**Update: Since the sending of this letter (below), VT Iron Workers Local 7 and First Wind (the company responsible for the Sheffield wind farm project) have come to an agreement whereby union iron workers will now be working on the job site. As Conservation Organizer for the Vermont Sierra Club, I applaud this development and First Wind for doing the right thing by Vermonters and organized labor.  We would expect that this gesture of goodwill will serve as an example for future in-state renewable energy projects.

-David Van Deusen

July 14th, 2011

Governor Peter Shumlin/Vermont Department of Public Service,

    We, the undersigned leaders of the Vermont Sierra Club, are writing to you today on behalf of our 3000 Vermont members.  We are fortunate to have many fellow residents that share our high regard for the environment and we are grateful that “green” construction projects are on the rise in our state.  Yet when these projects are undertaken without the use of Vermont labor (as is the case with the Sheffield wind farm), or when the generated jobs do not pay fair wages and benefits, our economy and our resident working families suffer.  It is not right for the Public Service Board to approve projects that promise Vermont jobs, but do not deliver on that promise.

    Looking forward, we strongly assert that in-state green construction projects, including but not limited to wind farms, hydro power, solar power, and biomass projects must be produced with Vermont labor and provide all workers with livable wages, health care and all other necessary benefits. These criteria should be part of what the Public Service Board utilizes before approving any such project.  Let it be known that we unequivocally support the Vermont Building and Construction Trades Council and organized labor in general on this important issue.

    Together, let us build a green energy portfolio that not only secures the future of Vermont’s environment, but also provides good jobs and good living standards for working Vermont families in the process.  We invite you to agree.

Sincerely,

Zak Griefen, Chairman

David Ellenbogan, Vice Chairman

Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club

Cc: Mike Morelli, Vermont Business Agent Iron Workers Local 7

Jeff Potvin, President of the Vermont Building and Construction Trades Council

Jill Charbonneau, President of the Vermont AFL-CIO

Ben Johnson, President of the Vermont AFT

Martha Allen, President of the Vermont NEA

Conor Casey, VSEA Legislative Coordinator

James Haslam, Director of the Vermont Workers’ Center

Jenna Whitson, 350Vermont Organizer

Paul Burns, Executive Director of VPIRG

Vermont Sierra Club, 149 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont, 05602, Phone: (802) 229-6399, www.vermont.sierraclub.org

(David Van Deusen is the Conservation Organizer for the Vermont Sierra Club – promoted by odum)

A New Model for Conservation in Vermont:

Securing Our Environment, Jobs, and Outdoor Traditions Through Local Control

Please show your support for the environment and town forests in Vermont! Go to the below link and sign our town forest petition today!

http://action.sierraclub.org/s…

Vermont stands at the crossroads of history.  As much of the United States teeters towards the precipice of reaction, Vermont has emerged, yet again, as a beacon of light in a darkening sky.  While Congress debates cutting funding for healthcare, our friends in the Vermont Workers’ Center have built a movement which has resulted in us moving closer to a Vermont based, single payer healthcare system. While Washington contemplates cuts to Native American community programs, our General Assembly officially “recognized” the Nulhegan and Elnu Abenaki Tribes. And as the pawns of Big Oil/Big Coal/Big Nuclear seek ways to liquidate the country’s environmental protection regulations, Vermonters are demanding that Vermont Yankee be closed down and replaced with “green” energy production. And again, while Congress strives to gut the home heating fuel assistance program, the Vermont Sierra Club, as part of the Our Forests Our Future campaign, is fighting to build local, town owned conservation forests that can provide sustainable firewood for low income and elderly Vermonters.

Last September, the Vermont Sierra Club launched the ambitious Our Forests Our Future campaign. Our goal from the start was (and continues to be) the building of popular support for the establishment wildlife migration corridors connecting the northern Connecticut River with the Nulhegan Basin, the basin to the northern Green Mountains, the northern Greens to Quebec, and the southern Green Mountains with our western border.  Doing this would not only connect our core protected habitat areas, but it would also link our forests with those in Quebec to the north, the Adirondacks towards the west, and the White Mountains and northern Maine to the east. The result of this historic task will be the generational protection of our animal and plant populations through the unification of the last great northeastern forests. In a word, we seek to build “resiliency” into Vermont’s natural environment.

