What's Inside? - Sierra Club â Ohio Chapter

Sierra 

Club News 

November-December 2006 

NORTHEAST OHIO GROUP 

http://ohio.sierraclub.org/northeast/ 

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” 

John Muir, Founder of Sierra Club 

See You at the 

General Program 

Enjoy an interesting presentation and meet fellow Club members 

at the NEO Group’s periodic gatherings for members and the 

general public. 

Annual Member Slide Show 

December 27, 7:30 pm 

Rocky River Nature Center 

24000 Valley Parkway 

Rocky River Reservation 

North Olmsted 

For current updates, call the NEO Sierra Club 

phone: 440-843-7272. Press 1 for Member Meetings, 2 

for Conservation Alerts, and 3 for Outings. 

What’s 

Inside 

440-843-7272 

Once again it’s time for our annual show! This is a 

must-see for all armchair travelers. Sierra members will 

present slides and regale us with tales of their adventures 

from all corners of the globe. In past years, presentations 

have included ocean kayaking, bicycling in 

Australia and hiking the Appalacian Trail. if you would 

like to present something, you MUST call Loren Gordon, 

216-321-9263. 

• Ohio’s Nature Sanctuaries......................1 

• Climate Change & Biodiversity......3 

• Activists’ Corner.........................3 

• Meetings Calendar.................4 

• Ohio Sierran...... Center insert 

• Outings.....................................5 

• Book Review............................5 

• NEO Directory.........................6 

• NEO ExCom Ballot.................6 

Ohio’s Nature Sanctuaries, 

Vanishing Butterflies and 

Devious Mussels 

Highlights from the Conservation 

Symposium at the Cleveland Museum of 

Natural History 

September 7-9; Co-sponsored by the 

Northeast Ohio Sierra Club 

By Linda Sekura 

During what may have been the Museum’s best Conservation 

Symposium thus far, attendees chose among 

twelve field trips to some of Ohio’s most endangered 

natural habitats and special areas. 

One of the best, Singer Lake Bog in Summit County, 

covers 344 acres. It has tamarack, floating sphagnum 

mats you can bounce on, and plants that eat insects, 

such as pitcher plant and sundew. At Singer, you can 

find 41 rare plants and 78 types of dragonflies and damselflies, 

and the only known Ohio population of the 

two-lined powder moth, a bog species that depends on 

cranberry in the caterpillar stage. An anhinga (a large 

southeastern U.S. bird that swims underwater to catch 

fish) was spotted there in July, the only Ohio sighting 

since 1885. 

At another site, the North Kingsville Sand Barrens in 

Ashtabula County, the two keynote speakers, John Himmelman 

and David Wagner, started identifying crickets, 

katydids, caterpillars, beetles, and ant mimics so fast 

we didn’t know which way to turn. The Sand Barrens 

are fossil sand dunes, actually old Lake Erie beaches 

that are about half a mile inland from current Lake Erie, 

with sands that were deposited over 12,000 years ago. 

This is rare habitat to support rare species such as wild 

lupine. 

Oak Openings, southwest of Toledo, is another old 

Lake Erie beach. The sand dunes there have cryptogamic 

crusts, which are crunchy surfaces of silica-laden 

algae (diatoms) and lichens, with entire communities of 

organisms underground, such as bacteria and spring- 

Continued on page 2 

Sierra Club News - November/December, 2006 - page

Butterflies and Mussels 

Continued from page 1 

tails, living in pockets between the sand grains and surviving 

on minute bits of water between the grains. 

Back at the museum, fourteen expert biologists and 

researchers talked about how to co-exist with black 

bears in Ohio (currently estimated at 50-100), which 

critters live in crayfish burrows (one of our Ohio rattlesnakes, 

the Massasauga, overwinters), the 15 million 

trees already killed by the Emerald Ash Borer, fish-terrorizing 

mussels, and much more. 

Freshwater mussels can be good stream health indicators. 

But, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, mussels are the most endangered group of 

North American animals being monitored. Many of 

Ohio’s mussel species are in trouble, with at least 6 species 

listed as endangered. Tom Watters of OSU shared 

some mussels’ bizarre strategies for raising their young 

in North American streams. In general, a female mussel 

holds her eggs until the larvae (glochidia) grow, then 

blasts out a cloud of several hundred thousand of these 

glochidia which look like little clawed Pac-men. These 

latch onto gills of host fish, traveling along, parasiting 

the fish, until the glochidia metamorphosize into mussels 

and fall to the bottom to dig in. Female mussels 

have ways of attracting fish with fake lures formed from 

their tissues, but the most interesting one puffs its tissues 

in and out of its shell until a curious fish comes to 

take a closer look. The mussel seizes the fish’s face up to 

the gills with sharp barbs and blasts its glochidia clouds 

over and over. Half of the fish are killed in the process. 

One 2-inch-long mussel shoots out a “snot-rope” 9 feet 

long with a lure at the end. Another mussel deposits 

glochidia in maggot-looking structures for fish to feed 

on. Mussels are sneakier and meaner than they look. 

And many mussels outlive humans. Some are over 200 

years old. 

Travis Hartman of ODNR tells us that near-shore vegetation 

is slowly returning to western and central Lake 

Erie, possibly allowing our once-threatened Northern 

Pike and Muskies to spawn. These two fish should become 

important top predators in Lake Erie food webs, 

and bring more diverse opportunities for anglers. 

West Virginia White butterfly populations are declining 

in Ohio, according to Leslie Angel of The Ohio Lepidopterists. 

Garlic mustard, one of Ohio’s most notorious 

invasive plants, is being mistaken by the WV White for 

its host plant, toothwort. When caterpillars hatch from 

eggs laid on garlic mustard, they eat the leaves and die. 

The Museum is actively removing stands of garlic mustard 

from its properties, and creating literature to get 

help from Ohioans in eradicating it. 

According to David Wagner of the University of Connecticut, 

one of the keynote speakers, over one-fourth of 

his state’s butterflies are declining in population, statelisted, 

or completely extirpated. The culprits are mainly 

habitat loss, deer-browse, and invasive species, along 


Host for the 

Eastside meetings of the 

Northeast Ohio Sierra Club 

2600 South Park Boulevard 

Cleveland, Ohio 44120-1699 

of the beautiful 33,000 acre 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park 

sits the most unique outdoor retail store in the U.S. 

Appalachian Outfitters/Kendall Cliffs 

Programs for adults and families. 

Please join us for these events. 

Lakes and Streams in Winter 

Nature Walk, Saturday, Nov. 11, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. 

Find out what happens to fish and macroinvertebrates that live in the Doan Brook 

and the Shaker Lakes as the water gets colder. 

What if the Freeway Had Gone Through (Adults) 

Thursday, Nov. 16, 7:30 - 9 p.m. 

Panel members Sabine Kretzschmar, Executive Director of the Shaker Historical 

Society; Terry Schwarz, Senior Planner of the Urban Design Collaborative; and Randy 

Rutledge, local developer, will share their unique perspective on the freeway plan of 

1966. Find out what might have happened had the freeway plan been successful. 

Environmental Town Hall Brown Bag Lunch Series (Adults) 

A Two-Part Focus on Energy 

Tuesday, Dec. 5, Noon – 1 p.m. 

Enjoy a film that captures the state of energy consumption in the U.S. Learn how to 

save hundreds of dollars annually on energy bills. 

Call 321-5935 for reservations and information. 

There you’ll find: 

• The largest display of canoes, kayaks and tents in Ohio 

• Clothing, hiking boots and backpacks from all the major manufacturers 

and you can: 

• watch or join the climbers scaling the 35 foot walls of Ohio’s only 

professionally built rock climbing gym 

and BEST OF ALL: 

• talk to a sales staff who rock climb, kayak, canoe and backpack 

We’re more than just a retail store! 

