Utah monitors its surface waters, rivers and streams, lakes, and reservoirs to deter-mine if they are supporting the beneficial uses designated for each waterbody. Those uses may include drinking water, recreation, fishing, boating, irrigation, stock watering, and support of aquatic life. Water quality may prove to be “fully supporting" (good to excellent), "partially supporting" (meets standards most of the time), and "not supporting" (frequently not meeting water quality standards).

Water pollution derives from point sources and non-point sources. Point source pollution is waste water discharged from a conveyance such as a pipe, usually from an industrial or municipal origin. Utah issues point source permits and monitors compliance; of its 78 municipal, 119 industrial, and 863 stormwater permittees assessed, over 99% were meeting water quality standards before discharge.

Non-point source pollution is only beginning to be addressed nationwide, more than two decades after the Federal Clean Water Act was adopted. It consists of agricultural run-off, urban run-off, animal feedlots, waste tailings, etc., and accounts for all of the pollution that is not from point sources. Another significant source of stream pollution comes from manmade and natural stream modification. Many of Utah's stream fisheries have been severely impacted by the loss of riparian (stream bank) habitat.

Major areas of concern in Utah are the Bear River, Weber River, Colorado River, Utah Lake- Jordan River, and Green River Basins. They are impaired by excessive nutrients, sediments, TDSs, metals, salinity, and habitat modification. These need cleaning up, not only because Utah is the second most arid state in the union, but because the state faces unparalleled increases in population and urban growth that will demand more water for beneficial use.

Currently, the state is taking steps to improve the 155 impaired stream segments or lakes. This requirement of the Clean Water Act will not be accomplished within a decade. Excess pollution from both point and nonpoint sources must first be determined in each impaired waterbody. Then a plan for reducing the pollution load must be developed, then implemented. Watershed management committees are now being established—definitely a time-consuming and delicate undertaking because of the level of coordination and collaboration it entails. Most states have not taken TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads) seriously in the past and several are now under court order to do so. The Division of Water Quality has been granted money to hire three new staff, will use consultants to begin the process, and so far has escaped a court order.

Within the last year, several major events have transpired that we can cheer about, provided that we make an effort to keep them going. These salutary events have in some cases been the result of our efforts and sometimes the result of the opposition letting its obstreperousness outrun its leverage.

Diamond Fork Canyon ranks along with the Provo River Restoration Project as a great success of the UOICC (Utah Outdoor Interest Coordinating Council) on which I am the Sierra Club representative. Original plans were to construct a dam at Monk’s Hollow, with a fallback alternative being a dam farther up the canyon at Three Forks. These plans were significantly criticized by the UOICC, several government agencies, and other groups. The UOICC, whose members unanimously opposed both of these plans, argued for taking the pipeline all the way to the top of Sixth Water Creek, where Strawberry Water Project water enters the basin. Our simple suggestion was to run the pipeline next to the stream, but the CUWCD (Central Utah Water Conservancy District) should be congratulated for designing a far better solution. That solution is to run a pipeline from the top of Sixth Water Creek but to wind the pipeline around, including tunneling through a hill. Even construction will disrupt the creek only minimally as the pipeline traverses the stream underground. The result will be a far more environmentally sound canyon stream than that which now exists or that would have existed with the building of a dam. Flows and flow regimes will be much closer to natural, and the entire canyon should benefit greatly.

Diamond Fork Canyon is heavily used by area residents, however, and the Forest Service had long-term plans to greatly enlarge the existing campground. The project was scheduled to come up before the URMCC. The Utah Rivers Council did a great job recruiting to testify against the proposal, but their superb effort was rendered moot because the Commission announced at the beginning of the meeting that the proposal had been sent back to the Forest Service. This decision, we were told, was the direct result of phone calls from several UOICC members and from a major Federal agency representative. Following this decision, the UOICC met with the Forest Service and expressed our concerns in detail. This time, two government agencies, the Forest Service and the URMCC, produced an alternative, which, although not perfect, reduces the size of the campground and pulls the bulk of it away from the riparian zone.

In summary, Diamond Fork Canyon seems to be on its way to

Great Salt Lake by Tom Munn

becoming an environmentally enhanced area that should provide a model of an environmentally sound natural habitat that is often visited by local residents. Unfortunately, these plans are not without stupid problems. Although everyone, Federal and State agencies and environmentalists, favors the program, Federal agencies—exercising their fault-finding mandates—are, in the view of many, nit-picking minor details. 

