson speaks to mediaabout bees. Photo by Virginia Winter

Mustard gas at Pueblo Chemical Depot

PPG acts on urbanissues, forests, more

By Kirby HughesPikes Peak Group Chair

The Pikes Peak Group (PPG) has had a great year in southern Colorado! Our traditional conservation efforts included a dedication to urban issues in the Pikes Peak area, as well as to local forests, wilderness areas, mining pollution and recycling. Additionally, we have a special effort focused on advancing children’s outdoor education and skills. Last fall we held our annual fundraising event featuring John Fielder, always a large and fun event. Significantly, the PPG’s efforts are integrated with local conservation-oriented groups and universities where we pool our resources to meet each community’s needs.

To initiate the Group’s efforts in the fall and commu-nicate with our members, we hold an annual September get-together; this fall we’ll be holding our “Beer ‘N Brats” event at Jane Ard-Smith’s residence. Last year we sponsored a number of educational pro-grams for our members and the general public, on an ad-hoc basis in the non-summer months. In January we held our annual “Inning,” an indoor social and dining event in a fun, relaxed setting. Our outings program remains popular with our mem-bers, and we sponsored many events last year, including “Wilderness 50th Anniversary” hikes. We’ve also applied for a grant from national Sierra Club to expand our membership through investigating water quality in the Fountain Creek watershed; by the time this newsletter is published, we should know the status of that grant request. We hold our monthly Executive Committee and Con-servation Committee meetings on the third Thursday of each month; all Club members are cordially invited to

attend. Our website is located at http://rmc.sierraclub.org/ppg/. For details on any of the above items, please contact Kirby Hughes at 719-685-3019 or kirby.hughes@rmc.sierraclub.org. ❦

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By Angela MedberyRMC Pesticides Committee

The 2015 Colorado Legislature will be considering changes to the Pesticide Applicators Act. It is never too soon to write your incumbent and candidate legislators to tell them your concerns, incidents and experiences with pesticides. We do not yet know what issues will be addressed in 2015 legislation, but we have several concerns:

• Mosquito control We are asking for changes in the way mosquito control districts fog residential neighborhoods.

• Reducing school pesticides This will likely not be on the agenda for 2015. How-ever, if you would like your school district to consider less pesticide use, ask them to connect with the state school Integrated Pest Management program. You can go to http://ipm.agsci.colostate.edu/systems-approach-to-natural-turf-management-workshop/, or contact

Genevieve Berry at Gen-evieve.Berry@colostate.edu, for more informa-tion or to register.

• Other pests Weed control districts and those who spray for other pests can also be creating environments with unintended side effects. Unfortunately, we often lack necessary proof as to who or what was sprayed or evidence of long-term damages. Complaints can be filed with the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) at 303-869-9050. Please call CDA to be listed on the pesti-cide sensitive registry for prenotification of local urban spraying by commercial applicators.

• Oil and gas industry We now have a list of 100 pesticide-active ingredients that are registered in Colorado for use by the oil and gas industry. Uses include drilling muds, fuel farms, diesel and aerial fuels, etc. If you want a copy of the list, please call or e-mail me at 303-433-2608 or amedber@juno.com. In other news, we are pleased that Boul-der is the first city to establish a Bee Safe Neighborhood. For further information

or to certify your neighborhood as bee safe, please contact Cosima at 303-939-8519 or cardamomseed@aol.com. Please consider joining our RMC Pesticide listserv for peri-odic updates on committee activities: rmc-cons-pest@lists.sierraclub.org. ❦

Mark Your CalendarDecember 2014, RMC Winter Gala. On Saturday, Dec. 6, the RMC will hold its annual Winter Gala, featuring a plated catered din-ner, awards ceremony, prominent guest speaker and silent auction. To be held at the American Mountaineering Center, Golden, Colo., 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. For more information, contact Dave Read at dancingdave@comcast.net.

February 2015, Legislative Forum. The Denver Metro Group and Audubon Society of Greater Denver will again co-sponsor their Legislative Forum on Saturday, Feb. 28, in Denver. For more information or to RSVP, please call or e-mail Angela Medbery at 303-433-2607 or amedber@juno.com. The cost to attend will be $12 if you pre-pay. Checks, made payable to the Sierra Club RMC, can be sent to the Sierra Club RMC office, attn/memo: Legislative Forum Tickets. June, August 2015, Teasel Weed Control. The RMC Water Quality Committee will be doing teasel weed removal on some Saturdays (specific dates to be determined) in the Wheat Ridge Greenbelt. To be included on the notification list, contact Betty Jo Page at 303-232-9105 or bettyjpage1@comcast.net. Bi-Monthly, RMC Water Quality and Wetlands Committee. The committee holds meetings every other month to learn about recent water quality/wetlands issues. We follow the workings of the Colo-rado Health Dept.’s Water Quality Division. For more information contact Kirk Cunningham at 303-939-8519 or kmcunnin@juno.com.

Don’t Miss An Issue!The Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Peak & Prairieis published 10 times a year as an electronic newsletter.

Send us your e-mail address at:http://rmc.sierraclub.org/pandpand we’ll send every electronic

Peak & Prairie to your e-mail in-box.

