White Pine Needle 2018 AUTUMN UPDATE (September, October, November, December; & Feb. ’19) White Pine Group, Northeast Iowa Sierra Club (Howard, Winneshiek, Allamakee, Fayette, Clayton, Delaware,

Dubuque, and Jackson Counties.) “Explore, Enjoy and Protect”

[Volume 38, No. 2] 9/06/18

In this 2018, FALL UPDATE:

Program/Meetings and Outings.

Other events and opportunities.

Turkey Dinner Fundraiser: 11/03/18, Swiss Valley.

Attend, Donate &/or Volunteer. See page 3.

** VOTE>>>VOTE>>>VOTE, November 6

Backbone Cabin Outing: Feb. 8-10, 2019.

Like our Facebook Page for meeting notices, event

reports, updates. www.facebook.com/whitepinegroup.

Newsletter/Membership/Meetings: This 2018 Autumn Update Needle is being emailed to

memberships for which we have an email address and mailed to

the remaining of our current (July, 2018) roster of 456

memberships (543 members) down from last year. (More

members due to Joint memberships.) If you receive this Autumn

Update only by regular mail but are willing to receive it and

occasional email-only updates, in full color, by email please send

an email to Dick Worm including your name, mailing address,

and complete Zip Code (ex: 52031-9557) for easier membership

list identification. (raworm@msn.com). Saves paper and $$’s.

Membership in the Sierra Club and renewals are made through

the national office. Our White Pine Group receives monthly

updates listing new and expiring memberships for our 8 county

region. Membership is to be renewed on a yearly basis. Some

mailing labels include a “reminder” regarding when a renewal is

due. For example, a “1018” indicates expiration in October of

2018. An “M/A18” on a SIERRA magazine label “reports” a

March/April, 2018, final issue. Your membership is vital to

helping carry out Sierra Club goals…. in competition with the

even MORE rich (dollar-wise) and infamous! Our White Pine Group publishes and distributes to all members

just 2 newsletters/year. We therefore encourage our members to

note on a Wall or other handy Calendar our meeting/programs and

outing opportunities. Attendance is commonly low for our

programs which is embarrassing when we, the Sierra Club, have

guest presenters; but we keep trying. Our 2018 September and

October, “Protect” programs, in particular, have presenters from

farther away or from other organizations. In addition, members

take time to produce and share other “Explore/Enjoy” programs.

WHITE PINE GROUP AUTUMN PROGRAM/MEETINGS: Time and Location: 7:00 PM Meet/Greet;

7:15 Program; 8:15 EXCOM and membership

meeting; 8:30 PM Adjourn/Social. (4th Tues.)

St. Peter Lutheran Church Rectory, 3200 Asbury

Rd., Dubuque. The walk-in meeting room is at the

rear of brick home to the right in church parking lot.

(No December Program/Meeting.)

September 25 (Tues.): “Walz Cattle Feeding Operation,

Monona.” Member, Larry Stone, rural Elkader, former outdoor

writer for the Des Moines Register, will present this program

about a topic of concern within our NE Iowa, 8 county region.

The facility is a threat to the nearby, Bloody Run Trout Stream

and groundwater in general in this karst region (a limestone

cavity-rich bedrock often afflicted with sinkholes.) Larry writes

that “the plan is for 10,000 head of cattle. (That’s 10,000 at a

time, or 20,000 per year, as they’re marketed every six months.)

But, they call themselves ‘Walz Energy’ because of the goal of

their plan to use a methane digester to produce biogas from the

manure and other organic waste.” PROTECT!

October 23 (Tues.): “Sister Water Project.” The Dubuque

Franciscan Sisters want to make a difference in the global water

crisis. “1 in 10 people in the world do not have access to clean

water. In Honduras, 684,000 people lack access to safe water and

1,000,000 lack access to proper sanitation (water.org). In

Tanzania, girls and women are adversely affected by time spent

fetching water, keeping them out of school and productive

employment (UNICEF).” So motivated, the Dubuque Franciscans

founded the Sister Water Project in 2006 to bring potable water to

the people in those countries. Through collaboration with

villagers and support of donors, 200 water projects have been

completed or restored.

The Franciscans are committed to protect precious water

resources, advocate for everyone’s right to clean water, and make

water accessible to the most vulnerable. “The Gospel imperative

of giving drink to the thirsty” improves the quality of life where

water was once scarce.

“Tim Wietzel and Brian Gilligan, members of the Sisters

Water Project Committee, will speak to your group on October

23rd.” Sr. Kathy Knipper, OSF. PROTECT!