The fault-finding examination is generally beneficial, but when it delays or even possibly derails (the money could be taken away if something is not built soon) an exemplary project, it should be restricted to important concerns. This places some burden on all of us to pressure the government to let the project proceed, and puts us in the unusual position of wanting to see the Federal dollars put to work in the ground.

As bad water facilities in the west have more lives than a cat, the best way to guarantee that Monk’s Hollow Dam never again rears its ugly head is to put Federal money into the construction of the new pipeline.

The other major event of this year, and one which received substantial newspaper coverage, was the demise of the SFN (Spanish Fork-Nephi) Project. The most interesting part of this collapse is the way in which it happened. Environmentalists opposed the project unanimously and were making no headway. Indeed, if good sense and environmental arguments were the only things against the project, it probably would have been built. Luckily, the Strawberry Water Users , whose water was crucial to the project, decided to play hardball. Eventually, the CUWCD and DOI (Department of Interior) got fed up with the attempts by the Strawberry Water Users to squeeze more money out of the Feds. The result was that the Strawberry game of hardball ended with a call strike three.

It is widely accepted that the Strawberry Water Users were coached by the powerful water attorney, Joe Novak. Earlier this year, Joe Novak’s interesting legal analysis of the Utes' 1861 water rights caused considerable heartburn at DOI and was probably the key event in the, at least momentary, collapse in negotiations that would allow the Uinta Basin components of the CUP to go forward. At least one wag has suggested that the Sierra Club give Joe Novak an environmentalist of the year award.

Our opportunity for a major second round (Tier II) of new auto and fuel standards is right now. EPA has just proposed the following types of tighter standards for autos and gasoline, with the comment period ending in early June, 1999:

Sulfur in gasoline poisons catalytic converters, which causes higher emissions of ozone and fine particulate precursors than if the control equipment were working properly. High sulfur will have an even greater adverse impact on newer technology vehicles. California has a tight sulfur standard and other countries are decreasing sulfur in gasoline as we head towards cleaner technology cars.

Unfortunately, small Western refineries are lobbying heavily for a regional standard that would not apply to the West outside of California. They claim it is too expensive for them to remove sulfur from gasoline and that we don’t need a strong standard in the West because, except for California, we supposedly have healthy air. They say Wyoming isn’t the East.

The reality is that we have unhealthy levels of ozone in the urban areas of the West where most of the population lives and where most of the gasoline is used. Twenty-one days of ozone exceedance along the Wasatch Front in the summer of 1998 is unhealthy. Optimally functioning catalytic converters would also help decrease winter fine particulate pollution. EPA estimates the cost of removing sulfur to add one to three cents to a gallon of gasoline.

Today, diesel powered vehicles are allowed to emit 3-10 times more particulate pollution than gasoline-powered vehicles. EPA must eliminate this disparity and require all cars and light trucks to meet the same standard, irrespective of fuel used.

Advanced vehicles, such as electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles, are already on the road in California or will be moving into the market soon. EPA must ensure that these vehicles are available to consumers and fleet purchasers nationwide.

tr2home.htm

Carol Browner, Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency

401 M Street, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20460

This does not mean the end to the Governor’s freeway, but it is an enormous victory in our opposition to the Legacy Highway. It is very important for us as environmentally concerned citizens to recognize and praise agencies when they do the right thing. This is definitely one of these instances. Please take the time in your busy schedules to write and send a note of thanks to Mr. Yellowtail for his brave stance to protect our irreplaceable resources at the Great Salt Lake.

Please send letters to:

Mr. William Yellowtail

USEPA Region 8

999 18th St. Suite 500

Denver, CO 80202

Special thanks to all those who gave public comment on the Legacy Highway DEIS and sent copies to the EPA. They have really paid off.

Thank You!

For more information regarding the campaign against the Legacy Highway, contact:

Nina Dougherty, Transportation/Liveable Communities Coordinator, Utah Chaper, Sierra Club (801) 322-4610, nina@inconnect.com or

Marc Heileson, organizer for Sierra Club "Stop Legacy Highway" campaign, (801) 467-9294

Stop the Legacy Highway www.stoplegacyhighway.org/

TransAct (Transportation Action Network) www.transact.org/ (provided by STPP) Surface Transportation Policy Project in Washington, D.C.

