Margaret Pennington
Redwood Chapter Chair

I'd like to begin by saying congratulations and welcome to all the newly elected Chapter and Group Excom members, thank you to all the candidates who ran in our local Sierra Club election, and a big thank you, as well, to all our members who took the time to vote in this yearly ritual that keeps our local Club functioning.

Although voter turnout in our Chapter/Group elections was up from last year (437 ballots cast this year vs. 293 last year), that still means that only about 4% of our members voted. But on the bright side, if that 4% will stay actively engaged with our local Club efforts to protect the environment that will be a great help.

I think 2006 promises to be an exciting year for the Sierra Club. You'll read in the Needles the message from Club Executive Director, Carl Pope, outlining the Club's newly adopted conservation and organizational priorities. It is my hope and expectation that our Chapter and Group Executive Committees (in conjunction with their conservation committees and interested members) will review our own local efforts with the new priorities in mind. I think this will energize our discussions of where we will focus our attention locally.

As Carl Pope reports, "First, the Board adopted three Conservation Initiatives to serve as the primary 2006-2010 environmental goals for the Sierra Club: Smart Energy Solutions * America's Wild Legacy * Safe and Healthy Communities.

Certainly, in the Wild Legacy category, The Redwood Chapter will continue to support the effort to expand Federal Wilderness areas in our region through the passage of The Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act (HR 233/S 128), sponsored by Congressman Mike Thompson and Senators Boxer and Feinstein. This bill will protect over 300,000 acres of federal land as wilderness, as well as provide wild and scenic status for 21 miles of the Black Butte River, all contained within Congressman Thompson's 1st Congressional District.

As Carl Pope noted, Smart Energy Solutions was the top vote getter during the pre-Sierra Summit process. The National Board reflected this in their statement: "the single most important goal of this agenda will be to advance a smart, safe, clean energy future In the next decade."

Although Smart Energy Solutions came out on top at Redwood Chapter's pre-Summit prioritization workshop, this has not previously been a topic that our Chapter and Groups have specifically worked on locally. Identifying Smart Energy Solutions as a top Club priority is stimulating a lot of interest throughout the Club in finding ways for local activists to zero in on this challenge. The Redwood Chapter ExCom, working with our six Groups, will be exploring ways we can promote smart energy solutions in our communities and engage our members interested in this very important topic.

If you are interested in getting involved with creating a local Smart Energy Solutions campaign, please contact me. If you are a Sonoma Group member you can also get in touch with the Sonoma Group Energy and Climate Protection Committee (contact Nabeel Al-Shamma nabeel@alshamma.com).

As I said earlier, I do think 2006 will be an exciting and productive year for environmental activism. There are many challenges but there are also many potential solutions. I have an image in my head that fits, I think, with Sierra Club's roots - our basic mission statement of Explore, Enjoy, Protect. I see many trials to go down (explore) in an effort to protect what we all hold so dear ­ this one dazzling earth we call home. And just like when you're out in the wilderness ­ sometimes when the going gets most difficult (I'm thinking of the cross-country routes my daughter likes to take me on!), and you feel like you're just not going to make it (you're ready to collapse), you have this realization that just being there is the joy (enjoy), and the challenge itself is a part of that.