Green Drinks every first Wednesday at Smiling Jacks behind Dickson Street Bookstore

Wednesday, March 5, 2008
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
GREEN DRINKS!
A FIRST-WEDNESDAY-OF-EVERY-MONTH SOCIAL
will be at Smiling Jack's Fresh Foods behind Dickson Street Bookstore.
Offering all natural, organic, and locally grown foods, wine, and beer in a cozy college-town restaurant atmosphere.

Sierra Club sponsors ENERGY SHIFT concert in Little Rock on March 15, 2008

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.


Sierrans:
Please mark your calendar for what’s shaping up to be a great night of music and activism. Join us on Saturday, March 15th, for the first Sierra Club “ENERGY SHIFT” concert in Little Rock. It’s an all-ages show, full of great music and great opportunities to make YOUR voice heard against dirty coal-fired power plants. Four of the acts were semifinalists in this year’s Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, and one will be in the finals next weekend.
Come hear some of Little Rock’s hottest rock and hip-hop acts, while you learn more about the dangers of the coal-fired power plants being proposed for Arkansas and what YOU can do to stop them.
Glen Hooks, Regional Representative
Sierra Club
1308 West 2nd Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
(501) 301-8280
(501) 744-2674 (cell)
glen.hooks@sierraclub.org
www.arkansas.sierraclub.org
www.myspace.com/arkansassierraclub
Tune into SIERRA CLUB RADIO Tuesday mornings at 9 a.m.
88.3 FM in Central Arkansas, or listen live online at www.kabf883.com

Governor's, Sheffield Nelson's plans differ on severance tax

Beebe negotiating on severance tax 2/27/08

Neither would provide funding for environmental damage of natural-gas drilling and production.

ADEQ won't consider environmental danger of coal

ADEQ discussion of coal-fired plant won't consider environmental danger of coal
according to The Morning News.

Watershed protection group offers free brochure

Center for Watershed Protection free download of stream-protection brochures

Wetland lot gets reprieve from intense infill

Council decision on Arcadian Court in The Morning News




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When the city council of Fayetteville, Arkansas turned down an appeal by the developer of the propused Arcadian Court to build a bunch of small homes on a wetland lot across from the University Farm on W. Deane Street on Wednesday night not only residents of traditional neighborhoods nearby had to be pleased but also proponents of protecting wetland by "keeping water where it falls" were pleased.
Certainly, new plans for a less dense project will be offered, but every day a relatively natural area is protected counts for many reasons, especially for the unsuspecting and innocent living things inhabiting the land.
The lowest half of the property could remain as a natural rain garden instead of the developer creating a small and likely inadequate detention pond as shown on the previous plan. This is a clear example of the value of paying attention to the NIMBIES. People who have lived in an area usually have good reasons to dissent and be cynical about developers' plans, even though they can't possibly imagine all the problems a given project may cause. This is an example of how preventing the filling of land that previously was left alone has value.
The developer of this project is clearly a well-intentioned person who no doubt will find ways to use the lot that will reduce the damage to the environment. He can start by remodeling an existing home on the site rather than getting rid of an example of truly affordable housing.

Arcadian Court wetland on W. Deane Street

Council story in The Morning News




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Council story in The Morning News

Joyce Hale wins Sierra award as Unsung Heroine

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OMNI Center named Environmental Organization of the Year by Arkansas Sierra Club

For list of winners in several categories, please see

Numerous Arkansans honored by Sierra Club

Would you put your sign up in front of this debacle?

Developers must replace trees


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East side soil and red dirt both eroding toward the West Fork of the White River

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Dead Horse Mountain Road crosses West Fork of the White River in the background

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silt fences, bales of hay both fail when not placed right and checked daily

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Red dirt runoff headed for West Fork of the White River

Please click on images to enlarge.

Comments on state-of-the-city address: Propose some really sustainable ordinances before you retire!

This red-dirt disaster bordered by Huntsville Road, Stone Bridge Road and Dead Horse Mountain Road might have been prevented by more scrutiny by staff members and council and mayor and planning commissioners and the PUBLIC before approval.
I visited a few neighbors on Friday and asked what was being built there. They didn't know and said they weren't informed or talked with before it happened. They all mentioned experiencing various levels of anger, frustration and significant discomfort since the earth-moving and tree-dozing began.
Regardless of whether the planning and engineering staff looked at the plans closely before approval or studied the site well enough beforehand, having a city inspector visit such sites once a day (and big ones like this in a critical point overlooking a floodplain and with a small stream running through it and wonderfully fertile and absorbent soil and many trees and vegetation should be visited at least twice every day after approval and until construction is complete) could have prevented a lot of the damage.
A city should never approve a single site more than its building inspectors, watershed inspectors and tree and landscape inspectors can visit daily.
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The following part of Mayor Dan Coody's state-of-the-city address concerns me in several ways.

