Table of Contents

• Mega-Loads
• Climate Action Alert

• Outings
• Tire Burning

• Newsletters
• Events
• Join our Email Lists

2013 Outings Schedule

Make Plans this Spring, Summer and Fall to join the Sierra Club for outdoor fun & service. — Outings start on May 11th.

Sign Up Today! Click here for more information.

See our Latest Newsletter

(Spring/Summer 2013 - 5 Meg pdf)

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the newsletter.

The Silent Epidemic - Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health

You’re invited to a special presentation by Alan H. Lockwood, MD., on the health impacts of coal. Dr. Lockwood will be presenting The Silent Epidemic - Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health, in Billings, Bozeman, Helena, and Missoula from March 18 - 21 (see schedule below). Dr. Lockwood examines every aspect of coal, from its complex chemical makeup to details of mining, transporting, burning and disposal - each of which generates significant health concerns for Montanans.

The presentation will describe coal pollution’s effects on the respiratory, cardiovascular, and nervous systems, and how these problems will only get worse. Dr Lockwood will explain coal's significant role in escalating climate change and discuss possible policy approaches to combat coal pollution.

• Billings: March 18th, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, Rocky Mountain College, Losekamp Hall, 1511 Poly Drive,
• Bozeman: March 19th, 7:30 – 9:00 pm, Bozeman Public Library, 626 E. Main St.,
• Helena: March 20th, 7:30 – 9:00 pm, Lewis & Clark Public Library, 120 S. Last Chance Gulch,
• Missoula: March 21st, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, Gallagher Business Building, Rm 123, University of Montana

Presentations are Free and Open to the Public ~ Refreshments provided Dr. Lockwood is the author The Silent Epidemic; Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health. He is the former president of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

For more information call Kim at: 406-546-7979, or visit: http://cleanairmontana.wordpress.com/.

On facebook at:

• Billings
• Bozeman
• Helena
• Missoula

Washington Coal Export Terminal - Montana People's Hearings

Montana is being excluded from the Army Corp of Engineers Environmental Impact Statement for the Cherry Point coal export terminal -- Even though approval would mean strip-mining Powder River Basin coal in eastern MT and shipping it via rail through Montana communities. Coal headed to proposed NW ports such as Cherry Point, would be shipped to, and burned in Asia.

Please attend a People's Hearing to demonstrate that Montanans matter, voice your concerns and submit official comments to the EIS:

November 20, 7pm, Bozeman, Emerson Center
November 28, 7pm, Missoula, University of Montana, University Center Theater

Billings Hearing TBA

For more information:

• www.sierraclub.org/coal/coalexport/
• http://www.powerpastcoal.org/
• http://www.northernplains.org/the-issues/coal/

Montana Sierra Club Holiday Parties

Order your 2013 Sierra Club Wilderness Calendar Today!

Great for the home, office, or as a gift for that nature-loving friend or relative.

Cost
Wilderness Wall Calendar - $12.95
Wilderness Engagement Calendar - $13.95
Add $2.50 postage each

Send a check to the Missoula field office listed (see inside front cover) and your calendar(s) will be mailed immediately. Or contact, bob.clark@sierraclub.org

OR... Purchase a calendar:

• Bozeman: Sierra Club office, 424 E. Main, suite 202
• Big Sky: Bugaboo Cafe in the Big Horn Center, and Conoco gas station, both on US  hwy 191.
• Missoula: Sierra Club office, 101 E. Broadway, suite 204, and Office City 115 W. Broadway.

Proceeds from Calendar sales support the Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Take Action - Safe Chemicals Act

The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, would require that chemicals be evaluated for safety before they're placed in products. The Bill was recently reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. We're helping fellow supporters to convince Senators Baucus and Tester to co-sponsor this critical legislation, and we need your help. Montana plays an incredibly important role in determining the future of the Safe Chemicals Act because Senator Baucus sits on the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the committee in which the legislation has been introduced.