November 27 (Tues.): “Collegiate Peaks Wilderness

Fourteeners, Colorado.” Using two backpack base camps to aid

their efforts, this August 10-16, Kevin Berg and Dick Worm

ascended three 14,000+ foot peaks. Both reached Missouri Mtn.

(14,067 ft) and Mount Harvard (14,420 ft), while Kevin added

Mount Belford (14,197 ft), which Dick did in 2016, and Dick

added Mount Oxford (14,153 ft). Hear and see their story as

Kevin did his first 3 and Dick reached #30. EXPLORE/ENJOY.

OUTINGS & EVENTS, 2018 (P. 2)

Missouri Mtn. Mt. Harvard

White Pine Group hosted OUTINGS are open

to the general public, friends, and family. An RSVP to an Outing’s CONTACT person facilitates outing details and any change updates.

An outing may be cancelled or altered at times due

to a variety of potential reasons (weather, conflicts.)

Participants are to sign a Liability Waiver:

“Acknowledgment of Outing Member

Responsibility, Assumption of Risk, and Release of

Liability.”

September 8 (Sat.): “Rise 4 Climate Tri-States,” 9 AM,

Key City Creative Center, 1781 White St., Dubuque. White

Pine Group will present the movie, “Reinventing Power”

at 9 AM. A short MARCH to Jackson Park (16th and Iowa

St,) will follow with speakers and activity there until noon.

(Maybe park near Jackson Park and walk from there to Key

City Creative.) (See www.facebook.com/whitepinegroup)

September 15 (Sat.): “Motor Mill Hikes and Tour.”

“Guided tours, noon – 5 PM include the historic 1860’s

mill, related buildings, and town site” along the Turkey

River. The “Motor Mill Art Show,”1-5 PM is also on Sept.

15. Not-for-sale art will be on display inside the Mill along

with food and art vendors with goods for sale outside. (Tour

dates also include Sept. 16, Sept, 29-30, and October 13-14.)

OUR White Pine Group Outing will meet for hikes at

9:30 AM at the south end of the Motor Mill Turkey River

Bridge on Galaxy Road. (From Iowa HWY 13 south of

Elkader, take X3C (Grandview Road) east about 3.5 miles;

turn left on Hazel Road and immediately take a hard left

onto Galaxy Road. Go north 1.5 miles on gravel to the

Bridge. OR, X3C also goes from IA 3 out of Colesburg

northward through Elkport to the Hazel Rd,/Galaxy Rd.

intersection.) Hiking trails are on south and north sides of

the River. The adjoining Retz Woods has been deeded to the

Clayton County Conservation Board by the Nature

Conservancy. CONTACT: Dick 563-582-2580.

September 25 (Tues.): REMINDER! White Pine Group

Program/Meeting, “Walz CAFO”, Larry Stone. See p. 1.

Sept. 26-Oct. 6: The Kekekabic Trail (canoe/backpack in

and back out, BWCA) is still in the works. (The canoe -

portage - canoe stash part still to be ironed out permit-wise.)

As of this printing, Dick Worm and 2018 Project AWARE,

4-day, canoe partner, Paul Arickx of Nora Springs are

destined to give this a try. Additional folks welcome, but

will need to be added to the permit and other logistics soon.

Drive: [9/26]. East of Ely, MN, Canoe/kayak: [9/27] 2

miles total with 0.25 mile portage. Backpack: [9/28] 6.6

mi; [9/29] 7.8 miles; [9/30] 4.7 mi. + 1.2 mi round trip spur

day-hike; [10/1] 8.4 mile round trip day-hike; [10/2] 4.7 mi

+ 7.8 mi, if deemed feasible (or *take 2 days); [10/3] 6.6

miles; [10/4] canoe/portage return and begin drive. *[10/5]

day for make-up and canoe/portage/long drive. [10/6] Dick

is to be in Cedar Falls by noon! Drive accordingly, Que

Sera! Dick: 563-582-2580. Order form for Trail

maps described the Kek this way: “It is one of the toughest, meanest rabbit tracks in North

America. The Trail struggles its way through swamps,

around cliffs, up the sides of bluffs, and across rocky ridges.