"If a few individuals oppose any part of the project we will thwart the will of all the citizens who designed the plan, all the creative massaging of the Planning and Engineering staff, the citizen’s subcommittees, and the Planning Commission. In being hyper responsive to the individual, we completely discount the majority.

The ripple effects are serious. The developer, who is risking millions of private dollars in the project, just had his costs go up, making the price of everything in the project increase. That is bad for the consumer. The chances for financial success of the project are diminished. This is bad for the city and the developer, and it erodes the confidence of our city staff. It teaches the developer to avoid anything that is creative or innovative. It shows the developer how much easier, cheaper, and faster it would be just to do the same old sprawl-inducing, cookie-cutter, unimaginative development the public says, the staff says, and the Plan says we do not want."

The first paragraph needs some documentation. What problem-free project has been suppressed by the City Council because of a "few citizens' comments?

Dozens of long-time, highly respected people spoke to the council in opposition to the massive hotel planned for Dickson Street across from the post office. The council approved it. Only the filing of a strong lawsuit and the fact that the developer was about to be bankrupted by his other pie-in-the-sky projects killed that one, which the staff had recommended.

A project to build apartments off N. College on a wooded slope near Ozark Natural Foods was passed despite some of the city's leading citizens' attending a council meeting and speaking out. Even Gus Jones, the widow of Fayetteville's most famous architect and one of the few who might have designed some project to go in that forest without removing the forest spoke, against it.

Ruskin Heights drew opposition from fine people who live nearby. It passed regardless of their statements.

Someone please list projects that were killed by the council because of the objection of only a few people? If you can docement those, I'll educate myself by going to those sites and confirming that there was no good reason or there was a good reason.

When a group of people put their dignity on the line to speak against a project, the reasons are usually obvious. And, if some of those people live nearby, their objections should be considered.

Nobody forces developers to buy land and pay for plans to development it. More than half probably have the audacity to try to get approval of plans on property they do not own but have negotiated a period during which they can buy it if their plan is approved. And most of those do not have the money to buy it. They have a promise from a bank that a loan will be granted if they get the plans approved.

It is hard to take their pleas of HAVING to build a massive, intense project to meet their goal of profitability as of any significance.

What happened in the past three years is that many banks wish they hadn't granted those loans, possibly some of the developers wish they hadn't made the effort and, in the case of many such projects that actually have been partially or even fully completed and a lot of previously inactive potential NIMBIES have realized they should have joined the crowd saying "not in my backyard" years ago.

When the developers first came to the Town Branch neighborhood in 2003 with obviously environmentally threatening plans, many residents said it would do no good to speak out because we were a low-income neighborhood. But the way high-income neighborhood protests have been disregarded in recent years, it seems that Fayetteville City Government has become an equal-opportunity supporter of neighborhood destruction.

I don't believe the council can be blamed for allowing all these bad developments. The pressure on the staff to recommend things comes from the top of the administration and ignoring the recommendations of the paid staff is often the wrong thing for the council to do. The council members should not have to do the homework themselves.
But the result of what the council approve remains their responsibility.
I really hoped that Mayor Coody's decision not to run again was an indication he had decided to follow the lead of the mayor of Greenland, who has said publicly that only a one-term mayor can do the right thing. I assumed that the decision not to run again was Dan's way of allowing himself the opportunity to demonstrate that a two-term-only mayor can also do the right thing.

But the idea Dan's saying that REAL people's objections to projects are always less important than staff recommendations is ludicrous. The staff members seldom have approved a bad project and then bought a home to live in next door to it. And both staff members and planning commissioners often have to recommend or approve projects with flaws they can easily recognize because the current rules that bind them are antiquated. And many of the new-urbanist ideas that the staff understands and recommend work fine on flat ground with no existing timber and no wetland to manage. They don't work on our wooded mountainsides and the wetland and riparian zones of streams in the headwaters of the White River and the Illinois River.

When I think of the city and things that benefit the city, I think of the people who already live here and the existing buildings and trees and other living things. And I believe we have seen council members more and more put extra time into homework such as visiting proposed development sites and holding Ward meetings to offer neighbors a chance to discuss the problems that the staff may not have considered or that the administration may not have heard about.

Most if not all the current council members recognize that many projects didn't start out right and are looking to take steps to fix mistakes such as Aspen Ridge (Brenda Thiel and Adella Gray in Ward one — see links at right for Town Branch Neighborhood blogspot and Flickr photos on Town Branch watershed and Town Branch Neighborhood) and Red Oak Park (Shirley Lucas and Lioneld Jordan in Ward Four — see Red Oak Park links at right and Flickr photos on Red Oak Park.

More important, members of the council are taking steps to see that the staff learns from those mistakes what changes in the approval process can prevent such disasters in the future. I am familiar with those efforts, but I suspect that residents of other neighborhoods can cite examples of such efforts by the council members in their wards. Please share examples you many know of.

