Peak & Prairie

Rocky Mountain Chapter's
Online Newsletter
December 1997

Calendar
edited by Kirk Cunningham

To list outings, events or meetings, post the information in the Outings, Events or Meetings Forum of the Chapter BBS (see Page 2), email to rmc-calendar@juno.com or fax to the chapter office at (303) 861-2436, Attn.: Calendar Editor. Please follow the format below.

We are looking for a calendar editor and other Peak & Prairie staff. Please call Mary Romano at (303) 861-8819, days

Outings

All Club members and interested public are free to sign up for any outing. Participants may be screened by the leader for appropriate equipment and experience.

Sunday, December 7 - Easy hike on the new Foothills Open Space at Hall Ranch, 4 miles, 660' elevation gain. Call Susan Jones, (303) 442-8635 (IPG).

Saturday, December 13 - Warm-up, easy cross-country ski trip to best available local snow. Call Jim Lockhart, (719) 385-0045 (PPG).

Saturdays, December 13, January 24, February 21 & March 21 - Winter workdays for our Adopt-A-Trail on the Cherry Creek Bike Path. Meet at Colfax ramp of the bike path at 1 p.m. (note special winter time). Duties during the winter are a bit lighter--mostly picking up trash. For questions or directions call Jan Oen, (303) 320-4895. Bring work gloves (EMG).

Sunday, December 14 & 21 - Animal tracking and census in the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest west of Boulder. The Colorado Division of Wildlife is seriously considering reintroduction of the endangered lynx into Colorado's wildlands where it has been extirpated. The division needs to find the areas richest in lynx prey species like snowshoe hare. Tracking is done by snowshoeing along a well-defined transect (using a GPS system) through the woods and determining the snowshoe hare track density to measure concentration of animals. Snow conditions and weather are important for good tracking, so the dates chosen are tentative. A list of trackers for these dates or others later in the winter is being collected. Snowshoes (and ideally a GPS unit) are essential equipment. Call Kirk Cunningham, (303) 939-8519 (IPG).

Chapter Meetings

All Sierra Club meetings are open to the public. New members and old members who would like to become more active are urged to attend. It's a good way to meet people and share concerns.

Chairs: to reserve a conference room at the Club office building, call Mary Romano at (303) 861-8819 (days) at least one week before your meeting.

Metro Regional Council of Groups
Tuesday, December 2 & January 6, 7 a.m. - Dozen's Restaurant, 236 W. 13th St., Denver. MRCOG, the Metro Regional Council of (Sierra Club) Groups, meets monthly for breakfast to provide an informal forum for inter-group communications on issues that cross group boundaries, especially those related to growth (for example, RTD, mountain backdrop, water, open space, air, GOCO). Contact Don Thompson, (303) 320-4895, for agenda information and to confirm the meeting date.

Conservation Committee
Monday, December 8 & January 12, 6:30 p.m. - B-1 conference room at 777 Grant St., Denver. The January 12 meeting will be preceded at 5:30 by a meeting of the Chapter Legislative Committee. The Conservation Committee meets the second Monday of the month to discuss issues and coordinate the chapter's volunteer conservation activities. The committee includes all chapter issue committees and group conservation chairs. Call Kirk Cunningham, (303) 939-8519 or kmcunnin@juno.com, for information and agenda items.

Executive Committee
Saturday-Sunday, January 17-18 - Littleton (location TBA). The Ex-Com is the governing body of the chapter. It meets quarterly at locations throughout the state to discuss and decide on conservation issues and administrative matters. The winter meeting will be hosted by the South Platte Group. For information and agenda, contact Chair Dave Mastronarde, (303) 440-0253.

Lifestyles/Education Committee
For information on meeting dates, call Chair Jan Oen at (303) 320- 4895, or look for meeting information on the Lifestyles/Education Committee pages in this newsletter.

Population Committee
Committee meetings are approximately monthly in the B-1 conference room at 777 Grant St., Denver, 6:30-8 p.m. If you are concerned about the impact of population growth on the environment, please join us! Contact Fred Elbel, (303) 220-7499, or at felbel@sni.net

Water Quality Committee
The committee holds evening meetings monthly, at irregular times. It deals with all issues covered by the Clean Water Act: pollution, discharge regulation, planning, polluted run-off and wetlands protection. We usually meet for a potluck supper before the meeting. To be on our contact list, call Chair Kirk Cunningham, (303) 939-8519.

Inner City Outings
ICO introduces disadvantaged urban young people to the out-of-doors. Meetings usually occur on the first Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the B-1 conference room at 777 Grant St., Denver. Dates and times vary with the season, so call ICO Chair David Rausen, (303) 698-0805.

Peak & Prairie mailing party
Join us for fun at the mailing party! Dinner and refreshments provided. Call Angela Medbery, (303) 433-2608, for location and time.

