We're meeting March 7 in L-65 (Lewis Hall). Lewis Hall is in the southwest area of the campus near the big parking lot
at the corner of College Way and LaVenture. The following shortcut is to a campus map http://www.skagit.edu/images/color_mvCampus.pdf

Welcome to Chris Steckler who attended his first “official” SAC meeting. He is an Anacortes resident and plans to take the class with his wife Holly this March. He is also an acupuncturist, so that may come in handy for club members.

Jeff Smith, our fearless VP, managed to slide by with enthusiasm and wit, again at this meeting, contributing side line commentary in a timely manner. If the new secretary, Angie Vandenhaak needs a hand, literally, Jeff promised to help (for future reference).

For a mere $25.00 you too can receive this informative newsletter and proudly participate in our famous Skagit Alpine Club. Kim Griffith, our new treasurer will collect your checks and dollars at the next meeting.

Please join your fellow officers and friends!!! The club has rented a cabin: Thad Hink’s cabin in Glacier for the weekend of March 9+10. The current forecast ensures that there will be plenty of snow for; snowshoeing, backcountry, downhill and cross county skiing, which in turn will whet our appetites for potluck feasts, followed by stories and MUSIC(SAT)!! “Gertrude’s Hearse”, an eclectic band from Anacortes, performs at both Mt Baker ski area in the afternoon and Grahams on SAT night. In short, this weekend promises a good time to be had by all. For more information or to sign up, contact: Paul Sherman, email: pshermanpt@verizon.net or Thad Hink at tmail@thinkstudios.net

CLIMBING COMMITTEE will be meeting before the next SAC Meeting (SVC library) at 5:30PM to finalize details for the upcoming class. If you are interested in assisting with any of the outings contact Rick Rogers at stillyfish@valleyint.com .

Mount Vernon Health Community Project is forming a Trails Coalition and has asked the SAC to be involved. This project would like to create a county wide trail system. We are looking for a member or members who might be interested in representing the club at these meetings. Contact Paul Sherman for more info or sign up at the next meeting.

Mt Erie/ ACFL (Anacortes Community Forest Lands) Wade Bessett represents the club at these meetings. The forestlands board is dealing with some concerns regarding the environmental degradation of the forestlands, specifically the rock routes on SW Mt Erie. Wade reported that negotiations continue in the pursuit of formulating a plan to deal with the multi use on Erie. The Forestlands meetings are open to the public, meeting every 3^rd Thurs of the month, at the Anacortes Sr Center, 6pm.

This month John Seehorn will be presenting a two month trip up the Australian East Coast from Sydney to Cairns then down through the center of the outback and returning to Sydney along the Snowy River and South Coast. Come see the kangaroos, walaroos, walabees, and deadly redback spiders of Oz.

Helen Thayer, first woman to solo the North Pole will speak April 6^th7pm, at the PUD in Mt. Vernon.

1. Lodging available for club members in Glacier for the weekend of March 9th & 10th. You can ski, snowshoe or climb at or around the Mt Baker Ski area or just lounge around. Please rsvp by March 1st to Thad Hink, tmail@thinkstudios.net for directions and general coordination. Space
is limited so first come first served.

Want to do some trail work? No matter where you work, wear long pants, have work gloves, have plenty of fluids to drink, and bring a lunch. Each person working will have to sign a liability release form. Parents or guardians of those under 18 must sign for the minor.

For information call 360-424-0407 anytime up until 8 a.m. the morning of the work party. Tools will be provided--hazel hoes, loppers, McLeods, Pulaskis, chain saws, brush cutters. You may bring your own tools if you wish.

If you can only work until noon, please call ahead to see if the work site will be conducive to your leaving early. Sometimes we will be working behind locked gates or far up logging roads and it would not be convenient for people to leave early.

Meeting place is the Cook Road Park-n-Ride, exit 232 from I-5 north of Burlington. Exit the freeway, turn right and then immediately turn right onto Old Highway 99. We meet across the street from the 76 gas station. Meeting time is 8:15 a.m.

GENERAL TRAIL WORK

2007 Skagit Trail work schedule for April through October

Trail work will be done on the FIRST and THIRD Saturday of each month

April 7 and 21

May 5 and 19

June 2 (National Trails Day) and 16

July 7 and 21

August 4 and 18

September 1 and 15

October 6 and 20

The following is a letter which was sent out by the Friends of Blanchard Mt. on Feb 10, 07.

The board members of Friends of Blanchard Mountain, (FoBM) have voted to endorse the Blanchard Strategies Group, (BSG) proposal.

As you may be aware, the Department of Natural Resources, (DNR) sponsored BSG has come to its conclusion. Its much promoted plan has been received with mixed emotions on all sides of the table. Even within our own group, Friends of Blanchard Mountain has found us divided on how best to protect Blanchard Mountain. Throughout the BSG meetings we fought for a no touch” core of 2800 acres, allowing the remaining acreage to be managed as a working forest. As it exists in the BSG plan, the proposed core of approximately1600 acres, although less than half of our goal, will be protected similar to Natural Resources Conservation Area, (NRCA).