Bees are affected by pesticides. Photo by James Anderson

Coming up:pesticides, bugs, bees

By Carol CarpenterRMC Communications Team

Sierra Club members and friends support wind power and other renewable energy sources; at the same time we also advocate strongly for the preservation of wildlife. These dual goals have converged as we learn more about the increasing—although accidental—toll that wind tur-bines take on Bald and Golden Eagles and other birds and animals. Along with the steady increase in wind power pro-duction, Sierra Club has noted the harmful impact that turbines and associated infrastructure can have on wildlife. Also of concern is loss of bird habitat, which can be sup-planted by wind farms and wind energy infrastructure. In Colorado, in particular, this scenario has become a growing concern, considering the state’s goal to require 30 percent of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020—an objective Sierra Club strongly supports. As wind energy development grows across the country, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is considering how to protect eagles from being killed by wind turbines, while still allowing wind facilities to operate. Some level of harm In 2013 the USFWS increased the length of “program-matic eagle take permits,” which would allow some level of harm to eagles from wind energy and other develop-ments, from five to 30 years. The rule could weaken protections for eagles by making it possible for companies to acquire 30-year permits to injure or kill eagles. Further, the agency did not undertake the required

environmental review and analysis of this major change. The agency has not com-pleted the analysis needed to fully understand how great an impact eagle populations can withstand without threaten-ing their ongoing vitality. To right these procedural wrongs and evaluate the merit of their eagle management regime, the agency is soliciting substantive feedback from the public. The USFWS held a public hearing on the issue in July in Denver to consider all aspects of eagle management. RMC Wildlife Committee Vice-Chair Gail Bell, who at-tended the hearing, expressed concerns that while Sierra Club “totally supports wind energy, it should not be done at the expense of 250,000 birds (on average, including eagles) that are being killed by wind turbines each year.” She asked a USFWS spokesperson, Emily Bjerre, whether the agency has a current and accurate count of eagle populations to determine if they are thriving. She also said she is concerned that 30 years would be much too long a period given the potential growth in the indus-try over the next decades that could result in a huge loss

of Bald and Golden Eagles, and other birds and animals by wind turbines. Bjerre responded that USFWS conducted a survey of eagle populations in 2009, showing that Bald Eagle numbers increased from 1967 to 2010 in the Continental U.S. and that Golden Eagle populations have remained stable in the western U.S. during the same period. “We will monitor their progress throughout the 30-year permit period with re-evaluations every five years,” she said of the proposed rule change, adding that some flexibility regarding counts could be built into a revised and final permitting decision. Skeptical of plan Bell, however, remains skeptical of such a plan. “Once such a plan is implemented, it has proven extremely dif-ficult, if not impossible, to enact logical interim changes to plans. It would be far more prudent to adopt a shorter permitting process and to accurately assess the changes, and develop new strategies.” “The USFWS is potentially implementing a policy with far-reaching consequences before we have accurate data to back up that policy. The Sierra Club emphatically supports the wind energy industry. But every industry, including those which we support, must be held accountable to responsibly balance industry growth along with the po-tential impacts that growth may have on the environment, wildlife and the human population.” In written comments to the USFWS, Sierra Club RMC’s Wildlife Committee, including Bell and Chairperson Delia Malone, states that while the U.S. must “move away from fossil fuels at a rapid rate, wind and other renewable en-ergy sources can and must be developed without sacrific-ing wildlife, including Bald and Golden Eagles.” The Committee endorses mandatory rules that protect eagles and all native wildlife by requiring wind farms to be sited and operated in a wildlife-protective manner. Con-tribute comments to the USFWS concerning eagle man-agement on the Eagle Scoping website (http://eaglescop-ing.org/participate). ❦

Peak & Prairie page 9

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Safeguard wind power,protect eagles

By Julie Ott and Angela MedberyRMC GMO Labeling Team

You have perhaps already heard about labeling geneti-cally modified organism (GMO) food. Proponents of the Colorado Proposition 105 ballot initiative to label GMO food this November are not asking for a ban; we are ask-ing for labeling. Laboratory genetic engineering is a new technology which, unlike traditional breeding methods, allows the transfer of genetic material from one organism into a host organism of an unrelated species, thus bypass-ing the natural reproductive barriers between species. Why not label GMO food? Why don’t labeling opponents want us to know what we are eating? There are many reasons to be concerned about GMO technology. A main concern is the environmental and health effects of pesticide use associated with GMO food crops. Concerns include impacts on:

• Soil crops. Increased pesticide use on GMO crops

can impact soil microbes and their ability to create a healthy soil environment for crops.

• Wildlife connection. Pesticides don’t stay on farm crops; they dissipate into our air and water. Science has proven that pes-ticides used with GMOs harm bees, butter-flies, birds, small mammals and amphibians. Examples include the pesticide atrazine, which causes deformities in frogs, and GMO corn pollen, which affects Monarch butterflies.

• Human health. The Roundup pes-ticide has been used extensively on our farms for 40 years, and plants are now en-gineered to be “Roundup Ready” Glypho-sate, the active ingredient in Roundup, has been found in human urine and in breastfeeding moth-ers’ milk. Currently 2,4-D pesticide-resistant corn and soy plants are increasingly being developed for release. A toxic herbicide, 2,4-D, has been linked to cancer and birth defects.

