Sierra Happenings

Events and Activities

Wild & Scenic Film Festival: Where Activism Gets Inspired!

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival, organized and produced by the South Yuba River Citizens League, leaves attendees feeling INSPIRED and MOTIVATED to go out and make a difference in our communities and the world. By activists and for activists, it is the largest event of this kind, and it showcases our work in a broader environmental and social context, serving to remind us that we’re participants in a global movement for a more wild and scenic world.

Dates and Places:

• Dec 3rd in Lone Pine, CA.
• Dec 4th in Mammoth Lakes, CA.
• Dec 5th in Bishop, CA.

Please view festival tour dates here, or visit their website!

“Steps for Snow” event at Mono Lake!

Join the Mono Lake Committee to support a renewable energy future and a commitment to care for our planet with personal action in solidarity with concerned citizens around the world. Lee Vining community members will gather and walk to Mono Lake to show support and hope for positive global climate progress at the Paris Climate Summit.

Date: Saturday, Nov 21 at 10:00am
Location: Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center

For more information, click here!

South Sierra Wilderness Addition Exploration!

Join Friends of the Inyo in exploring the South Sierra Wilderness Addition, a potential recommended wilderness area to the South Sierra Wilderness area in the Inyo National Forest's management plan revision. Much of the potential addition consists of vertical slopes with unique geological features, pinyon and oak woodlands and scattered cactus.

Tour: Combination driving and hiking, no more than 3 mi walking. 4WD required.

Date: November 14, 2015

Location: Lone Pine Interagency Visitor Center, 9am.

For more info or to RSVP, please contact Preservation Manager Jora Fogg!

Job Announcements & Volunteer Opportunities

River Policy & Communications Director with SYRCL!

The South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) seeks a Director who is a seasoned advocate and manager with leadership, communication, community organizing and coalition-building skills. The Director will be highly skilled in using policy advocacy, legal, scientific and communication tools to protect the watershed, and will be experienced at building strategic coalitions, mentoring program staff, and raising funds.

Job description and application info here!

Bodie Hills Conservation Organizer!

The Bodie Hills Conservation Partnership seeks an organizer to work on short and long-term goals and to provide visionary leadership to direct a coalition of organizations working to protect lands in the Bodie Hills in Mono County, CA.

Job description and application info here.

Operations Manager: Friends of the Inyo!

Friends of the Inyo seeks an Operations Manager, responsible for day-to-day operations. Responsibilities include financial, human resources requirements and legal obligations, and operations management. This is a full time, year-round, position based in Bishop, CA.

Job description and application info here.

Development Director: Keep Tahoe Blue!

The League to Save Lake Tahoe seeks a Development Director to grow their annual revenue. The League to Save Lake Tahoe is a solutions-based environmental organization focused on advocating for environmental standards backed by science, devoted to community engagement, and working together to Keep Tahoe Blue.

Job description and application info here.

Volunteers Needed for Bear River Restoration!

Sierra Streams Institute is leading the development of a watershed assessment, monitoring plan, and restoration plan for the Bear River Watershed, including nearly 300,000 acres of forests, oak woodlands, agricultural lands, tributary streams, and human communities.

Learn more about getting involved here.

Resources

License Plates for a Greater Purpose!

Show everyone your support for California’s state parks or the Tahoe Fund , and order a plate today! Proceeds from the sales of either of these Plates go towards preservation and restoration throughout California State Parks or directly to environmental improvement projects of the California Tahoe Conservancy and the Nevada Department of State Lands, which include trails, parks, water quality and restoration efforts at Lake Tahoe!

Get TWO FREE Alpine or Nordic tickets to the ski resort of your choice when you buy a Tahoe license plate before April 1, 2016.

More information about the Tahoe license plates and the California State Parks here!

Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan!

The BLM's plan for the California desert, released November 10th, could have lasting benefits for both conservation and renewable energy. A win-win for conservation and clean energy, the plan addresses climate change by designating areas where renewable energy development may be permitted while also designating protected areas in the most sensitive places of the California desert.

