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Calendar of
Events
Get in some outdoor time.
Our Sierra Club Groups in Iowa regularly plan outings and other
activities. Select a Local Group in the My backyard dropdown menu
and get details of the outings groups have planned.
Clair
Tappaan Lodge Outings
Need
to get away? Check out the activities being offered at the Sierra
Club's Clair Tappaan Lodge at the Sierra Nevada of California mountains in
the middle of the Tahoe National Forest.
The Iowa Chapter developed a survey to find
out what our members and supporters are interested in. This will help us better
understand how to contact you when your issue arises. We'd love to hear
about what matters most to you, what issues you're involved in, if you have
time to work with us, and more!
Please
take a few minutes to complete our survey.
Volunteer Page
News
about volunteer activities and upcoming projects. Click here
for more information.
News Releases
Read recent Sierra Club news releases.
Web Archives
Information that has been moved off
the front page.
 2013
Legislation
Are you interested in what is going on with our lawmakers in Des Moines? See the Legislation that is of interest to you, your environment, and your community.
Find out more and respond to our action alerts.
Manure Spills and Fish Kills
Find out where the latest
manure spill and/or fish kill occurred here...
Fish
Advisories Posted
The Department of Natural Resources has
posted fish consumption advisories for nine sites. Find out where
they are here...
Bypasses
Excess
rainwater or snow melt need somewhere to go. Often, the sewage
bypasses a treatment plant thus preventing sewage from backing up into
basements. Facilities are required to report bypasses
caused by mechanical failures to the DNR within 12 hours of onset or
discovery. Facilities do not have to immediately report bypasses from
precipitation events, but must include them in their monthly operating
report to the DNR. Click here
to see the most current information about your city's bypass history this
year.
The Green
Life
Tips
for living well and doing good.
Corporations
Are Not People
The
Sierra Club has joined a coalition to advance the efforts to amend the
constitution so that corporations are not persons. Find
out more and sign the MoveToAmend
petition.
DONATE TO THE IOWA CHAPTER
The Iowa Chapter of Sierra Club
now accepts PayPal so you can help financially support Iowa Sierra
Club's objectives for clean air, clean water and a cleaner
environment.
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Make
a non-deductible donation to the Iowa Chapter.
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You
can also make a tax deductible donation to the Iowa Chapter.
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Record-Breaking Nitrates Unacceptable
Des Moines, IA – Record-breaking
nitrates found in both the Raccoon and the Des Moines Rivers, the
drinking source for
hundreds of thousands of Central Iowans, should be a wake-up call for
legislators before they adjourn for the session.
Des Moines Water Works’ reports of 24
mg/l in the Raccoon River and 17.87 mg/l in the Des Moines River (previous
records were 22 mg/l and 14.2 mg/l respectively) represent totally
unacceptable levels of nitrates in our drinking water. Nitrates can cause
serious illness in humans.
“The responsibility for the nitrate
levels falls on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and
the Farm Bureau,” said Debbie Neustadt, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter chair. “We’ve
had this problem for 40 years and industry continues to resist any form of
regulation that would improve our water quality.”
In November 2012, the Iowa Department
of Land Stewardship and the Department of Natural Resources released the Iowa
Nutrient Reduction Strategy.
The strategy is intended to reduce the amount of Nitrogen and Phosphorus that
floats through the Mississippi River watershed (of which both the Raccoon and
Des Moines Rivers are a part) into the Gulf of Mexico and contributes to the
hypoxia (more commonly known as the “dead zone”) there. The Iowa “strategy”
calls for targeting “…voluntary conservation measures, in conjunction
with research, development and demonstration of new approaches.”
“The Iowa Nutrient Strategy is based
on the false premise that Iowa is making significant progress in reducing
water pollution and that no real changes need to be made in what thus far has
been a voluntary and ineffective approach to nonpoint sources of pollution,”
said Wally Taylor, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter Legal chair.
Legislation being considered during
this session includes allocating $7 million for implementing the nutrient
reduction strategy but requires no accountability to whoever receives the
funds.
“How much more evidence do
policymakers need to understand that voluntary conservation measures are
ineffective?” said Neila Seaman, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter director. “Agricultural
runoff is resulting in record nitrate levels of our drinking water.”
Want
Your Photo Seen By Millions?
