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Conservation IssuesBorder — Protect Arizona’s sensitive borderlands and wildlifeBorder traffic and Border Patrol activities attempting to deter undocumented immigration have resulted in severe damage to fragile lands along the entire border. Rare and unique species such as the Sonoran pronghorn, jaguar, ocelot, and many other species that inhabit the border region are threatened by these actions. Protecting these species and other wildlife encompasses a key Grand Canyon Chapter priority. To learn more about this issue and what you can do to help, Visit the Border page Energy — Promote energy efficiency and the production and use of renewable energyThe main focus of the Grand Canyon Chapter’s energy work is to encourage the use of renewable energy resources and promote additional energy efficiency and conservation to reduce global warming and greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental degradation related to reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Our goals are to ensure that the Arizona Corporation Commission effectively and expeditiously implements the Renewable Energy Standard and that it requires more investment in energy efficiency; support environmentally friendly energy legislation; support and encourage cities that have signed up for the Sierra Club Cool Cities program and work to persuade additional cities, tribes, or other entities to adopt energy conservation and renewable measures; and monitor proposed electric transmission lines and utility corridors to ensure they to do not affect wildlands and sensitive areas. Help Promote a Clean Energy Future for Arizona. Support Energy Efficiency! Please write today and tell the Arizona Corporation Commission you support increasing energy efficiency programs. Download APS Efficiency Report (125 KB pdf) Arizona Energy Efficiency ProjectFor more information on the groups, this project, and what you can do to help improve energy efficiency in our state, download the Arizona Energy Efficiency Project brochure (1.3 MB pdf). Sierra Club,
Energy Efficiency and
Arizona’s Energy Future Energy Fact Sheet (160 KB pdf) Cool Cities (Arizona Page of National Cool Cities website) Grand Canyon — Restore and protect Grand Canyon & the greater Grand Canyon ecoregion.The Greater Grand Canyon Ecoregion encompasses a diverse, wild, and remote landscape that includes two national monuments, two national forests, numerous wilderness areas, and the crown jewel of our national park system: Grand Canyon National Park. This project works for healthier public lands in the region to ensure a resilient habitat for the diverse species that inhabit these lands; world-class recreational opportunities for visitors; and adequate resources for surrounding communities.
Public Lands — Protect Arizona's public lands including parks, wildlife refuges and monuments.Many of Arizona’s public lands will appear on anyone’s list of favorite places in Arizona. From Grand Canyon National Park in the north to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in the south, from the Blue Range Primitive Area in the east to the Eagletail Wilderness in the west, Arizona is blessed with approximately 30.5 million acres of federal public lands. These special areas include a variety of landscapes, plants, wildlife, geology, archaeology and history, as well as recreational opportunities. The focus of our public lands work is to defend and protect these public lands including the five Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Monuments in Arizona — Ironwood Forest, Sonoran Desert, Agua Fria, Grand Canyon-Parashant, and Vermilion Cliffs, and our key wildlife refuges and national parks. We seek to ensure that the natural, cultural, and archaeological values of these areas are protected from grazing, off-road vehicle use, and other damaging activities. Public Lands Fact Sheet (1.5 MB pdf)
Water — Protect Arizona’s water resources and disappearing riparian areas.Thirty years ago when Congress passed the Clean Water Act, it set the goal of making all of our nation’s waters safe for fishing and swimming and to advance the ultimate goal of “restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's surface waters.” While there have been many successes and improvements since passage of this landmark legislation, we still have much to do, including to ensure that the Clean Water Act protections continue to apply to Arizona’s intermittent and ephemeral waters – approximately 95 percent of all of Arizona’s rivers and streams. This will include working to pass the Clean Water Restoration Act in Congress. It also includes engaging in the Triennial Review of Surface Water Quality Standards and promoting a solid impaired waters rule to ensure more protective standards and timely clean up of impaired water bodies. We have nominated Fossil Creek, a stream that feeds into the Verde River, as an Outstanding Arizona Water, a designation that will help protect its water quality. Our Upper Verde River Water Sentinels program is seeking to find out more about the river’s water quality and inform and engage about the water quality threats. This program presents a great opportunity to get your feet wet and your hands dirty, plus help out a critical river. Water Sentinels Wildlife — Protect Arizona’s native wildlife with special emphasis on sensitive, threatened and endangered species.The Sierra Club seeks to protect Arizona’s native wildlife with special emphasis on sensitive, threatened and endangered species. A total of 55 federally listed endangered or threatened species – 38 animals and 17 plants – call our state home, making Arizona one of the top 10 states with regards to the number of species on the path to extinction. As habitat is degraded or destroyed via development, roads, water diversions, overgrazing of livestock, and agriculture, among other things, many species are negatively affected and their populations decline. To begin to address this issue, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973. The intent of this act is “to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved” and “to provide a program for the conservation of [such] species.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is responsible for the protection and recovery of these threatened and endangered species. While the ESA provides a lifeline for species, without a concerted effort to protect habitat and to eliminate the factors that promote species endangerment, these plants and animals are destined to have a precarious future, and many will face extinction. Wildlife Fact Sheet (128 KB pdf) |
Climate Recovery 101Have fun testing your knowledge of and learning about global warming and climate recovery. This quiz will help clarify and reinforce facts about climate change. It gives clear suggestions of ways we can truly stop damaging our planet’s climate and, perhaps, recover from damage already done.
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