“Fundamentally flawed" is the grade given by the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club and eight other groups in a set of comments submitted January 8th on the Legacy Parkway Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). National and local legal, travel demand, transportation alternatives, survey, air quality, water quality, geology and other experts participated in the analyzing of the DEIS and the writing of the extensive well documented comments.

"Environmentally unsatisfactory" is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) rating of each of the build alternatives. EPA concluded that the proposed action should not proceed as proposed. EPA's major concerns about the DEIS include, among other things, inadequate analysis of purpose, need and alternatives to building a new road, and inappropriate segmentation of the proposed Legacy Highway for alternative and impact analysis.

Of the many problems and inadequacies we identified in this DEIS the following are among those that have serious ramifications for conclusions throughout the DEIS and in other transportation planning along the Wasatch Front.

The main purpose stated in the DEIS is to allow cars to drive a certain speed at the peak commute hours, whereas the purpose should be a much broader provision of facilities and services to meet transportation needs of all the population and should include land use and other policies to reduce auto dependency.

In separate comments, JEDI (Justice, Economic Dignity & Independence) for Women opposed the Legacy Highway in support of more efficient modes of public transportation. JEDI's March 1997 report, "Redesigning the Social Safety Net: The Client Perspective" showed transportation to be the second largest barrier to self-sufficiency. Many low-income families don't have the funds to keep their cars in good repair and pay for insurance. We should be focusing on mass transportation so that low-income families can get to work."

Other people require alternatives to driving, as well. Nationally, 25% of the population doesn't drive, including the impaired, the elderly, the young and those who don't own reliable cars.

This is a major flaw that results in false conclusions on air quality impacts of the proposed highway as well as on travel demand if the highway were not built. National transportation researchers agree that adding freeway lanes encourages additional car trips and miles. Actually, congestion decreases trips and miles. Drivers make other choices, including where they live. The U.S. Department of Transportation now incorporates the traffic inducing effect in a model.

By assuming the same number of trips and miles will occur whether or not the highway is built, the model underestimates the trips, miles travelled and emissions if the highway is built and overestimates the trips, miles travelled and emissions if the highway is not built.

EPA also states this concern, "the analysis does not consider the extent to which households and businesses will not locate in or near the corridor if the highway is not built, and it does not consider the impact of additional trips induced by the additional capacity. A growing body of evidence suggests that additional capacity does not simply relieve congestion at fixed levels of usage, but generates additional travel as well. These potential errors in demand calculations could result in a projection for a greater need for the highway, while at the same time projecting fewer impacts than may really occur."

The model does not analyze impact of the highway on inducing new development. Increase in transportation access leads to increased market pressures for development in an area. Where growth occurs relates to where access has been provided.

The relationship between land use, travel time and cost and trip demand is ignored, a fatal flaw for a sound comparison of transportation alternatives.

Reasonable transit alternatives are improperly and illegally excluded in the DEIS because of flaws in the travel demand model. The DEIS fails to conduct a rigorous evaluation of the potential for transit to meet the demand projected for the Legacy Highway. Among other flaws, the model relies on a 1993 survey of mode choice available at that time and improperly assumes that transportation mode choice will remain constant regardless of future options and conditions. It ignores how people behave when given new choices. The model assumes the same percentage of people who used mass transit in the past will use it in the future.

Federal regulations and court decisions make it clear that the DEIS must rigorously and objectively analyze all reasonable alternatives. Reasonable alternatives include serious transit, pedestrian and land-use-based alternatives that reduce regional auto travel and the presumed need for highway

The only alternatives seriously studied in the DEIS are three routes for a highway. The DEIS ignores studies and successful programs elsewhere in the country that show dramatically increased use of mass transit, given frequent and reliable services, connectivity with other modes or transit at either end of the trip and easy accessibility by a significant part of the population.

The DEIS does not discuss the thorny geotechnical problems of building along the shores of the Great Salt Lake. The possible cost ramifications are therefore not addressed.