Womens Voices for the Earth is gathering petition signatures asking Senators Baucus and Tester to co-sponsor the Safe Chemicals Act. The Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club proudly endorses this legislation! Please sign the petition Today!

Click Here to Comment Today.
Read More from Women's Voices.

Missoula County, Conservation Organizations File Suit To Seek A Full Environmental Review Of Mega-Load Project

Missoula County and the National Wildlife Federation - along with the Montana Environmental Information Center and the Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club represented by the Western Environmental Law Center (Missoula office) and local attorneys Robert Gentry and Summer Nelson - filed a lawsuit in Montana District Court to protect Montana‘s citizens, economy and ecosystems from the potentially harmful impacts of Exxon/Mobil‘s mega-load transport project.

Sierra Club Watershed Restoration projects

In 2009, Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited volunteers worked on the Little McCormick Creek Restoration Project, northwest of Missoula, Montana.

In 2010, The Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club has partnered with Trout Unlimited to help restore several tributaries of Fish Creek, an important tributary of the middle Clark Fork River near Missoula, Montana.

More Information

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposes new-and-improved critical habitat designation for bull trout.

On January 13, 2010 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released a new critical habitat designation for bull trout, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, throughout the Northwest, including western Montana. The new draft — offering four-to-six times more protected waters than a previous proposal in 2005 —includes 21,694 miles of stream habitat and 533,426 acres of reservoirs and lakes in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Nevada.

More Information

The Great Burn Proposed Wilderness Area

The Great Burn is a 250,000 acre expanse of wild country along the Montana/Idaho border west of Missoula, Montana in the northern Bitterroot Mountains. This primeval landscape burned heavily in the Great Fire of 1910 leaving charred snags, grassy slopes, and expanses of sub-alpine meadows. High cirques, impressive stands of mountain hemlock, and dozens of clear lakes also adorn the high country. While not as high and "craggy" as the main Bitterroot Range to the south, the area is biologically rich. Spared by the great fire are magical pockets of ancient western red cedar - some individuals over 500 years old - carpeted underfoot with mossy beds of sword and maidenhair ferns. Wind-swept peaks like Rhodes and Crater rise to nearly 8,000 ft., and an abundance of moisture nurtures the area. The Burn is a critical biological link between the massive Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness complex to the south and the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem to the north. Full protection of this interstate wildland is essential to ensure a quality wilderness experiences for future generations.

More Information

Sierra Club Action Alert!

Help Pass Comprehensive Clean Energy Legislation this Spring!

Right now the Senate is debating a clean energy bill that would mean more jobs, less pollution, and greater security (Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, S. 1733). But this bill won’t work if corporate polluters refuse to pay their fair share, and instead lobby to weaken the clean air laws that reduce pollution. As Montana’s Senators Baucus and Tester help move this clean energy bill forward, they have the chance to stand up to the corporate polluters that are seeking bailouts and loopholes.

Urge Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester to support important climate and energy legislation!

Holcim's Plan to Burn Tires

on the banks of the Missouri River

Tire Burning in Three Forks?

The Headwaters Group is working to stop Holcim, Inc.'s plans to burn tires at their Trident cement kiln north of Three Forks near Headwaters State Park.

May 25, 2007 Update

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has announced that it expects to release the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in June 2007. A record of decision on Holcim’s air quality permit will be published approximately 15 days later. We do not anticipate that there will be another opportunity for public comment. If the outcome is not satisfactory, the next step will be to appeal the decision to the Board of Environmental Review. We will only have 15 days after the record of decision to appeal so stay tuned...

Other Sources of Information. We have been working closely with:

• Montanans Against Toxic Burning.
• Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC)

Interested in getting involved?

Join Our Email Lists

Click on the above group links to learn more about your group or click on one of the links below to join one of our news and alerts email lists.  We'll keep you informed.

Bitterroot Mission Group (Missoula)
Upper Missouri Group (Helena)
Headwaters Group (Bozeman)
Yellowstone Basin Group (Billings)
Montana Chapter

Emails will be infrequent and we will not use your email address for any other purpose.