60 Kendall Park Rd, Peninsula, Ohio 

330.655.5444 

2719 Fulton Dr. NW, Canton, Ohio 

330.452.6323 

www.appalachianoutfitters.com 

Adventure Gear Since 1988 


Climate Change 

and Biodiversity 

By Michael Melampy 

If you have seen an Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s 

documentary about global warming, you are probably 

convinced that climate change is at least something that 

we should be worried about and more likely something 

that must be addressed sooner rather than later. Gore’s 

film did an excellent job of outlining the process of climate 

change and its likely consequences. However, the 

film was short on specifics concerning the impact on 

biodiversity. Polar bears are going to be in trouble, but 

they represent only the tip of the metaphorical melting 

iceberg. 

A number of studies published over the last decade, 

especially by entomologists, have shown shifts in species 

ranges that seem to reflect the impact of global 

warming. An article published in the journal Trends in 


Are You In Our 

E-mail Database 

If you would like to receive one e-mail per month 

regarding local Sierra Club events, send your e-mail address 

to Todd Rambasek, trambasek@cox.net. 

The Activists’ Corner 

To identify your state and federal elected officials 

Visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code 

To reach U.S. Senators and Representatives 

U.S. Capitol switchboard: 1-202-224-3121 

U.S. Senate 

To reach State Senators 

Washington, DC 20510 

Ohio Statehouse 

www.senate.gov 

Columbus, OH 43215 

U.S. House of Representatives To reach State 


Representatives 

www.house.gov 

Ohio House of 

To reach the White House 

Representatives 

President George W. Bush 77 South High Street 

The White House 

Columbus, OH 43266-0603 

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. To reach the Governor 


Gov. Bob Taft 

202-456-1414 

77 South High Street 

president@whitehouse.gov 30th Floor, Riffe Center 

Columbus, OH 43266-0601 

614-466-3555 

For updates on Sierra Club legislative priorities 

Call 202-675-2394 or log on to www.sierraclub.org 

Activist Calling Instructions: For those new to 

calling state or federal representatives, it’s easier and 

less confrontational than it sounds. You will never 

speak directly with your rep or senator – an aide 

will answer the phone, take brief notes plus your 

name and city (sometimes), and that’s it. 

When calling either state or federal government 

offices, you will not need to go into detail or defend 

your position. No one will ever argue with you. 

They may ask questions to clarify what issue you 

support or don’t support. But it’s usually as simple 

as saying: “Please let my rep know that I want him/ 

her to support Bill number XX” (if there is a number), 

or “green building standards in schools”, or 

“more renewable energy”; or “I do not want the US 

to drill for oil in ANWR!” The staff taking the calls 

are there to receive your information and forward 

it on or to provide information you request. They 

will not question what you support or your beliefs. 

You will never know if they personally do not agree 

with you. 

One phone call is a lot more important than 

you may think! A long-time aide in Washington 

explained that, if a congress person receives many 

calls at their office, the aide will actually call the 

congress person on their cell phone, even if they’re 

on the floor of the Capitol, debating. When asked, 

“How many is a lot” her response was, “About 20.” 

Your one call can make a difference. 


January/February 

Newsletter Deadline: 

Friday, December 1 

Please email submissions as text in the email or in a 

Word document to the editor Krysia Orlowski at krysia_orlowski@hotmail.com 

or phone 216-921-2425 for a 

mailing address. Submissions may be edited for clarity, 

length, and style. Keep them short (between 200 to 400 

words). Graphics are encouraged. Ideas and feedback 

are welcome. 

Items received after the December 1 deadline will be 

considered for the March/April newsletter issue. 



Ecology and Evolution (August 2006) by Thomas, Franco 

and Hill notes that butterfly ranges are retreating uphill 

in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains of central 

Spain. The retreat corresponds with a 1.3 o C increase 

in average temperatures over the past 35 years. As the 

butterflies retreat, their areas of distribution become 

increasingly restricted as higher elevation peaks offer 

less land area with appropriate temperatures and host 

plants. Although more data are needed to document 

the rate at which geographic ranges are decreasing, continued 

warming could shrink ranges to the point where 

populations and species become extinct. Population 

level extinctions of the Edith’s checkerspot butterfly due 

to range shrinkage have already been documented in 

California. 

