"When we try to pick anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."
The Sierra Club was founded in 1892 by John Muir and a small group of conservationists.who were dedicated to preserving and protecting the magnificent wildlands of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Today the goals of the Sierra Club have expanded to include not only preserving what remains of our unspoiled wilderness but also to protecting Earth's endangered species, cleaning the air we breathe and the water we drink, and ensuring a safer, healthier planet for future generations to enjoy. The club's membership has grown to more than half a million, and it is the leader in the grassroots environmental movement.
The statement of purpose of the Sierra Club is as follows:"to explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the Earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the Earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives."
The Sierra Club is the only grasssroots environmental organization that enables its members to work towards electing candidates with strong voting records on environmental problems. Political action is an effective and democratic means of environmental problem-solving.
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SIERRA CLUB The National Sierra Club has chapters in all of the 50 states and Canada. Aline Lotter is Chair of The New Hampshire Sierra Club, which is subdivided into 4 groups located in various parts of the state. These groups are: The Upper Valley Group, The Merrimack Valley Group, the Monadnock Group, and the Seacoast Group. Each group is concerned with environmental problems in their particular location, as well as with state, regional, national and global problems.
THE "SAVE HACKETT HILL!" CAMPAIGN
In the spring of 1999, the Merrimack Valley Group of the NH Sierra Club began organizing its "Save Hackett Hill!" campaign. This "grassroots" campaign, which is an all-volunteer effort, is co-ordinated by Pat Mattson. Its goal is to inform the public about the benefits of "zero development" of the Hackett Hill property. The rationale for this approach is described in considerable detail in the topic "Hackett Hill II", especially in the section titled Need for Biodiversity Conservation..
The Sierra Club is opposed to the development plans for the Hackett Hill property, as sanctioned by the EPA and DES in their CSO Compliance Agreement with the city of Manchester. Instead, it favors complete protection of the property and its use for alternative purposes such as education, scientific research, and enjoyment by the public. It believes that the public was not properly informed as to the type of development plans that have been agreed upon by the EPA, DES, and city of Manchester, and that the public should have been allowed to participate in the decision-making process.
The campaign primarily involves educating the public, either individually or in groups, about the nature of the Hackett Hill issue. In turn, these newly-involved individuals communicate what they learned to others, so as to reach as many people as possible who live in the greater Manchester area, and to encourage them to support the goal of "zero development." Another major goal of the campaign is to permit the public and city officials to view the city's Hackett Hill development plans in an "open house" setting, similar to the manner in which plans for the city's Riverfront development were presented in 1999. An arrangement of this sort would allow the public to obtain a better understanding of what has been planned, to hear alternate proposals, and to submit written opinions.
The inital phase of the campaign wound down in the Fall of 1999 with a newsletter sent in October to Sierra Club members who are residents of the greater Manchester area, and to others in this region who are preservation-minded. Among other things, the newsletter announced a Sierra Club informational meeting on the Hackett Hill issue. The meeting, which was open to the public, was held at the Manchester City Library on October 18. At this time, Jon Nute, Educator for Forest Resources for the UNH Cooperative Extension Service, spoke on "The Hackett Hill Atlantic White Cedar Environment and Watershed." Nute managed the Hackett Hill property when it was owned by the USNH.
Following the talk, a discussion was held concerning the planned intrusion of development zones into the so-called "protected" portion of the property. The impact of planned development, possibly of the retail and commercial type, on the portion of the property fronting on Hackett Hill Road was also discussed.
In November, 1999, Bob Baines was elected Mayor of Manchester, defeating the incumbent Mayor, Raymond Wieczorek. The preservation or development of Hackett Hill was not an election issue, since both candidates favored the construction of a Hackett Hill corporate park. Moreover, only three new aldermen were elected to the aldermanic board.
RECENT SIERRA CLUB-HACKETT HILL NEWS In the late winter and spring of 2000, the Merrimack Valley Group of the Sierra Club, reorganized under the direction of Group Chair, Sue Hale-de Seve and held several meetings. An important goal was to redefine conservation interests of the group. The Hackett Hill issue was identified as one in which the Sierra Club has a continuing interest, with the hope of achieving "zero development" of the property. Pat Mattson was designated Chair of the Hackett Hill issue.
On May 20, the Merrimack Valley Group held a 3 hour outing/hike on the Hackett Hill property for Sierra Club members and the public. A major goal of the hike was to familiarize MVG leaders and interested members of the public with the natural history of the property, and to discuss on site the city's development plans. The hike through the forested portion of the property to the Atlantic white cedar-giant rhododendron swamp was led by forester Jon Nute, who managed the Hackett Hill property when it was owned by the USNH.
In particular, attention was paid to the location of planned development "islands" D6 and D7 in the proposed "Preserve." The proximity of these zones to the sensitive Atlantic white cedar swamp was noted. It was also observed that new roads would be needed to reach these areas. The hikers then continued on uphill to the "phantom parking lots." Here they considered the impact which development on and around the parking lots would have on nearby Atlantic white cedar swamps. The parking lots were never plowed free of snow or chemically treated during ownership of the property by UNH. They contain a large amount of cement surface which is impervious to water, and clearly this surface would promote run-off of development-associated substances downhill into the AWC swamps.
The group then walked down the access road which leads into the parking lot area and visited a certified vernal pool which is located in this so-called "developable" portion of the property. Certification of the pool by the NH Department of Fish and Game was obtained in 1999 via studies performed by Kym Hall, then a student at Antioch New England Graduate School. (See Vernal Pools section of this web site.) Hikers noted the proximity of the vernal pool, one of a complex of similar pools found in this area, to the access road.
A barrier gate, constructed when the Hackett Hill property was owned by the USNH, is located at the access road entrance at the foot of the hill. Only occasional authorized traffic was permitted by University officials and the road, like the parking lot area, was never plowed or chemically treated. Heavy daily traffic would accompany the proposed development of the property by the city of Manchester . The group therefore considered the impact of this traffic on the vernal pool complex and on other wetlands adjacent to the access road.
* Much of this description of the Sierra Club appears in a recent membership brochure for the organization.BACK TO INTRODUCTION TO PART III FORWARD TO THE PUBLIC SEEKS ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HACKETT HILL DEVELOPMENT SCHEME HOME