    This task was foisted upon the shoulders of the Vermont Sierra Club and other local environmentalists not out of fancy or fantasy, but in reaction to the very real and looming tragedies brought to our collective horizon by climate change, industrial pollution, and irresponsible development.  In brief, we have a window to act, or we risk losing our forests and those Vermont traditions that count on a healthy ecosystem. In this, we seek to deliver to our children’s grandchildren a Vermont that would be recognizable to our Abenaki and Green Mountain Boy ancestors. Let us be clear; we are fighting to preserve our outdoor traditions and our Vermont Way of Life.

    There are different ways to build wildlife corridors. Our method is one that may be unique to Vermont. We are not trying to increase federal land acquisitions. We are not actively asking the State to buy more land. We are instead seeking to establish a mosaic of town, tribal, and community owned conservation forests throughout our broad corridor regions. We are doing this not only because we believe that Vermont lands should stay in Vermont hands, but also because local ownership is the best way to foster accountability and good stewardship from the local residents who inevitably will walk these forests. In brief, we seek to build on our tradition of localism and town sovereignty as an effective method of comprehensive conservation. We also recognize that this method is one that the great majority of Vermonters both understand and support.

    While the ultimate use of such forests will largely be determined by local people at Town Meeting and on Select Boards, the democratically elected Executive Committee of the Vermont Sierra Club, after extensive consultations with the Nulhegan Abenaki, representatives of the Vermont Workers Center, and our 3000 members, is advocating that these town owned conservations forests be used in creative ways which not only preserve our local ecosystems, but also bring direct social and economic benefits to the towns in which they are situated. Towards this end, we contend that the forests must be open to all Vermonters for traditional outdoor uses such as hiking, camping, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, horseback riding, etc.  We also contend that Vermonters need to have the right to hunt and fish these lands (which we see as a food security issue), and that these forests should be used by towns to provide free or cheap firewood for elderly and low income residents. In addition, we are encouraging communities to consider using the forests for low impact cooperative activities like bucket and tap maple sugaring, as well as for educational purposes. We also understand that taking land out of private ownership reduces local tax revenue. Therefore we are supporting sustainable logging, in areas not deemed ecologically sensitive and as approved by the County Forester, as a means to create public revenue and as a way to support sustainable logging jobs. And finally, we also respect that snowmobiling is an important recreational and economic element in some localities, and hence feel that towns should be able to have snow machine trails at their discretion. All told, increasing town ownership of the forests will benefit both our environment and the local economy, while providing social benefits to area residents. This is what we, as members of the Sierra Club and as Vermonters, are fighting for; no more no less.      

    But how do we build these new town forests? The Vermont Sierra Club recognizes that many small communities simply do not have the resources needed for large land purchases. Therefore, we would like to see resources from the Vermont Housing and Conservation fund better focused on projects which fit the above criteria.  We also have been actively engaged in conversations with our Federal Delegation about bringing resources from Washington back to the towns.  By our accounting, if the federal government can spend over one trillion dollars of citizens tax dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (*statistic quoted by the American Friends Service Committee), they can certainly find a much more modest sum to help Vermont and the northeast preserve our forests.      

    All told, the campaign to establish comprehensive migration corridors is a long term project, and will be achieved over years and even generations. Thus we will start now by building a movement, and we will secure all possible funding (public and private) for towns and communities as opportunities are created.

    In the meantime, we have been actively engaging our supporters and our 3000 members across the state. We have begun to build local activist teams in the Northeast Kingdom, Central Vermont, Addison/Rutland Counties, and in southern Vermont. These teams have been distributing Our Forests Our Future campaign pamphlets to the public, and they have been gathering signatures in support of town forests as a means to create migration corridors. We have also launched an on-line version of the petition (which can be reached at:   http://action.sierraclub.org/s… ).  In the coming weeks and months we intend to organize public events in support of the campaign and will generally demonstrate overwhelming public support for the goals which we are working towards. In short we will do what is needed to see this historic task through.