As part of the Wilderness
50 coalition, on May 6 the Sierra Club, the Smithsonian Institution and
Nature's Best Photography launched a "Wilderness Forever"
photography competition. Fifty winning photos illustrating the
magnificence of our nation's wilderness will be viewed by millions at the
Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. The
professionally juried photo contest will run through September 3, and the
winning photos will be included as part of a 2014 exhibition celebrating the
50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.
Share your images, tell your story, and enter the contest here.
State Department Will
Make Keystone Public Comments Public After All
According to InsideClimate
News, the State Department has reversed itself and now says it will provide
online public access to comments on its controversial environmental
review. Under pressure, the department reverses itself and says it will
provide online public access to comments on its controversial environmental
review.
Read
the full article.
Check
Regulations.gov
for more information about the public meeting and to see the documents.
Draft Recreation Plan
Comments Due April 15
The Iowa DNR held meetings
last fall to gather information to develop a new 5-year outdoor recreation
plan for Iowa. The draft plan has been available for public comment and
will be submitted to the National Park Service. See
the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter's comments.
You can also download the Outdoor
Recreation in Iowa Plan to see what DNR is recommending. Beware:
the document is 642 pages.
Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy
The Iowa Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural
Resources and Iowa State University has released its Iowa Nutrient
Reduction Strategy. The strategy is supposed to include plans for
reducing the amount of Nitrogen and Phosphorus that flow from the Mississippi
River watershed into the Gulf of Mexico, where the pollutants contribute to
the dead zone.
The strategy, however, addresses a reduction in Nitrogen and
Phosphorus resulting from non-point sources (primarily agriculture) by
voluntary compliance, more research and additional technology.
Read the strategy
document. Be advised that the Nutrient Reduction Strategy is 197
pages long.
The Iowa Chapter submitted comments on the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy are being
accepted. Read
the Iowa Chapter's comments. Read
EPA's comments.
EPA Representatives Meet
to Discuss
CAFO Permits
UPDATE:
The EPA has posted its draft work plan agreement with the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources. The Iowa DNR has yet to sign it.
See
the draft agreement.
Region
VII EPA representatives met with members of Sierra Club Iowa Chapter and Iowa Citizens
for Community Improvement in
Des Moines in
October. David Cozad, Regional Counsel, and Karen Flournoy, Water,
Wetlands and Pesticides Division director, heard from those affected by
CAFOs and answered questions.
The
meeting was part of an ongoing effort to keep communication lines open
between EPA and members of three organizations who filed a dedelegation
petition in September 2007 that would strip the Iowa DNR of its
authority to manage federally mandated water permitting
programs.
EPA Region 7 in Kansas City
also accepted comments on
regulation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in Iowa.
Officials wanted to hear from members of the public about the problems with CAFOs and
how CAFOs can be better regulated to protect the public and the
environment.
Read the comments
submitted by Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, Iowa Citizens for Community
Improvement and the Environmental Integrity Project, the three
organizations that filed the dedelegation petition that prompted the
investigation.
EPA has posted documents on
its website pertaining to the investigation. Read all
public comments submitted.
Go to our CAFOs
page to learn more.
Share
Your Piece of America
Sierra Club launched My
Piece of America, where we encourage you to share your favorite
outdoor place and take action to protect special areas.
Many of our favorite wild places -- from the striking red rock deserts
of the Southwest to the cool, leafy city park where you take your kids
-- need your help to protect them from threats like oil drilling and
climate change.
One way you can help right now is by urging President Obama to designate
some of America's best wild places as national monuments.
Upload
and share a photo of your favorite piece of America with your family
and friends, and inspire them to take action, too.
Clean
Water Report Card
See how Iowa's delegation in the U.S. House of
Representatives scored on Sierra Club's Clean
Water Report Card.
Ask
the Gov
Gov.
Terry Branstad launched his weekly video initiative in 2011 where he answers
questions submitted via Twitter, Facebook, email and via his
website. Watch the governor's videos or send in a question. See
the video.
The Iowa Chapter of Sierra Club's members are
approximately 5,000 of your friends and neighbors. Inspired by nature, we
work together to protect our communities and the planet. The Club is
America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental
organization.
Sierra Club® and
"Explore, enjoy and protect the planet"® are registered trademarks
of the Sierra Club. © 2008
Sierra Club. The Sierra Club Seal is a registered copyright, service
mark, and trademark of the Sierra Club.
Last updated 05.15.2013
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