Labeling has precedents, with more than 60 countries requiring labeling of GMO foods. The labeling of trans fats, common allergens, and gluten-free foods is now com-

mon and accepted by the U.S. food industry. GMO foods, suspected for aggravating food allergies and sensitivities, need to be included in labeling as a matter of transparency. Educate yourself about GMO food. Join the rmc-genetic-engineering-comm@lists.sierraclub.org listserve to learn more about GMO actions. Be sure to vote “yes” on Proposition 105 to label GMO food this November. ❦

Peak & Prairie page 10

By James LuidlRMC Communications Team

One reason I left mainstream journalism was due to a media strategy I saw as “focusing on the controversy.” Too often I developed stories, only to have my boss ask, “What about the other side?” While my stories did a good job lay-ing out issues and solutions, the insinuation was that they lacked conflict to make them more... infotaining. Modern media specializes in conflict. They try cram-ming a big issue into a decreasing news space... or in the case of cable television, they create a shouting match to push ratings. Unfortunately, all too often the truth gets lost in a manufactured crap-slinging match with little or no resulting good. This virus of conflict can even affect news outlets who devote proper time and expertise to a subject. The latest example was a story aired recently on Colorado Public Radio (CPR) Colorado Matters (http://www.cpr.org/news/colorado-matters) entitled “Experts explore whether climate change is causing extreme weather.” I encourage you to read and/or listen to the story. CPR did an okay job balancing the issue; they didn’t indulge in an antagonistic shouting match. On the contrary, both

guests agreed climate change is a problem. They only dif-fered in how it affects weather. But that begs thequestion—are we even asking the right questions?

Beware the headline A news story occurs after the headline. I understand the marketing significance of a headline, but it can frame the issue in a false light. “Does climate change cause extreme weather?” is not necessarily the correct question to ask. It’s creating a fight where one doesn’t exist. However, “Does climate change have an effect on extreme weather events?” is more accurate, but it doesn’t really sizzle. But sizzle isn’t the point of news-making. Education and truth are. Headlines create expectations and run the risk of mak-ing someone dig in their heels before they read word one. If the goal of journalism is to educate and seek the truth, why posture in big bold print?

Who are we interviewing? CPR represented the guests as scientists (listen to the au-dio), which both are not. Kevin Trenberth, a distinguished senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, is a climatologist and atmospheric scientist, with degrees in meteorology from MIT. Roger Peilke Jr. is a professor at the University of Colorado in the Environ-mental Studies Program. His educational background is in mathematics (B.A) , public policy (M.A.) and political science (Ph.D.) In essence Trenberth studies the climate, while Peilke talks about its political impact. There is a dif-ference and it should have been pointed out from the get go. Both men agree climate change is a problem, but they disagree on how quickly and to what degree the effects of climate change are impacting us. Otherwise, they agree about 95 percent of the time. But because both guests

are put on an equal footing as scientists, their opinions on the science of climate change get equal footing. Science is about what is, politics is what you do about it and they are not the same thing. I’m not writing this to argue the veracity of either guest’s point of view; you can do that for yourself... but I do take issue with the method. News doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition, and while presenting opposing viewpoints may seem to play to the fairness of a news story, news in itself is not about being fair, it’s about getting to the truth. A journalist’s job isn’t to simply sit in between two op-ponents and play referee. Our job is not unlike a scientist’s. To ask questions and make sense out of complex issues for the general public’s consumption is our job. To be honest, CPR’s story is light years away from the hogwash, lapses of good sense and lack of facts that com-mercial media is guilty of... and the Internet (well, let’s not make my anger tumor get any larger than it already is...). There are valuable points of view from both guests. Is cli-mate change affecting weather? Of course. By how much? That may not be quantifiable right now, but it certainly doesn’t mean you or I should ignore the writing on the wall, if not for us, then for those who come after. ❦

Tomatoes are top GMO food.Photo: US Department of Agriculture

Vote ‘yes’ tolabel GMO food

~ Media Watch ~

Climate change...them’s

fightin’ words

Peak & Prairie page 11

Rocky Mountain ChapterContact List

Chapter Director:Joshua Ruschhaupt303-861-8819joshua.ruschhaupt@sierraclub.org

Conservation ProgramsCoordinator: Matt Reed303-454-3361matt.reed@sierraclub.org

Staff

Co-Chairs:

Dave Bryan: dlbsierra@gmail.com

Mark Stevens:mark@designprojectinc.com

Vice Chair: Betsy Kelsonelizabeth.kelson@rmc.sierraclub.org

Secretary: Alison Gallenskyalison.gallensky@rmc.sierraclub.org

Treasurer: Jim Van DeWegejvandewege@comcast.net

Political Treasurer:David Mastronardedavid.mastronarde@rmc.sierraclub.org

Program LeadersCommunications Team:rmc-communications-team@lists.sierraclub.orgOutings Team: rmc-outings@lists.sierraclub.orgGay and Lesbian Sierrans: www.gls-colorado.orgLegal Chair: Erin Eastvedt: erin.eastvedt@gmail.comLegislative Chair: Karen Dike: karendike@gmail.comPolitical Chair: Jane Ard-Smithjaneardsmith@comcast.netPolitical Compliance Officer: Jane Ard-Smithjaneardsmith@comcast.netInner City Outings - Denver: Bill Myersbill.myers@rmc.sierraclub.orgInner City Outings - Boulder Valley: Michael LeDesmamichael.ledesma@rmc.sierraclub.org

