Jan 2011 San Diego Sierra

HI I SIERRAN I RR N Sierra Club San Diego Chapter • Serving Imperial an d San Diego Coun ties Working To Preserve The Special Nature of San Diego for Over Half A Century Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet V ol 70 No. 1 Visit our website at: www.sandiego .sierraclub.org January/February 2011 Year in Review Most issues on the environmental front take a long time to resolve. Chapter activists ha ve been wo rking on some of the following this past year– most of them are still in pro gress. So here is a general r ecap of this year and a pr eview of 2011. Imperial County members have participated in a strong grassroots coalition to den y a proposal by Wind Zer o Group , Inc, to develop a paramilitary training camp on a 944-acr e patch of desert which is in a flood and earthquake zone, just south o f a major Interstate Highway (I-8), and less than a dozen miles north o f the Me xican border. They argue it poses a great risk to the health of the environment a s well a s the safety o f the sur- rounding community . Special concerns are air pollution, ground water depletion and colossal dis rupti on of the quiet desert community . The ma jor fo cus of the Forest and Wilderness Committee has been to prevent erect ion of the Sunrise Powerlink through our public lands and to prove it is unnecessa ry. One of the next See Review continued on page 5 In the May-June edition, we discussed the cost of the Hi Sierra n, and some po ssible op tion s to reduc e the cost . The Hi Sierran cost s us almost $30,000 per year t o produce , print, and mail. That is about $2.50 pe r subsc riber per year. W e incl uded a reply coupon asking members to tell us whether they wanted to continue gettin g a paper copy, or would read the Hi Sierran online. About 40 0 members responded. Less th an 100 of the r espon- ders asked to continue get ting a paper copy , the rest opted to read the Hi Sierran online. Some of you sen t donations, totalling almost $1,000 from 58 people. There wer e a few lar ge donat ions, and ma ny small ones . Than ks to all o f you who responded. Unfortunate ly, 400 members is less than four percent of our member ship . In other words,most memb ers did not re spond. This may be further evidence that many members are not read- ing the paper copy or are not sufficiently concerned to respond to our appeal for input. This year , we will be taking a different approach. Y ou MUST reply in order to co ntin ue getti ng a paper cop y . Lack of a reply will be interpreted as an opt-out. Only th ose who re ply , or have already replied, will be kept on our maili ng list for the paper edition. Send an email to SierraSD@SierraSD .org or use the coupon in this issue to state your preference. Introduction to CEQA & NEPA Two-Day Workshop Saturda y Marc h, 12th and Saturday Marc h, 19th 10am to 4 pm 8304 Claire mont Mesa Blvd, Suite TBA S an Diego, California 92111 Description: This two-day workshop will provide an applied overview of the California Enviro nmental Quality A ct and the Nationa l Environmen tal Policy Act with an emphasis on drafting effective public comments. Starti ng with a brief back grou nd of environmental imp act assessments in the U .S. and a review of CEQA a nd NEP A's regulato ry context, the workshop will discuss the various approaches used in scop- ing and preparing environmental impact reports under both statutes. The documents required under CEQA/NEPA will be examined and the roles of key pla yers explor ed. Emphasis will also be placed on determin- Continued on page 15 Jean Costa representing Sierra Club at E astlake Middle School’ s Earth Day The Future Of The Hi Sierran The Future Of The Hi Sierran Continued on page 6-Hi Sierran Future

Jan 2011 San Diego Sierra

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