Another group of organisms that is undergoing global 

decline suggestive of the impact of climate change 

is the amphibians, particularly frogs. In tropical Latin 

America, more than 67 species of harlequin frogs (genus 

Atelopus) are presumed extinct according to Thomas 

et al. These were common and widespread species 

found throughout the mountains of Central and South 

America as recently as 20 years ago. Research indicates 

that warming night-time temperatures and lowered 

maximum daytime temperatures (due to increased 

cloudiness) have created ideal conditions for the spread 

of pathogenic fungi that attack and kill the frogs. 

While butterflies and frogs may not grab out attention 

the way polar bears do, ecologically they may be 

more important than bears. Adult butterflies pollinate 

a large variety of plants and their larvae are important 

herbivores. As they go extinct, plant distributions and 

abundances are likely to change in unpredictable and 

often undesirable ways. Likewise, frogs play impor- 

Meetings Calendar 

November 1, Wed 7:00 pm – Conservation Committee 

and Executive Committee (1 st Wednesday) at 

Church of the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Ave. All welcome. 

Note that we are combining the two meetings into one, 

and the new meeting time is one half hour earlier than 

usual. For Conservation Committee, call Dennis Plank 

216-939-8229. For Executive Committee, call Tom Pirko 

440-256-9242 or Bob Greenbaum 216-382-4321. 

November 15, Wed 6pm – Inner City Outings (3 rd 

Wednesday) at the Parma Snow Branch Library, 2121 

Snow Road. Call Jim Soeder for possible meeting changes 

216-883-1008. 

November 19, Rainforest Committee (3 rd Sunday). 

Call Michael Melampy, 440-826-2263, for time and place. 

November 21, Population-Environment Committee 

(3 rd Tuesday). Call Alan Kuper for time and location 216- 

229-2413. 

December 6, Wed 7:00 pm – Conservation Committee 

and Executive Committee (1 st Wednesday) at 

Church of the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Ave. All welcome. 

Note that we are combining the two meetings into one, 

and the new meeting time is one half hour earlier than 

usual. For Conservation Committee, call Dennis Plank 

216-939-8229. For Executive Committee, call Tom Pirko 

440-256-9242 or Bob Greenbaum 216-382-4321. 

December 17, Rainforest Committee (3 rd Sunday). 

Call Michael Melampy, 440-826-2263, for time and place. 

December 19, Population-Environment Committee 

(3 rd Tuesday). Call Alan Kuper for time and location 216- 

229-2413. 

December 20, Wed 6pm – Inner City Outings (3 rd 



216-883-1008. 

January 3, Wed 7:00 pm – Conservation Committee 

and Executive Committee (1 st Wednesday) at Church of 

the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Ave. All welcome. Note that 

we are combining the two meetings into one, and the 

new meeting time is one half hour earlier than usual. 

For Conservation Committee, call Dennis Plank 216-939- 

8229. For Executive Committee, call Tom Pirko 440-256- 

9242 or Bob Greenbaum 216-382-4321. 

January 17, Wed 6pm – Inner City Outings (3 rd 



216-883-1008. 



NEO Outings 

NEO group outings are led by volunteer members 

who enjoy meeting other members, walking the earth, 

and finding inspiration to help protect it. Local outings 

have a lot of support from the national Sierra Club, and 

a newsletter and Handbook for Leaders exist to help 

organize outings. If you are interested in participating 

as an outings leader, please contact Dennis Plank at 216- 

929-8229 or dennislakeerie@aol.com. 

There are no planned NEO outings at this time. 

Area Events 

Celebration of Lights: Saturday, Dec. 9, 6 to 8 p.m. , Nature 

Center at Shaker Lakes Guides lead walks along the 

Stearns Trail and stop at various stations to illustrate how people 

from all around the world use lights in their cultural and 

religious traditions during the darkest days of the year. Cider 

and cookies are served after each tour. Advanced registration 

required and timed tickets will be given; tours last approximately 

40 minutes. Cost is $5 for members, $10 for non-members 

and free for children 2 years old and younger. Call (216) 

321-5935 for more information or to register. 