ConservationConservation Advisory Committee Co-Chair:Kirby Hughes: kirby.hughes@rmc.sierraclub.orgConservation Advisory Committee Co-Chair:Kirk Cunningham: kirk.cunningham@rmc.sierraclub.orgAgriculture: Judith Rice-Jones: jricejon@gmail.comClean Energy: Becky English: beckyrep@gmail.comNuclear Power Specialist: Joan Seemanjoanseem@msn.comFederal Facilities: Ross Vincentross.vincent@sierraclulb.orgGroundwater: Kirby Hugheskirbyhughes@mesanetworks.netMining: Kirby Hugheskirbyhughes@mesanetworks.netBeyond Oil and Gas: Harv Teitelbaumharv@treeclimbingcolorado.comPesticides: Angela Medbery: amedber@juno.comGMO Ballot Initiative Campaign: Julie Ottjulie.ott@RMC.sierraclub.orgSprawl/Affordable Housing: Bill Myersbillmyers.pc@earthlink.netToxics: Joan Seeman: joanseem@msn.comUranium Milling Specialist: Sharyn Cunninghamsharyn@bresnan.netWater Quality/Habitats: Kirk Cunninghamkmcunnin@juno.com

Water Resources:Poudre River Specialist: Mark Eastermark.j.easter@gmail.comSouth Platte River/Chatfield Reservoir Specialist:Steve Glazer: steve.glazer1@gmail.comArkansas River Specialist: Ross Vincentross.vincent@sierraclulb.orgGunnison River Specialist: Steve Glazersteve.glazer1@gmail.com

Wilderness: Alan Apt: alanrapt@gmail.comWildlife: Delia Malone: deliamalone@earthlink.net

Dave Bryan dlbsierra@gmail.co

Gail Bellgaibel@msn.com

Becky English becky.english@rmc.sierraclub.org

Alison Gallenskyalison.gallensky@rmc.sierraclub.org

Delia Malonedeliamalone@earthlink.net

Myrna Poticha mpoticha@aol.com

Mark Stevensmark@designprojectinc.com

GroupsA great way to get involved in your Chapter is by participatingin a local group. Each group has a Website. For mapsand additional information on each group, visit the Website: http://rmc.sierraclub.org/local.shtml

ExCom At Large(Elected) Members

ExCom Group DelegatesBlue River GroupServing Summit, Grand, Eagle CountiesHoward Hallman Jr. hhallman@e-questcorp.com

Indian Peaks Group Serving Boulder CountyRebecca Dickson rebecca.dickson@comcast.net

Mount Evans Group Serving Evergreen, Conifer, Park County Betsy Kelson elizabeth.kelson@rmc.sierraclub.org

Pikes Peak GroupServing El Paso, Elbert, Teller CountiesKirby Hughes kirby.hughes@rmc.sierraclub.org

Poudre Canyon Group Serving Weld, Larimer CountiesKelly Giddens kellygiddens@me.com Roaring Fork GroupServing Pitkin, east Garfield CountiesElliot Branson elliotbranson@mac.com

Sangre de Cristo GroupServing Southeast Colorado & Arkansas drainageKiera Hatton Sena kierahattonsena@gmail.com

Trappers Lake Group Serving Northwest ColoradoRich Levy rich.levy@rmc.sierraclub.org

Uncompahgre Group Serving Mesa, Montrose, Delta, Gunnison, Ouray CountiesEric Rechel eric.rechel@rmc.sierraclub.org

Executive Committee Officers

Nominating CommitteeAngela Medbery: amedber@juno.com

Elections Committee JoLynn Jarboe: jolynn234@yahoo.com

Denver Metro NetworkServing the Denver Metropolitan areaMat Elsner • mathewelsner@gmail.com

Peak & Prairie page 12

Rocky Mountain Chapter2014 Contributors

The Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter (RMC) thanks all of our wonderful 2014 contributors, including all of our anonymous contributors (you know who you are).Your contributions are what enable the Sierra Club RMC and local groups to be effective at our mission to Explore, Enjoy, and Protect the Planet.

Whether you give individually or monthly at a level that works for your budget, you help Sierra Club make a difference.

If you would like to see your name added to this list of thanks next year, find us online at: www.rmc.sierraclub.org/contribute.Also take a look at “Care for the Environment Today and Tomorrow” on page 15 to find out from our many options about how you can plan to give in your will.

M Ackerman & S DavidsonThomas J AllenKristen AndersenCatherine H. AndersonJ Ard-Smith and D SmithMr Paul S ArellKurt AronowThomas AspreyMargaret AtencioGerald and Teresa AudesirkGerald AudesirkBeverly BakerCarol & Allen BakosAlison And Gary BanikMs Alison BanikJohn BartholowLinda V BatlinJohn BeachMarcia BeachyMary BeardDavid BeckwithMrs Gail B BellJames BellCarolyn BenoitKaren BerknerDebra and John BidwellMaris BielaMr and Mrs Peter W BirkelandDon BirnkrantMarti and Robert BittsElliott BlackRainer and Ilse BleckLisa BlidarMr Rick BlotterThomas BlumenthalMelissa BradleyDouglas BraunRaymond BridgeJohn M BrinkJohn BrinkMs Paula A BroeCasey L BrownSusan BrownLisa BrowneDr Susan BrugmanMr Bill BrunerDave BryanScott BryansRoss BudgeOliva BulisWendy BurrellKathleen ButlerMs Phyllis CahillBradley CameronTeresa CamposCarol CaraJohn W CareyAlan Carpenter & Betsy NeelyCarol CarpenterDeborah A. CarstensenTracy CaseMyron & Casey ChinaCarole ChowenHolly ChristmannLaurel ClarkThomas and Bonnie ClarkeSharon Clarke & Mark LacyMazzetti CompanyMs Gretchen CooperSusan and John CottleAnne CourtrightWilford and Betty CoutsBetty CoutsMs Cathrine Crawford

