Upcoming Events:

Message from the Chair

Elsewhere in this newsletter is information on the candidates for the Group Executive Committee. Please take a few minutes to fill out and return your ballot. While being on the ExCom is not the most exciting or glamorous thing one can do, the people whom you elect will help the Sierra Club to maintain a presence in this region. On another note, with the new year upon us, you might want to think about including the natural world in your resolutions for 2004—whether it is a matter of recycling more faithfully, improving the energy efficiency of your home, improving habitat for wildlife, or just getting outdoors more often. Best wishes for a safe and prosperous year.

Robert Zeller

Upcoming Events:

Saturday January 24^th8:00 a.m. Eagle Days - St Louis
Meet at 8:00 a.m. Cape Girardeau Public Library Parking lot to car-pool to visit the St. Louis Eagle Days Program at Clarksville & Ted Shanks Conservation Area just north of St. Louis.
Suggested: warm clothing, field glasses a packed lunch.

February (date to be announced).

Hike Magnolia Hollow (Ste Genevieve County) Watch the web site (above and click on Program) for details.

April 10^th app.
Illinois Snake Crossing
We will meet at the Public Library at 8:30 a.m. and car-pool to Grape Vine Hills, Illinois where we hope to experience the excitement of the annual snake crossing of the highway. Watch the web page for updates.

Sunday April 25^th Hike and wildflower excursion to Little Grand Canyon in Southern Illinois.

Meet at 9:00 a.m. in the Cape Girardeau Public Library Parking lot to car-pool. Bring a sack lunch, sturdy shoes, and if the weather has been inclement, appropriate gear for scrabbling over rocks. Southeast Missouri State University Biology Dept. field botanist Allan Bornstein will guide us through the trails. Bring packed lunch.

May (date to be announced) Float trip: Current or Jack’s Fork River.

Watch the web site (see above) for details.

*For up-to-date information on outings visit the Trail of Tears website (see above) and go to Program. We occasionally add events or modify times – so please check this site for the latest news.

January 12^th:
“Uncovered: The Truth about the War in Iraq.” Our first meeting of the New Year, held at the home of Shiela Pardee and Bill Mallonee, focused on this informative video. Based on the testimony of a myriad of career intelligence and military personnel, it explores the sequence of lies perpetrated on the American Public, Congress, and the world by a Bush Administration populated by appointees who were committed to an invasion of Iraq long before 9-11. These radical neoconservatives cynically used 9-11 to justify enacting plans they were already developing to foist U.S. military and economic domination on the Middle East and the World. Anyone who would like a free copy of the video should contact Bob Polack at 334-9580.

Conservation Report: Alan Journet

The St Johns Bayou - New Madrid Floodway Project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers remains a hot topic. Following the granting of water quality certification by the state Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment and Environmental Defense filed an appeal against certification with the Missouri Clean Water Commission. The first round of hearings before an Administrative Law Judge, held in early December, featured testimony from project opponents. In late January, the Corps, now on the same side of the appeal with the state D.N.R. will present its defense of the project. This will then be followed by rebuttal from the opponents, whereupon the Administrative Law Judge will make a recommendation to the State Clean Water Commission regarding the disposition of the case, and the Commission will render its verdict.

2004 Group Elections:

Since our last election, we have had discussions with Head office in San Francisco regarding the composition of our elected Executive Committee. Since our establishment as a Sierra Group, our
Group Executive Committee has been composed of four elected members filling the positions: Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary. To these we customarily have added a group of volunteers who “chair” specific activities (Membership, Conservation, Outings, Webmaster, Programs, Political, Newsletter Editor etc.) The term of elected officials is two years, with two members up for re-election each year on a rotating basis. We don’t elect individuals for specific roles; therefore, when a new Executive Committee is formed, its members decide who will fill each role. Head Office, however, has now stipulated that group executive committees must be composed of five elected members. As we ‘negotiate’ regarding this requirement, our bye-laws are obviously in a state of flux. To satisfy the expectation we will be proposing that the Executive Committee be composed of five elected representatives, with two rotating off one year alternating with three rotating of next year.
This cycle, Bob Zeller and Brian Alworth will be rotating off, to be replaced by three members. We therefore ask you to vote for THREE candidates from among:

Bob Zeller

I am interested in serving on the Executive Committee for another two years. While the Trail of Tears Group is not large compared to others in the state, we serve an important purpose in this region of Missouri, with its diversity of land uses and natural habitats. Not only should the group serve as a focus for those with environmental concerns, it should also provide opportunities for outdoor recreational and educational activities.

· Shiela Pardee

Since moving to Jackson and beginning work as an English instructor at Southeast Missouri State University in 2001, I've been attending meetings and participating in Trail of Tears Sierra Club. In Delaware, my former home, I was an active member of the Delaware Nature Education Society and the Wilmington Trail Club. I edited a newsletter for a country civic league that was focused on environmental and zoning issues, and was a Stream Watch volunteer monitor for my "backyard" branch of the Christina River. I love the Missouri countryside and now that I'm settled in I would like to become more involved in protecting it.

Ÿ Bill Mallonee

After 36+ years as a chemical engineer, I've recently retired from a major global chemical company. Most of my career was in polymer manufacturing; the last two in waste water treatment. Over my career I've seen a full range of negative to positive environmental activities by the chemical industry. I strongly support enforcement of EPA and other environmental regulations that "encourage" industry to do the "right thing". I'm an avid hiker and walker and support the Club's efforts to keep the National Forests free of logging.

Ÿ Alan Journet

I have served as Conservation Chair for the Trail of Tears Group since our establishment as a Sierra Club Group following the celebratory 1990 Earth Day event. I have also served as our local Conservation representative to the State Conservation Committee for most of this time. Through most of this period I have written articles for the Ozark Sierran. As a political independent, my goal is to represent the interests of conservation and promote healthy human and natural environments throughout Southeast Missouri, the state, the nation, and the world. I was the recipient of the State Sierran of the Year Award in 2001.

To vote: (see ballot below)

1) Vote for up to 3 people; you may write in a name.

2) If yours is a joint membership, two members may vote- one as 1^st member, and the other as 2^nd member.

3) Cut out the ballot and place in an envelope. Address to:

Sierra Club Election Committee

2444 Glenridge St.

Cape Girardeau, MO 63701

4) Affix a 37¢ stamp and mail by January 30^th 2004

Save Newsletter Paper and Mailing Costs:
You can save us paper and mailing costs by allowing us to send you an e-mail advising that the newsletter has been posted on the web site (from where you can download it), rather than having us send a snail-mail version via the Postal Service. If you would like to do this; please contact
kristinsmith312@hotmail.com

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I vote for

1^st member 2^nd member

( ) ( ) Bob Zeller

( ) ( ) Shiela Pardee

( ) ( ) Bill Mallonee

( ) ( ) Alan Journet

( ) ( ) ____________________________________

Send To:

Sierra Club Election Committee

2444 Glenridge St.

Cape Girardeau, MO 63701