    Let it also be said that the Vermont Sierra Club is not alone.  To date, the Our Forests Our Future campaign has been officially endorsed by the Vermont Workers Center, the Green Mountain Central Labor Council AFL-CIO, the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe (Northeast Kingdom), the Elnu Abenaki Tribe (southeast Vermont), 350VT, the VT Conservation Law Foundation, and the Global Justice Ecology Project. These partnerships are making all of our organizations stronger. Just as the Workers’ Center and the Abenaki are backing our conservation efforts the Vermont Sierra Club is backing the Workers Center in their Healthcare is a Human Right campaign and we also successfully supported the Nulhegan and Elnu Tribes in their quest for state recognition. Together, we are forging a coalition that will be capable of winning comprehensive conservation and social justice for all Vermonters. Furthermore, it is our expectation that these partnerships will grow as we are also presently engaged in discussions with many environmental groups, farmer organizations, the faith community, and sportsmen clubs. As we feel that the local forest initiative is in the best interest of Vermonters on many levels, we are confident that will continue to build a large and diverse coalition in support of this historic campaign.          

    In conclusion, it is widely known across these rugged hills that Vermont stands in contrast to a world controlled by money, corporations, and the few. “Freedom and Unity” -amongst Vermonters, these are not mere words but rather a statement of principles and common solidarity.  Together we will preserve our outdoor traditions, our forests, our communities, and our Vermont Way of Life. Together we will win!

THE VERMONT SIERRA CLUB WANTS YOU!

Support The Our Forests Our Future Campaign!

We need volunteers in every corner of the state to help us gather signatures for the town forest petition and to build our local organization.

Call the Vermont Sierra Club today at: (802)229-6399

Or email us at david.vandeusen@sierraclub.org and say:

“I Am Ready To Fight For These Green Hills!

We Can Only Win With Your Support And Direct Participation!

***Please show your support for the environment and town forests in Vermont! Go to the below link and sign our town forest petition today!

http://action.sierraclub.org/s…

Vermont Sierra Club Members and Supporters,

   A healthy planet and healthy people go hand in hand and so we at the Vermont Sierra Club have endorsed the Healthcare is a Human Right campaign, coordinated by the Vermont Workers’ Center (VWC). In turn, the VWC has endorsed the “Our Forest, Our Future” campaign.

   This year, we have an opportunity to win ground-breaking legislation that provides a roadmap for a Vermont based universal healthcare system. To continue mobilizing to achieve this type of quality healthcare system that serves us all, we will join thousands of Vermonters this May 1st for a march and rally on Montpelier.  We will be marching as a Sierra Club contingent to show solidarity between Sierra club and VWC efforts.

What: Healthcare is a Human Right march and rally!

When: Sunday, May 1st, 11:00AM

Where: City Hall, Montpelier, VT (marching to State House)

Why: Because the Vermont Sierra Club supports “healthly forests and healthy people!”

   Please let us know if we can count on you to represent the Sierra Club. We will meet up at 11am at City Hall (39 Main Street, Montpelier) on May 1st for the march, and rally at the Statehouse!

   For more information on the Healthcare is a Human Right campaign go to: www.workerscenter.org/may1 or call (802) 861-2877

   For more information on the Our Forests Our Future campaign, go to:

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/…

   To sign the Our Forest Our Future petition go to:

http://action.sierraclub.org/s…

Solidarity,

David Van Deusen,

Conservation Organizer,

Vermont Sierra Club

(802)522-5812

Vermont Sierra Club wants Bottle Bill Expanded, Not Repealed

VT Sierra Club Media Contact: David Ellenbogen, Chapter Vice Chair, 802-363-6868, pianomath@gmail.com

