Welcome to the Dallas Group of the Sierra Club
General Meeting Program - Tuesday, August 8, 7:00 pm - Refreshments at 6:30
Wildlife Sanctuary Night - We will have presentations from representatives of two animal sanctuaries: Black Beauty Ranch and The Creature Teacher.
The Creature Teacher
Jon Bjornen will talk about animal stewardship, and will have live animals (including a kangaroo) that are engaging entertainment for children and adults alike. He is originally from Hilo, Hawaii. Growing up close to the ocean most of his life, Jon has a love and passion for marine life. Jon studied at the University of Hawaii at Hilo earning a Bachelors in Marine Science, and has worked as a volunteer with NOAA, the Hawaii Marine Mammal Response Network, and the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Center. His favorite animal at The Creature Teacher is Thor, our Colombian Red-Tailed Boa Constrictor. He loves being a part of The Creature Teacher and having the opportunity to educate kids on the importance of all animals and what makes them unique and amazing. Jon currently lives in Fort Worth along with his wife Amanda, their newborn son Keoni, and their cat Pua.
Black Beauty Ranch
Briana MacDougall will tell us about Black Beauty Ranch (BBR), founded in 1979 by Cleveland Amory. Located in Murchison, TX, BBR has been home to retired research chimpanzees, rescued elephants, kangaroos, monkeys, camels, giraffes, and tigers. Today, there are over 40 species, and about 1,000 animals on 1,400 acres. BBR is partnered with the Humane Society of the United States, Accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, and a member of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance. The animal residents of BBR act as ambassadors for the issues we are working on together. BBR is also undergoing an ongoing development project for a Primate Habitat Expansion. It is the mission of BBR to provide a lifelong safe-haven for animals who have been rescued from abuse, cruelty, neglect, and exploitation. With this mission comes the educational responsibility to teach about the issues that cause animals to need sanctuary, including: the exotic pet trade, research, captive hunting, factory farming, public lands roundup, etc., and to prevent animals from needing sanctuary in the future. Black Beauty Ranch offers private visits, sustainer benefit packages, group tours, and volunteer and internship opportunities.
Briana is a Registered Dietitian and clinical staff trainer at a health care organization. She is a volunteer with the Primate Team at the Ranch, and has also helped with open house and group tours. She is interested in animal advocacy and environmental issues, an outdoor enthusiast, loves hiking, mountain biking, and spending time with her dog and two cats.
Everyone is welcome. FREE! You don't have to be a Sierra Club member. Just show up. We'd love to meet you.
Our General Meeting starts at 7:00 pm, but come at 6:30 for snacks, information and fellowship. Click over to our General Meeting page for more information and a map.
Pecos Wilderness Bus Trip on Labor Day Weekend
Details of the sleeper bus trip to backpack in the Pecos Wilderness are now online in this PDF file, as are registration forms. The bus leaves Dallas at 9:00 pm Thursday night, August 31 and returns by 6:00 am on Tuesday, September 5, allowing four days to hike and three nights to camp. We offer a choice of five hike itineraries ranging in difficulty from moderate to strenuous. The Pecos Wilderness Area protects a significant part of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico. Late summer temperatures will be significantly cooler than Dallas. The trip price is discounted to $260 per person for registration received by August 15. We recommend earlier registration because this holiday weekend has historically been a popular date for outings.
General Meeting Program - Tuesday, September 12, 7:00 pm - Refreshments at 6:30
Fall/Winter Vegetable Gardening in North Texas
The best time for gardening in North Texas is from September until June. You can have fresh tomatoes from your garden for Christmas dinner! Dr. Larry Legg will present a scientific and observational approach for gardening during fall and winter. Larry is a Biology Professor, Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, Master Wellness Volunteer, and a Conflict Resolution Specialist. He is a country boy from the boondocks where if you did not have a successful garden, you went hungry.
Everyone is welcome. FREE! You don't have to be a Sierra Club member. Just show up. We'd love to meet you.
Our General Meeting starts at 7:00 pm, but come at 6:30 for snacks, information and fellowship. Click over to our General Meeting page for more information and a map.