It is choked with night-marish patches of clinging brush. It

is blocked with tangles of windfalls and standing timber. It

is pressed, in places, on all sides by outcroppings of rock;

sometimes it snakes its way over riverbeds, slippery, rocky

and treacherous. In other areas, it is a peaceful path loping

through open stands of timber with a soft, mossy carpet

underfoot….” (The 2016 and 2017 Kek sojourns generally

supported that, but now a bit hyperbolic, description…. :-/ )

October 13 (Sat.): “A Walk on Paint Rock.” A

March-April, 2018, Big River magazine article, p.

24-27, by Brian Gibbs of Elkader, describes this hike

and will serve as a guide for this 3-mile round-trip

outing in the Paint Rock Unit of Yellow River State

Forest. The hike summits a bluff; passes the Camp

Terry Hennessy walk-in campsite; and follows the

“Mississippi Loop” spur trail to a Mississippi

overlook, passing several large Indian mounds.

From IA 76 north out of McGregor, turn onto IA

364 toward Harpers Ferry (or IA 364 south out of

Harpers Ferry via X52 (Great River Road.) Just north

of Waukon Junction, take Paint Rock Road to the

“Yellow River State Forest / Paint Rock Unit” sign. Continue on a rough road 1/3 mile to the Paint Rock

trailhead parking lot. Carpool; 9 AM from Dubuque

Heritage Pond (n. off US 52); 10:30-ish at trailhead.

CONTACT: Charlie 563-588-2783.

0ctober 23 (Tues.): REMINDER! Program/

Meeting,“Franciscan Sisters Water Project” (p. 1)

TURKEY DINNER FUNDRAISER, NOVEMBER 3, 2018

ADVANCE RESERVATION FORM

White Pine Group – Northeast Iowa Sierra Club

Swiss Valley Nature Center

13606 Swiss Valley Road, Peosta, IA 52068

563-556-6745

**Traditional Turkey Dinner** Public is Welcome.

Advance Reservations Required for Meal Preparation.

3:00 PM: Swiss Valley Hike/Mississippi Trails Hiking Club. Meet option: Camp St. by Locust HyVee. 2 PM.

5:30 PM: Social Time: Crackers/Cider, Sierra Club Calendar Sales, Program and Sierra Activity Displays.

6:15 PM: Buffet-Style, Traditional Turkey Dinner. (Meal contributions help the fundraising cause.)

7:00 PM: Welcome, Introductions, Door Prize Drawings. (Donation of Door Prizes are Welcome. )

7:30 PM: Program: “British Isles on the Edge: Waterfalls, Sea Cliffs, Beaches”

(Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland) (Jane and Dick Worm)

From Ireland waterfalls and coastal cliffs to Worms Head on Wales’ southern coast to England’s Ginney’s Head

in Cornwall to far NE Scotland’s Duncansby Head and Sea Stacks. From a cave waterfall in Wales to the

crumbling walls and towers of Dunbar Castle in Dunbar, Scotland (on and in which Sierra Club founder, John

Muir, honed his climbing & “scootcher” skills in the 1840’s before coming to the United States at the age of 11.)

Scotland’s, “Chariot’s of Fire” beach at St. Andrews to Kilt Rock & Falls on the Isle of Skye: Explore/Enjoy!

8:30 PM: Thank you’s, Adjourn, Clean Up (Volunteers are welcome!! )

Your attendance, meal contributions, and donations are what make this Fundraiser a success. THANK YOU!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Phone, Email, or Tear here to Mail for EARLY Reservations, due Wednesday, October 31.

Name:____________________________________________ Adults: #_____ @ $12.00 = $___________

Address: _________________________________________ Students #____ @ $8.00 = $___________

_________________________________________ Age 5-12 #____ @ $5.00 = $___________

Phone: ___________________________for reservation/contribution verification. TOTAL: $___________

Make Checks Payable to White Pine Group/Iowa Sierra Club. May pay at door with verified reservation.

Mail, Phone, or Email reservations to Jane Worm, 3680 Echo Hills Dr., Bellevue, IA 52031.

563-582-2580. jworm924@msn.com Contributions acknowledged by Jane may include:

___ Roast 18-22 lb. turkey; #__pie(s); #__cake(s); __cranberries; __milk; __Prepare Potato recipe.

___ Door Prize(s); $___ cash; __Saturday Set-Up 10 AM; __ Saturday Kitchen Help 4:30 PM;

___ Clean-Up/Dish Washing. ___Take Down Tables/Chairs. Other: ____________________________

___ Car Pool Driver from Banworth/Udelhoven Furniture. ___ Would like a car pool ride.

2018 Autumn Update, Outings and Events (Cont.): Page 4

NOVEMBER 6, 2018, VOTE! This mid-term election is particularly

important, as are they all! Volunteer to aid a

candidate of your choice. Get out the

environmental vote .. as environmental

regulations that PROTECT what we EXPLORE

and ENJOY on our planet are being beaten

down!