There are few laws in Vermont that have benefitted the environment more than the Bottle Bill.  With a return rate of approximately 85% (more than twice the statewide recycling rate), the Bottle Bill has cleaned our roadsides, lessened our reliance on landfills, and lowered our carbon footprint.  Indeed the bottle bill is one of the few ways in which manufacturers are currently being held responsible for the packaging in which their products are delivered.  We in the Sierra Club have long supported the notion of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and this is exactly why we would like to see the Bottle Bill not only kept in place, but expanded to keep another 8 million noncarbonated beverage cans and bottles out of Vermont’s landfills and off of our roadsides.  With this in mind, we in the Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club are outraged that the beverage industry has the audacity to reference our literature, taken out of context, in an effort to upend the most successful recycling program in state history. In a letter addressed to the beverage industry’s lobbyist, Amy Shollenberger, we asked that any reference to the Sierra Club be removed from the website she established for the beverage industries lobbying firm, MacLean, Meehan, and Rice.  The Sierra Club supports the Bottle Bill, as well as the expanded Bottle Bill called for in H.74 and S.21, while Ms. Shollenberger’s website promotes a beverage industry-backed bill (H.218) that is highly critical of returnable bottles and cans.  Our request has gone unheeded and unanswered.

Referencing the Sierra Club report on Producer Responsibility Recycling (www.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste/producerresponsibility/index.asp) in an effort to give the impression that we support a misguided attempt to dismantle a cornerstone of Vermont’s environmental stewardship-one that an overwhelming majority of Vermonters support-is deliberately misleading.  Surely Ms. Shollenberger did read, just a few paragraphs lower on the very webpage that she references, that the Sierra Club believes that “There are laws that make producers responsible for taking back their products and recycling them.  Bottle bills are an early example.”  

Our letter also urged Shollenberger to disclose the fact that the beverage industry is paying for the website that makes such misleading use of the Sierra Club’s name and statements.  At present, the website lists only Shollenberger as a contact and fails to identify the beverage industry’s involvement.  Only at the bottom of the home page there are the words “paid for by MMR.”  A link provided indicates that MMR stands for MacLean, Meehan, and Rice, a Montpelier law firm.  No mention is made of the fact that MMR has been hired by the beverage industry to lobby on their behalf.

It is important for the public to know the truth here.  Not only does the Sierra Club fully endorse the expansion of the Bottle Bill that is called for under H.74 and S.21, we remain clearly opposed to H.218 and the attempted ‘greenwashing’ being conducted by Ms. Shollenberger and the beverage industry.  The Bottle Bill remains a landmark piece of environmental legislation.  The Sierra Club will not sit idly by as an industry lobbyist resorts to desperate measures in an effort to weaken it.

(I’m promoting this to the front because I want to encourage groups like Sierra to use this resource for reaching people, but I think we’d appreciate it if folks who do want to post here take a moment to see how posts work, are written and are formatted, before submitting. I made some formatting adjustments in this case (such as eliminating the ALL CAPS headline) as a “welcome to GMD,” but that’s not something folks should expect. Thanks. – promoted by odum)

An Op/Ed By Zak Griefen, Chairman of the Vermont Sierra Club*

I love the Green Mountain National Forest!  From snowmelt to snowfall, I explore the small streams and headwaters of our national forest prospecting for brook trout and enjoying the quiet beauty of our state.  The Green Mountain National Forest is a real Vermont treasure; comprising more than 400,000 acres that stretch across nearly two-thirds the length of Vermont, it offers outstanding hiking, fishing, and recreational opportunities while serving an important function as a north-south biological corridor to cushion the impacts of climate change and preserve forest ecosystems.

And I’m not alone in my appreciation for the GMNF and its benefits to our beautiful state.  Each year visitors from across the country flock to the Green Mountain National Forest and other national forests to recreate, retreat, and recharge.  America is unique in that it boasts over 100 million acres of national forests for us all to enjoy.  Whether you’re seeking solace or adventure, or perhaps a bit of both, our national forests provide much needed opportunities to connect with and be nurtured by nature.

Enjoyment of our forests has made them major economic drivers.  The wildlife habitat, clean water and scenery provided by our forests are crucial to supporting the nation’s $700 billion outdoor recreation economy and the people it employs.

