Coasters - North County Coastal Group The Coasters are the geographic division of the San Diego Chapter for the north coastal area, Del Mar to Oceanside. We organize a variety of Sierra Club activities in coastal North County, including outings, social events, and conservation efforts. We organize local hikes, usually on the first Saturday of each month. Format is a 9 am morning hike, optional lunch, done by noon. We walk in the north coast area, from Penasquitos to Oceanside. When tides are favorable, we are on the beach. Hikes are listed in the HiSierran and the Happenings singles group newsletter. The Coasters meet on the third Tuesday of each month. Our meetings are from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Encinitas Community Center. The center is at the intersection of Encinitas Blvd. and Balour Drive. From I-5, take Encinitas Blvd East to Balour Drive (at the top of the hill) and turn right, then turn left on Oakcrest Park Drive. The entrance is off Oakcrest Park drive, just South of Encinitas Blvd on Balour. (Map) To get on the email list for local events and news, click here, click on Join, and follow the instructions on the screen. The news email is sent out about once every two weeks, depending on what news and events there are to report. Quick scan of a T-Shirt, better picture to follow Coaster News Updated on April 17 Hot Links http://www.ediblesandiego.com/ Coaster Meeting Programs April 15 (You missed it) Encinitas Community Center, 7 to 9 PM. Special guest speaker Graham Mackintosh, author of four books about traveling in Baja will give us a talk about his new book "Marooned with Very Little Beer". For more on his adventures in Baja, see http://www.grahammackintosh.com/ Past Programs - Click here to see what you missed Coaster Hikes APR 26/SAT/E4A ENCINITAS NORTH BEACH Ldr: Mac Downing 858-490-0583 MacDowning at Yahoo dot com Asst: Needed Walk, then picnic. Come to one or both. Bring water. NO hike reservations. We meet at 9 am in Encinitas at the parking lot at Third and C. Use Encinitas exit off hwy 5, go west under railroad and across Coast Highway to Third St. Turn left onto Third, drive up hill one block, turn right on C street and go into parking lot, Thomas 1147-B7. See picnic information below. Spring Picnic April 26 Cancelled Moonlight Beach, Encinitas Due to a small number of reservations, and a conflict with Beach Cleanup day, the picnic will NOT be held on April 26. We are considering alternate dates. VOTE! The ballot for the national Sierra Club Executive Committee election is out. The San Diego Chapter ExCom has voted to endorse a slate of candidates. We have had email contact with many of the candidates, and telephone conversations with several. We have selected the candidates that we think will do the best job. You can find the endorsements on the chapter web site under "In The Spotlight". More Outings As you may have noticed, the outings listing will not appear in the Hi Sierran, starting with the Jan-Feb issue. We have set up an online listing instead. You can find it here. (http://sandiego.sierraclub.org/outings/index.asp?content=calendar) You can sign up to receive an outings listing monthly by email. To sign up, click here. GreEncinitas Meeting GreEncinitas is a new environmentally active group in Encinitas. See GreEncinitas.org for more information. And more See other events at: Hiker Jaye's Notes San Diego Audubon events http://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/events.htm Buena Vista Audubon Events http://bvaudubon.org/ San Diego Coastkeeper http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org Surfrider Foundation - San Diego Events - http://www.surfridersd.org Beach Cleanups - http://www.surfridersd.org/beachcleanups.php The California Native Plant Society http://www.cnpssd.org/ The Escondido Creek Conservancy http://www.escondidocreek.org/events.htm The Natural History Museum calendar page http://www.sdnhm.org/canyoneers/calendar.html The combined environmental calendar page http://www.calsmerge.com/asd/environment/ REI Encinitas Events www.rei.com/stores/store_events.jsp?store=90 Adventure 16 Events www.adventure16.com/discover/events.html Environmental Links The California Coastal Commission http://www.coastal.ca.gov/ Carlsbad Watershed Network http://www.carlsbadwatershednetwork.org The Desert Protective