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Environmental News Update 3/22/02 COALITION NOTES Learn to Communicate with Elected Officials On Tuesday, Marcy 26, the Rice Design Alliance (RDA) will host a workshop titled Constructing a Vision for Houston, Round III: Elected Officials. The event will address how Houston's citizens can most effectively communicate their perceptions and desires to elected officials, and how these officials can work to address the citizens' concerns. It will be held at Brown Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, 1001 Bissonnet at 7:30 pm. For more information, contact RDA at 713-348-4876. Birdathon Next Week The Houston Audubon Society (HAS) will host its Spring Birdathon 2002 on March 29 and 30. A birdathon is similar to a walkathon, but instead of counting miles, participants count the number of different species of birds they identify during a 24-hour period. Birders ask friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers to pledge a certain amount for each species that they see during the event. Those interested in participating are asked to form teams of from two to five birders, register with HAS, obtain pledges, and pick a site. Proceeds will benefit HAS. For more information, contact Liz Dear-Zivley at 281-997-3711. LOCAL Not to Late to Comment on Katy Freeway Expansion In response to all the comments the Houston Galveston Area Council (HGAC) is receiving regarding the Katy Freeway expansion, the vote on the transportation amendments has been postponed to April 26 instead of the originally planned March 22 HGAC Transportation Policy Council meeting. Written comments will be accepted until 5 pm on March 25. They can be sent to Mr. Rick Beverlin, Sr. Transportation Planner, HGAC, P.O. Box 22777, Houston, Texas 77227-2777 or rick.beverlin@hgac.cog.tx.us. Oral comments can be made at the Friday, April 26 Transportation Policy Council meeting at 9:30 am at HGAC offices, 3555 Timmons Lane. Dialogue: Racism The Center for Healing Racism will offer Dialogue: Racism, a ten-week class which provides a safe, respectful and loving atmosphere for individuals to learn new information, share their experiences, ask questions, dispel their fears, know each other, and stop the separation. The free classes will be held on Thursdays from April 4 to June 6 from 7 to 9 pm at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 5200 Fannin Street at Southmore, near the Texas Medical Center. Registration is required; call the Center for Healing Racism office at 713-520-8226 and leave name(s) and phone number(s) of person or people attending. Big Bad Business Day The Houston Global Awareness Collective is organizing several local activities around Big Bad Business Day, a national day of action to heighten awareness about the corporate power and our government. On April 5, there will be a press conference and rally outside Enron's global headquarters at Antioch Park at 1400 Smith and Clay Street. Green Party Attorney General candidate David Cobb will be a featured speaker. On April 6th at 10 am, there will be a rally outside the River Oaks Country Club. For more information, or if you want to get involved with the local planning and organizing, contact Scott Parkin at sparkin2002@yahoo.com or Hep Ingham at hingham@igc.apc.org Houston Selected for Bird Conservation Program Houston has been selected as one of three US cities that will pilot the Urban Conservation Treaty for Migratory Birds Program. The program will create a partnership between the City of Houston and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). USFWS will provide a challenge grant and technical assistance, and the City will develop and implement bird conservation projects, provide matching dollars and in-kind support, and develop community partnerships. The City is seeking input from local organizations to develop a draft action plan, and a meeting is schedule for March 25. For more information, call Gregory Paul at 713-845-1004. STATE Water Conference Scheduled The Texas Center for Policy Studies will host a conference on Community and Economic Benefits of Texas Rivers, Springs and Bays on Friday, April 12, at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. This conference is designed to explore the community and economic benefits of protecting Texas rivers, springs and bays. Participants will also discuss what legal and policy tools are, or should be, available to ensure that future generations will also enjoy those benefits. The conference runs from 8:30 am to 3 pm. The conference fee is $35, which includes lunch. For a complete agenda and additional information and reservations, contact Laura Brock, Texas Center for Policy Studies, at 512-474-0811 or lb@texascenter.org NATIONAL Trawling Along Gulf Coast Discouraged Bottom trawling, a widely used method of commercial fishing that involves dragging nets along the ocean floor, should be banned from areas with fragile marine habitat, according to a report released by the National Academy of Scientists. The document highlights several particularly delicate places, including areas along the Gulf, Pacific, and North Atlantic coasts and waters around Alaska. Trawling has been used for a long time soft, sandy ocean bottom. However, since the 1980s, some have equipped their nets with rollers that allow them to cover deep, uneven terrain, according to an LA Times report. This multilayered sea floor is most susceptible to long-term damage. A single pass of a trawl scrapes away cold-water coral, sponges, and various plants, and wipes out 68 percent of sea anemones and 21 percent of starfish, says the report. Multiple passes result in a 93 percent reduction in these bottom-dwelling creatures. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-000020106mar19.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dscience Houstonians Mobilize to Stop the War Houston activists are organizing a trip to the anti-war march and rally that will take place in Washington DC on Saturday, April 20th (A20). A bus will leave Houston on the evening of Thursday, April 18 and return to Houston by Sunday, April 21. Round trip seats are $99 per person; sponsorship for those who can't afford the full ticket price may be available. To sign up, help, or for more information, contact Maureen Haver at 281-424-7606 or Siobhan574@aol.com. For details on the rally, visit http://www.a20stopthewar.org. 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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