Gay and Lesbian Sierrans
The GLS Committee is a great way to join in appreciation and concern for our natural environment. GLS balances our members' environmental, social and political objectives. The GLS Committee meets the second Tuesday of the month and welcomes new members. Call Lara Juliusson, (303) 455-7218, or Kathy Fields, (303) 306-1228, for information.

Group Meetings

Enos Mills Group (Denver)
Executive Committee meets the second Tuesday of the month, 6 p.m. potluck, 6:30 p.m. meeting, at 777 Grant, Denver, B-1 conference room. Opportunity to meet other EMG activists and learn what the Sierra Club is doing in Denver. Call Jan Oen, (303) 320-4895 for information.

Tuesday, January 27 - Annual Legislative Workshop, an EMG & Denver Audubon Society event, in the evening at Calvary Baptist Church near Monaco Parkway and Dartmouth/Hampden (NE corner). For details contact Ann Bingham, (303) 831-6380, or Angela Medbery, (303) 433-2608. We need participants, volunteers, donors of food dishes, items for door prizes and silent auction. This is a good opportunity to meet legislators, learn about some of the 1998 legislative issues, meet fellow concerned environmentalists, eat good food and share good fellowship. Please join us.

High Plains Group (eastern Denver suburbs)
Wednesday, December 10 - Executive Committee meeting & Christmas potluck. Call Roger Wendell for information about time and place, (303) 693-4244.

Indian Peaks Group
Wednesday, December 3 & January 7 (first Wednesday), 7 p.m. - Conservation Committee, at Land and Water Fund of the Rockies (LAW Fund) conference room, 2260 Baseline Rd., Boulder. Call Kirk Cunningham, (303 939-8519, for information and agenda items.

Thursday, December 4 & January 8 (first Thursday), 7 p.m. - Urban Land Use Committee, at LAW Fund conference room, 2260 Baseline Rd., Boulder. Call Pam Hoge, (303) 440-3827, for information and agenda items.

Thursday, December 11 & January 15 (second Thursday), 6:15 p.m. potluck, 7 p.m. meeting - Executive Committee meeting. December 11 at the Hoges' home, 2300 Iris Av. in north Boulder (look for the painted deer on the mailbox, S. side of Iris). January 15 at the Atrium community room, 3350 30th St. (S. of Iris). Call Mark Collier, (303) 443-5482, for information and agenda items.

Mount Evans Group (western Jefferson County)
Meetings are at 7:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month at the Evergreen Rec Center. Call Myron Gerhard for information, (303) 948-9778.

Pikes Peak Group (El Paso & Teller Counties)
Tuesday, December 16, 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m. - Conservation Committee & Executive Committee meeting, Beidleman Environmental Center, 740 W. Caramillo, Colorado Springs. Members are invited to participate in our monthly meetings. If you are interested in local, state or national environmental issues, this is the place to learn more and get involved. For more information contact Chuck Hachmeister, (719) 592-0963.

Sunday, December 28, 5 p.m. - Newsletter stapling party & potluck dinner. Join us to assemble and prepare for mailing the next issue of our Timberlines newsletter. This is a great place for new and newly active members, one of our most enjoyable social activities. For location contact Judy Bolin (303) 592-0963.

Poudre Canyon Group (Larimer and Weld Counties)
Executive Committee meets the second Monday of the month, usually at the Norlarco Credit Union, 700 Whaler's Way, Fort Collins. Contact Will Walters, (970) 568-9841, or walters@ezlink.com. The Conservation Committee meets the fourth Monday, also at 6:30 p.m, but with a variable location. Contact Ramon Ajero, (970) 226-4126.

December 14 - Annual member program with special guest wilderness photographer John Fielder at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins. Contact Sarah Smith, (970) 224-2501 or buckeyeran@aol.com, for more info.

Rachel Carson Group (eastern Jefferson County)
Meetings are usually held the third Thursday evening of the month at the Arvada Municipal Hall, but call Joan Rech, (303) 541- 0710, to confirm.

Sangre de Cristo Group (Arkansas River & San Luis Valleys)
Executive Committee meetings occur on the second Tuesday evening of the month, 6:30 p.m., at the Lamplighter Coffee House in Pueblo. Call Susan Finzel-Aldred, (719) 947-0315, for confirmation.

Uncompahgre Group (Mesa, Delta & Gunnison Counties)
Wednesday, December 17, 6:15 p.m. - Executive Committee meeting, the second Wednesday of alternate months, includes a potluck supper, at Shelly Weiss' home, 2215 Driftwood Lane, Grand Junction; call her for directions, (970) 243-5138.

Weminuche Group (Durango area)

Monday, December 1 & January 6 - Executive Committee meeting. Call Jim Decker for information, (970) 247-8811.