NIMBIES MATTER!

St. Paul's Episcopal Church site of February 16, 2008, Sierra awards banquet

February 16, 2008


The Sierra Club Conservation Awards

Please join us as we honor Arkansas businesses, legislators, community organizations, and individuals who have made accomplishments in the way of conservation and protection of our state’s natural resources.
February 16, 2008
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 
224 N East Ave.
Fayetteville AR.
 
Doors open for the Silent Auction at 6 pm. 
Dinner, provided by Greenhouse Grille, will be served at 6:30 pm. 
 
Ticket prices:
$25 in advance
$30 at the door
$15 Students

To reserve advance tickets, please mail your payment to the address below by February 9th. Make checks payable to OHG Sierra Club. For more informaion contact Molly Rawn @ 479.527.9499 or HYPERLINK "mailto:mrawn@uark.edu" mrawn@uark.edu.
Molly Rawn
1239 E Cain Dr
Fayetteville AR 72703

Menu for Sierra Club Conservation Awards Banquet at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, February 16, 2008

Reminder of the Sierra Club's upcoming Conservation Awards Banquet from Molly Rawn.
My apologies to anyone receiving this who did not receive a paper invitation in the mail. I would like to share with you a little about our keynote speaker, Rita Harris, who has led Memphis-area environmental justice efforts for close to 20 years. She's designed and coordinated several grassroots environmental conferences and given "Toxic Tours" to educate area groups about environmental justice. These tours point out the injustices experienced by people living in the shadow of chemical polluters. She served on the Enforcement Subcommittee of the EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council during the Clinton Administration.
As for the menu, Greenhouse Grille has a wonderful meal planned to include:Organic Shiitake and Portobello-Scallion Cheesecake served with
Grilled Breads
Greenhouse salad with Mixed Organic Greens, Carrot Ribbons,
Green Apples, Cranberries, Toasted Pecans, with a Balsamic
Vinaigrette
Organic Foccacia Bread and Olive Loaf
Grass Fed, Arkansas Raised Buffalo Lasagna with Mixed
Vegetables and 3 Cheese Medley.Pesto Pasta Primavera with Organic Shiitake Mushrooms,
Artichokes, Peppers, Tomatoes, Squash and Zucchini, mixed with
Fresh Organic Local Pesto and Parmesan Cheese
Our Silent Auction is sure to be a huge success! We have donations of origianl artwork made with found materials, locally made pottery, hiking equipment, hand blown glassware, gift certificates to local restaurants, locally made gourmet foods, jewlery, and spa products to mention just a few!
If you haven't purchased tickets yet, it is not too late. We will be selling tickets at the door for $30 and 15$ for students.
Please contact me if you have any questions!
See you at the banquet!
Molly Rawn, OHG Sierra Club Intern, (479) 879 1620

What happens when Wal-Mart detention pond is full on Sixth Street? This project is the final item on tonight's Planning Commission agenda

This tiny tributary of the West arm of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River floods the lot that is to be filled for construction of the so-called Farmers' Market commercial development. When the site is filled with red dirt and paved, the stream will be compressed and the neighbor's yard will flood and that flow will become a larger torrent threatening the house and other property downstream.
View east showing previously ditched but now natural-appearing stream flowing east. If this stream is put in a pipe, it will simply come out somewhere downstream flowing faster.






































Third photo is of the big pipe that allows flow from the Wal-Mart detention pond on Sixth Street to flow to the east and between the lot set for construction and a private home to the south with the water heading into the West Arm of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.
Note the bent grass, suggesting the speed and power of runoff when the detention pond fills.
























This whole lot should continue to be a natural rain garden that would help alleviate downstream flooding and accept a bit of water from the street flow to help clean that water as it soaks in!

Fayetteville, Arkansas, planning commission to consider construction on wetland lot immediately east of Wal-Mart on West Sixth Street tonight

Please click on images in preceding post below to see Dec. 8, 2007, images of the site.

Wetland lot east of Wal-Mart cleared before developer's plan goes to planning commission

Please click on images to enlarge photos of lot between W. Sixth Street and vegetated swale that carries flow from Wal-mart detention pond to the West Arm of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River and on to Beaver Lake.

Final showing of neighbors visiting with developers on CAT public-access TV tonight

LAST CHANCE TO SEE REPLAY of Town Branch Neighborhood and Ward 1 meeting with developers planning to replace Aspen Ridge developers to create student housing in the Town Branch overflow area and former wetland west of South Hill Avenue between Sixth and Eleventh streets in south Fayetteville, Arkansas.

8:45 pm Friday Feb. 7, 2008 — Ward 1/Town Branch-Neighborhood Meeting on Cox Cable channel 18, Fayetteville Public Access Television, the CAT!

