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June 26, 2015

Sierra Happenings

ACTION ALERT!

Ask Your Federal Elected Official to Keep AmeriCorps Fully Funded!

The federal AmeriCorps program provides partial funding for the Alliance's SNAP Program; and allows the program to exisit. Since 2007, AmeriCorps Members through SNAP have:
  • Restored more than 12,000 acres of Sierra watersheds
  • Educated more than 150,000 students and community members on Sierra watershed issues
  • Leveraged the support of more than 22,000 volunteers
  • Contributed more than 300,000 service hours!
The House Appropriations Committee passed the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill including provisions to defund and decrease funding for AmeriCorps programs. Read more here.

How you can help: Please use this letter template, customize it as you see fit, and send to your elected officials. Use this link to find your elected officials.

Events and Activities

Sierra Water Workgroup 2015 Workshop!!!

This year’s SWWG event is a full-day workshop focused on issues and tools around the theme “Protecting Our Water.”

The conference will frame questions about addressing watershed issues with specific tools and actions, including timelines and assignments, as well as expert panel discussions.

Date: August 10, 2015
Place: North Tahoe Event Center, Kings Beach
Please see the draft agenda here , and for more information, please visit the SWWG website.


SF Workshop: Campus-Community Partnerships for Advancing Sustainability!

This U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored workshop is designed to introduce universities and communities to EPA tools for advancing sustainability, and to a successful Campus-Community Sustainability Partnership (CCSP) model. The long-term objective is to establish partnerships that help communities become more sustainable and resilient, build capacity, and provide university students with real-world experience.

Date: Thursday, July 13, 2015 @ 8:00am-5:00pm
Place: San Francisco State University

To register, click here
For more information, click here for the flyer!


Water, Trees, and Forest Management
N & S California SAF Summer Meeting!!


This year's Society of American Foresters Northern and Southern California summer meeting will focus on water, trees and forest management.

Date: August 21-22, 2015
Place: Holiday Inn, Auburn, CA

To register: click here!


Job Announcements & Volunteer Opportunities

3 Associate Governmental Program Analyst Positions - Sierra Nevada Conservancy!

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy seeks 3 analysts, in Placer, Lassen, and Mariposa counties.

For questions or additional information please contact Jennifer Barnes!

Development Director with the MAP!

Mountain Area Preservation seeks a full-time Development Director in their Truckee, CA office.

Job description and application info here.

Water Conservation Program Manager!

Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District is seeking an experienced individual to implement a multi-year, Regional Water Conservation Program.

Job description and application info here.


Resources

Public Policy Institute of California: Groundwater Management Fact Sheet

Groundwater is a vital component of California’s water supply. Check out this informative page on Groundwater Management!.


Fulbright Grant Opportunities with the US Department of State!

The Fulbright Program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide and has provided approximately 310,000 participants with the opportunity to study, teach, or conduct research and exchange ideas. Approximately 8,000 competitive, merit-based grants are awarded annually. Visit this website for more information, to search programs by country, or to apply for grants as a student, scholar, teacher, or a professional!


Highlights

Join S.N.A.P. for our 10th Anniversary Year!!!

SNAP2015_1
S.N.A.P. Members 2015!!!

Do you love the Sierra?
Want to help restore and protect the Range of Light?
Do you want to gain valuable environmental professional experience?

Apply to become one of the 28 Members of the 2015-2016 Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP)!


SNAP is celebrating the 10th year of our program in 2015 - 2016!

We are seeking enthusiastic, conservation-minded people to commit to a year of service to protect Sierra natural resources and sustainable communities. During the year, SNAP members will gain skills and technical training, mentor with outstanding environmental leaders and receive an education award at the successful completion of service.
Deadline for applying is July 25, 2015. Interviews will begin in early August.

Since 2007, more than 150 SNAP Members have served at 32 Sierra conservation organizations and agencies to restore more than 12,000 acres of habitat, monitor more than 1,000 ecological sites, educate more than 145,000 people and recruit more than 22,000 community volunteers to serve their local Sierra watersheds.

SNAP2015_3
2015 S.N.A.P. Members hard at work!!

Responsibilities & Projects:

-Members will serve full-time, from October 15, 2015 – September 15, 2016.
-Projects & responsibilities will vary depending on service positions but, will be based on watershed restoration and assessment, watershed education and outreach, and volunteer recruitment and management.
-For more detailed service descriptions, including Position Descriptions and Service Plans, please click here.

Compensation and Benefits:

-Monthly stipend of $1,254 per month
-Standard health insurance
-Up to 340 hours of technical, ecological and skills-development training throughout the year.
-AmeriCorps Education Award of $5,550 will be granted upon completion of the program for use on existing qualified student loans or future higher education expenses.

SNAP2015_5
2015 S.N.A.P. Members in the field!!

How to Apply:

1. Check out the 2015-16 SNAP Position Descriptions and Service Plans by clicking here.
2. Fill out the online SNAP Member application by clicking here. (You can download a sample of the SNAP application here for reference, but you must fill it out via the online application.)
3. Email your resume and a 1 page cover letter stating your interest in the SNAP Member position and your best qualifications for the position to Lynn. Be sure to title your email subject: “SNAP Application 2015 – 2016”.

Deadline to Apply: July 25, 2015!


AmeriCorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that connect more than 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet our country’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. AmeriCorps members serve with more than 2,000 nonprofits, public agencies, and faith-based and community organizations.

For more information please contact: Lynn Baumgartner, Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership Program Director: 530-542-4546 x 705
or click here to visit the Join S.N.A.P page.
.