Segmentation of Legacy Highway for analysis clearly restricts the consideration of alternatives, and does so in a way that biases results in favor of highway construction. The total 120 mile Legacy Highway is still promoted by planners as a continuous highway, with the segments in various stages of study. A 13-mile segment of regional rail cannot be compared with a 13- mile segment of highway. The full land use and induced traffic implications of the proposed highway cannot be studied in segments. Multiple segments result in more induced traffic, more serious impacts on regional air quality and greater impacts to open space, wetlands, wildlife habitat and other resources.

Needless to say our experts do not believe that building a freeway through wetlands is the way to save them.The disruption of the very significant wetlands ecosystem is profound. The assumption that development will occur on all wetlands to the east of the proposed highway is unsubstantiated. EPA says this implies that authorization would be given by the entities to indiscriminately destroy wetlands east of the proposed highway. And there is no reason why a state wetlands preserve can't be established if the highway isn't built.

How do we go about finding true transportation solutions? Planners along the Wasatch Front have started a new Inter-Regional Corridor Alternatives Analysis. We are fortunate to have the Envision Utah scenarios

C and D for models of more transit and pedestrian-oriented communities.We also have examples of successes elsewhere, with much of the information on the Internet. What we need is more public involve-ment, scrutiny and vision in the transporta-tion planning process. Truly workable mass transit needs to be studied.

“Wilderness needs no defense, only more defenders.”—Edward Abbey

The public lands of the United States, are exactly that—Public Lands. These are our lands; as such we have a responsibility to participate in the process determining how these lands will be managed. We know these lands, we love these lands, we have an attachment to our special places. The Adopt A Wilderness Program is based on the philosophy that the best advocates for wilderness are those who actually know the land. Living in Utah, we are in a unique position to have intimate contact with these awe-inspiring places. The Adopt a Wilderness Program provides a practical means through which people can use their personal knowledge about these places to advocate their protection.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is charged with managing our public lands. Particularly because we are so close to many of these areas, we have the unique opportunity to work closely with the BLM to ensure their protection. Time and time again it has been the voices of educated and informed citizens that have made the difference in how these lands are cared for. The Adopt a Wilderness program is designed to help facilitate dialogue between citizens and the BLM. The BLM is entrusted with maintaining these lands, but if we are serious about protecting wilderness it will require all of our efforts.

One of the important goals of the Adopt a Wilderness Program is to spread the word about the need to protect these lands across the country. We hope to pair each Utah adopter with an out-of-state adopter. Wilderness is something that belongs to all Americans, and we need national support if we are to protect these lands.

Adopting a Wilderness is a serious and rewarding undertaking. We hope you will enjoy the work, and the land. Thank you for becoming an adopter of a special place in Utah’s Wilderness.

fter twenty years of delay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has at last sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the final Regional Haze rule to clean up the haze that has diminished vistas in the spectacular national parks and wilderness areas of the Colorado Plateau. The rule applies to all Class I national parks and wilderness areas in the rest of the country.

Why is your help needed now? The rule will be at OMB until early May, with industry heavily lobbying OMB for reproposal and weakening of the rule. Industry especially does not like the requirement that old grandfathered major polluting sources would at last have to be controlled to the level of “Best Available Retrofit Technology” (BART). This is a critically important requirement that must be retained.

We would have preferred a stronger rate of visibility improvement, such as cleaning up within 50 years rather than the 60 years allowed by the rule, but it is critical that we get on with the cleanup now, so that improvement occurs in our lifetime. There should be no further delay and certainly not the possibility of a still weaker rule.

A broadly based state visibility task force appointed by Governor Bangerter in the 1980’s unanimously wanted protection of visibility not only in the parks but also of the significant views from the parks, such as from Grandview Point in Canyonlands. The committee felt that regional haze caused by emissions from many sources was a major culprit and that something should be done about it. The very rapid growth in urban and scenic areas of the West makes it imperative that we no longer delay measures for cleaning-up and preventing regional haze.

President Clinton

White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington, DC, 20500

Governor Leavitt

State Capitol

Salt Lake City, UT 84114

For more information contact: Nina Dougherty, (801) 322-4610, nina@inconnect.com

If you have any questions, contact Kenneth Evans, home # 484 3112, Work # 972 1261 ext 310

April 18, Sunday - West Desert Hike. Join Dick Dougherty for an intermediate hike exploring the Monarch Mine area nearby the Lakeside Mountains in the west desert. Meet at the ZCMI parking lot, 2100 south 900 west at 9:00 AM. Participants will then car pool to the trail head. Call Dick, 531 7830 for details.