Nature Walks at the Nature Center: Saturdays, 3:30 - 4:30 

p.m., Nature Center at Shaker Lakes Meet at the front door 

to the exhibit area each Saturday for a walk around our trails 

led by the weekend naturalist. Free. For a Nature Walk Schedule, 

call (216) 321-5935, or visit www.shakerlakes.org. 

Environmental Town Hall Brown Bag Lunch Series 

(Adults), Nature Center at Shaker Lakes A forum on topical 

environmental issues. Each session will include a presentation 

and discussion periods. Free and open to the public. Call (216) 

321-5935, or visit www.shakerlakes.org for details. 

Book Review 

A Light at the End of the 

Tunnel 

by Laurel Hopwood, 

Co-Chair, NEO Sierra Club Environment Justice Committee 

Is there light at the end of the tunnel Harvey Wasserman 

believes there is. Read his book “Solartopia! 

Our Green-Powered Earth A.D.2030” and you will too. 

Wasserman coins “King C.O.N.G. - Coal, Oil, Nukes, 

and Gas” as the energy giants whose PR machines spin 

renewables to be expensive and unnecessary. 

Yet to the surprise of many, the nonpolluting, renewables 

can be a cash cow. These include, in Wasserman’s 

terms, the “Green power trinity,” an alchemical mix of 

hydrogen, biofuels (from switchgrass and hemp), and 

solar/wind-powered electricity. 

Germany hosted the world’s premier commercial 

hydrogen refueling station. Denmark’s grassroot ownership 

of the wind energy opened the road for communities 

to be free of fossil/nuke domination. Germany, 

Japan, and Israel “took the gold” with photovoltaics. 

Bowling Green opened Ohio to towering wind turbines. 

More and more communities and farmers are 

hopping on the bandwagon of community-based energy 

development. 

In Wasserman’s vision of Solartopia, 2030, fifty million 

lawns are organic gardens, producing food and 

flowers. Wind farms dot the high ridges of mountains. 

Here in Ohio, wind farms grace the shoreline. 

Wasserman writes, “Nothing on Earth is manufactured 

that cannot be totally recycled or composted.” He 

envisions that by 2030, “we all breathe deep, thankful 

breaths for the tens of thousands of turbines that are 

owned by farmers and small landowners, community 

cooperatives and municipal electric companies.” 

Wasserman’s optimism blends with realism. “To bust 

through the triple marriage of monopolized energy, 

economic domination and dictatorial power, pioneer 

Solartopians knew they had to merge the movements for 

financial solvency with those for ecological survival, political 

freedom and social justice… We’re not there yet, 

but soon…” 

Wasserman’s book is written in simple terms. This 

author/activist believes that a Ph.D. isn’t required to understand 

what some fear are complicated issues. What 

IS required is the openness to have hope in the midst of 

stormy times. 



tant roles as insect predators; their absence will have 

an impact on insect abundance. By allowing climate 

change to continue, we are conducting uncontrolled ecological 

experiments on a massive scale. Fundamental 

ecosystem services, such as nutrient cycling and crop 

pollinaton, could easily be disrupted to the point that 

our agricultural productivity declines. Prudence would 

dictate that we heed Al Gore’s warning and take prompt 

action to reduce human activities that contribute to climate 

change. 


