Yummy! Blueberry Picking, Poplarville, MS

When: Saturday, June 27
Event: Blueberry Picking, Poplarville, MS
Where to Meet:  At Audubon Zoo Parking lot, (near main zoo entrance) to car
pool
Meeting Time: 7:30 am

Sierra Contacts:
You must register for all Sierra trips in advance by contacting either:
Vance Levesque 504-529-2089 mrkahuna@juno.com;  or
Barry Kohl at  504-861-8465, bkohl40@cs.com.

Our Third Blueberry Season:

Dig up your favorite recipe for bluberry pie or cobbler.  Join us as we
head over the Louisiana border into Mississippi to pick organically-grown
blueberries at a farm near Poplarville, MS.  We will visit the Tara Blueberry
Farm, hear a brief talk about the farm's organic operation, and then set you
loose to pick to your heart’s content.  The bushes are tall and there is
adequate shade early in the morning.

The weather is likely to be hot.   Please bring sunscreen, plenty of water,
and a hat that will keep you well shaded.  The farm does not recommend
wearing sandals while you are picking.  Also, they provide buckets to pick with,
so you need not worry about bringing your own.  The blueberry bushes are
quite high and offer shade when picking them.  The area is wooded with
blueberry meadows in between - a rather pleasant area of rolling hills.

Finally, the farm only accepts cash or check, so don't plan on using the
plastic!  It is $10 a gallon and it is best if you have the exact amount in
cash.   You may want to bring a cooler to store your blueberries for the trip
home if it is a hot day.

For those coming separately, we'll meet at the farm around 9 am.  We will
pick some blueberries and eat lunch (pack your own lunch and drinks) then
carpool back to New Orleans to arrive back to the parking lot at Audubon Zoo at
about 2pm.

The blueberries run $10 per gallon, so get out that blueberry pie recipe
and clear some space in your freezer. See website at:
http://www.pickaberry.com/

For more information about the farm:
Phone: (601) 403-8272
Tara Blueberry Farm
257 Langnecker Rd,
Poplarville, MS 39470

Group Program Sunday June 14: Wild India

Wild India: The Birds, Mammals and People of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Joelle Finley, acclaimed biologist and popular birder and world traveler, will speak and show her fabulous photos of her amazing journey in India, from lowlands to the Himalayas.

Sunday, June 14, Refreshments and snacks at 6:30 PM. Program begins at 7 PM. The meeting will be at the Audubon Zoo Nims Center (not the Dominion Auditorium this time but in the same complex). Go through the gate behind the Audubon statue at the front of the zoo and turn left. Parking is safe and plentiful. For more info call Charles Pfeifer, program chair at 504-780-8889.

Hike with Friends of Lafitte Corridor

Everyone,
If you're interested in a great hike in the city, this looks like one to take.
Wendy King

PRESS RELEASE/MEDIA ADVISORY
May 11, 2009

Contact:
Bart Everson, President, Friends of Lafitte Corridor
b@rox.com
Office: 504-520-5164
Cell: 812-391-0818

Fifth Annual Hike of the Lafitte Corridor

WHO: Friends of Lafitte Corridor is a local grassroots group advocating for the creation of a greenway along three miles of (mostly) decommissioned rail line in the heart of New Orleans

WHAT: a three-mile hike down the Lafitte Corridor

WHEN: Saturday June 6th, 10:00 AM (National Trails Day)

WHERE: The hike begins at the front gate of Armstrong Park and continues along the Lafitte Corridor (between Lafitte and Saint Louis Streets). We expect to be crossing Carrollton Avenue around noon, stopping for lunch at Massey’s Professional Outfitters and will finish at Canal Blvd around 1:30 PM.

WHY: Our annual hike is designed to raise awareness of the greenway project and demonstrate the widespread support it enjoys in the New Orleans community. This year we will be joined by Rebecca Leonard and Kurt Culbertson from Design Workshop, the firm recently awarded the greenway contract by the City of New Orleans.

