Sierra Club Central Florida Group

Leslie Kemp Poole, Ph.D., will be joining us to discuss her newest book: Tracing Florida Journeys: Explorers, Travelers, and Landscapes Then and Now. In this book, she retraces well-known folks who came through Florida during different historical periods. She uses their words to understand the landscape then and to retrace their steps to see what still exists today. Highlighting the Florida that was and the Florida that exists now, Poole brings together historical research, interviews with experts, and her personal experiences to tell a revealing story of the state's natural history.

Leslie Kemp Poole, a fourth-generation Floridian, is associate professor of environmental studies at Rollins College. She is an award-winning journalist and historian, with her career beginning in reporting for a number of newspapers, including the Orlando Sentinel.

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All programs are held the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Programs are held from 7 - 9:00 pm. A brief discussion of environmental issues precedes the program along with information on upcoming outings and events.

Admission is always free, and everyone is invited -- So come on down, and bring some friends! Join Sierra Club for as little as just $15 right now, as this money helps fund our meeting spaces, our outings, sponsor speakers, and much, much more. Everyone with Central Florida Sierra Club Group is an unpaid volunteer. We're doing what we can to better the local community. It takes a village. And we thank you for being part of that village. Hope to see you at the meeting this, and every month.

Become a new member for just $15: http://centralfloridasierra.org/

Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CentralFLSierraClub/

EXPLORE, ENJOY, AND PROTECT THE PLANET.

Join Sierra Club Central Florida for an engaging discussion about Barbara Kingsolver's novel Flight Behavior. This contemporary fiction novel explores the impacts of climate change and the difficulties of addressing complex social and environmental issues in today's day and age. You can rent the book at your local library; the Orange County library has five physical copies as well as e-book copies on Libby. You can also purchase the book at a bookstore of your choice.

We will meet at Stardust Video and Cafe in Orlando. Food and drinks are available for purchase. This event is free and open to the public. Feel free to come join us even if you don't finish the book. Please RSVP on Meetup if you are considering attending, so we can get an accurate idea of how many people are interested. We hope to see you there!

Luis Nieves-Ruiz will be joining us to discuss his work cleaning up and reinvesting in brownfield properties. Brownfields are properties where potential pollutants might be present as a result of former common land uses, such as auto repair shops, dry cleaners, gas stations, medical facilities, golf courses, landfills, and factories. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these lands protects the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands.

The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (ECFRPC) has the first regional brownfield program for East Central Florida. Available for candidate sites anywhere within the ECFRPC's eight-county region, the Brownfields Coalition has the cities of Apopka, Kissimmee, and Palm Bay, along with local non-profit Little Growers, Inc., as its coalition members.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Luis Nieves-Ruiz' career contributions have enhanced economic development, regional food systems, and community revitalization planning. Luis' exceptional leadership in Central Florida includes many years of volunteer service to underserved communities and initiatives to diversify the profession. Luis holds a Master of Regional Planning degree from Cornell University and serves as Economic Development Manager for the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council in Orlando, Florida. His accomplishments have been recognized by the National Association of Development Organizations, Urban Land Institute, Next City, Wallace Center at Winrock International, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Florida, and Leadership Florida.

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All programs are held the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Programs are held from 7 - 9:00 pm. A brief discussion of environmental issues precedes the program along with information on upcoming outings and events.

Admission is always free, and everyone is invited -- So come on down, and bring some friends! Join Sierra Club for as little as just $15 right now, as this money helps fund our meeting spaces, our outings, sponsor speakers, and much, much more. Everyone with Central Florida Sierra Club Group is an unpaid volunteer. We're doing what we can to better the local community. It takes a village. And we thank you for being part of that village. Hope to see you at the meeting this, and every month.

Become a new member for just $15: http://centralfloridasierra.org/

Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CentralFLSierraClub/

EXPLORE, ENJOY, AND PROTECT THE PLANET.

Doug Alderson joins us to discuss his new book, chronicling his 2007 expedition down the Kissimmee chain of lakes. In New Dawn for the Kissimmee River, Alderson uses this twelve-day paddling excursion as a thread to explore the history and ecology of the region, while highlighting the most successful restoration project of its kind in the world, the model for the overall Everglades restoration plan.

The Kissimmee Valley, which includes the Kissimmee chain of lakes and Kissimmee River, covers an area from Orlando to Lake Okeechobee. The headwaters and grand gateway to the Everglades, the area is the domain of the alligator and bald eagle, snail kite and spoonbill, stretching more than 100 miles through central Florida. Between 1960 and 1971, the Army Corps of Engineers straightened and diverted the river’s flow to control persistent flooding. These alterations shortened the length of the Kissimmee, significantly reduced wildlife populations, and created a lucrative real estate market that further threatened native species. In 1992, Congress acted to restore the river to its original flow. Now, species are recovering and repopulating, a journey documented in his work.

Doug Alderson, former associate editor of Florida Wildlife magazine and current Florida Paddling Trails Coordinator for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, is the author of Waters Less Traveled: Exploring Florida's Big Bend Coast; Encounters with Florida’s Endangered Wildlife; and The Ghost Orchid Ghost and Other Tales from the Swamp.

***

All programs are held the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Programs are held from 7 - 9:00 pm. A brief discussion of environmental issues precedes the program along with information on upcoming outings and events.

Admission is always free, and everyone is invited -- So come on down, and bring some friends! Join Sierra Club for as little as just $15 right now, as this money helps fund our meeting spaces, our outings, sponsor speakers, and much, much more. Everyone with Central Florida Sierra Club Group is an unpaid volunteer. We're doing what we can to better the local community. It takes a village. And we thank you for being part of that village. Hope to see you at the meeting this, and every month.

Become a new member for just $15: http://centralfloridasierra.org/

Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CentralFLSierraClub/

EXPLORE, ENJOY, AND PROTECT THE PLANET.