In a rapidly changing world faced with increased pollution, over development, degraded habitats and climate change, it is crucial that we safeguard our national forests so that they remain for future generations to enjoy.  That means shifting how we think of conservation to consider whole natural communities and large landscapes.  It also means updating old and outdated forest management practices.  Scientists have learned a lot about how to best manage and protect wild places and wildlife in the past 20 years.  Yet the guidelines controlling forest management have not been updated, until now.

The U.S. Forest Service is currently working to modernize the standards for planning how our forests are used and protected, setting safeguards and standards to ensure that everyone can access and enjoy our national forests.  The Forest Service’s updated proposal is a step in the right direction towards addressing the challenges our forests face today.  For the first time ever, these rules would address the impact of climate change in an effort to set up a framework for managing our forests in a way that prepares for changing conditions, like the shifting migration and weather patterns.

The Vermont Sierra Club believes that these draft regulations are a positive step forward in addressing climate change planning, adaptation, and resiliency.  It is clear the agency took a serious look at addressing this essential issue and threat to our forests, waters, and ecosystems.  However, for these new planning regulations to really accomplish the job they need to be substantially tightened and real accountability for the agency specifically incorporated into the standards and directives.  The Vermont Sierra Club is drafting comments and participating in public forums on the proposed rule, and I invite every concerned citizen to do the same.  Information on the proposed planning rule is available at: http://fs.usda.gov/planningrule.  Please take some time to look into the proposed planning rule and submit your comments on the web by going to:  http://www.govcomments.com/Web…

The Vermont Sierra Club’s concerns with the proposed rule center on the following four issues:

1. For the first time, the proposed rule addresses the threat of climate change on our national forests.  There are references to climate change in the rule’s three main components: assessment, plan revision, and monitoring.  However, all of the language is discretionary.  There is no mandatory program to analyze the effects of climate change or to develop strategies to address those threats.  Given the profound changes we are already seeing in forest ecosystems due to a changing climate, the requirements for addressing these changes should be explicit and mandatory.

2. Under the current planning rule, the Forest Service is required to manage habitat to maintain viable populations of native wildlife in the planning area.  For most species on the national forests, the proposed rule replaces this clear requirement with vague instructions to manage for ecosystem health.  The proposed rule should require the Forest Service to keep common species common and maintain viable populations of native wildlife.

3. The proposed rule limits the viability requirement only to “species of conservation concern,” and then lets local forest officials decide which those are.  It also allows the agency to absolve itself from the responsibility for protecting the species it does identify by claiming impossibility.  Yet at the same time, the Forest Service claims the proposed rule gives “equal or greater levels of protection” than the existing rule.  The proposed rule should not allow the Forest Service the discretion to exempt species from protection.

4. Under the current forest rule, the public can hold the Forest Service accountable when it fails to meets its commitments to safeguard water, wildlife and other forest resources.  The proposed rule seems to allow for a much greater degree of agency discretion instead of providing concrete standards and requirements for the management and protection of critical forest resources.  The practical result is a sharp curb on public accountability. The proposed rule should maintain the agency’s existing accountability to the public, thereby ensuring that the agency does not stray from its mission to sustain, protect and enhance forest ecosystems.

The Obama administration is holding public roundtables across the country, including one in Rochester, VT, on March 23, to gather input on how to manage our shared forest heritage.  I hope they take the opportunity to really work with the public to develop a forest policy that safeguards the health, jobs and outdoor heritage of the American people.  We have an opportunity to balance our forest use in a way that conserves wildlife, promotes local businesses and supports cherished family traditions.  We should not waste it.  

*Zak Griefen chairs the Executive Committee and the Wetlands and Water Resources Committee of the Vermont Sierra Club and practices environmental law with Cheney, Brock & Saudek, P.C., in Montpelier.  

**The Vermont Sierra Club is currently organizing to establish a mosaic of TOWN OWNED FORESTS across Vermont as a means to build protected wildlife migration corridors. Please sign the online petition to show your support!  Please see the following link:

http://action.sierraclub.org/s…

***The Vermont Sierra Club is a grassroots organization of folks who are for a clean a sustainable environment. They have 3000 members across the State of Vermont. Their offices are at: 149 Main Street, Montpelier, VT, 06602. Phone: (802)229-6399. Website: www.vermont.sierraclub.org