9:30 am Saturday Feb. 8, 2008— Talking about how the neighborhood used to be — Robert Williams on Town Branch Neighborhood — on Cox Cable channel 18, Fayetteville Public Access Television, the CAT!

Robert Williams, whose property on South Hill Avenue is bordered on the west by the Aspen Ridge dredged and filled wetland, spoke while looking northwest from the intersection of South Duncan Avenue and Eleventh Street where a wetland area dredged out for a future street on rainy days is called Aspen Bayou by people who drive by.

Sustainability Center lists week's events

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE photo of muddy water running off unfinished and no-longer city authorized Aspen Ridge site and into storm drain at the Intersection of South Duncan Avenue and Eleventh Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas, after a rainstorm on February 15, 2008.

NWA Sustainability Center (info@nwasc.org)
Sent: Tue 2/05/08 11:59 AM
February Newsletter
Upcoming Events
NOTE: On our website (updated within the next few days) (www.nwasc.org), you will find a complete list of upcoming events. On the webpage you can access more information associated with these events, such as fliers and maps.
Green Drinks - A Monthly Happy Hour for Sustainability and Environmental Professionals
02/06/2008 - 5:30
About: Organic beer, wine, sodas, smoothies, coffee, and fresh, natural food is available. Liquor Mart will bring a special wine selection. Omni's Carbon Caps Task Force will be sharing information on their work (see announcement below). Please pass this information along to friends and colleagues. Hope to see you there!
Location: Smilin' Jacks at 262 N. School Ave. in Fayetteville (behind Dickson St. Bookshop; across School Ave. from the Walton Arts Center Rose Garden

Omni's Carbon Caps Task Force launches an educational ad campaign
Omni's Carbon Caps Task Force (CCTF)
is launching an ad campaign to educate the Arkansas public in
preparation for the 2009 General Assembly of the state Legistature.
The CCTF's focus is to support the work of Governor Beebe's
Commission on Global Warming. The CCTF was instrumental in the
creation of the Commission in 2007.
To continue their support, the CCTF is beginning a publicity program to
bring global warming issues into public awareness. The first of their
initiatives is an ad campaign in the state's major news outlets.
Community support from Omni has created a $4000 matching fund to jump
start the campaign. We need your matching donations to make use of
this generous gift. Your support will go towards ad spots in
newspapers that provide basic facts and information about global
warming. With the fossil-fuel industry spending millions in Arkansas
to convince the public their technology is safe, we must respond with
an educational campaign of our own.
Secondly, the CCTF has launched the People's Legislative Alert Network
(Planetwork), a contact list for citizens interested in learning of
state legislation that is related to climate change. By joining this
list, you will receive alerts during the 2009 General Assembly when
bills are on the floor and our legislators need to know your stance.
Email planetwork@omnicenter.org
for more information.
For general information about the Carbon Caps Task Force, contact Robert
McAfee, chair, 479 638 8871 or robertmca1@aol.com.

Native Plant Gardening with Steve Owen
02/07/2008 - 6:30pm
Native plants are excellent choices for the home
landscape. Readily prepared for drought or temperature extremes, these plants
provide a level of beauty and interest beyond the usual marigolds and petunias.
Butterflies and hummingbirds know to look for these plants first when they
visit your garden.
Steve Owen: Proprietor of Bustani Farms, a nursery in Stillwater, OK.Steve will talk about some natives that are familiar to most people, and some promising species that aren't quite so common. Steve Owen, former host of The Oklahoma Gardener television program, is now the proprietor of Bustani Farms, a nursery in Stillwater, OK.
Register online now! $10members/$15 non-members.
Speaker: Dr. Robert Costanza from the Gund Institute of Ecological Economics
02/07/2008 - 17:00
About the speaker: Dr. Costanza is the co-founder and past president of the International Society for Ecological Economics and former chief editor of Ecological Economics. His research has focused on the interface between ecological and economic systems. His work has been cited in over 3,000 scientific articles since 1987, and more than 80 interviews and reports on his work have been cited in various media, including Newsweek, US News and World Report, The Economist, The New York Times, National Geographic, Science, and National Public Radio.
Title: Toward an Ecological Economy: Creating a Sustainable and Desirable Future
Location: Willard J. Walker Hall, Room 427 - Directions
Sponsors: U of A Applied Sustainability Center and U of A Department of Geosciences
Ecological Economics Roundtable
02/08/2008 - 10:00
Dr. Robert Costanza will lead a roundtable discussion on ecological economics on Friday morning, Feb 8.
Location: U of A Innovation Center, 535 Research Center Blvd., Fayetteville, AR.
Contact info: Call 479 575 5717 for additional information.

Photos of frog just before extinction in native habitat

Images of rare frog now extinct in native land

Carbon Caps Task Force offers public-service announcements for print or broadcast

Please click on image to enlarge.