Executive Committee 

Tom Pirko, Chair 440-256-9242 tap78@adelphia.net 

Bob Greenbaum, Vice-Chair 216-382-4321 bombhumbug@adelphia.net 

David Dvorak, Secretary 216-932-3517 dfd@clevelandmetroparks.com 

Philip Crume 216-269-6064 pc03scn@hotmail.com 

Krysia Orlowski 216-921-2425 krysia_orlowski@hotmail.com 

Dennis Plank 216-939-8229 dennislakeerie@aol.com 

Treasurer 

Glenn Campbell 216-221-8091 campbellglenn@sbcglobal.net 

Conservation Committee 

Dennis Plank, Chair 216-939-8229 dennislakeerie@aol.com 

David Dvorak, Secretary 216-932-3517 dfd@clevelandmetroparks.com 

Energy Issues 

Tom Pirko 440-256-9242 tap78@adelphia.net 

Human Rights & Environment 

Laurel Hopwood, Co-Chair 216-371-9779 lhopwood@adelphia.net 

Dennis Plank, Co-Chair 216-939-8229 dennislakeerie@aol.com 

Food Issues 

Sierra Club 

Northeast Ohio Group 

Phone: 440-843-7272 

Forest Issues 

Jodie Crawford 216-476-0442 elvira3113@yahoo.com 

Great Lakes Water Quality/Wetlands Issues 

Dennis Plank 216-939-8229 dennislakeerie@aol.com 

Human Health & Environment Issues 

Laurel Hopwood 216-371-9779 lhopwood@adelphia.net 

Population-Environment Issues 

Alan Kuper 216-229-2413 alankuper@earthlink.net 

Rainforest Issues 

Michael Melampy 440-826-2263 mmelampy@bw.edu 

Chapter Representative 

Dennis Plank, Chair 216-939-8229 dennislakeerie@aol.com 

Inner City Outings 

Rita Yusko 440-237-8343 ritayusko@aol.com 

Membership 

Fred Oswald, Chair 440-843-7272 fredoswald@yahoo.com 

Outings 


Political Issues 


Programs & Events 

Bob Greenbaum 216-382-4321 bombhumbug@adelphia.net 

Speakers’ Bureau 440-843-7272 

Website 

Mark Smith 440-347-0450 mesmith513@sbcglobal.net 

Executive Committee 

Election 2006 

The following are statements of candidates for election 

to the NEO Group Executive Committee. The 

Executive Committee (ExCom) is responsible for the 

management of the affairs and activities of the Sierra 

Club NEO Group. Eleven members elected by the local 

membership serve for a two-year term. 

Please complete the ballot on the following page. Use 

the column appropriate to your membership eligibility 

(single or joint). 

Philip Crume 

As a member the Sierra Club for 5 years, I have been actively 

involved leadership roles as a member and former Chair 

of the Executive of Committee, Chair of the Communications 

Committee, webmaster, member of the Political Committee, 

and Group Representative to the Ohio Chapter Executive, 

Conservation, and Political Committees; and volunteer roles. 

I have helped our group and chapter focus on the big-picture 

and long-term improvements in not only our organization but 

in the movement as a whole. 

The greatest problem that we must/shall overcome is unsustainability: 

consuming natural materials but not inputting 

any energy back into the system to reuse them (re-source). 

This problem is responsible for 90% of our environmental issues 

including energy viability, all forms of pollution, climate 

change, deforestation, mass extinctions/loss of biodiversity, 

maltreatment of indigenous peoples, and more. If we can resolve 

the sustainability issue, we can preserve our natural and 

economic wealth, and live healthier, more spiritually-centered 

lives. 

David Dvorak 

I have been a member of Sierra Club for over 20 years 

and a NEO Sierra Club Executive Committee Member for 2 

years. Since I was in elementary school, I have been writing 

letters on environmental matters to government officials. As 

a naturalist educator over a 30 year career I have promoted 

environmentally sensitive land stewardship. I have been a 

leader in tall grass prairie and oak/hickory forest restoration. 

Currently I have been working on establishing Dike 14 as a 

nature preserve, supporting candidates with sound environmental 

ratings from the LCV, and working on issues with the 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park concerning the leasing of park 

land for small for profit farms, which I oppose as a bad precedent 

for national park lands and misuse of land purchased 

from farmers to protect the natural integrity of the Cuyahoga 

Valley. 