April 24 weekend - Intermediate Level Backpack, Halls Narrows; Capitol Reef Natl. Park. This is one of the most spectacular slot canyon hikes in Southern Utah. May extend from Earth Day, Thursday the 22nd if there is interest in adding Calf Creek Falls or a side canyon along the Burr Trail. Hiking the narrows is weather dependent. Coordination of carpooling and final planning may be somewhat last minute. Contact Kurt Day: 801-359-3059 x 115 Evening: 435-882-6888.

April 25, Sunday - HIKE-BLACK MTN. (Lakeside Range) or Tabbys Canyon (Stansbury Island) with Ron Younger. Meet at 9:00 AM at the Travel Council Parking Lot (Just south of the State Capital). Questions? Call Ron at 292 4040.

May 11, Tuesday 6:30 PM. Jordan River Parkway. Hiking boots are not necessary for this easy walk along the Jordan River Parkway. Meet at the parking lot where the Jordan River crosses 33rd south (North side of 33rd ). Call Ann at 583 9020 for information about this outing.

May 16, Sunday - Bike Ride. Take a break from hiking with Ken on a lackadaisical ride up Emigration Canyon to Little Mountain summit, possibly beyond depending on the will of participants. Optional stop at the Little Mountain Cafe on the way down. Meeting time is 10:00 AM at the eastern side of the Hogle Zoo parking lot. Call Ken, 484 3112 for details.

May 18, Tuesday - Memory Grove and City Creek.

Join Dick Dougherty for an evening hike through the Memory Grove and City Creek area. Hike route will include walking on paved and dirt trails. Meeting time is 6:30 PM at the Travel Council parking lot across the street from the State Capital. Call Dick 531 7830 for more info.

May 25, Tuesday - Bonneville Shore Line Trail. Bill Van Moorhem will lead an easy-to-moderate hike along a portion of the Shore Line Trail. Meet at Popperton Park on the north east corner of 11th Avenue and Virginia Street. Meeting time is 6:30 PM. Call Bill, 582 9223 for info regarding this hike.

May 29-31, Memorial Day Weekend -In Search Of Council Cave Car Camp. Intermediate Level Day Hiking in Howell Peak WSA. Compass and map orienteering into a very little traveled West Desert Wilderness. Council Cave is one of the largest natural alcoves in Utah. It opens high above the desert floor over looking Tule Valley and outward toward Great Basin National Park. There is no "trail," making access unique. Call Kurt at 801-359-3059 x115 days or 435-882-6888 eves for meeting place and other details.

June 1, Tuesday - Dry Creek Dick Dougherty will host a moderate hike for anyone interested in exploring the Dry Creek area nearby the University of Utah. Meet at the parking area adjacent the Merrill Engineering building located on North Campus Drive on the U of U campus. Please call Dick, 531 7830 for details.

June 8, Tuesday - Little DELL Hike. This is an easy hike on the Little Dell Reservoir trail just below East Canyon. Meet at the Parleys Way Kmart parking lot at 6:30 PM. Participants will then car pool to the trail head. Call Ann, 583 9020 for questions about the hike.

June 13, Sunday - Little Black Mountain Hike, an advanced 9-mile excursion in the foothills above the University of Utah. Meeting place yet to be determined. For more info call Gaynell or Jahan at (435) 649- 8917.

June 15, Tuesday, 6:30pm - Salt Lake Overlook, Mill Creek Canyon. Follow Janet Craig on a moderate hike that leads to a spectacular view of the Salt Lake valley. Meet at Skyline High School where hikers will carpool to the trail head. Bring fee ($2.25/vehicle) for Millcreek. For info, call Janet, 467 2581.

June 20, Sunday , 8:30pm- Mount Olympus Hike. Led by Janet Craig, this is an advanced hike to the summit of Mount Olympus. Trailhead begins at Wasatch Boulevard, about 60th south. Meet inthe parking area near the trail head. Contact Janet to register, as the limit in wilderness is 13 467 2581 for details.

