August 1999
A Word from the Chair
I was
sitting on my back patio with some friends enjoying a famed Texas sunset. It was
a refreshingly cool, breezy evening as the trees swayed with the wind and the
cicadas, crickets and frogs sang as if in a nature opera. We were commenting, as
I am sure you have, on how pleasant the summer has been; wet almost spring-like
instead of the usual exceedingly hot, dry ones we have grown accustomed to this
decade.
Suddenly, in our midst, yellow flashes of light zoomed by, then
another, and another, and another...until we were enveloped by a fire fly
frenzy. Lightning bugs, too many to count, were emerging into the night in such
a magical, unexpected way that we all instantly leaped from our chairs and began
to chase, catch and laugh, as if school children, until we had several in a
glass jar. One child had never seen lightning bugs and was wide-eyed with
wonderment asking: How do they do that? I had to think back many, many years
when I last saw so many lightening bugs and suspect the wet summer has something
to do with it. Ah, the many joys of summer. I hope you are having an enjoyable
one.
Summer will wane and the crispness of fall will soon arrive. The
Alamo Group has big plans this autumn season and hopes you participate. Please
join us on one of our fall day-hikes or weekend camp-outs as this is the best
time to experience Texas outdoors. A fall fundraiser is in the planning stages
and we need your advice. There will be several controversial conservation issue
this fall. 1st, the sales tax issue for an arena will jeopardize the future of
light rail in SA. Secondly, the Bastrop-Simsboro-CPS water scheme is very
questionable. Come learn about it as SAWS officials will present it to the Alamo
group at our August general meeting. Finally, Jerry Morrisey, Jim Stewart and
myself were guests on a 30-minute environmental program called Sacred Earth. It
will be shown the week of August 15th on cable channel 15 (the Catholic
channel). Look at your TV program listings for time and dates. Hope to see you
this fall or call an Executive Committee member.
David
Klar
CANOEING ON THE SAN
MARCOS
Outings are fewer during the summer months. There
is not much interest in hiking, and nobody wants to sweat in a tent all night,
but what we lack in quantity, we make up for in quality. Summer is the
opportunity to enjoy the water, and each summer month this year features such an
outing -- canoeing in June, tubing in July, and sail-boating in
August.
By all accounts, the canoeing trip on the San Marcos River in
June was a great success. Bill Rogers and Lee Dodge skillfully led a
larger-than-usual caravan of canoes, 17 in all, down this tree-lined and
sometimes tree-laden river. There were 22 of us paddlers in a mix of owned and
rented craft -- everything from solo canoes to long flat-water numbers that were
better suited for lake excursions.
Although it rained in San Antonio on
that day, it did not on our river trip, and those of us who got wet did so by
succumbing to the tricks of the currents. All 22 paddlers, however, a mix of
Sierra Club members and Rivermen members and assorted guests, made the trip
without injury and without loss of any major personal property. Afterwards, many
of the participants gathered at a San Marcos restaurant for dinner to talk about
the day and to share excuses for having tipped over.
At the most rocky
and treacherous point on the route, a few brave and well-experienced paddlers
rode through in their boats; most exercised discretion and lined their boats
through. My paddling partner and I decided to portage my 18.5 foot flat-water
canoe; we lined it down a dry part of an old dam, paddled across a stagnant
pond, and carried it across a gravel bar -- not pretty, but
effective.
When I was looking over the route we were to take to portage
my canoe, there was a local landowner sitting alone on a lawn chair in his shady
riverside lawn. I asked him if we could "carry across here". He said that we
could not pass the red stakes he had carefully placed at the limits of his lot.
It was clear that his sole purpose for sitting in his yard that afternoon was to
guard those stakes. I don't know how much he was enjoying his guard duty, but I
suspect we were having more fun than he.
Jim
Stewart
Rainwater Collection
At the
June 15th General Meeting, Pam and Harley Race, proprietors of Rainwater
Collection Over Texas (RCOT) in San Marcos explained the why and how of
rainwater collection in central Texas.
Some of the advantages of
rainwater collection as a sole water source are the high purity of the water,
greater personal control over your water supply and the necessity to develop a
water conservation ethic. In fact, low water use by homes dependent on rainwater
collections systems and the quality of design of the systems have allowed the
clients of RCOT to have their septic system requirements reduced by 50%. The
catchment surface and storage capacity of rainwater collection systems can be
adjusted for varied uses from landscape watering, to greenhouses, or to full
dependence on a collection system.
