CT AMC Conservation Committee

July 2006

We met tonight at CFPA. Unfortunately, the hike was rained out. Those in attendance were Russ, Andy, Jim, Beth, Aimee and Keith. Here's what we talked about:

Upcoming Events:

Conservation Hike: John's rain date is for August 9 - our next meeting.
Conservation Hike: Andy reports that Eric Stone has agreed to lead a highland's hike in Western CT Highlands on September 9. Jim has agreed to contact local Political Leaders to invite.
Conservation Clean-up: the next cleanup is scheduled for October 21 on the AT. Aimee will finalize details and promote.
New Members Day: Dinner Sept 23 hike on Sept 16. question raised as to whether we were supposed to sponsor an event. Volunteers needed to work the dinner.

It was generally agreed we would try to list all of these events in upcoming Outdoors Magazine and upcoming Chapter Newsletter and website.

Clean Energy: Andy is working with AMC Brass to see if we can work with Smart Power and CT INnovations to get AMC members to sign up for Clean Energy Option and obtain Photovoltaic Solar Panels for a CT Science Center in AMC's name. Meeting on July 28 at 3 pm is to be attended.

The Great Warming: Jim has obtained a copy of this movie and is working towards showing it for free at Wesleyan University. Anyone in Committee that wants to can work on organizing a showing in another place. See TheGreatWarming.com for info about the film.

Legislative Advocacy Planning: We discussed the need to begin spending significant time at our meetings planning for next years legislative session. What issues must we focus on?, How best to engage members. What has worked in past and what can we do to improve our impact and influence. Discussed our desire to be ready to go by December 1 meeting of environmental groups. Legislative Session begins First Wednesday after first Monday in January and ends in early June. Patty Pendergast has retired and moved to VT and we may need to pick up slack on outdoor recreation/trails issues like ATV and Hunting.

Newsletter Article: Andy volunteered to write up a newsletter article focusing on Global Warming and how AMC members can make a difference including a pitch to join us and a listing of upcoming Cons-Comm Events.

Bigelow Hollow Clean-up: a big success. Aimee got a good turn-out and the crew of about 9 including one from Wooster Chapter worked a long day (most of us except Jim who only worked half day) Miles of trails were cleaned along with picnic areas which are spread out around the park. Six big bags of trash were collected. Lunch was excellent as always. Some say AMC is an eating group with a hiking habit. Check out our website for pics and more info.