A Great Day In Sacramento April 12!
By Penny Sarvis
“I was inspired by the experience of meeting our representatives and elated with having been a part of such a knowledgeable and passionate group of activists.”
On Thursday, April 12, our partner Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch took our cause to the State Capitol. The Stop Clearcutting California Campaign is launching a series of visits, designed to find allies among the legislators and establish relationships that might yield new laws or changes in existing laws. The first day was a big success!
Our intrepid crew included 15 people. We visited 15 legislative offices, talking with aides about the clearcutting situation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and especially its impacts upon carbon emissions and climate change. We presented folders of information, complete with ground level and aerial photos of the devastation we see around us, and also photos of the beautiful, diverse forest that can be maintained through selective logging.
We did not know what to expect in this foray to the legislature. The people we spoke to ranged from not realizing clearcutting was happening to being quite aware and open to challenging the practice. Now it is up to us to pursue these relationships and determine our “ask” – the initial change we want to see happen and believe is achievable. We will be planning a series of visits with legislators and their aids in their Capitol and in-district offices. Let us know if you want to participate.
The legislators we met with include Assemblymembers Kevin Mullin, Kevin McCarty, Monique Limon, Evan Low, Susan Eggman, Al Muratsuchi, Cecilia Agular-Curry, David Chiu, Marc Berman, and Senators Mark Stone, Jerry Hill, Bill Monning, Jeff Stone, Jim Beall and Ben Hueso. If any of these are your representatives, it would be a big help to contact them to support our message of the need to stop clearcutting.
Penny Sarvis is a member of the Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch and participated in Lobby Day.