A flyer with map is available here:http://b.rox.com/media/hike-5.pdf

May 17th Program: Coastal Louisiana Restoration: From Plan to Action

Amanda Moore, Coastal Louisiana Organizer for the National Wildlife Federation, will review coastal LA restoration goals including increasing community resiliency, expediting big, bold, restoration projects, and generating funding and political will to move projects forward. She is also the coordinator of the MRGO Must Go coalition and will review the latest developments with the MRGO closure and restoration, campaign goals, and upcoming campaign events.

Meeting is on Sunday, May 17. Refreshments at 6:30 PM. Program starts at 7 PM. All Orleans Sierra Club meetings are held in the Audubon Zoos Dominion Auditorium. Parking is free, plentiful, and safe. Call Charles Pfeifer, program chair at 504-780-8889 with any questions.

To find our meeting location go to:
http://louisiana.sierraclub.org/neworleans/meetinglocation.asp

Ivor van Heerden, who pointed fingers in Hurricane Katrina levee failures, fired by LSU

Ivor van Heerden, the outspoken coastal scientist who led the state's independent Team Louisiana investigation into Hurricane Katrina levee failures, has been notified by Louisiana State University that he will be terminated as a research professor in May 2010.

Read more in a Times-Picayune article by Mark Schleifstein on Nola.com:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/ivor_van_heerden_who_pointed_f.html

Bob Marshall the excellent outdoors editor for the Times-Picayune also weighs in:
http://blog.nola.com/guesteditorials/2009/04/worried_about_funding_lsu_oust.html

Jean Lafitte NHP and preserve expanded... finally!

After many years and many false starts, The Barataria Unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park (NHP) and preserve has been expanded. The bill expanding the park was recently signed into law by President Obama.

Nola.com, the Web site of the New Orleans Times Picayune gives all the details in the following article:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1238822638157190.xml&coll=1

See a photo of the park's expansion here:
http://photos.nola.com/tpphotos/2009/04/park_addition.html

Creating a Bicycle Friendly New Orleans

Creating a Bicycle Friendly New Orleans
Join the Dan Jatres of the Regional Planning Commission and the Nicole McCall of the Metro Bicycle Coalition as they discuss the New Orleans bicycling environment. New Orleans has long had a very large bicycling population, but like many American cities, transportation planning has been focused almost exclusively on motor vehicles for over 60 years. Hurricane Katrina provided New Orleanians with the opportunity to change the city and create more walkable and bikeable neighborhoods. Now, with changes coming to transportation priorities and funding at the federal level, New Orleans has the opportunity to become a national leader in alternative transportation options which will help create livable communities that attract families, promote sustainability and promote economic growth.

Meeting is on Sunday, April 19. Refreshments at 6:30 PM. Program starts at 7 PM. All Orleans Sierra Club meetings are held in the Audubon Zoos Dominion Auditorium. Parking is free, plentiful, and safe. Call Charles Pfeifer, program chair at 504-780-8889 with any questions.

Who you lookin' at?

You had better be lookin' at us. Well more specifically, we want you to look at our new Facebook group dedicated to the New Orleans Group of the Sierra Club. Find it at:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=76134098503&ref=nf

Of course we also want you to join our FB group. Membership is open to anyone even if you aren't also a Sierra Club member. Of course you do have to be a Facebook user to join. If you are not already a FB member, what are you waiting for?

Don't forget to drop us a line when you do join our group. You are also welcome to post away on this group. Our only request is that you keep things focused on either the environment or the New Orleans Group or both.

Welcome to century 21.

Hot topic on tap: City Park wants to replace green space with golf courses

City Park attempting to replace its newly found green spaces with golf courses.

That's right, City Park is attempting to cover its newly found green spaces with new golf courses. Read about it right here at our new City Park page.

http://louisiana.sierraclub.org/neworleans/citypark.asp

Take a free trip to South Africa at our March Program

SIERRA CLUB PROGRAM, SUNDAY, MARCH 8!