*Blanchard Mountain is a very unique environment that deserves preservation into perpetuity.

*Blanchard Mountain is public land and therefore our legislators and DNR reps need to continue to hear from you about conservation of this special place. This is an ongoing process.

The FoBM board members who did not agree with the BSG, asked that these points be presented to you:

-The core should be 2,800 acres with a “no touch” policy, ie. no roads, no thinning, no management therefore, no compromise.

*Do not believe that the core thinning will either be done properly nor will it promote old growth characteristics.

The FoBM board members, who agreed to consent to the BSG agreement, present these points to you:

*FoBM will have a seat on the Advisory Board which will contribute to the management of both the 1,600 acre core and the timber production area of Blanchard; allowing us to monitor DNR practices and push for sustainable practices and a road-less core.

*This agreement changes the legal status of the 1,600 acres to a more protected environment; if it is unchanged, those acres remain dedicated to timber revenue.

*In order for this shift to take place, some FoBM board members were very concerned that the financing of the proposed core would be at risk because funding sources and legislators would not be receptive if FOBM did not sign on to the plan.

........... Letters to DNR, your state legislators and local papers stating your perspective are VERY IMPORTANT. It is critical that the public.... continues to keep an eye on what is going on with Blanchard Mountain. Blanchard Mountain is public land and the protection of Blanchard Mountain remains an ongoing process. You are the public and your remaining engagement will continue to influence to process.

The website: www.blanchard mountain.org will continue to be a resource for you in the ongoing effort to protect Blanchard Mountain. Other groups such as the Chuckanut Parks District and Chuckanut Conservancy will carry on the fight for conservation and habitat protection on Blanchard Mountain.

You are invited to attend one of my Breaking Trail: a Climbing Life book talks as below:

March 14         8:00 PM       Bellingham WA                           Western Washington U
March 15      7:00 PM        Seattle, WA                                  REI Flagship store

After a 26-year absence, I am very happily back working on the regulation of toxic chemicals and haven't had time to send out a newsletter since November. A brief catch up is below.

In December, during the group trek in Burma, we were delighted to find a new water supply, funded by our Burma Village Assistance Program, in an area where villagers previously had to walk two miles to obtain water. This May and June, I will be leading a trek in the Everest and Gokyo valleys of Nepal with two historians lecturing on mountaineering history. I also hope Annalise and I will lead a December holiday trek in the Annapurna region on Nepal.

I'm delighted with the paperback version of Breaking Trail with new photos, text, and index just published by Harcourt. Rereading the very end of the new afterword which I wrote only six months ago, is emotional for me:

"I look forward to the future stretching ahead of me like a slope of clean, unbroken snow. I passionately hope my tracks up this slope will lead toward the summit of a healthier environment in a more just and peaceful world. The ascent will be difficult. My route is unknown. But as I begin to break this new trail, moving slowly and steadily upward, I feel joy and confidence that soon all will be revealed."

In the last months I have found my route. I feel like I'm at basecamp looking up at the icefall and avalanches of Annapurna and gathering a stalwart team to join the ascent.

By the time I'm in the Seattle area, I'll be able to tell you about the currently confidential details of my new science policy adventure. I'd be happy to present talks about it as described below at during the evening of March 13 or 16 and the day on March 14 and 15. Please get in touch if you might be able to help arrange such a talk for me.

I look forward to seeing many of you at during my tour.

Kind regards,
Arlene

The Fire Retardant Dilemma: Are we jumping out of the frying pan into the fire?
Dr. Arlene Blum, a biophysical chemist, carried out research in the 1970s that contributed to the bans of two cancer-causing Tris flame retardants used in children's sleepwear, and also the pesticide DBCP that caused sterility in workers. Fast forward 30 years, and the same Tris she helped ban is the second most commonly used fire retardant in furniture in CA, found in amounts up to ten percent of the weight of the furniture.
At a time when fire safe cigarettes, smoke detector use and fire safety education are diminishing the number of fires, proposed new fire standards for furniture and bedding could bring tens of millions of additional pounds of fire-retardant chemicals into our homes and environment each year. These chemicals are persistent and accumulate up the food chain in people and wildlife where they can cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive and developmental health problems. Developing fetuses and young children are the most vulnerable.
In addition to detailing these serious problems, Blum will suggest solutions that protect human health and the environment. In moving to biologically safer green chemistry alternatives, California could become a pioneer in innovative chemistry just as our state did in the high tech revolution.
.
Arlene Blum led the first American ascent of the 26,504 foot -high Annapurna I, the world's tenth highest and possibly most dangerous peak, and also the first all-woman ascent of Denali, the highest mountain in North America. She will also relate how her climbing career led to her work in environmental health science

You can view photos and text from Arlene's new book Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life at http://www.arleneblum.com/photo_album.html.

Phone: 510-644-3164                     Fax 510 644-2164
E-mail: arlene@arleneblum.com           Web: www.arleneblum.com

March Newsletter