On Saturday, October 31st, the Greater Baltimore Group of the Sierra Club will sponsor a workshop for citizen volunteers who want to improve erosion and sediment control on construction sites. The workshop will teach volunteers how to evaluate the quality of erosion and sediment control measures on construction sites. Volunteers will be asked to evaluate a site or two on their own or in cooperation with another workshop participant. Volunteers will learn how to encourage development companies and enforcement agencies to improve control.

A recent State study found that only
50 percent of all Baltimore County construction sites fully comply with mud pollution control. Run-off from a single construction site can damage three miles of stream or other waterways with recovery taking up to a century. Over the next 20 years nearly a 1000 construction sites will be developed in Baltimore County. The goal of the workshop is to improve compliance by increasing the level of public awareness and support for effective pollution control enforcement.

Advance registration is not necessary and the workshop is offered free of charge. Participants should dress for walking in muddy areas. For further information,
call Erica Parker at 410-661-7484.

The workshop will be held at the Bowleys Quarters Improvement Association Hall on Bowleys Quarters Road. Please come to the back of the building and observe the entrance and exit directions.

Call for Nominations for Maryland Chapter Executive Committee

The Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club is seeking committed, concerned environmental activists to run for one of the three at-large Excom positions open in 1999. You may nominate yourself. Send a letter asking to be nominated along with a 200-300 word statement about your experience and why you want to run for the Chapter Excom.

Send the nomination letter and
accompanying statement:

Deadline: December 10th. Ballots will appear in the January/February issue of The Chesapeake.

On the Festival Circuit

The Greater Baltimore Group Takes the Sierra Message to the People

The Sierra Club is a national environmental organization with a slight identity crisis. Many Americans, Sierra Club members or otherwise, know of the club's battles in Congress to stop anti-environmental legislation from the Republican controlled Congress. But many people, including Maryland club members, are unaware of the efforts by local groups, such as the Greater Baltimore group.

In an effort to gain more recognition for the Maryland Chapter and the Greater Baltimore group in the Baltimore area, volunteers from our group participate in local community festivals like the Perry Hall Festival.

Once our table is set up, members of the community can come by to ask questions of group members who volunteer their time to work the table. A good number of people discover that the Sierra Club in Maryland shares one of their interests. Some of the Festival visitors begin to attend monthly conservation meetings to learn more about the club's fight for issues specific issues. festival participation is a great way to familiarize people with us and to recruit volunteers.

Greater Baltimore Group New & Prospective Member Orientation

Anyone, Sierra Club member or not, who is interested in the Sierra Club, conservation and outing activities, or who just wants to ask some questions is invited to the Greater Baltimore Groups New & Prospective Member orientation on Thursday, November 12th at the Oregon Ridge Nature Center. For directions, call 410-887-1851. For more information about the Sierra Club call 410-661-7484.