Chris CrosbyBen Cudd And Lynn McCartyC J CullinanC Krueger & K CunninghamSally B DaltonSusan A DaviesMs Alana DavisJames DavisStuart DavisJanet De MarsDr E De Mayo and K WhartonCarolyn DegutisVici DehaanRobert DelappDenver FoundationGlenn DeRussyRebecca DicksonJohn L DietzKaren DikeSean DineenGina DircksStephen DittoPaul F DohertyJames DorroughJack DoucetteMs Jessica DouglasHelen B DuncanMr & Mrs Loyal DurandCarol EhrlichMr and Mrs Robert EidsmoeMary EklerJanice EllisSteven E ElyPeter A EngelmannMs Becky EnglishBayard EwingRichard FarrellR Fauver and Virginia McAfeeMichael FellowsMark Fermanich and Nora FloodEdward O FieldJohn FielderMr Gregg FinneyMr Tim FiolaDeane FischerDon FisherPatrick FisherSusie FishmanGeri FitzpatrickKaren Flitton-StithToni M FrancisBarbara FrederickMichael FreedDavid FriederShannon Fritts-PennimanJohn Fuller & Peggy McCarrollAlison GallenskyLester GarrisonHelen GaudreauAmy GavinBill GeisJames GeisWalter GeisMs Susan GemmillTherese GilbertLisa GillenwatersGerard GillilandLeslie & Merrill GlustromAlfred And Joan GoldbergElena GoldsteinEric GorsegnerRobert GreenBeth & Neil GroundwaterSusan Gryczan

Aloke GuhaWilliam HackosKristen HaflettRobert HalcombCatherine HalcombBryan HallWarren HamiltonMandy HanifenLynne HansenMr Alan HansenKeith HardmanJames E & A Katharine HardyMarilyn HartigKathy HartmanKiera Hatton SenaJim & Kay HawkleeWilliam HayMr Larry HealyChristina HeardJason HeardJudith HeidemanJohn & Barbara HelfrichNancy HicksRichard & Sandra HiltEric HintsaChristina HoaglandDoug and Jan HodousDenise HoflerJames HolitzaWilbur HollandJoel HornbostelJohn HornerCarole HossanWarren Howard & Kathy HoganTori HutchensMs Suellyn JacksonArthur JacobsonRobert JamesJolynn JarboeWendy JaykoCatherine JayneMargit JohanssonJohn Fielder PublishingMr Blair E JohnsonChuck & Bev JohnsonCandice JohnsonJudith K JohnsonRev Erik JohnsonDavid & Lorinda JonesJosephine JonesLinda and Lee KaleySelma KarrMr William P KeisterMary KeithlerElizabeth KelsonMireille KeyMrs Joan KidnayWalter KingsberyJim KirkpatrickMichael KleeMs Catherine KleinsmithSue KnightSusan Lewis KnopfRenae Kofford & Brian LarsenRichard KommruschCharles G KoppGeorge KraussJulie KreutzerSelma KristelBrian J KurtzGale & Joe LackeyKen And Nancy LarnerJami LarsonLane & Nancy Lasater

Carol Lassen PhdVickie LaughlinLaurie B LazarMckenzie LechnerVincent LeeProf and Mrs Arthur W LeissaMr Ka LemonMary Ann LenahanMr David LichtenbergFrank Lilly & K StiegelmeierJim LockhartMr James LuidlDan LutzZachary LynottAndrea MacfaddenDavid L. MaddoxDelia MaloneTheodore ManahanAnn MartinCarla MassaroLesley MatschkeGretchen MayOralie McAfeeMrs Marilyn McCaulleyDr Sylvia MccuneMr Jerry McneillyJames McraeJohn and Cynthia McVayBlakely And Mike MechauPatrick MeieringMs Catherine MendozaBrice MercordJosh MesingerE Metter & M BrissendenArleen MillerCarole Milligan & Jack DysartDann Milne and M JohnsonMr Jeffrey MitchellJoshua MitchellDonald MortonHarriet MoyerJean MuirheadCarol MurphySara & Calvin MyersAllen NakagawaRay NassimbeneJune P NayDean A NeifertSigurd & Dianne NelsonDave NespoliMr. and Mrs. Oliver NickelsSandy NiemiecMr Thomas NoonMauri M NottinghamKellie B NuberNeva OchsCarolyn M. O’DonnellTricia OlsonMaureen O’ReillyMarc A OsborneLynne OttoHedy A PageBrandt ParkerMs Carla A ParksMr Bruce ParletteBruce C PatonJo Ellen PattonBarbara PayneMrs Barbara PedersenErica PellandElizabeth PenfieldRev Anne PenningtonVicky A PetersonPeter Petrie