Except due to the Electoral College….. plus,

Citizens United $$$ “votes” seem to matter more!

“CREATION” SERMON SERIES, August, 2018.

A sermon series during August at First Congregational

Church dealt with Creation. What is a VOTER’S

responsibility regarding what has been created and is being

created. During a brief “Mission Moment” on August 26,

just a week after returning from a Colorado trip during

which I was able to ascend three more of Colorado’s

“official,” 54 Fourteeners (14,000+ foot peaks), I quoted

John Muir’s take on creation: “One learns that the world,

though made, is yet being made. That this is still the

morning of creation.” Change is still going on.

I referred to the little pika (resembling a guinea pig) that

was encountered nearly face to face a few times during those

climbs: Here are a couple of those “confrontations”:

The pika, living at 12,000 - 13,000 feet, is temperature

sensitive. A warming climate pushes it higher to where the

supply of grass that it stores for the winter may be less

abundant. What is a voter’s responsibility regarding

understanding rapid changes in our planet’s life and life

supporting systems? For what changes are we responsible?

John Muir: “Bears (and elephants, rhinos, giraffes, wolves,

and the rest of the animal kingdom) are made of the same

dust as we, and breathe the same winds and drink of the

same waters. A bear’s days are warmed by the same sun, . .”

The Animal Kingdom is part of the greater Kingdom!

November 17 (Sat.): “Pine Valley Nature Area Hike.”

Jackson County. Pine Valley is a 628 acre woodland, open

to hunting. It reaches the shoreline of the Maquoketa River

at its southern end near the mouth of a Pine Valley creek.

While the area has trails for hiking and x-country skiing, it is

unlikely whether a trail reaches that southern tip. This,

more than likely, bushwhacking outing will investigate the

ease with which it is to follow the creek bed to the adjoining

river bluff, where Project AWARE passed on July 13, 2018,

shown

here:

Carpool from Banworth/Udelhoven Furniture, south edge of

Dubuque (Junction of US 52 and US 151/61) 8:30 AM or

meet at the Area parking lot by 9:30 AM: from US 61 about

6 miles north of Maquoketa take E17 west for about 9 miles

toward Canton, past the intersection with Y34; and then take

gravel, 30th Ave. south for about 2 miles to the parking lot

on the left. Bring a snack & beverage; hope to end by noon.

Dress accordingly for exploration bushwhacking! :-/

CONTACT: Dick (563-582-2580)

November 22, 2018

November 27 (Tues.): REMINDER Program/Meeting:

“ 3 Collegiate Peaks Fourteeners. Colorado” See page 1.

Route to Mt. Oxford from Mt. Belford… and back!

MORE Autumn/Winter, 2018, Activity (P. 5)

OUTING: December 15 (Saturday):

“WELCOME TO WINTER”

Whitewater Canyon Wildlife Area

Sunset Night Hike/Snowshoe/X-Country Ski

Meet at Pearl’s Place, 215 Jess St., Bernard,

1PM for Lunch. (Closes 2:30.)

563-879-3307

Or, Carpool: 3:15 PM, Banworth/Udelhoven.

South edge of Dubuque: US 52/US 151-61 jctn.

Meet:Whitewater parking by 4 PM for the 4:30 Sunset!

Short drive west from Bernard on D53.

Or, D53 from US 151 NE of Cascade

between Fillmore and Y21.

Possible 6:30-ish PM, Dinner/Dessert together:

Dairy Queen, near Banworth/Udelhoven.

(Brainstorming here) CONTACT: Dick 582-2580.

(2nd shotgun deer season ends December 16!)

--------------------------------------------------------------

NO Program/Meeting in December.

The Ice Fest at the National Mississippi River Museum

and Aquarium plus the Bald Eagle Watch provide ample activity during January. January’s 4th Tuesday meeting date

is January 22, 2019. Program yet to be determined.

Suggestions and offers are always welcome for both our

programs and our outings. Could you share an Explore /

Enjoy experience with us. Is there a local area you’d like to

explore or an environmental topic you’d like to study?

Photo Boards of some 2018 Outings will be on display at

the Turkey Dinner Fundraiser, Nov. 3, Swiss Valley.

Also check out www.facebook.com/whitepinegroup

17th ANNUAL BACKBONE State Park

CABIN OUTING: FEB. 9-10, 2019.