Newsletter 

Krysia Orlowski, Editor 216-921-2425 krysia_orlowski@hotmail.com 

Carol Lewanski, Advertising 216-261-0307 

Tom Rask, Artist 216-321-8006 tmr2@case.edu 

Steve Gove 

I have been married to Maryann for 33 years and have a 

son Christopher and a daughter Michelle. I recently retired as 

animal keeper for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. My main 



hobby is sailing, and I work part time at my marina. I am Vice 

President of the North Royalton Kiwanis Club as well as its 

conservation committee chairman. I was recently elected a 

North Royalton Ward 3 precinct committeeman. I have been a 

Sierra Club member for 7 years. I believe increased membership, 

particularly of those who will become involved in at least 

one project a year, would be my top priority and I believe all 

other Sierra Club goals would be accomplished proportional 

to increased and active membership. The Cleveland area can 

be a litmus test of our Club’s goals and policies as we move 

further in to the 21 st century. Larger membership numbers 

and teamwork will be the keys. 

Jane Halbedel 

Following up on the Blue-Green Alliance formation, my 

participation at the United Steelworkers of America training 

in Pittsburgh as a NEO Ohio Sierra Club Representative has 

heightened my awareness of egregious environmental issues, 

and should there be a major campaign on Mittal Steel, I would 

definitely dedicate my talents to that effort. I am most willing 

to write articles for the Sierra Club Newsletter, in addition to 

other publications appropriate for my writing. I would also 

be willing to research issues that are being considered for 

potential campaigns. I am interested in campaigns to foster 

environmental awareness among today’s children using the 

arts, if they are properly and substantially funded. I believe 

that Earth Day is appropriate to sponsor and is a good place 

to distribute a teacher’s manual and teaching applications. I 

love attending workshops and symposia, and enjoy writing 

synopses to elevate the awareness of the general public. I look 

forward to contributing my talents to the Sierra Club. 

Dennis Plank 

With your help and with your vote I am running again 

for the Sierra Club NEO Executive Committee. I am asking 

for your help and vote because only together we can solve 

important environmental problems. Sierra Club members 

have the right stuff to get the job done. A member since 1988, 

I have worked and met the goals of the Sierra Club (to explore, 

enjoy, and protect the wild places of the Earth; to practice and 

promote the responsible use of the Earth’s ecosystems and resources; 

to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore 

the quality of the natural and human environment). In the 

past I served on the Executive Committee, conservation Committee, 

Population Environment Committee, Great Lakes Water 

quality and Wetlands Committee, Environmental Justice 

Committee, Outings Committee, Art Committee, and Political 

Committee. Also, I network with Indigenous People, health 

care professionals, and other environmentalists. Thank you 

for your support. 

Adam Yeloushan 

My wife and I have been members of the Sierra Club since 

2002. I currently work as a director of human resources for a 

Fortune 500 company in the Greater Cleveland area where I 

have gained valuable experience in community and government 

relations. On Poland, OH Village Council’s Forest Board, 

I worked toward the preservation of green spaces and the 

adoption of initiatives to further expand and protect those areas. 

I am ideally suited to compliment the important work being 

accomplished by the NEO club on campaigns such as Cool 

Cities. As a life-long advocate of the environment, I want to be 

on the front lines with the NEO Executive Committee as the 

club works toward policy change. The issues of Urban Sprawl, 

Clean Air and Water and Conservation keep me awake at 

night. The Sierra Club provides the ideal vehicle to educate 

the masses as well as generate positive political momentum in 

the name of enduring change. 

EXCOM BALLOT 2006 

Vote for no more than 6. Only those with joint memberships (generally married couples) may complete the 

“Member 2” section of the ballot. 

Please write the numbers from the first line of the mailing label on your newsletter. Only original ballots will 

be eligible (no copies). 

Member #________________________ 

Member 1 Member 2 

Philip Crume l l 

Please enclose your completed ballot 

in an envelope and send to: 


Northeast Ohio Group 

PO Box 770415 

Lakewood, Ohio 44107 

Return Ballot by Dec. 1, 2006 

David Dvorak l l 

Steve Gove l l 

Jane Halbedel l l 

Dennis Plank l l 

Adam Yeloushan l l 


Butterflies and Mussels 


with fire-suppression which is a problem not widely discussed. 

Note: Ohio lists 8 endangered butterflies and 

14 endangered moths. 