Chris Pfaff & Larry WhiteWilliam and Barbara PhilipDorothy PodelMyrna PotichaJohn PoulosMel Preusser“Charles Proudfit,PhD LCSW”Rev Kenneth PrzybylaJudith & Arlan RamsayNorman Rasulis & Rita KissenMary RatiganAngela ReedNancy Reindl and Frank BoyleJohanna RenoufSteve and Dottie ResnickAnn RhodesHorst & Helen RichardsonJames RichardsonJanet RiveraBarbara RobertsonMatty RobinsonDavid E RosensonDavid Ruchman & Michel DahlinH Anthony RuckelJoshua RuschhauptMonika Rutkowski MDMr Thomas RutledgeRebecca and John SaccardiBob Saint and Ann SteersDr. and Mrs. Emanuel SalzmanDr and Mrs Herbert SamenfeldEleni SampsonMs Charlene SargentSusan and James SaundersMichelle SchantzMr and Mrs R William SchierCynthia SchmidtAl & Betty SchneiderDr Nancy R SchneiderAnna SchoettleJim SchrackNicole SchultzGregory L ScottPatricia ScottMr Michael SczekanShawna SeldonJean SettlesJacqueline M ShafferRobert & Barbara ShakleeBarbara ShakleeMs Shirley SheersLuz ShermanSharon ShermanJudy and Martin ShoreRichard SigafoosDr Todd SilerNick and Joann SimmsJudith Sims-BarlowRoger & Stephanie SingerJoyce SjogrenMr Thomas SlabeRaymond SmeadSusan SmithRonald SmithMr Will SolesYolanda SonnenbergSandra SpeicherJohn SpitzerJesse SprattaMike StablerCarol & John StansfieldL Stark and D MastronardeNorman StaufferTyrone and Deidra Steen

Paul StettnerMark StevensRichard and Karen StewartThomas StoffelSheila StoneGordon StoningtonPhilip D StraffinWilliam and Doerga StrohlJudith Gay StrotherJim Sumrall and Karen SmithMark & Ismini SvenssonLauren Swain and David LichtenMr Dennis SwansonKim SweitzerRonald SwensonLouis and Sharon SwiatekClaire TaberBerkley & Annemarie TagueRose Tanaka“Thomas E Taplin,Jr”Mrs Cindy TappCedric TarrSadira TashAllan TaylorDean TaylorJanice E TempleMarilyn TernayMichelle TerryBrandon ThomasWilliam ThurmesSara TiedeSue TiezziChristine ToellMary ToornmanRon TownsendLarry UtterTeague And Claudia Van BurenGeorge Van BurenSarah Van PeltJim & Alice VanDeWegeRex VedderJudy VeghteKatherine Von LohMs Carolyn WadeGary Waggoner & Wanda CoxMr Stephen WagonerSandra WalkerSteve WalkowskiWill & Glory WaltersKevin WardMr and Mrs Travis WardC WeaverKelly WebbJerome P Webster JrRob WhiteMarilyn WhittakerBill WidolfCatherine WileyNorman WilliamsLee WilsonNoel WilsonC WilsonMarty L WisottKriss WittmannDavid A WoodGerald WoolaverHal WulffPatricia YoungsonKarl Zeller & J RickardsBradley A ZikeMr David ZimmermanJanice Zinkl ❦

Dave Read at: david.read@rmc.sierraclub.org. The Nominating Committee decided this year to change the format of the Ex-ecutive Committee candidate statements, providing you with a little more informa-tion for determining who you want to lead your RMC. Look for your first RMC electronic ballot ever! Our Treasurer, Jim Vandewege, as al-ways, is a reliable hero of the RMC, keep-ing our financial records in nearly perfect order. Thank you, Jim; you’re a pleasure to work with. The Communications Team, trea-sured behind-the-scenes volunteers, amaze me with their work. You’ll recall they won the 2013 national Sierra Club Commu-nications Award! Part of the reason this team is successful is because our volunteer

leaders and the Communications Team itself write informative material for you, including monthly stories on the Wilder-ness 50 celebration and a new monthly Media Watch column on how the media covers the environment. They’ve also improved the newsletter design and review processes. Our Sungevity home solar installation program continues to raise much-needed chapter funds simply because you, our members and supporters, install solar on your roofs. They use local installers, and work with you to get a reduced carbon footprint as well as a reduced energy bill. Go solar (www.sierraclub.org/solar)! You’ll help your wallet, help your RMC, and help your planet. Thanks to all of our volunteers and staff, and to you, for everything you do.

Peak & Prairie page 13

Thank you for your interest in volunteering for theSierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter. Please complete the following form so that we can find the best opportunity for you, and mail it to us. Or, you can fill out our online form here:

http://rmc.sierraclub.org/volunteer.shtml* = required.

Name*: _____________________________________

Email*: _____________________________________

Phone: ______________________________________

Address*: ___________________________________

City*: ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

State*:_______

Zip*: ______________

(Circle one) Are you a member of the Sierra Club?

Yes No

(Circle one) I’m interested in volunteering:

Locally RMC Chapter Both

If you picked three or less from the entire list below, which would they be?

