Looking for an exotic trip without leaving the country? Join the third Angeles Chapter-sponsored Natural and Wild Florida trip. Participants will snorkel in a coral reef, swim with manatees, and tour the Everglades, among other adventures.
This year's trip of 10 days and 10 nights, November 18-28, has been extended from previous trips to allow for more activities.
A critical deadline has been reached in the campaign to save the Soka property in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has optioned the 588-acre property for $35 million, but the option will expire if the full amount is not paid by April 15, and the property will be sold to the highest bidder.
The Sierra Club has joined an environmental lawsuit challenging the Nov. 8, 2004, decision of the Orange County Board of Supervisors to approve the application of Rancho Mission Viejo for a massive development known as the Ranch Plan.
The Angeles Chapter relies on the volunteer services of its members. They ring doorbells, prepare exhibits, sit at tables and talk to the public, lead hikes, come out for work parties, repair and supervise our lodges, and do everything else needed to keep the Chapter running smoothly.
The proposed Las Lomas 5,800-home housing development in northern Los Angeles County has been blocked by Los Angeles and Santa Clarita officials.
Mammoth from the Inside: The Honest Guide to Mammoth & the Eastern Sierra, by Colleen Dunn Bates, Prospect Park Publishing, http://insidemammoth.com, $15.95
The year began with news dominated by reports of death and destruction following the massive Indonesian earthquake. At first the death toll was counted in the thousands, then the tens of thousands, then over a hundred thousand. By some reports the dead and missing now number over a quarter million. So many lives gone so quickly, and not due to an act of humanity, but the raw force of nature. The reports tell that many of the victims were initially drawn to the shore, standing in wonderment as the water receded, then were swept away as the waves flooded in.
Logging plan challenged
Six conservation organizations have filed suit in federal court challenging the U.S. Forest Service plan to increase logging in Giant Sequoia National Monument in the southern Sierra.
The national monument east of Porterville contains more than half of the world's sequoia trees. Their huge size, beauty and long life led to a drive to protect them, and President Clinton in 2000 gave them permanent protection by designating 328,000 acres, about one-third of Sequoia National Forest, a national monument under the Antiquities Act.
Ten years ago on Oct. 31, 1994, a small group of Californians gathered in the Oval Office as President Bill Clinton signed into law the California Desert Protection Act, the largest land bill passed in that decade. Like most such events, this represented the culmination of years of effort by hundreds of people. On this anniversary, it is worthwhile to look briefly on how it all came together.
Sierra Club Angeles Chapter
617 W. 7th St, Suite 702
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 10-5 or by appointment
