The Sierra Club is the oldest Conservation organization in the U.S. The Virginia Chapter includes the entire state of Virginia. We are your friends and neighbors working to build healthy, livable communities, and to conserve and restore our natural environment. Join us!

Virginia Chapter Events

Sep 12 - 14
Fall Jamboree
The Virginia Chapter Sierra Club is holding a jamboree at the Ecology Center at Pocahontas State Park. Friday evening social and campfire sing along. Saturday and Sunday presentations on environmental education and updates on other issues of concern to Virginians. Successful local solutions such as community-based agriculture, land conservancies and other projects here in Virginia will be emphasized. Walks will also be offered for those who want to enjoy the outdoors.

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Virginia Chapter Outings

Sep 6
Tour de Cut, North Mountain Trail
We’ll hike a superb ridgetop trail surrounded by spectacular views of the northern Shenandoah Valley. Enjoy high grassy ridges, rock formations of a variety of colors and sizes, and wooded groves atop North Mountain. The trail overlooks the site of the future Laurel Run/Road timber sale 1000 ft. below, where the Forest Service plans to cut 484 acres of the forest in 22 separate even-aged cutting units. In addition, a 15 mile long industrial wind turbine development is proposed on the very ridge where we will hike, and other remote areas just to the south of us.

Oct 4
Tour de Cut, Chestnut Oak Knob
We will begin with a pleasant 2 ¾ mile ascent of the Dowells Draft Trail, a wooded trail surrounded by the peaks of distant Ramseys Draft Wilderness and Crawford Mountain. We will then hike cross-country a short distance to visit several recent clearcuts surrounding nearby 2798 ft. high Chestnut Oak Knob. After this, we will follow a road to the bottom of the mountain, passing several tributaries of Dowells Draft.

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Newsletter

The Old Dominion Sierran is published 6 times a year. Read the current and recent issues online.

 

Join us for "Cool Solutions"!  The Virginia Chapter's 2008 Fall Jamboree is being held September 12-14 at Pocahontas State Park.  See our events section for more details.

 

Update:  Stopping Dominion's Wise County coal burning power plant.  On May 8, more than 200 supporters of clean energy turned out for a Rally in downtown Richmond where over 40,000 signatures were presented to Dominion opposing the Wise County Coal Plant.  The signatures displayed as mile long petition were an impressive sight captured on video by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, go to:  http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=385

 

Take Action for Smart Energy Solutions

Solving global warming will take action at all levels.  Citizens, governments, unions and businesses all must be involved to make the solutions work.  Take action by:

 

Tell Governor Kaine that we need an Air Board that will insure clean air for all Virginians:  Send a letter to the Governor urging him to appoint independent, informed citizens to the Air Board.  Click here:  http://virginia.sierraclubaction.org/showalert.asp?aaid=3311

 

Sierra Club Releases Citizens Energy Plan for Virginia: 

A new vision to help Virginia cut our global warming pollution while creating jobs and building a new energy economy based on conservation, efficiency and clean renewable energy.  Download the PDF.

Hot Topics

To View the Virginia Chapter's Statement on the Sierra Club's Recent Product Endorsement, click here.

Solving global warming requires Smarter Growth: Coalition for Smarter Growth, Sierra Club, and others released a new report showing that smart growth is essential to solving global warming (and it will make our communities worth living in).

VICTORY! James City County becomes a Cool County. Congratulations to the Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and William and Mary's SEAC activists that got James City County to be a Cool County.

Cool Communities adds Fairfax County and Arlington County! Get involved with our Cool Cities Initiatives and other efforts we are making at the local and state level in Virginia to reduce our carbon footprint.

Land Use and Transportation Sprawl is land use that spreads new development farther and farther from existing communities and consumes more land than ever before. This type of development is costly to taxpayers and is leading to a deteriorating quality of life for Virginians.

Take Action

Join Smart Energy Solutions for Virginia Facebook Group: Are you a member of Facebook, the online social networking site? If so, join our facebook group, and ask your friends to join. It is a great way to show support for Smart Energy Solutions, find out about upcoming events, have discussions about solutions, and keep informed about the campaigns.

Be sure to sign up for our Virginia Sierra Club Action Alert System!   This will notify you by email when we need you to take action to protect Virginia's environment by contacting your public officials.