Rainwater collection systems can use
the roofs of homes or separate water collection barns can be built. The size of
the collection surfaces and the storage tanks can be adjusted to fit the water
needs of most families who are willing to use water wisely. Storage tanks can be
constructed with polyethylene, fiberglass, galvanized metal and concrete. The
tanks built with different materials differ with regard to size, durability,
beauty and price.
For potable water supplies metal collecting surfaces
are best. The best
methods to assure pure water are filtration, ozone
treatment and UV treatment. The water distribution system needs to periodically
flushed to remove sediments and any kind of organic buildup.
For a
ballpark range in prices, RCOT quotes include a gardening special with a 1600
gallon polyethylene tank for $995, a small potable system for 1-2 people with a
40'X40' water barn and 6,000 gallons of storage for $13,825, a medium potable
system for 2-3 people with a 40'X60' water barn and 10,000 gallons of storage
for $17,995.25, and a large potable system for 4-5 people with a 40'X80' water
barn and 20,000 gallons of storage for $23,995. Most of the potable systems are
installed in rural and suburban areas as an alternative to a well or to a
connection with a small, local water purveyor. Prices will vary with the quality
of materials used and with different companies.
Jerry
Morrisey
New Auto Pollution Standards
Proposed
A rugged bearded man standing in beautiful
mountain scenery is telling you that his company's sport utility vehicles
qualify as low emission vehicles. What he is not telling you is that he means
they are low emission vehicles by truck standards. Sport utility vehicles and
some minivans are classified as trucks and go by truck emission standards.
Trucks are allowed to emit three to five times the amount of pollution as cars
are. Trucks also get much lower gas mileage and the lower the mileage the
greater the carbon dioxide output per mile.
Back in the 1970's light
trucks were given relaxed treatment under federal laws. The technology of the
time made cleaning up emissions while hauling heavy load a challenge. Trucks
were primarily working vehicles that accounted for just 15 percent of the new
car market. Last year over 50 percent of the new passenger vehicles sold were
trucks, most of them used for daily passenger transportation. The top three
best-selling vehicles in 1998 were classified as light trucks.
The EPA
has issued a draft rule that will require lower emissions from all vehicles
under 8500 lbs. gross vehicle weight, narrowing the pollution gap between cars
and light trucks (SUVs, some minivans, pickups) and clean up gasoline by
reducing sulfur. This includes a fleet emissions average of below 0.07 grams per
mile of nitrogen oxides. This has created opposition from both oil companies and
carmakers. It has sparked a battle between the carmakers and the oil companies
as neither wants to be responsible for cleaning up emissions.
The light
truck market is a cash cow for the automobile manufacturers. Due to demand,
about 30 percent of the selling price of a truck is profit compared to 10
percent for a car. The manufacturers have a number of reasons to object to new
standards, but they all lead back to the big profits to be made on trucks. By
tightening the emissions loophole for trucks, the manufacturers would have to
sell hordes of small fuel-efficient four cylinder cars and trucks to make room
for sale of a few Suburbans, Expeditions, and Ram pickups. The manufacturers are
also bound by CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards. They must sell
enough high efficiency cars to balance the sales of trucks which get abysmal
mileage compared to a car. While cars and trucks by and large use the same
engines, it is feared that tighter pollution standards would reduce mileage and
negatively effect the number of trucks they could sell. The oil companies do not
want to upgrade refineries to produce low sulfur gasoline. It is a cost issue.
While the technology exists and many other countries already use low sulfur
gasoline, oil companies do not want to spend the money to upgrade their plants
in the U.S. Sulfur in gasoline contaminates the advanced catalysts on
low-emission vehicles, making them less effective. The automakers would like to
use advanced engine types that would deliver improved fuel economy and lower
pollution but cannot because the sulfur in gasoline will contaminate the
catalysts required by these engines.
Bill Rogers
LONE
RANGER FINDS FRIENDS
Government Canyon is the "park of the
future". Located on Loop 1604 and FM 471, the park is close to a major
metropolitan center providing urban green space, is ecologically and
historically significant, and its use will have limited impact on the
environment. Futhermore, it was purchased with a variety of public and private
resources, an example of new coalitions between different government levels and
citizens' organizations.
Diedre Hesler, the sole employee since 1996,
also depicts the new kind of park ranger. She is a product of the new
"Entrepreneurial Bridge System" to encourage park managers to find new funding
by allowing them to keep funds raised for tours, gift shops, and special
programs. She was glad to hire one intern for summer, and recently has been in
charge of prison inmates assigned to clear land and renovate historical
sites.