Council http://www.dpcinc.org/index.html The Escondido Creek Conservancy http://www.escondidocreek.org/ The Solana Center for Environmental Innovation http://www.solanacenter.org/ Friends of the Foothills www.taskforce.sierraclub.org/friendsofthefoothills/ San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy http://www.sanelijo.org/ Save San Onofre http://savesanonofre.com/ Marine Protected Areas www.MPA.gov Wilderness For All http://wilderness4all.org San Diego Tracking Team www.sdtt.org The Wild Side News http://www.wildsidenews.com/ Endangered Species Coalition www.stopextinction.org GreEncinitas http://GreEncinitas.org Sierra Club Blogs Compass: http://www.sierraclub.org/compass The Green Life: http://www.sierraclub.org/greenlife Taking the Initiative: http://www.sierraclub.org/carlpope El Salto Falls, Buena Vista Creek For More Information About the Coasters, contact: David Grubb, at 760 753-0273. The Coasters ExCom members for 2008 are: Sue Corringham - Secretary Robin Friedheim - Vice Chair David Grubb - Chair Peg Kessler Linda Lyerly - Treasurer Paul Richter Gene Walker Coaster Documents Bylaws     SB 1295 Win, bill failed in committee! Click here for information. Environmental Events Sierra Club Annual Awards Event DATE: Saturday, April 19, 2008 TIME: 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. CONTACT: Rusanne Anthony 619-920-8604 TICKETS: $25 per person/$45 per couple LOCATION: The Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College 12122 Cuyamaca College Dr. West, El Cajon, CA 92019 See the flyer at: http://sandiego.sierraclub.org/Calendar/2008%20Awards%20Event%20Flyer.pdf Earth Day in Cardiff Saturday, April 19 The Patagonia store in Cardiff is celebrating Earth Day on April 19 from 10 to 3. Several environmental organizations will have tables. Stop in and say hello to Micah Mitrosky who will have a Sierra Club table with information about the Sunrise Powerlink. Annual EarthDay Fair - Balboa Park April 20 Sun 10 am - 5 pm Almost anything you want to learn about Mother Earth you can find here. This is one of the largest Earth Day events in the country with exhibits and activities for all ages. Birch Aquarium Presentation Series 2nd Monday Monthly - 6:30 - 8:00 Birch Aquarium at Scripps 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla The Birch Aquarium presents a series of programs on Perspectives on Ocean Science. Presentations include: Monday, May 12 - Methane Hydrates: Natural Hazard or Natural Resource? RSVP: 858-534-5771 For more information: http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/ Native Garden Tour Sunday, April 27 at 2 pm 6th Annual Native Garden Tour Join this guided 1 mile walking tour and visit over 10 residential California Native Plant gardens in the historic Seaside Neighborhood of Downtown Oceanside. Meet at 2 pm, Sunday, April 27th at St. Mary's School 515 Wisconsin St. Oceanside. The guided walk is free and kids will be selling lemonade and cookies along the route. St. Mary's School is one block east of the 101 Cafe at Coast Highway and Wisconsin St. This annual event is sponsored by the Buena Vista Native Plant Club and the Oceanside Coastal Neighborhood Association. For more info, contact the Buena Vista Native Plant Club at BVNPC at sbcglobal dot net or call the Buena Vista Nature Center at 760-439-2473. Wildlife Appreciation Event April 30 Wed 7 - 9 pm Wildlife Appreciation Event-Lecture- with live friends from S.D. Herpetological Society Agua Hedionda Discovery Center - Carlsbad Turtles, Frogs and other Amphibians presented by Susan Nowicke of the San Diego Herpetological Society. Issues of water quality, urban run-off, and the decline in these "canary in the coal mine" species will be discussed. Come early and enjoy the native plant garden and view of sunset over Agua Hedionda Lagoon. The Discovery Center is right at the head of the lagoon at 1580 Cannon Rd at Faraday. This event will also help kick off the National Wildlife Federation’s "Record the Ribbit" campaign to be launched on May 3, 2008. You can be a citizen scientist- recording the distribution of frog species and helping scientists unravel the mystery of their decline. Building Sustainable Communities http://www.buildingsustainablecommunities.org/BSC/ Workshop on May 17 at Green Oak Ranch in Vista (details here) Conservation Activities Buena