Spring 2004 - Sierra Club

Since last spring, the Arkansas Sierra Club has celebrated many major accomplishments:

• Creating a "Citizen's Forest Plan" for keeping Arkansas' remaining hardwoods from being logged into oblivion and protecting valuable habitat for wildlife, clean air, and clean water
• Sponsoring a Forest Watch Weekend to train volunteers in doing field work to safeguard protections for our endangered hardwood forests
• Educating the public, press, and office holders about the economic impact of destroying Arkansas' natural heritage - how local economies and family incomes suffer when our natural areas are exploited for out-of-state profits
• Informing our coalition partners and our US Senators about the importance of federal judicial nominations in making sure that the Arkansas environment is protected (Senators Lincoln and Prior voted down 6 federal judicial nominees whose records clearly demonstrate heedlessness regarding the environment)
• Keeping the press, public, and office holders apprised of the need to protect the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (Senators Lincoln and Prior voted to keep drilling our of ANWR thus protecting the winter nesting grounds of many migratory bird species that live part of the year in Arkansas.

In 2004, the Sierra Club will continue to be there in protecting the Arkansas environment by:

• Organizing Earth Day educational activities in Little Rock and Fayetteville in April
• Reaching out to hunters, anglers, and the faith community in coalitions to broaden the base of environmental protectors
• Expanding our watchdog activities in the Ozark and Ouachita National Forests
• Educating the public, press, and decision makers about the national energy bill and its lack of provisions for conserving energy and supporting renewable energy sources
• Keeping decision makers and the media apprised of federal judicial nominees' records on the environment
• Holding local, state, and national public officials accountable for their own environmental records
• Launching local campaigns to keep Arkansas air and water clean and safe
• Supporting a return to a policy that makes polluters, not tax payers, pay for cleaning up the messes they create for our local land and water
• Building public support for keeping industrial mercury out of our rivers, lakes, streams and fish.

For the last year, the Sierra Club has received record attention and praise for its work in protecting Arkansas' natural heritage. We appreciate your support, and we vow to become even more powerful and visible in the fight to protect our natural heritage. There's a better way to keep our economy healthy and protect the environment simultaneously. Our families' livelihoods and health are at stake. Our wilderness areas are at stake. Our outdoor recreation areas are at stake, and so are the future of our native animals, plants, trees, rivers and streams and the ways of life that Arkansans have enjoyed for years.

Sarah Keith
Arkansas Chapter Chair