"I see myself as a choreographer of a dance, and the recent
volunteers as orchestral leaders in the dance connecting citizens with the
earth, wind, sky, and water (the recharge zone). Our purpose is twofold: (1) to
provide stress relief and recharge the soul and (2) to help protect the recharge
zone and water quality over the aquifer. "
"I wish to honor several
volunteer groups as well as individuals that have provided labor, identified
historical sites, counted various species, and contributed their
visions." The Audubon Society has identified the park as a
nesting place for 2 endangered species that are native to Texas: the Golden
Cheeked Warbler and the Black Capped Vireo. Fred Wills is working with a
biologist in a herpetoloy study. Master Naturalists have been active clearing
trails and organizing and planting native gardens. They hope to make the
environment more conducive to native species. Groups of spelunkers and bikers
have already been conquering the rough, challenging terrain. Included in their
agenda (Tx. Spelunkers Asso.) are work weekends. The Government Canyon Natural
History Association is working to gather enough money to stabilize and
rehabilitate the historic stage stop, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Foundation is trying to build an endowment. The park boasts of other historical
sites, such as the home of Jose Antonio Navarro, the only Mexican to sign the
Texas Declaration of Independence.
It appears the Texas Public Parks and
Wildlife Department might be endangered itself. With $37 million appropriated
this year, the park is not expected to open for another 3 years. This represents
more than a 50% decline in spending since 1983. Furthermore, why must we resort
to endowments?
Already there are backlogs of needed repairs, equipment,
and personnel. This problem is compounded by growing demand for green space and
population growth. More land has been acquired, but the park system seems to be
in dire straits, nevertheless, since the land is not developed in a systematic
manner.
We urge George W. Bush to follow the example of his brother, Jeb,
in Florida who has pushed hard for land acquisition and preservation. Texas
already spends less on parks than most of the other states; we are ranked 25th
among the 50 states in land acquisition for parks, even though Texas has more
land space. We spend only $3.51 per person to keep our parks open and operating
compared to the national average of $17.31.
Will volunteers be able to
provide enough labor, capital, and expertise to provide what most citizens
want... clean, refreshing, educational green spaces? Why can't we renovate the
parks and link them with education, so more school children could take field
trips?
Diedre is promoting an opportunity for many citizens to develop a
special relationship with the park. They will be called Land Stewards, and will
conduct tours concerning wildlife habitation and natural vegetation. Some of the
native species wildlife are the white tailed deer, native javalinas (as opposed
to the feral hog), cottontail rabbits, bobcats, and porcupines.
If you
have questions or comments, contact Diedre at
Government Canyon
12861
Galm Rd.
San Antonio, TX. or
FAX 688-9060
Gloria Kay
Hymel
EXHIBITION: Photographs of Big Bend National
Park
by Sierra Club member, Kim Smith August 3 to September 29,
1999
Blue Star Brewing Co.
1414 South Alamo
San Antonio,
TX
(210)212-5506
The Alamo Group is on
TV
Representatives of the Alamo Group of the Sierra Club are
guests on Sister Susan's "Sacred Earth" program this month. Dave Klar, Jerry
Morrisey and Jim Stewart discussed issues and activities in a recent taped
interview. The program will air on cable channel 15 (CTSA): August 16, 20, and
21. See your TV guide for times.
General Meeting: 7:15 P.M.,
3rd Tuesday each month
Please come and enjoy camaraderie,
drinks and snacks at our monthly meetings.
August 17, 7:15 PM San Antonio
Water Systems, Susan Butler from SAWS will discuss water plans for the future
including the SAWS/Alcoa contract.
September 21, 7:15 PM Kay Sutherland
of St. Edwards University will present a slide talk on the pictographs at Hueco
Tanks State Park.
Meeting Dates and
Locations
General Meeting: 7:15 P.M., 3rd Tuesday each
month
Executive Meeting: 1st Monday, September 6 at 7 P.M.. Call David Klar
at 495-2148
Newsletter Mail Party: 2nd Monday, September 13 at 7 P.M.. Call
Jim Stewart at 692-0727 for location
Outings Committee: Every 2 months, 2nd
Tuesday, September 14 at 7 P.M.. Call Jim Stewart at 692-0727
Conservation
Committee: 4th Thursday, August 26 at 7 P.M.. Call Jerry Morrisey at
497-5470