A free trip to South Africa! Take the trip vicariously with John Sevenair, world traveler. Come see his fabulous photos and interesting narrative of "Creatures of South Africa." During the summer '08, he explored that country on a birding trip; there were also spectacular mammals, reptiles, insects, and fish. John is a professor of chemistry at Xavier University and an avid birder and photographer.

Sunday, March 8. Door open 6:30 with refreshments and socializing; program 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Audubon Zoo, Dominion Auditorium. Enter gate to far right of main gate. Parking plentiful and safe. Bring friends to this free program. Open to all.

Program Sunday, February 8th Tulane geographer Richard Campanella, author of "Bienville's Dilemma" and "Geographies of New Orleans,"

Program February 8th

Sierra Club Program
Sunday, Feb. 8, 7pm
Dominion Auditorium, Audubon Zoo

Tulane geographer Richard Campanella, author of "Bienville's Dilemma"
and "Geographies of New Orleans," will present:

"Early European Accounts of the Louisiana Environment,1519-1699"

This graphical presentation relates the observations and impressions of French and Spanish explorers as they first laid eyes on the Louisiana environment, and highlights the various transformations occasioned upon that environment in subsequent years.

Meeting is on Sunday, February 8 at 7 PM at the Audubon Zoo auditorium. Refreshments and socializing at 6:30. Parking is free and secure in the Audubon Zoo Parking lot.

Refreshments at 6:30PM.
Program starts at 7 PM.

Location: The Dominion Auditorium at Audubon Zoo, off Magazine Street.
Plenty of well-lit parking.

Guests are welcome. Call 504-861-8465 if you have any questions.

Upcoming NO Group events

MERCURY HAIR TESTING EVENT A SUCCESS

Sierra Club’s Stop the Coal Rush field organizer, Jordan Macha helped organize a great event last week at an Uptown hair salon to help women find out about levels of mercury in their bodies. As folks may know, coal-fired power plants are the largest source of industrial mercury emissions into the environment, turning our fish toxic, and threatening public health. As Louisiana wrestles with new coal power plant proposals, the Sierra Club is keeping our eye on public health and making sure you are too!

Check out the great coverage in the Times-Picayune:

http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/living-2/1227939665172780.xml&coll=1

Special thanks to NOLA Sierra Conservation Chair, Dr. Barry Kohl, Gulf Restoration Network, and Paris Parker Salon.

SAVE THE DATES

Friday April 3rd – Saturday April 4^th – Tulane Environmental Law Conference – New Orleans. http://summit.law.tulane.edu/

Sunday, April 5^th – the New Orleans Earth Day Festival presented by our friends at the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and featuring music on the Coastal Lines of Defense stage (brought to you by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Gulf Restoration Network and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation). Music, food, beer, speaker’s tent, kid’s tent, and energy savings workshops. 10 am until dark. Lineup Just Announced: Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Anders Osborn w/Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Kirk Joseph & friends, Country Fried.

Friday May 8th – Saturday, May 9^th – Gulf Gathering 2009 – Camp Beckwith, Weeks Bay, AL Gulf Gathering: A Gulf-wide conference for coastal advocates and organizers concerned about the Gulf of Mexico. To receive agenda updates and further information, contact Briana Kerstein, briana@healthygulf.org (504) 525-1528 ext. 208

Tuesday, May 26th (note date change) - Environmental Voter Lobby Day in Baton Rouge. We need as many members as possible to join with our coalition of environmental groups to show our Legislators in Baton Rouge that voters care about the environment. The day will feature briefings from environmental and legislative leaders, lunch, and a training on how to lobby by the Sierra Club’s lobbyist extraordinaire, Darrell Hunt. Aaron Viles is the contact person at 504-525-7534 ext 207.

Tuesday, April 21st - John Muir’s birthday