General: ☐Student Internship ☐Denver office work on a fixed schedule

Specialized skills: ☐Fundraising ☐Accounting ☐Legal ☐Lobbying/Legislative ☐Campaign/Community Organizing ☐Reporting/Editing ☐Webmaster ☐Social Media

Outings: ☐ Take inner-city kids on outings. ☐ I want to go on conservation outings, then I want to do something about it. ☐ I just want to get out for fun–from museums to mountains (general outings).

Conservation issues: ☐ Farmers are our friends, responsible agriculture is paramount. ☐ Fighting for renewable energy is our future! Sign me up! ☐ Justice for all–environmental justice needs me. ☐ Some federal facilities are ravaging the surrounding ecosystems, and I want it fixed.

☐ The proposed Jefferson County Parkway is irresponsible and dangerous. ☐ Mining causes serious and extensive environmental damage–how can I help? ☐ I want to work on a nationally coordinated Move Beyond Coal campaign! ☐ The oil and gas industry doesn’t know what’s coming… just lemme at ‘em! ☐ Pesticides… Rachel Carson summed it up in Silent Spring. ‘nuff said. ☐ Political campaigns make some people queasy, but not me! ☐ What the world needs now is to slow the human population growth. ☐ Public lands need public protection… I’m stepping forward. ☐ Reduce, re-use, recycle! We can never do enough. ☐ Sprawl makes me shudder, but affordable housing makes my heart flutter! ☐ Let’s get toxics cleaned-up! ☐ Colorado’s transportation systems need my attention. ☐ Water is the life-blood of Colorado, and we need to treat it as such. ☐ Edward Abbey says: “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” Let’s explore, enjoy and protect it. ☐ Colorado’s wildlife: threatened and endangered. We can do better with our wildlife management.

☐ Other ___________________________

V o l u n t e e r !✄

Save the Date!Saturday, December 6

Sierra Club RMC Winter GalaDinner, Awards Ceremony,Prominent Guest Speaker

and Silent AuctionAmerican Mountaineering Center

Golden, CO5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Plated Dinner Catered by Table Mountain InnFeaturing decadent traditional, vegan and

gluten free main course, sides and dessert options

Guest Speaker and Ticket Purchase Informationto come via email

and at rmc.sierraclub.org.

Letter... continued from page 2...

Don’t Miss An Issue!The Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Peak & Prairieis published 10 times a year as an electronic newsletter.

Send us your e-mail address at:http://rmc.sierraclub.org/pandpand we’ll send every electronic

Peak & Prairie to your e-mail in-box.

Peak & Prairie page 14

Rocky Mountain Chapter Executive Committee Candidate Statements

RMC ExecutiveCommittee

ElectionFive candidates have submitted statements for the RMC Executive Committee for a

two-year term beginning in 2015. We have three openings. The incumbents are Becky English and Delia Malone. Please vote for no more than three. Nominating committee members are Betsy Kelson, Kirby Hughes,

Mark Stevens and Angela Medbery.

Each candidate was asked to submit a 300-or-less-word statement, to address three questions and state their personal interest.

The questions were:

1. What is your personal Sierra Club volunteer experience?

2. What do you see as the greatest needs of the RMC Sierra Club?

3. What skills will you bring as a club administrator of this Chapter?

❦

KarenDike

I joined Sierra Club in 1989. When I retired from a career in Nursing Administration in 2013, I moved to Longmont to be near my family. It wasn’t until I retired that I began my new career as a volunteer in this organization dedicated to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet. This planet has never needed our dedication more. We are facing global climate change from burning fossil fuel, our state is experiencing massive pollution from fossil fuel extraction, and our wildlife and wild lands are suffering from both climate change and habitat destruction.

The Sierra Club is positioned to be as leader as we work to end our reliance on fossil fuels and move to renewables. My volunteer experience in Sierra Cub includes serving on the Ex-Com for the Blue Stem group in Nebraska. When I moved to Colorado I became active in the Beyond Oil and Gas Team and Communication Team. I dropped off the Communication Team when I became Chair of the Legislative Committee. I co-chair the IPG Oil and Gas Team.

One of the greatest needs of RMC is to develop rapid, concise communications. Working on the Legislative Committee, I witnessed the power of action alerts. This power comes from the dedication of our members to respond rapidly and forcefully when an issue moves them to action. The power also comes from the recognition of Sierra Club as a strong organization. In this age of technology, as we confront forces with far more money and political clout, it is imperative that we capture the power of our membership with rapid and frequent dissemination of information and calls to action.

I bring the skills I learned in management: communication, people skills, and project management, to my volunteer work. I also bring passion for the environment.

❦

ErinEastvedt

I have been passionate about environmental issues since I studied whales in the first grade. I minored in environmental studies in college, and I focused on environmental and natural resource law when I went to law school. I have been the Chair of the Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Volunteer Legal Committee since 2011. In addition to my Sierra Club work, I have performed volunteer work for The Wilderness Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and WildEarth Guardians. I know I will serve the Club well as an Executive Committee member, and I would appreciate your vote.

I helped to reinstate the Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Volunteer Legal Committee in 2011, and I have served as Chair of that committee ever since. Under my leadership, the Legal Committee has grown to three members, and we perform vital services for the Chapter, including tracking active litigation, getting new litigation approved by the Executive Committee and the National Club, and advising other Sierra Club volunteers on legal strategy.