June 22, Tuesday 6:30pm - Grandeur Peak Hike. Celebrate the longest day of the year with a hike to Grandeur Peak in Mill Creek Canyon. Jency Brown, 278 7661 will lead with a moderate pace. Meet at the Skyline High School parking lot. Due to the length of the hike, flashlights are recommended. Bring fee for Millcreek Canyon

June 27, Sunday - Big Mountain Summit Hike. Join Ken for a moderate hike on a Big Mountain trail that leads to panoramic views of the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges. Meet at the Kmart parking lot on Parleys Way to car pool to the trailhead. Call Ken, 484 3112 for more info.

June 29, Tuesday 6:30pm - Big Cottonwood Canyon. Janet Craig will lead a moderate hike on the Circle All trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Meet at the Big Cottonwood Canyon Park and Ride to carpool to the trailhead. Call Janet, 467 2581 for details.

July 6, Tuesday 6:30pm- Dog Lake Hike. Join Dick Dougherty for this popular intermediate hike beginning at the Brighton Ski Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Meeting place is the Park and Ride at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Hikers will car pool to trailhead. Contact Dick at 531 7830 for more info.

 OGDEN Group

The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club and its Ogden Group are dedicated to promoting conservation of the environment through recreational outings, monthly educational meetings and membership recruitment. These activities help us appreciate the remarkable outdoor opportunities that we have so close to our city. Except during the summer, the Ogden Group meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm at the Weber County Library, 2464 Jefferson Avenue. Invited speakers educate our members and the public on environmental issues. The public is welcome to attend these meetings as well as the scheduled outings listed below. Participants are advised to call the leaders in advance for outing details.

Chair: Dan Schroeder, 393-4603

Membership: John Hinds,

621-0196

Outings/programs: Jock Glidden, 394-0457

Ratings:

3. Good physical fitness 4. Demanding, must be fit

April 9-11, Friday - Sunday Spring Desert Hikes; St. George West: 2

Car camping and hiking in Utah’s only Mojave desert ecosystem on the UT/NV border. With luck we will find some early spring desert flowers and other surprises.

Leave Kaysville at 9:00AM. Call for final details. Leader: Gibbs and Catharine Smith, 544-0129.

April 18, Sunday - East Bench Trails Traverse: 3

A full traverse of Ogden’s famous front range trails system as they presently exist from north to south. Bring lunch. Meet Rainbow Gardens parking lot, south end at 10:00AM. Leader: Peter Vernezze, 394-0994.

April 24, Saturday - White Rock Bay Mt Bike Tour: 2

An easy bike of this popular nine-mile loop on Antelope Island. Dry trail, we bike; muddy trail, we ride the paved loop. Meet White Rock Parking Lot at 10:00AM. Leader: John Hinds, 621-0196.

May 1, Saturday - Antelope Island Nine-Mile Loop Hike: 2

A scenic May Day hike around a popular loop on Utah’s favorite island. Bring lunch, binoculars. Meet Syracuse Gate, east side of GSL at 9:30AM. Leaders: Susie & Elliot Hulet, 479-3860.

May 9, Sunday - Bike Tour; Bear River Bird Refuge: 2

A level bike visit to a nationally famous and important bird refuge. Bring snacks, water and binoculars for sure. Meet OHS at 9:00AM. Leader: Al Stockland, 479-9597.

May 16, Sunday - Promontory Peninsula Bike Tour: 3

A Sierra Club classic ride of 25 miles out on a rolling, low traffic paved road. A good chance of seeing wildlife, especially wheeling pelicans in the sky above. Bring lunch, repair kit, and compact binocs. Meet at OHS at 8:30AM or Thiokol Gate at 9:30AM. Leader: Jock Glidden, 394-0457.

May 22, Saturday - Jumpoff Canyon Hike: 3

A hike up a seldom-visited dry creek bed into the North Ogden Cliffs. It’s short but steep. Meet OHS, 2:30PM. Leader: Dan Schroeder, 393-4603.

June 6, Sunday - Suzanne’s Birthday Mystery Bike Tour 2 - Leader: Call Suzanne Storer for details, 479-5035.

June 13, Sunday - Baldy Ridge Hike; Causey Reservoir: 3

An all day scenic hike above a spectacular reservoir. Meet; OHS 8:30AM. Leader: Dan Schroeder, 393-4603.

East or West, Wilderness is Best

Wilderness—it has always been at the core of the Sierra Club mission! Our outings program were started in 1901 to educate and inspire people to fight for wilderness. Wilderness has just received a boost with adoption as a Sierra Club national priority campaign. And now the newest Sierra Club outings—National Activist outings— carry this outreach step further: they not only show off wild areas that need help, they train participants to become strong advocates for preservation on their return home!