Vista Creek Restoration Sherman Property/Buena Vista Creek Valley Restoration Work Day April 12 Sat 9 am to about 12 noon This will continue our regular support of the Center for Natural Lands Management restoration of this valley. The last few sessions we have spent removing debris, removing invasives and cutting and planting willows in the old farm fields. This month there will be more debris removal, work on invasives, and weeding and watering all of our new willow cuttings. We need your help bringing water to the site for this to work! So we are hoping every volunteer will bring at least 2 gallons of water in one gallon jugs. Wear sturdy boots/shoes, long pants and a long sleeved shirt. Bring heavy work gloves and a pruner/lopper if you have one.- and 2 gallons of water (There will be plenty of tools and supplies for those who don't). We will meet at the cul-de-sac at the end of Haymar Rd near the Marron adobe. ( near College and # 78). RSVP to kcinciarelli at adelphia dot net or phone number 760-720-5220. For those who are interested lets follow up the work session with a no host lunch at the Quarry Creek Center. Sunrise Powerlink The California Public Utilities Commission has set two more public participation hearings on the Sunrise Powerlink. A quorum of the Commission may attend with Administrative Law Judge Steven A. Weissman presiding. Hearings will be on May 12, 2008, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., in the Borrego Springs Resort, De Anza Room, 1112 Tilting T Drive, Borrego Springs, California. Public participation hearings are scheduled to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the utility’s application. An Administrative Law Judge will be there to listen to your comments, and a court reporter will be recording your comments. The Commission is interested in hearing from you. Your comments can help the Commission reach an informed decision, and you are encouraged to attend the scheduled hearings. For more information, see the web site for the Smart Energy Solutions Campaign at: http://sdsmartenergy.org/ The Sierra Club and our allies are proud to announce "San Diego Smart Energy 2020: The 21st Century Alternative," a comprehensive, peer-reviewed plan to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy for San Diego. Prepared by professional engineer Bill Powers and E-Tech International, our plan not only saves consumers money, it reduces San Diego's greenhouse gas emissions by 4.5 million tons of CO2 compared to SDG&E's plan. You can read or download the report at: http://sdsmartenergy.org/smart.shtml More information about the Surnrise Powerlink is at: Article on modified alternative route D: Article on ratepayer advocate concludes SRPL not justified: Arizona regulators denied a power line to carry electricity to Southern California. Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Project information, and more news links at: http://www.ucan.org/energy/home Kelly has more information on her blog at: http://kdfuller.blogspot.com/ For more information about the alternatives, see: http://sandiego.sierraclub.org/conservation/issues/SRPL.pdf The Desert Protective Council has lots of information at: http://www.dpcinc.org/dpcp_sunrisepower.shtml. See our Sunrise Powerlink page for more information. For more on smart energy solutions, see the Smart Solutions Page Save Rancho Guejito You may have seen some of the local press coverage about a proposed development at Rancho Guejito. A large coalition of environmental organizations has been meeting by conference call to discuss a coordinated response. There will soon be opportunities to help preserve this important resource. For more information, see: saveguejito.org and this Article in LA Times For some information about the ranch, see the Save Our Heritage Organization web site at: http://sohosandiego.org To read a letter sent by many environmental organizations to elected officials, click here Save Water! http://www.bewaterwise.com/tips01.html SAY NO TO TO BLACKWATER It worked! Blackwater has abandoned their plans for a training facility in Potrero. Coasters T-Shirts are here! We have the Coasters T-shirts, and they look great! They will be available for purchase at our meetings and events for $20 each. Or, you can donate $25 or more to the Coasters Fund Appeal, and get one T-shirt "free".