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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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