Town Branch meeting reruns on CAT cable 18 Tuesday through Saturday

TOWN BRANCH NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING RERUNS
on CAT Channel 18 on Cox Cable in Fayetteville, Arkansas



Tuesday Jan. 29, 2008
6:45 am Ward 1/Town Branch-Neighborhood Meeting

Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008
7:30 am Ward 1/Town Branch-Neighborhood Meeting
9:00 pm Telecom Board Meeting: 1/17/08

Thursday Jan.31, 2008
12:45 am Ward 1/Town Branch-Neighborhood Meeting

Friday Feb. 1, 2008
7:00 am Water Conservation & Protection (LWV
1:35 pm Ward 1/Town Branch-Neighborhood Meeting

Saturday Feb. 2, 2008
2 a.m. Ward 1/Town Branch-Neighborhood Meeting
6:00 am Water Conservation & Protection (LWV)

Red Oak Park subject of Ward 4 meeting at 7 p.m. today

Ward 4 residents will meet tomorrow night (Monday) January 28 at 7:00 p.m in Room 111, City Hall, with Council members Shirley Lucas and Lioneld Jordan presiding.

Discussion will include;
City staff presentations regarding the design and rennovations of Red Oak Park, as well as other parks in Ward 4.
the Monthly Street Improvement Report,
Neighborhood Reports
All Wards Welcome!

_____________________________________
Ward 4, Position 1

Name: Shirley Lucas --2139 Ora Dr. -- Fayetteville, AR 72701;

Phone (479) 442-4612
Email: ward4_pos1@ci.fayetteville.ar.us



Ward 4, Position 2
Name: Lioneld Jordan -- 1600 Arrowhead St. -- Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: (479) 442-5415
Email: lljordan7@hotmail.com

OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology focuses on the future

PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE.

The annual meeting of the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology attracts people of all ages and from all walks of life.
But the effort to create a peaceful and just society on a sustainable planet is about the youngest and the as-yet unborn. The young adults must persist at the work that the older people realize is more important than a liesurely retirement.

These pictures are meant by the photographer to suggest the commonality of all people and the oneness of generations in every individual.

OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology's annual dinner TONIGHT

2008 Annual
Omni Members Meeting

6-7 Join or Renew Membership
Visit “Pitch Pit” for volunteer opportunities
Enjoy Dinner!
7:00 Still on the Hill
7:15 Introductions
7:30 Workshops
8:30 Report Back from Workshops
Announcements
Revisit “Pitch Pit”
Group Sing - We Shall Overcome

Workshops
Sustainable Farming – the gentle way to feed the planet, one community at a time
A discussion of farming practices which can change the way food is grown, and how it can save our families, our communities, and our planet. Presented by noted sustainable food systems presenter Patrice Gros. Patrice has been a full time organic farmer for 10 years. He is the cofounder of 2 area Farmers Markets (Berryville & Eureka Springs, AR) and sits on the board of the Eureka Market. Patrice runs Foundation Farm and its associated Farm School. For more info visit http://www.foundationfarm.com SANCTUARY

Sensible Fayayetteville – A positive shift away from draconian drug laws
Ryan Denham talks about a suggested city code that places marijuana possession as the least important priority for law enforcement officials, (similar to the ordinance passed by Eureka Springs last year.) Federal drug laws have driven our prison system to crisis, and into the hands of private corporations. At the same time it has created class and human-rights dilemmas on a wide scale. A sensible step for Fayetteville is a major step for American human rights. Deep End

Nonviolence in the Face of Fascism
America appears to be moving toward a more fascist government, and many people are becoming anxious about it. People who believe in nonviolence need to know what powerful tools of nonviolence are available to them in tense and uncertain situations. Gladys Tiffany and Shelley Buonaiuto lead discussion on some remarkable and already-available options. There are more then you might think. Omni office

5th Anniversary of the Iraq War
Oh No! Not Again!
We hoped it would never come to this, but we’ve been a-honking for a long time now. Would you like to help Omni plan and organize a fitting remembrance for the national imbroglio? Kelly Mulhollan will organize this session to begin planning a commemoration for the month of March. upstairs chapel

Media Reform In Our Own Backyard
Big Media has taken over mainstream forums for discussion of public issues, and left dissenting opinion without a public voice. Omni Center is working with others to create forums where open discussion is encouraged. Some of those attempts are with our great, long-time Video Underground series, working with Fayetteville Cable Access TV (CAT) to develop Omni Month in Review, and creating Omni Free Radio - our own community radio station. This group also includes Rapid Responders – writer/researchers ready to counter the uninformed perspectives in the local letters to the editor pages. And we have a hankering to take up our own editorial-writing board. There may a place for you in the media corner of the Culture of Peace. Presented by four Omni Media Group members: Gerry Sloan for Video Underground, Claire Detels for Omni Month in Review, Joe Newman for Omni Free Radio, and Larry Woodall for Rapid Response Network. fire pit upstairs

2008 OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology meeting Friday

Greetings Omni folk...
The Omni Annual Meeting happens this Friday at United Campus Ministries, 902 W. Maple, at 6:00 pm. Omni members and friends are all invited. If you've been there before you know they're really interesting meetings where Omni people connect and issues get discussed. The evening starts with a delicious, free meal prepared by Omni volunteers. You'll have a chance to hear about other people's great programs, and join or renew your Omni membership. The program features workshops that try to address issues Omni members and friends find compelling. There's a really good lineup of presenters listed below. Check them out.