For more information on this plan's development, click here!

There will also be an informational webinar on the DRECP on Nov 19th, more info here!

CA’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment: Call for Proposals!

The California Agency of Natural Resources Announces $4.5 million in funding available for 18 Non-Energy research projects! California’s leadership in climate change policy is built on a strong foundation of research addressing the impacts of climate change on the state, as well as strategies to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In turn, the state’s research responds directly to policy needs related to safeguarding California from these impacts.

Deadline for Submittal is 3 pm PST, Friday, December 4, 2015

For more information on the Assessment and to review Request for Proposal descriptions, please visit The Agency of Natural Resources website!

Become a 2016 Switzer Environmental Fellow!

The Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation has launched the application period for 2016 Switzer Environmental Fellowships. Switzer Fellowships are given to top graduate students in New England and California who demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, and who are committed to a career in environmental improvement.

The Switzer Fellowship provides:
• A one-year $15,000 cash award;
• Access to other Switzer grant programs and career support, and
• Membership in the Switzer Fellowship Network of over 570 local and global environmental leaders

The Switzer Fellowship focuses on leadership potential than any particular research project. Applications due January 11, 2016!

More information available here.

Highlight

Sierra Club: Thousands File Opposition Comments on Giant Tunnels

More than 30,000 Californians, including thousands of Sierra Club members, filed comments with the Natural Resources Agency last month, opposing the Brown Administration’s proposed San Francisco Bay Delta tunnels project.

As reported by Kyle Jones, the project would build a pair of giant, four-story-high tunnels to move water out of the San Francisco Bay Delta system to parts south. The effect of the tunnels construction and operation would be to further damage water quality in the Bay Delta and rivers that feed into the Delta. They would destroy habitat for already endangered species, and likely destroy certain key fisheries.

The tunnels project would also divert tens of billions of dollars of investment that would be better spent on smart water projects that would increase regional resilience and help Californians better respond to changing rainfall and drought patterns.

The overwhelming number of public comments opposing the tunnel came in response to the combined Draft Environmental Impact Report/Supplemental Environmental Impact Report. That report is a key document required before the state can begin to apply for permits for building the tunnels.

Federally, the tunnels must get permits from the Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act because it involves dredging of waters. The tunnels must also pass the muster of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s duties under the Endangered Species Act. At the beginning of the year, the State Water Resources Control Board will hold hearings on the Department of Water Resources request to move the tunnels project’s water diversion from the current pumping facilities in the southern part of the Delta farther upstream to the Sacramento River. The Board will also handle the permitting for water quality under the Clean Water Act.

The environmental documentation has been done poorly, with much information missing as proponents attempt to fast track the process. Even so, it also clearly demonstrates that species and habitat will be seriously harmed.

Sierra Club California continues to oppose the tunnels. We believe the Delta should be restored and that ratepayer funds are better spent improving local water supplies through more sensible programs, including conservation, efficiency, recycling, stormwater capture, and groundwater cleanup.

The tunnels are a distraction from the real issues facing California’s water supply and the Delta ecosystem, and should be dropped in favor of a plan that is sustainable.


Please visit The Sierra Club Website to view the original article written by Kyle Jones.


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The policy of the Resource is to include articles that appear in local or major media outlets relevant to Sierra conservation. We also include news releases, event notices, funding opportunities and job announcements sent to us from our Member Groups and friends. If you as a reader disagree with the content of a submission we encourage you to submit a letter to the editor of the issuing publication to reach the broader audience who read the article. You are welcome to forward your letter to the editor to the Alliance for inclusion in our new "Letters to the Resource" section. We also invite Letters to the Resource to be directly submitted on any article with which you're concerned.

Newsletter contents prepared by Kate Gladstein.
If you have articles, events or announcements that you would like included in this newsletter or if you have feedback,
please email Kate!.

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