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by Jenny Coyle
The good news is that a judge decided to halt the logging of redwood trees
on private land adjacent to the Headwaters Preserve in California while he considers a
legal challenge by the Sierra Club and the Environmental Protection Information Center.
That bad news is that to keep the injunction in place until trial, Judge
Quentin Kopp ordered the environmental groups to post a $250,000 bond that would go to the
timber company if the 705-acre logging plan is eventually approved.
The groups were stunned when Kopp imposed the bond in July, but went into
high gear to raise the money.
"It took a Herculean fundraising effort, the high profile of the
Headwaters forest and the extreme generosity of people like Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt and
James Garner for us to raise this bond in such a short period of time," says Club
activist Kathy Bailey. Rock musician and environmentalist Henley donated all of the
proceeds from a concert in Berkeley to help raise more than half of the money.
"This extreme generosity in the name of justice and protection of the
forests is truly inspiring," says Bailey.
"EPIC and the Sierra Club never would have been able to bring the
dozens of successful cases in the public interest if we regularly had to post such
bonds," says Alex Levinson, the Club's Environmental Law Program director. "If
we continue to be called upon to post large bonds, we will face a huge obstacle to citizen
enforcement of public-interest environmental laws."
This time we got by with a little help from our friends.
Don't Be Shy, Shutterbugs
So you love to get outdoors and you always carry a camera with you. Then
why not enter the photo contest being held by the Sierra Club's campaign to End Commercial
Logging on Federal Lands?
They want pictures taken in national forests where logging is now
occurring, or where a timber sale is pending. "The photo might show people camping,
hiking, canoeing or otherwise enjoying the outdoors," says contest organizer *Gerald
Neff*. "The photos don't need to show logged areas, but examples of how logging has
impacted recreation are welcome."
Hey! There are cash prizes - $50 for first, $35 for second, $25 for third
and two honorable mentions that will score $20 each. And the winning entry will be
reprinted in The Planet.
The fine print: Submit color or black and white photos or slides. Send
duplicates because photos won't be returned. Each photo or slide must be identified with
the entrant's name and address. Only three pictures per entrant will be accepted. Enclose
a 3x5 card with your name, address and phone number and in what national forest the
picture was taken. The deadline is Oct. 30. The Sierra Club reserves the right to use
photos in displays, literature and Club publications.
Mail entries to:
Gerald Neff
18144, 242nd Ave., Box 239
Pleasant Valley, IA 52767-0239
Peddling a Message To
8,500 Pedalers
It's called RAGBRAI - for Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa
- and it's the longest, largest and oldest organized bike tour in the world, according to
the Des Moines (Iowa) Register, which sponsors it. This July, 8,500 bicyclists pedaled 471
miles across the state of Iowa in a seven-day trip.
This year, as riders pumped past one vast stretch of farmland owned by
LaVon Griffieon, they were treated to a Burma Shave-style series of signs put up by a
group called 1000 Friends of Iowa, of which Griffieon is president. *Tom Mathews*, the
Sierra Club's Iowa Chapter secretary, is also a board member with 1000 Friends of Iowa,
and the two groups occasionally join forces on projects.
Here's what the signs (complete with clever graphics) said:
These Lovely Hills Are
Unique Beyond Measure
Time Is A Tickin'
To Save Such A Treasure
Keep Our Mainstreet
Strong and Healthy
When You Buy Local
Our Town Stays Wealthy
Urban Growth
On Rural Ground?
How 'Bout Raising
Hogs Downtown!
Wal-Marts and Roads
Sprout Up Like Weeds
And Our Tax Dollars
Are The Seeds
Urban Sprawl
Ain't Too Pretty
Save Our Farms
Build in the City
These Old Buildings
Still Got Magic
Their Destruction
Would Be Tragic
To The Earth
Make Amends
Park Your Car
Bike With Friends
The New Millennium:
It's Bound to be Wild
The Sierra Club is a primary sponsor of the upcoming national Wilderness
Conference 2000 to be held Sept. 7-10 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, Colo.
"This gathering is a chance to celebrate wilderness, identify
challenges and create opportunities to protect America's wildlands," says Mark
Pearson, chair of the Club's Wildlands Campaign. The conference will address how a new
administration may affect the protection of forests, deserts, rivers and mountains.
Participants can celebrate and collaborate on strategies for future protection and
wilderness stewardship with fellow advocates from across the country.
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