If the weather gets bad Friday evening, check your email again to see if we have to cancel. Right now the reports say "rain" after noon, so we're hopeful all will happen as planned. If you have questions, please reply.

Look forward to seeing you there,
Gladys and Melanie
gladystiffany@yahoo.com

Support wildlife habitat by enlarging CRP in farm bill

Please ask your Congressmen to keep habitat protection in farm bill

Fayetteville shale to be discussed Wednesday evening

Public Invited to Fayetteville Shale Play Forum on Jan. 23 at Law School
A forum entitled “Environmental Considerations on Gas Drilling in the Fayetteville Shale Formation” will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Jan. 23 in the School of Law Courtroom on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. This event, co-sponsored by Arkansas Chapter of Sierra Club and League of Women Voters of Washington County, is open to the public and free of charge.
Panelists will include James Bradbury, a Fort Worth Texas attorney with an Arkansas background who is working on the Bartlett Shale Play development; Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, who will be teleconferencing from Boulder, Colo.; state Rep. Betty Pickett, an Arkansas legislator representing an active gas drilling district near Conway; Eric Stagg, a landowner with two well operations near Clinton, Ark.; and Lawrence Bengal, Director of the Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission. Industry representatives also have been invited to attend.
The forum presents an opportunity to learn about the gas drilling bonanza in central Arkansas and its environmental and economic impact. Reference materials on the subject are available on the League of Women Voters of Washington County web page, www.lwvarwc.org. For information, contact Joyce Hale of the League at 527-2777.

Many on this list are already aware of the League of Women Voters/Sierra Club co-sponsored forum to be held from 7-9 pm, Jan. 23rd at the University of Arkansas School of Law Courtroom concerning environmental and economic issues on gas drilling in the Fayetteville Shale Play. For you, who have it on your calendar, this is just a reminder. For others hearing about this for the first time, it is an encouragement to attend and pass the information on to any interested lists. While there has been a signifigant amount of coverage on the economic boom expected to come to Arkansas with this activity, less information has been available about the drilling process and long-term environmental consequences and costs.

With Governor Beebe even considering a special session of the legislature to evaluate the state's severance tax position as relates to gas drilling, it is critical that the public has a better sense of all the issues to have a voice in this bonanza. The organizers of this event have brought key people together who will provide information needed by those interested in environmental protection. It is important to understand that this is not a regional issue but rather a major state-wide issue even if we don't see drilling rigs in our backyard. The state's water resources and fair distribution of tax benefits affect all of us. I encourage your attendance at the forum as we all learn more about this issue. We hope to have DVD's available for interested groups who cannot attend. Please let me know if you would be interested in receiving one of these.
Joyce Hale
League of Women Voters of Washington County

Fran Alexander on the meaning of sustainability

A good discussion of the word "sustainability" as it is used by local and worldwide leaders is available in a
NWA TIMES column by Fran Alexander on sustainability in the Jan 14 edition of the Fayetteville newspaper.

Town Branch neighborhood meeting with developers on Cox 16 at 9 a.m. and 7:30 or 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008

Please read about the
Town Branch/Ward One Aspen Ridge meeting in The Northwest Arkansas Times and watch video of the meeting on Cox Cable channel 16 at 9 a.m. Tuesday and at about or slightly after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008, soon after the telecom board meeting that begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Please read about the
Town Branch/Ward One Aspen Ridge meeting in The Northwest Arkansas Times for a reporter's view of the meeting.

Stephan Pollard comments on wind power in Arkansas

PLEASE click on image to enlarge photo of Stephan Pollard addressing a meeting in Fayetteville earlier in the week.

The Arkansas Democrat/Gazette's Jan. 18, 2008, Northwest edition included a story from a Fort Smith meeting on the
Potential of wind power in Arkansas in its Business section. Among those quoted was Dr. Stephan Pollard of Fayetteville, whose first name was mispelled in the story, but whose message was clear.