The other keynote speaker and author of over 60 

books, John Himmelman, humorously described his adventures 

with northeastern American wetland critters, 

and played tapes of frog calls. Wood frogs, whose faces 

John describes as beatniks, can freeze up to 65% solid 

in the winter. Spring peepers can freeze, too. Fowler’s 

toads sound like colicky babies. Redback salamanders 

make up so much of the biomass of a forest, they equal 

the total vertebrate biomass. And giant water bugs (who 

can dissolve a frogs innards and suck it down to skin) 

taste like salty bananas if you cook them and eat them 

like crab. 

There are many more brilliant speakers to quote, and 

fascinating field trips to describe. If you attended the 

conference, please write us and share your experiences. 

For everyone, come to another conference or sign up 

for the Museum’s natural areas field trips which occur 

nearly year-round. Next year, in lieu of the conservation 

Symposium, the Museum will host the 34 th Annual 

Natural Areas Conference from October 9 to 12, 2007: 

Some Assembly Required: Restoring Nature in a Fragmented 

Landscape. 

Congratulations and thanks to Jim Bissell, Director 

of Conservation at the Museum, and the Museum staff 

for another excellent symposium. And thanks to them 

for the special lands that they’ve protected, along with 

other Ohio and Pennsylvania conservation groups. 

Our special lands harbor rare communities and organisms. 

We will never know all of the purposes served 

by each organism in a food web or within the entire 

organic or inorganic environment of an ecosystem. But 

we do know that all living things, including humans, 

depend on intact ecosystems for basic survival. 

For more information on Museum events and trips, 

or to find ways to help protect Ohio’s natural areas (volunteer, 

donate, property assessments), please visit their 

website at www.cmnh.org, and click on “Conservation” 

or call 216-231-4600 and ask to speak with a contact for 

the Natural Areas Program. 

For more information on this year’s symposium, see 

the museum website at http://www.cmnh.org/site/ 

Conservation_ConservationSymposium.aspx. Downloadable 

abstracts are available from http://www.cmnh. 

org/site/Conservation_ConservationSymposium_Abstracts.aspx. 

For a Sierra Club contact, call Linda Sekura at 216- 

663-1876 (LSekura@aol.com). 

Welcome 2007 with a 

Sierra Club Calendar 

Celebrate the coming new year with a classic gift for 

yourself or your loved ones---a Sierra Club calendar. The 

2007 calendars are here, and they include the Club's signature 

outstanding nature photography. 

Be sure to buy your calendars through your Northeast 

Ohio Sierra Club so that we'll reap the proceeds, 

which we'll apply to our local environmental work. To 

order your calendars today, contact the members below, 

who will arrange pickup, dropoff, or shipping (shipping 

involves an additional postage charge). 

Engagement Calendar: $13.95 (tax included) 

Wilderness (Wall) Calendar: $12.85 (tax included) 

Contact for West Side Orders 

Glenn Campbell 

216-221-8091 

campbellglenn@sbcglobal.net 

15305 Lanning Ave. 

Lakewood, OH 44107 

Sierra Club News - November/December, 2006- page 8 

Are You Moving 

Please contact us with your name, new address, membership number (see 

your mailing label), and old zip code, plus an evening phone number. Send this 

information to fredoswald@earthlink.net or, leave a message at 440-843-7272. 

Write to us care of Fred Oswald, 13677 Old Pleasant Valley Road, Middleburg 

Heights, Ohio 44130. For routine membership renewals, please return the renewal 

form to the membership office with your dues. We can handle gift memberships, 

too – just contact us. 

Printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink 


PO Box 770415 

Lakewood, Ohio 44107 

Dated Material 

Do Not Delay 

Contact for East Side Orders 

Bob Greenbaum 

216-382-4321 

bombhumbug@adelphia.net 

4105 Stilmore Road 

South Euclid, OH 44121 

Nonprofit organization 

U.S. Postage 

PAID 

Cleveland, Ohio 

Permit no. 127

What's Inside? - Sierra Club â Ohio Chapter

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What's Inside? - Sierra Club â Ohio Chapter