I believe the Rocky Mountain Chapter’s greatest need is coordination among volunteers and campaigns. We need to streamline our processes to make sure

that the Rocky Mountain Chapter, the National Club, and the regional groups are coordinating effectively with each other. We also need structured campaigns for each issue the Chapter works on so that each campaign has clear goals and a clear strategy for reaching those goals. I have extensive experience with environmental law and policy. I also have 18 months of project management experience and significant administrative experience.

❦

BeckyEnglish

It’s been my privilege to serve on the Rocky Mountain Chapter’s executive committee, and I’d like to continue.

I’ve been an active Sierra Club volunteer these past seven years, focusing on clean energy solutions to our global climate change crisis. I’ve led the RMC’s clean energy issue area, been a member of the chapter’s legislative committee, and served as our chapter’s delegate to Sierra Club’s national Council of Club Leaders—experiences useful for serving on our ExCom. The Chapter has made great strides in recent years, but also faces challenges. We need to increase membership statewide, as we need big numbers to have big influence. We also need to develop more strong Group leadership statewide, to provide testimony before regulatory bodies and to influence local and regional conservation efforts. Sierra Club also needs to become more diverse; our membership should be more like Colorado as a whole, including more youth, people of color, people not well-off, Labor, and sportsmen & anglers.

The skills I bring to ExCom as an administrator grow out of my experience. Professionally, I’ve co-founded a clean tech transportation manufacturing company and a consultancy specializing in sustainability reporting. I’ve been a teacher, writer, editor, trainer, facilitator, and salesperson. In my service life, I serve on the board and as the chair of the policy committee for the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES). I co-founded a mother-daughter service organization, was president of Cheyenne Mountain School District 12’s Tradition of Excellence Foundation, and have served on various civic committees as well as the Xcel Energy renewable

energy advisory group that generated the community solar gardens offering. I seem to have a talent for both initiation and execution, skills that are a good fit for much of the work required on ExCom. I’d be honored to continue this work.

❦

Richard F.Fleck

I have been a member of the Sierra Club since I lived in Wyoming during the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s where I contributed an article on John Muir and the wilderness to Sierra Magazine and taught classes at the University of Wyoming in environmental literature.

Here in Colorado I have served as a Hike and Write guide since the summer, 2013, teaching various kinds of trailside poetry suitable for depicting ecological relationships.

I think that the Rocky Mountain Chapter needs to address the continually changing issues involving energy development and resources here in Colorado.

I bring sets of skills as a professional writer and as a former college administrator and professor of environmental literature.

❦

DeliaMalone

Caring for, conserving and restoring Colorado’s wildlife and natural landscapes is both my vocation and my passion. As an ecologist I place high value on using science to achieve sustainable solutions that maintain healthy, natural habitats, replete with a full suite of native biological diversity. I believe that all life is intimately connected and that maintaining those connections is essential to the preservation of the world. From Colorado’s grasslands to the tundra, from predators to pollinators to prey, from the hanging gardens in the deserts of Dinosaur National Park to the ancient

continued on page 15...

Peak & Prairie page 15

Sierra Club OFFICIAL BALLOT 2014Rocky Mountain Chapter Executive Committee At Large Election

❏ Delia Malone (N) ❏ Erin Eastvedt (N)

❏ Karen Dike (N) ❏ Richard F. Fleck (N)

❏ Becky English (N)

Write-in Candidates

❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

✄

❏ Delia Malone (N) ❏ Erin Eastvedt (N)❏ ❏

❏ Karen Dike (N) ❏ Richard F. Fleck (N)❏ ❏

❏ Becky English (N) ❏

Write-in Candidates

❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––❏ –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Joint BallotSingle Ballot

Ballots must be received at the Chapter Office:Elections Committee - Sierra Club

1536 Wynkoop Street Ste 200 • Denver, CO 80202by Monday, November 10, 2014

The Single Ballot should be used by households with one RMC membership.The Joint Ballot should be used by housholds with two RMC memberships.

Please note membership status indicated by the mailing labelon the back of this page: SGL=single member DBL=joint member

Please vote for not more than THREE candidates apiece.(N) Nominating Committee Candidate (P) Petition Candidate

Please do not tear/split ballots • Only valid ballots will be counted

fens of our National Forests, all the “parts” are essential to the integrity and functioning of the whole. Finally, I believe that fostering our human connection to the natural world is essential to our well-being and preservation of our natural history.

As a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Wildlife Committee, I have attended hearings and submitted formal comments in support of maintaining Gray Wolf ESA protection, ending sport hunting of Mountain Lions, recovery of Mule Deer populations by restoring habitat, ESA protection for rare plant species, ESA protection for Gunnison’s and Greater Sage Grouse;

in opposition to the 30-year rule that will result in Eagle mortality, and the spraying of toxic chemicals to eradicate weeds on Pawnee National Grasslands. I continue to work with government agencies to develop a mitigation plan for an OHV trail that will traverse previously un-roaded habitat and to work with a coalition of environmental groups to build support for Wild and Scenic designation on the Crystal River.

Building coalitions with other environmental advocates and opening lines of communication with those who currently do not agree with the Sierra Club conservation ethic. An ecological perspective, which has been developed both from formal academic training and day-to-day field work.

❦

candidates... continued from page 14...

Non-ProfitOrganization

U.S. Postage PaidDenver, COPermit #389

Rocky Mountain Chapter1536 Wynkoop Street, Suite 200 Denver, CO 80202www.rmc.sierraclub.org

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