"Stephen (Stephan) Pollard, an engineer with Environmental Dynamics in Fayetteville, said certain areas of Arkansas, including Northwest Arkansas, are in wind currents considered fair to good for operating wind turbines.
He’s counted only six wind turbines in or near Benton and Washington counties. One in Eureka Springs and two in West Fork are residential-size turbines. A larger, 75-foot tower turbine in Prairie Grove is operated more as a hobby than an energy source, he said.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has a 12-foot rotor diameter turbine on a light pole in the parking lot of its Pleasant Crossing store in south Rogers.
Crowder College in Neosho, Mo., is building a 125-foot tower to hold a turbine with a 54-foot-diameter rotor as a teaching tool, he said.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Springdale has ordered three small turbines it will install near Interstate 540 and within sight of the minor league baseball stadium now under construction. The church hopes to influence others to seek alternative energy sources, he said."
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/214075

Discussion of new plan for Aspen Ridge site interesting and diverse

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.
Dabney Brannon (left) of Audubon Arkansas encourages men involved in planning the proposed student apartments on the defunct Aspen Ridge development site to build in keeping with best-management practices for low-impact development and to create a project that will complement Fayetteville's goals of becoming a center of sustainability. Brannon was among several conservationists who joined three Fayetteville aldermen and members of the Town Branch neighborhood at a meeting Jan. 12, 2008.

Please attend Town Branch meeting to discuss Aspen Ridge at 10 a.m. Saturday Jan. 12

PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.

Everyone welcome to Saturday Jan. 12 Town Branch neighborhood meeting

The future of our planet and humanity may depend on a unique view of science and religion

Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fayetteville
901 W Cleveland St Fayetteville, AR 72701
Wednesday January 9, 2008
Connie at 6-6:45pm; Michael at 7-9pm

Fayetteville will have the honor of hosting these inspired speakers for a one-evening appearance on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at the UUFF Sanctuary. Connie Barlow, who has a special interest in children's education, will speak and lead a sing-along that adults and children alike will enjoy from 6pm-6:45pm. Michael will speak at 7p.m. Childcare is provided. The entire community is invited to attend one or both presentations. Light refreshments will be provided. Dowd and Barlow will have books and DVDs available.

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I already know about evolution. Why would I want to attend this?” you may be asking yourself....

"It matters what we think about evolution. Indeed, for many issues - personal, political, and planetary - nothing matters more. Until we take into our lives insights born of evolutionary psychology and brain science, for example, we’ll fail to appreciate why we and our loved ones have such a hard time breaking free from habits and behaviors that don’t serve us, whether we’re religious or not, and why our intimate relationships can be so challenging.

Until we recognize billions - not just thousands - of years of grace and guidance, we’ll remain stuck with abstract and trivial notions of God and unnatural and competitive understandings of religion.

And until we learn to see through what I call “sacred deep-time eyes”, atheists and fundamentalists will continue to blame each other for the world’s ills, liberals and conservatives will keep trashing one another, believers will keep trying to convert or kill those of differing belief, and, collectively, we will fail to see that enormous global challenges are calling us to greatness."
--Michael Dowd (on talking about his work in 30 seconds or less...)

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Most writers would be thrilled to have a Nobel laureate endorse their new book. For author Michael Dowd, no less than five Nobel laureates — most in the sciences — have written glowing reviews of praise for Dowd's unique take on evolution. But add in the fact that Reverend Michael Dowd was once a conservative evangelical who protested the teaching of evolution and things get interesting!

Dowd and Barlow have spoken in more than 500 churches, convents, monasteries and spiritual centers, to groups of Roman Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, Unitarians, Quakers, Mennonites, Buddhists, and more. Visiting a new town every week or two, the husband-and-wife team are frequently invited to present the discoveries of science in inspiring ways in secular settings, such as public schools, colleges, universities, libraries, nature centers, and even an occasional zoo. Their websites are overflowing with praise from literally hundreds of community leaders, from every shade of the religious and secular rainbow.

This event is cosponsored by the UUFF Social Justice Committee, The Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology’s Environmental Committee and Limbertwig Press of Fayetteville.
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A personal invitation from Leigh:

In my years of being fascinated with the natural world, I have never seen teachers illuminate the beauty of evolution and the natural world like Barlow and Dowd. For Dowd personally, it all is a celebration of what he calls God, for Barlow a celebration of what she calls the Universe. What is remarkable, and truly unique, is that their ideas CELEBRATE the diversity of beliefs (one of which would be a lack of any particular belief) as having the capacity to make our society more healthy, the way a healthy ecosystem is characterized by a diversity of life.

Being exposed to Dowd and Barlow helped me recognize some of my own narrow-mindedness -- I believed for the world to change, more people would have to think as I do. After years spent in progressive, liberal and creative circles I am amazed that one of the most diversity-celebrating worldviews I’ve ever come across is from a former evangelical Christian minister -- a worldview that does not merely tolerate differences in thought, cultures and beliefs but sees those differences as gifts we’ll need to move into a culture that truly embodies peace, justice and ecology.