Our White Pine Group and the Cedar-Wapsie Group (Cedar

Rapids) have reserved Deluxe, 2-story cabins #11 and #12.

Sierra members from the Iowa City Area Group have also

expressed interest in attending. Each cabin has two

bedrooms with a double bed; a single bed, 2 futons and floor

space for a listed capacity of 11. First reserved; first served

for bedroom space. Day-Use is welcome including the Sat.

Potluck Dinner. Meals are otherwise self-provided.

Cabins have kitchen/dining area; 2 bathrooms, one with a

shower. Bedding is by participants: sheets, pillow, sleeping

bag. Hikes, snow shoeing, x-country skiing, and crevice

slide fill the daytime. Table games and chatter fill the

evenings. Cabin use available from 4 PM, Friday, to 11

AM lunch Sunday. Cost range: $15-$25/person/night to $10/person for day-

use. Details in January’s 2019 Needle. Additional cabins:

phone 1-877-427-2757. Single story Cabins A, B, C, D;

Small #1-8; and Deluxe #9-10 rental by concessionaire

MAY work on short notice, if still available. (1-563-933-

2273). QUESTIONS or reserve space: Phone/Email Dick.

Crevice Slide at 2018 Backbone Cabin Outing:

Group Leadership..

Help Protect our region and the planet!

The 2019 WHITE PINE NEEDLE newsletter

will include a ballot for the 2019 EXCOM

election. Three EXCOM positions will be open.

The Sierra Club, uniquely, requires grass-root

member elections for all of its leadership positions

from the National Board of Directors to Chapter

and Group EXCOMS. To have a real election, it

would be GREAT to have more than three

candidates! PLEASE consider offering the

Sierra Club your new blood to help provide

inspired and creative leadership for the coming

years as we old-timers continue to fade! Contact a

current EXCOM member. But, also vote!

Sierra Club Membership For a new member brochure, CONTACT Dick Worm

Membership Brochures are also in the SIERRA magazine.

Or, go to: www.sierraclub.org Our Group’s Code is # 3707.

Membership renewals are made through

national headquarters. No funds from

national dues come to our Local Group.

A “Wilderness Guardian” membership reduces mail.

www.facebook.com/whitepinegroup

“A lifetime is so little a time that we die before we get ready to

live.”

“No one can tell how far our star may finally be subdued by

man’s will.” JOHN MUIR

White Pine Group, N.E. Iowa Sierra Club “The Needle” Newsletter Editor 2018 Autumn Update Needle

Richard Worm September - December

3680 Echo Hills Dr. Volume 38, #2

Bellevue, IA 52031 – 9557 9/05/18

2018 Autumn Calendar of Events

2018 Turkey Dinner Fundraiser, November 3

Backbone Cabin Outing, Feb. 8-10, 2019

Record Events on Your Personal Calendars

EXPLORE ENJOY

PROTECT

White Pine Group, N.E. Iowa EXCOM (*Expires 2018) Chair: *Charlie Winterwood, Dubuque, 563-588-2783

cwinterwood@yahoo.com

Member/Newsletter: *Dick Worm, Bellevue, 563-582-2580

563-590-2557 raworm@msn.com

*Jim Fahrion, Dubuque, jlfahrion@gmail.com

Jane Worm, Bellevue. 563-582-2580 jworm924@msn.com

Dave Hansen, Masonville, dhansen@iowatelecom.net Appointed: Fund Raiser/Secretary: Jane Worm

Treasurer: Mike Muir

Conservation: Charlie Winterwood

Publicity: (available)

Lots more: (available)

Acclimatizing, 10.8 mile, round-trip hike to Granite

Falls, Rocky Mountain National Park, Aug. 7, 2018.

Who is invading whose property?

Sierra Club/John Muir Resources

To receive environmental news and green living tips

twice monthly, you can subscribe to the Sierra Club

Insider at www.sierraclub.org/sierra-club-email/insider .

In general, www.sierraclub.org has a plethora of

information for your reading enjoyment. One item of

interest was a year-by-year listing of John Muir’s life and

influence from his birth in Scotland to the present. I didn’t

know that Muir had twin sisters. I didn’t know that he had

tried several times during his life to purchase and preserve

property around his Wisconsin childhood home, Fountain

Lake Farm near Montello, WI. The area is now a John Muir

Memorial Park.

A visit to that site as well as to the Aldo Leopold farm

site would make a good Spring Outing. Help us remember!