Minutes of the 5/22/01 Meeting

 

The meeting came to order at 7 PM. 

Richard Whiteford Presentation on Our National Forests

Mr. Richard Whiteford was guest of the Niagara Group. Jim Hufnagel read the following introduction of Mr. Whiteford, who is Sierra Club's Northeast Region Coordinator for its End Commercial Logging Campaign.

"America's first National Forests were established over one hundred years ago. Today we have 155 of them, stretching across 191 million acres. To protect what's left of our wild forest heritage, we must stop the commercial logging of our National Forests. Tonight we are honored to have Richard Whiteford speak to us about the Sierra Club's efforts to end commercial logging on our National Forests. Richard is the National Sierra Club's Northeast Region Coordinator for its End Commercial Logging Campaign. The goal of the ECL campaign is to educate the public about the damage done by logging, road building, and off-road vehicle use; and also to motivate action to change the current management regime of our National Forests. ECL is one of Sierra Club's eight priority campaigns.

Richard has been an environmental activist, writer and educator for many years, working to raise public awareness about environmental issues. In previous work with the Sierra Club, Richard served on the Executive Committee of the Southeastern Group of the Pennsylvania Chapter. In addition, he has participated in Earth Day programs at the UnitedNations, lobbied Secretaries of the Interior, White House Advisors, and members of Congress on pressing environmental issues. Lastly, Richard has also done herpetology surveys for the Pennsylvania Biological Survey.

Richard is perhaps best known for his writing. For three years, he wrote a regular environmental column for the Philadelpha Inquirer. Subsequently he went on to a successful free-lance career and has now published more than 300 articles on environmental topics in magazines and newspapers across the country. He was nominated for the United Nations Environmental Programme's prestigious Environmental Global 500 Award in journalism.

Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Richard Whiteford."

Mr. Whiteford spoke about the destructive aspects of clear-cutting and road-building in our National Forests, with particular reference to nearby Allegheny National Forest and Finger Lakes National Forest. He showed a Sierra Club video graphically portraying National Forest logging and road building damage. Mr. Whiteford briefed Niagara Group on the legislative outlook for National Forest policy. Then he fielded numerous questions from the membership regarding the future of our National Forests. Everyone was greatly appreciative of the fine presentation made by Mr. Whiteford, and of Vice Chair Jane Jontz for coordinating his visit.

 

Abbreviated Business Meeting

Secretary Jim Hufnagel called the meeting to order at 8:45 PM.

 

Roll Call

• Jackie White
• Charles Lamb
• Jim Hufnagel
• JoAnn Zurek
• Jim Bunn
• Brian J. Kreib
• Richard Lippes
• Raymond Gang
• Christine J. Parker
• Ginger Ursitti
• Steve Burns
• Daniel Galinsky
• Mary Deremer
• Art Klein
• Larry Beahan
• George Dillman
• Joe DeMare
• Murray Warner

 

Treasurer's Report

Treasurer Murray Warner reported that we have a balance of $1419.67.

 

Fluorescent Light Bulbs At A Good Price

Jim Hufnagel announced that members can order compact fluorescent light bulbs through him at a deep discount. Also, there is a day-long brownfields meeting starting at 8:30 AM on June 12 at the University Inn and Conference Center. Several prominent local politicians will be participating.

 

Call for Newsletter Materials

Newsletter Editor Joe DeMare called for articles to be submitted to him by June 10 for the next edition of the Trailblazer.

 

New Members

New Niagara Group members were asked to introduce themselves and describe their interests.

 

Millenium Pipeline Issue

Larry Beahan gave a report on the plans to build the Millennium pipeline across the bottom of Lake Erie. He described the construction methods that may be employed to bury the pipeline in the lake bed and the potential damage to lake ecosystems. He asked whether we should or how we could support National Fuel to pursue an alternative means of transporting gas by skirting the lake entirely. Art Klein added that the pipeline could end up traversing the river or the Buffalo harbor.

Larry Beahan moved to adjourn at 9 PM, Art Klein seconded, all in favor.

--Respectfully Submitted, James Hufnagel, Sec'y, Niagara Group