I see Dowd and Barlow as doing tremendously important work. Dowd’s brand new book (and website) Thank God for Evolution! (Council Oak Books) is angled as exploration of a science-based worldview to American religious community in a way that is unifying rather than divisive; in a way that unites all in the common goal of a livable planet. Not to mention that a science-based understanding of the planet’s systems is absolute prerequisite to action to reduce disastrous climate change.

More than 85% of the world’s population count themselves as religious (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion) Given those numbers, any worldview that enhances cooperation toward environmental sustainability is one worth seriously examining. A worldview such as Dowd’s and Barlow’s could go a long way in creating a culture of peace, promoting social justice, and preserving the earth as a viable ecosystem for us and our fellow creatures. I support their work because I love and work on behalf of the natural world.

I heartily invite you to come out on a winter night to a presentation that will be lively, thought provoking, and above all, truly inspiring for those who are working for peace, justice and ecology.

sincerely,
Leigh Wilkerson -- Poet, Activist and Gardener (Leigh@herwords.org)

Everyone welcome to Jan. 12 Town Branch neighborhood meeting

Town Branch neighborhood from Google Earth

View Larger Map

This is a live interactive link to Google Earth. Simply put cursor on page and move in any direction to tour the planet! The starting point is the Town Branch neighborhood in south Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Destruction of wildlife habitat and farmland main effect of using biofuel

Burning Biofuels May Be Worse Than Coal and Oil, Say Experts
By Alok Jha
The Guardian UK

Friday 04 January 2008
Scientists point to cost in biodiversity and farmland. Razing tropical forests "will increase carbon."

Using biofuels made from corn, sugar cane and soy could have a greater environmental impact than burning fossil fuel, according to experts. Although the fuel itself emits less greenhouse gas, it has higher costs in terms of biodiversity loss and destruction of farmland.

The problems of climate change and the rising cost of oil have led to a race to develop environmentally-friendly biofuels, such as palm oil or ethanol derived from corn and sugar cane. The EU has proposed that 10% of all fuel used in transport should come from biofuels by 2020 and the emerging global market is expected to be worth billions of dollars a year.
But the new fuels have attracted controversy. "Regardless of how effective sugar cane is for producing ethanol, its benefits quickly diminish if carbon-rich tropical forests are being razed to make the sugar cane fields, thereby causing vast greenhouse-gas emission increases," Jörn Scharlemann and William Laurance, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, write in Science today.
"Such comparisons become even more lopsided if the full environmental benefits of tropical forests - for example, for biodiversity conservation, hydrological functioning, and soil protection - are included."
Efforts to work out which crops are most environmentally friendly have, until now, focused only on the amount of greenhouse gases a fuel emits when it is burned. Scharlemann and Laurance highlighted a more comprehensive method, developed by Rainer Zah of the Empa Research Institute in Switzerland, that can take total environmental impacts - such as loss of forests and farmland and effects on biodiversity - into account.
In a study of 26 biofuels the Swiss method showed that 21 fuels reduced greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 30% compared with gasoline when burned. But almost half of the biofuels, a total of 12, had greater total environmental impacts than fossil fuels. These included economically-significant fuels such as US corn ethanol, Brazilian sugar cane ethanol and soy diesel, and Malaysian palm-oil diesel. Biofuels that fared best were those produced from waste products such as recycled cooking oil, as well as ethanol from grass or wood.
Scharlemann and Laurance also pointed to "perverse" government initiatives that had resulted in unintended environmental impacts. In the US, for example, farmers have been offered incentives to shift from growing soy to growing corn for biofuels. "This is helping to drive up global soy prices, which in turn amplifies economic incentives to destroy Amazonian forests and Brazilian tropical savannas for soy production."
They added: "The findings highlight the enormous differences in costs and benefits among different biofuels. There is a clear need to consider more than just energy and greenhouse gas emissions when evaluating different biofuels and to pursue new biofuel crops and technologies."
Andy Tait, campaign manager at Greenpeace, said: "We're already bought into mandatory targets for the use of biofuels with very little thought of what the environmental impacts will be. This study further confirms that there are serious risks associated with first generation biofuels, particularly from corn, soya and palm oil."
He said that the biofuel technology had been oversold by industry and politicians. "It's clear that what government and industry are trying to do is find a neat, drop-in solution that allows people to continue business as usual.
"If you're looking at the emissions from the transport sector, the first thing you need to look at is fuel efficiency and massively increasing it. That needs to come before you even get to the point of discussing which biofuels might be good or bad."

Posted by aubunique at 1/05/2008 08:33:00 AM

Verbesina virginica (white crownbeard or frost weed) has a good week

Please click on photo to enlarge the "frost flower" formed by moisture around the stem of Vebesina virginica. Several sub-freezing nights in the first week of January 2008 produced great formations on the frost weed for people who don't cut the plants down after the bloom fades and turns to seed.

Read more about
Verbesina virginica on a Texas Web site or a Missouri Web site:

Verbesina virginica in Missouri