This summer’s activist outings are directly tied to our national Wildlands Protection campaign. Become a leader in this vital effort by taking one of these three routes to wildland protection: in Maine, Nevada, Florida. Take your choice—wildlands are everywhere—east and west!

At the end, a fourth trip deserves honorable mention—celebrating the 75th anniversary of America’s first wilderness area.

A monumental wilderness campaign is unfolding in this virtually unknown state. Nevada has a greater proportion of its land publicly owned than any other state. But it also has the smallest amount of designated wilderness of any western state. You can help change that! Join us to learn first-hand about wild Nevada’s diverse, mountainous terrain. This eight-day car camping venture, with an optional overnight backpack, explores unprotected Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management areas in central Nevada. Longtime wilderness activists Vicky Hoover and Marge Sill will share with you the hidden, real Nevada, and the need to keep Nevada forever wild.

Experience the variety! We’ll travel at the edge of Nevada’s vast roadless areas, from the marshes of the Stillwater Wildlife refuge to the majestic snow-covered Toiyabe range, from the broad expanses of the Antelope and Park Ranges, to the stark volcanic buttresses of Morey Peak and the Hot Creek range. Bristlecone pines and aspen thickets will mingle with lush wildflowers. Trip #99101A, June 26-July 3, 1999. Cost, $390.

A bold new initiative is gaining momentum in the once vast, unbroken forests of Maine —to restore these to magnificence in a great new national park. Never has a national park vision been so focused on restoration of former wilderness. Our Maine Woods activist outing offers a unique canoe trip through the heart of the proposed national park. Activist leaders Joan Saxe and Ken Cline will put you in the forefront of leadership in this flagship campaign.

You will canoe down the west branch of the Penobscot River, following the path traced by Henry Thoreau through this “immeasurable forest with ...countless lakes...” Your itinerary includes both pristine and dammed areas. A car camping and hiking finale will permit a climb of Big Spencer Mountain for a view of millions of acres of the spectacular North Woods. Trip #99102A, July 25-31, 1999. Cost, $550.

A much different campaign is underway in southern Florida, where the extraordinary ecosystems of the Everglades and Florida Keys are threatened as never before. Based in Key Largo, the Everglades to the Coral Reefs activist outing is under the guidance of experienced activists Vivian and Otto Spielbichler. The week-long Marine Lab program features classroom training and first-hand sea encounters with snorkel, mask, and microscope.

Visited by thousands of tourists, the complex and interrelated wetland and coral reef ecology is understood by few. But this marine wildland deserves protection no less than a purely terrestrial one. Understanding is essential to protection, so treat yourself to our intensive course with “classrooms” in the coral reefs, mangrove estuaries, sea grass beds, and the “back country” of Everglades National Park. (This trip is part of our water issues campaign as well as the wildlands protection campaign.) Trip #99103A, Aug. 22-28, 1999. Cost $580.

For more details, call activist outing subcommittee chair, Vicky Hoover, at (415) 977-5527. <vicky.hoover@sierraclub.org> Ask Vicky about how to become a Chapter Coordinator for the issue on the trip you choose, and how to work with your chapter for potential partial

funding support for your trip expenses.

Here’s an extra special wilderness outing that deserves your attention. Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the first wilderness area in the U.S. by backpacking in the Gila Wilderness with veteran leader, Bob Madsen. Inspired by Aldo Leopold, the Forest Service set aside this pre-eminent Arizona area in 1924, and now a Forest Service Ranger will accompany this spring trip. Evening “camp fires” will discuss current wilderness topics and wilderness philosophy, in the spirit of Aldo Leopold. The grand finale is a ceremony on June 3rd at Gila Cliff Dwelling, followed by an appropriate service project the following day. Trip #99115, Gila Wilderness 75th Anniversary Backpack. May 29-June 5. Cost, $615.

Please be on the lookout! Soon you’ll find the Utah Chapter’s annual fund appeal in your mailbox. Please Respond! Support the efforts of your chapter volunteers to stop the Legacy Highway and incineration of nerve gas at Tooele — and to protect Utah’s wilderness.