If you would like to support the Sierra Nevada Alliance Initiatives, please click here to contribute to our funding.


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@sierranevadaalliance.org.

Recent News

Climate Change

California’s “Grand Experiment” in Climate Policy is Working
Environmental Defense Fund, Jorge Madrid, 6/22/15

Sierra Link: As a major global economy, the State of California needs to be a model for effective climate policy. In this blog article, Jorge Madrid discusses some of our early struggles and triumphs.

California drought brings a golden lining
Sacramento Bee, Peter Hecht, 6/22/15

Sierra Link: Prospectors delight as shrinking streams reveal gold deposits. What does this mean for the Sierra, which already suffers from 150 year old legacy mining related mercury pollution, lands never remediated from the last gold rush?

Forestry

Native traditional methods revived to combat California drought, wildfires
Al Jazeera America, Renee Lewis, 6/12/15

Sierra Link: As California battles its worst drought in 1,000 years — and after massive wildfires swept across the state for two consecutive summers — a number of tribe members, scientists and U.S. Forest Service officials are working to revive traditional Native American land management practices to help contain the blazes and lessen effects of the drought. The North Fork Mono tribe, whose homeland includes much of the Sierra Nevada National Forest, is a regional leader in these land management activities.

Another Common Herbicide Linked to Cancer
Mother Jones, Tom Philpott, 6/23/15

Sierra Link: A panel of World Health Organization-convened scientists has announced commonly used herbicide 2,4-D, as carcinogenic, mere months following a similar condemnation of Monsanto's Roundup, alarming farm communities and chemical companies alike. As the "salad bowl of our nation", California will be affected by this finding, and this will affect life in the Sierra as well.

Recreation

California lawsuit seeks to block oil drilling on federal land
Reuters, Rory Carroll, 6/10/15

Environmental groups filed a lawsuit challenging a plan to open large portions of CA federal lands to oil drilling, saying it did not consider environmental impacts of fracking. The lawsuit targets the Bureau of Land Management's approval of a plan regarding the leasing of 400,000 acres of public land and 1.2 million acres of subsurface mineral estate.

Becoming California Wins Two Regional EMMY Awards
California Environmental Legacy Project, 6/10/15

Sierra Link: The EMMY for Best Cultural/Historical Documentary was awarded to environmental film "Becoming California" at the 44th Annual Northern California Emmy Awards Saturday night. Its producer/director, Kit Tyler, also received an EMMY. “From conflict to reconciliation, Becoming California tells the story of environmental change in California in a fresh and hopeful way,” says Tyler. This could inspire state-wide changes, including in the Sierra.


Water

$110 million in drought aid going to California, other Western states, White House says
The L.A. Times, Matt Stevens, 6/12/15

Sierra Link: Obama administration officials announced a total of about $110 million in new drought assistance for western states, on top of more than $190 million that had already been allocated this year. This could directly affect our lives in the Sierra Nevada headwaters.

California Legislature passes drought bill imposing fines, water system consolidation
Sacramento Bee, Jeremy B. White and David Siders, 6/19/15

Sierra Link: A major California budget bill to allow the state to force consolidation of water systems, exempt certain water projects from environmental review and make other far-reaching changes passed on Friday. Senate Bill 88 also will require mandatory diversion reporting and will fine water conservation measure violators as much as $10,000. Getting serious about conservation is crucial to Sierra water supply!

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces $150 Million, New Partnership to Support Water Quality and Quantity in Drought-Stricken California
USDA Press Release, 6/24/15

Sierra Link: A new partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Forest Service (FS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), focused on conserving and restoring the Sierra-Cascade California Headwaters, will invest $130 million over the next two years. The partnership also includes the Interior Department, the State of California, non-profits, and private landowners.

Wildlife

Hot Creek Hatchery Tests Positive for Whirling Disease, Trout Stocking to Continue in Area Waters
California Department of Fish and Wildlife News, Harry Morse and William Cox, 6/9/15

Sierra Link: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) recently learned Hot Creek Hatchery near Mammoth Lakes has tested positive for the parasite that causes whirling disease.

BLM advances solar project that will harm bighorn sheep
High Country News, Judith Lewis Mernit, 6/10/15

Sierra Link: The Bechtel Corporation's Soda Mountain solar farm will undo decades of conservation in California.

Other Articles

Tiny beads, big problem, easy fix: why scientific evidence supports a ban on microbeads
The Conversation UC Davis, Chelsea Rochman and Sara Kross, 6/4/15

Sierra Link: Plastic microbeads are used as exfoliating agents in hundreds of personal care products globally, and trillions of these tiny plastic beads travel to wastewater treatment plants daily. This article examines microplastic debris and what our governments have been doing to try to combat it.

Man, mules lobby for preservation at Capitol
Sacramento Bee, JULIA CALAGIOVANNI AND ASHIAH SCHARAGA, 6/17/15

Sierra Link: Nomadic traveler and activist John Sears returned to the Capitol Wednesday to ask legislators to rethink the nation’s transportation system. He brought with him his three mules – Little Girl, Lady and Who-dee-doo.





Sierra Nevada Alliance

P.O. Box 7989
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158

phone: 530.542.4546
fax:530.542.4546

www.sierranevadaalliance.org




Since 1993 the Sierra Nevada Alliance has been protecting and restoring Sierra lands, water, wildlife and communities. The regional climate change program shapes and implements county and regional resource plans that promote smart land use, incorporate sustainable water management practices, aggressively reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change.