Dallas Sierra Club Picnic
When: September 16, 2007, 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Where: Churchill Park, 7025 Churchill Way, Dallas, TX 75230 (Google map)
The picnic is to celebrate new members as well as established members of the Dallas Sierra Club. We will celebrate the over 900 members on Facebook, and the thousands of members in and around the Metroplex.
Please join us for good food, beverages of all kinds, vegetarian fare, cakes and cookies, and hamburgers and hot dogs, veggie burgers included. Salads, chips, dips, and all kinds of good eats.
We’ll have some games to play, some water balloons for the kids, and the good ol cornhole game. We’ll have a croquet set, game balls to play with, and other fun things to do.
There will be some door prizes given out, so make sure you get a complimentary raffle ticket when you arrive. We are giving away a $100 dollar gift certificate to Jackson’s and a drone, as well as some pre-paid memberships to our Club and random other free prizes.
So please save the date, mark your calendars, put it in your phone, whatever you gotta do to remember to come on out and bring the whole family. Kids, dogs, ferrets, your weird uncle Bob, whatever or whoever you consider family!
Call Ginger for more info at 469-223-7902 and if you want to help, I would love to have you!
Thanks and see you there.
General Meeting Program - Tuesday, October 10, 7:00 pm - Refreshments at 6:30
The Wave
Sand dunes, time, water, and wind have sculpted a surreal landscape along the border of Arizona and Utah. And one of the most famous examples of nature's artwork is The Wave, a colorful U-shaped trough etched into Jurassic era sandstone. Only 20 people per day are allowed to visit The Wave (via a lottery) and there is no formal trail or path across the 4 miles of terrain from the closest parking area. Paul Westbrook will discuss tips for the permit lottery and share some photos of his trip to The Wave in April of 2017.
Paul is a pioneer of energy efficiency and renewable energy. His solar home in Fairview (click here) has been toured by thousands of people since completion in 1996. He retired from Texas Instruments in 2016 after helping them build the first LEED Gold semiconductor factory in the world and double their global energy efficiency in nine years. He served for two years as a Senior Fellow for the US State Department's Energy and Climate Partnership for the Americas (ECPA) program. He assisted Honduras, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru with energy efficiency and renewable energy policies and practices. Paul formed RE:source and is now doing consulting work on energy efficiency and renewable energy. Paul enjoys hiking, bicycling, running track, and playing saxophone.
Everyone is welcome. FREE! You don't have to be a Sierra Club member. Just show up. We'd love to meet you.
Our General Meeting starts at 7:00 pm, but come at 6:30 for snacks, information and fellowship. Click over to our General Meeting page for more information and a map.
General Meeting Program - Tuesday, November 14, 7:00 pm - Refreshments at 6:30
Wildflowers of North Texas
So many of our beautiful and once-common native wildflowers have been removed from our local landscapes that relatively few people today can recognize and name more than a handful. This colorful slideshow program will take you on a virtual tour through the seasons of some of our last undisturbed natural areas, and introduce some of the amazing plants that once dominated the region. We'll talk about unusual plant features that make them tough prairie survivors, and give you a sense of what the Tallgrass Prairie and its surrounding woodlands once looked like.
Carol Clark is an amateur botany enthusiast, a Texas Master Naturalist, and longtime member of the Native Plant Society of Texas. She and her husband own and operate Clark Haven, a wildlife preserve and custom wildflower seed business in Cooke County. Carol grew up with a nature photographer father and wildlife artist brother, and has spent much of her life looking around in the great outdoors. Her favorite things to do are leading discovery walks in local natural areas, and finding and photographing interesting plants.
Everyone is welcome. FREE! You don't have to be a Sierra Club member. Just show up. We'd love to meet you.
Our General Meeting starts at 7:00 pm, but come at 6:30 for snacks, information and fellowship. Click over to our General Meeting page for more information and a map.
More Outings
For a complete list of scheduled outings and outdoor service events, click here.
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Share Your Ride
We are making car pooling and using public transportation a little easier for our regular events. See our new Share Your Ride page.