“Fish-Tree-Water Blues” CD to Benefit

Proceeds from the CD will support the Earthjustice Fish-Trees-Water campaign to safeguard and restore the Great Northwest. When reason and persuasion fail to protect the environment, the Legal Defense Fund provides legal support, free of charge, to community groups fighting to safeguard public lands, ancient forests, endangered species, and clean, free-flowing water. After all, if native fish species can’t survive in the Great Northwest, what makes us think we can?

Previously unreleased tracks on the CD include “Stone River,” the first new song in years by J.J. Cale, written especially for the project, as well as new releases by Mavis Staples, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Robert Cray, and Al Green’s classic “Take Me To the River,” performed by Bob Weir’s Ratdog, with Charlie Musslewhite.

This enhanced CD, on Bullseye Blues & Jazz/Rounder Records, will be officially kicked off with a concert by bluesman Robert Cray at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on Earth Day, April 22, 1999.

“We are so honored by the participation of all these musical icons in support of America’s environment,” said Buck Parker, President of Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. “When folks buy this CD, they help protect endangered species, ancient forests, and clean water, by providing free legal services to hundreds of grassroots organizations.”

Tuesday 5:00 pm Sierra Club Environmental Update

Sunday 9:55am Sierra Club Environmental Update

2nd & 4th Thursday 12:30-1:00 Save Our Canyons Report

KRCL is Salt Lake City’s non-profit, listener-supported, community radio station, at 90.9 FM. Phone (801) 363-1818 for information and a sample bimonthly program guide. KRCL plays a wide variety of programming, ranging from folk and bluegrass to new wave and new age. The Sierra Club’s “Environmental Update” is produced by Utah Chapter volunteer Teri Underwood.

(Dear Representative __________)

1st District:

The Honorable James Hansen

2466 Rayburn House Office Bldg

Washington, DC 20515

(202) 225-0453

2nd District:

The Honorable Merrill Cook

1431 Longworth House Office Bldg

Washington, DC 20515

(202) 225-3011

3rd District:

The Honorable Christopher Cannon

118 Cannon House Office Bldg (202) 225-7751

(Dear Senator_____________)

The Honorable Orrin Hatch

131 Russell Bldg

Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-5251

The Honorable Robert Bennett

431 Dirksen Bldg

Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-5444

(Dear Mr. President)

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave

Washington, DC 20500

(202) 456-1111

president@whitehouse.gov

White House Comment Line

(202) 224-3121

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave

Washington, DC 20500

vice.president@whitehouse.gov

The Honorable ______________

House Office Bldg

Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable_______________

Senate Office Bldg

Washington, DC 20510

US Capitol Switchboard

(202) 224-3121

For writing a letter to the editor (read by thousands whom you may be able to educate/influence and closely monitored by elected officials):

Public Forum, Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867, SLC, UT 84110

Reader's Forum, Deseret News

PO Box 1257, SLC, UT 84110

Second Wednesday of every month

5:00 p.m.

Salt Lake City/County Bldg.

451 South State

Room 325

Call 535-7735 or 359-8238 for more information

from

Thursday, April 8, 1999

7pm

at the

RED BUTTE GARDEN

VISITORS CENTER

Call Melissa at 581-4811 for details

°free to the Public, but donations appreciated°

Your Name

Street Address

City, Zip

2273 Highland Drive, #2D

Salt Lake City, Utah 84106-2832

Make checks payable to Utah Chapter Sierra Club. Refunds and returns must be made at Wild Oats. The Utah Chapter assumes no liability for goods purchased with certificates. Please do not send cash.

Chapter Chair, Nina Dougherty

Chapter Vice-Chair, Scott Endicott

Newsletter Editor, JoAnn Green

Circulation Mgr., Linda Wilburn

The Utah Sierran is published quarterly (January, April, July, & October) by the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club. Views expressed in this paper are the opinions of the individual authors, unless otherwise noted, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Sierra Club.

Submit all articles, artwork, photographs, letters, and comments to Editor, the Utah Sierran, 2273 South Highland Drive #2D, Salt Lake City, Utah 84106, phone (801) 467-9297.

The Sierra Club dues are $35 per year, of which $1 is for the Utah Sierran. Discount membership rates are available for senior citizens, students, or individuals with limited income. The subscription rate for non-members is $8 per year.

Third-class postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah, Permit No 4050