Ozark Sierran
March April 2000

Outings
   Eastern Missouri
   Thomas Hart Benton

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Don’t activists sit in meetings and send in agency comments, and don’t outings just have fun? Not if you’re helping the Sierra Club’s priority campaign to protect America’s wildlands by going on one of our year 2000 national activist outings. This year we offer eight great opportunities to blend conservation activism with enjoyment of nature in beautiful surroundings. Among these eight choices, everyone can find something special to savor, from river rafting to backpacking to bicycling:

     Trip 101A: Nevada’s Black Rock Desert/High Rock Canyon: May 28 to June 3, 2000. The obscure northwest corner of Nevada has just become a sizzling, political hot potato as Nevada’s two senators stand on the verge of introducing legislation to establish a National Conservation Area. Trip leader Carol Tresner provides two base camps in this scenic, historic but remote part of our country’s most mountainous state. Learn how to become a key advocate for this and other Nevada wildland preservation issues. Price: $445. 

     Trip 102A: Seeking Yosemite’s Lost Twin; Hetch Hetchy Backpack, Yosemite. July 16–22, 2000. Longtime backpack leaders Cal and Letty French and Sierra Club Hetch Hetchy task force chair Ron Good take you on a journey through the spectacular headwaters of the Tuolumne River and its canyons and glacial domes in northern Yosemite National Park to discover what can be done to restore the fabled lost Hetch Hetchy Valley, lost by a dam infamous in Sierra Club history. Expect a visit from John Muir to the trip to remind folks that dams may not be forever. Price $350. 

     Trip 422A: Hawaiian Hot Spots: Kauai, Hawaii. July 22–29, 2000. The second activist outing to Hawaii is the first to the garden isle of Kauai. Explore verdant valleys and mountain canyons, dryland forests and coasts, as you learn about development, endangered species, and pollution threats to the Na Pali Coastline, Waimea Canyon and the surrounding Kokee State Park forest preserve, and the Wailua River Valley. With accommodations in rustic cabins at the Kahili Mountain Park above Poipu, this trip led by Jennifer Taddei and Lucienne de Naie offers a comfortable setting for its unique blend of adventure and advocacy. Price: $745. 

     Trip 103A: Northern California White water and Wilderness, Klamath River. July 23–29, 2000. River and wildlife protection, wilderness and forest preservation mesh together with this ingeniously designed river rafting trip. Northern California’s Wild and Scenic Lower Klamath River in the beautiful Siskiyou Mountains with its varied wildlife, sparkling side creeks, waterfalls, and hidden swimming holes, is the stage. The need to preserve wild salmon habitat, saving the Headwaters Forest, and California’s new wilderness campaign are the classic play, and leader Margaret Pennington will help you be star actor. Price $745.
 
     Trip 104A: The Copper River, Alaska. The majestic Copper River rises in Wrangell–St. Elias, our nation’s largest national park, and flows into Prince William Sound near Cordova, in the Chugach National Forest. It provides a magnificent setting for a float trip that also studies the issues surrounding a road building proposal across the fragile Copper River delta. The Copper River delta, a critical staging area for shorebirds and other waterfowl, supports world renowned salmon runs and large predators. It is the largest wetlands on the Pacific coast of North America. Starting with land–based exploration and a glacier hike at picturesque McCarthy, the raft trip led by Blaine LeCheminant goes from the Kennicott River to the Chitina to the Copper — an unforgettable adventure. Price $1995. 

     Trip 105A: Montana Wilderness: how much is enough? August 13–19, 2000. The northern Rockies ecosystem contains some of our most extraordinary yet unprotected lands. Guided by leader Roger Grissette, you’ll learn about wilderness proposals for unprotected roadless areas and the need for biological corridors. The Kootenai National Forest and the Flathead National Forest serve as bases for two separate, short backpack ventures, that show both over–exploitation of forest resources and still pristine resources worth fighting for. The famed Yaak River Valley and Swan Valley will be focal high points, connected by a car shuttle. Price: $395. 

     Trip 106A: Book Cliffs Bicycle Odyssey, Utah. Sept. 2 –9, 2000. Leaders Vicky Hoover and Jim Catlin guide this mountain bike trip on remote dirt roads forming the boundaries of proposed wilderness in the remote Book Cliffs of eastern Utah. Abundant wildlife, the vastness, and an austere rugged beauty make the Book Cliffs one of the most important areas included in the 9.1. million–acre Citizen’s Wilderness proposal for Utah’s Bureau of Land management lands. Join the nationwide campaign for Utah wilderness while enjoying moderate cycling in the East Tavaputs Plateau portion of the Book Cliffs. Lofty plateaus and intricate canyons are the backdrop for our vehicle supported venture. Price: $425.

      Trip 107A: Blue Skies over Big Bend, Texas. October 29 to Nov. 4, 2000(New trip just added — not in Outings Issue of Sierra!) National parks are supposed to be protected areas, but it’s a knotty problem how to protect a rugged, wild place like Big Bend National Park from encroaching regional haze, caused by sulfurous particulates from power plants, mainly across the Mexican border. During the scenic backpack with leader Rich Schiebel, participants will learn how the Blue Skies Bi-national Network is encouraging Texas governor George Bush and Vice President Al Gore to help control power plant emissions. Big Bend country’s famous views from the Chisos Mountains to the volcanic badlands near Mule Ears Peaks are the goal of our moderate trail backpack with vehicle support and day hikes. Price $395.

For more information, contact Vicky Hoover, activist outing chair, (415)977–5527 or vicky.hoover@sierraclub.org. Ask about partial scholarships for applicants for whom cost is a deterrent. Some Chapters may be able to help if you become an official Chapter issue representative. For a trip brochure and application form, or to sign up, call the Sierra Club Outing Department’s 24–hour voice mail at (415)977–5522, or visit Sierra Club Outings.