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Environmental News Update 2/2/01 CEC NOTES Attend CEC Annual Meeting Next Week CEC’s Annual Meeting will be held Thursday, February 8th at the Houston Environmental Center, 3015 Richmond. This “environmental community family reunion” offers member organizations a chance to meet, mingle, reflect on the year’s accomplishments, and strategize for the future. New member groups will be welcomed, as will new CEC board members. This year’s featured speaker is Dewayne Huckabay of the City of Houston, presenting “Retiring Optimistically: Insights after 25 Years of Public Service to Houston.” The 2001 CEC Environmental Resource Guides will be distributed at the meeting as well. Come at 6:30 p.m. for conversation and snacks provided by Carrabbas Restaurant; the program begins at 7:00. Please RSVP to the CEC office at 713-524-4232 by Tuesday. COALITION NOTES Park People to Tour Armand Bayou On Saturday, March 3, the Park People’s Projects Committee and park enthusiasts will tour one of the last undisturbed bayous in Texas to promote and celebrate the importance of parks and green space. Armand Bayou Nature Center, a 2,500-acre preserve on the western shore of Galveston Bay, is home to coastal tall grass prairie and bottomland forest and bayou, and features hundreds of native species of flora and fauna. Participants will meet by 9:15 a.m. in the parking lot at 3015 Richmond. From there, the group will board a bus to Armand Bayou Nature Center where they’ll enjoy guest speakers on the history of Armand Bayou Nature Center and birding. Activities will include a short interpretive walking tour, lunch, a tour of the nature center, and live demonstrations at the pioneer farm. The group will return before 3:30 p.m. Cost is $10 per person ($40 maximum per family). Please RSVP to 713-942-7275 by Monday, February 26th. LOCAL Eat Locally Local Harvest, a non-profit organization, offers a public directory of small farms nationwide. You can search their website by zip code for locally grown foods from small farms. Their database includes farmers' markets, u-pick farms, farm stands, meat/dairy/egg producers, and CSAs (community supported agriculture) offering regular delivery of seasonal produce. Listings include farm locations, contact information, and lists of available products by season. http://www.localharvest.org Watersmart Landscaping Workshop On March 3rd, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Texas Sea Grant and the Texas Agricultural Extension Service will host their annual Watersmart Landscaping workshop. Participants will learn how to create beautiful, environmentally friendly landscapes that require less watering, fewer fertilizers and pesticides, and minimal maintenance. The workshop will be held at the University of Houston – Clear Lake in the Bayou Building at 2700 Bay Area Boulevard. Registration costs $25. Call 281-291-7711 to make your reservation. Cyclist Sues over Bike Lane Closure Barry Reese, a Houston cyclist and advocate for safe streets, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) over the recent removal of bike lanes on West Dallas Street near downtown Houston. Some two miles of bike lanes were removed from West Dallas by the Texas Department of Transportation after motorists complained about poor traffic management in connection with TxDOT's ongoing construction on the I-45 freeway near downtown Houston. The bike lanes, extending from downtown to Shepherd, were installed as part of the City of Houston's commitment to clean up its air quality under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) transportation funding program of the USDOT. For additional information contact Dan Lundeen at 713-652-2555. STATE ACT Sets Environmental Lobby Day The Alliance for a Clean Texas (ACT), a coalition of environmental and social justice organizations, is sponsoring an environmental lobby day on Monday, February 26th. Participants will travel to Austin to share their concerns and experiences with legislators. ACT will hold a training session on Sunday, February 25th from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at University Presbyterian Church in Austin to share information about the legislative process and how to deliver a compelling and targeted message to a legislator. Lobbying will begin on Monday morning. For more information, visit the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club’s website at www.sierraclub.org/chapters/tx/. Use TexAN to Contact Legislators on TNRCC Reform Bills The Texas Action Network (TexAN) allows citizens to fax directly to their state representatives and senators. The letter currently featured on the TexAN website urges legislators to support the TNRCC reform bills that have been filed so far. The program allows users to edit the letter as they please, and instantly figures out exactly who their legislators are. http://www.actionnetwork.org/campaign/tnrcc_reform?source=pisw ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION CEC Environmental News Update is a weekly publication by the Citizens' Environmental Coalition, a 501(c)3 dedicated to fostering dialogue, education and collaboration about environmental issues in the Houston-Gulf Coast Region. Visit the CEC online at www.cechouston.org. To subscribe or unsubscribe, or to suggest items for inclusion, send your request via e-mail to Sarah Doss at sarah@cechouston.org. |
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