19 August 2025
If you would like to receive our newsletter to your email directly please visit our sign up page.
Monthly Speaker Presentation
Our Monthly Speaker Presentations will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 6:15 pm. They will continue on second Tuesday of each month. You can find the speakers in our monthly newsletter or on our website.
When: Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 6:15 pm
Where: Halyburton Park, 4099 S. 17th St., Wilmington
Speaker: N.C. Rep. Deb Butler leads off our presentation with a program centered on this year's legislative trends and legislation underway for the fall. She will discuss environmental legislation she has supported and how important it is for Sierra Club members to get involved in the 2026 elections NOW and how we can do that.
Deb Butler represents House District 18, a position she has held since 2017. She's been endorsed by the NC Sierra Club each time she has run for office. She has be a vocal leader on environmental issues, particularly around the fight for clean water in the wake of PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear River. Deb is a founding member and a co-chair of the NC Progressive House Caucus.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT.
Get Ready to Fight Enviva's Expansion
Enviva Biomass, the company in Wilmington that makes wood pellets here in NC and ships them to Europe, has submitted a draft permit to increase production to 900,000 tons of pellets per year at its Northampton facility, and increase hazardous air pollutants by 65%. United as North Carolina partners, we can STOP this biomass expansion.
Gather with NC organizations fighting for community health and our forests as we make plans for informed and impactful turnout when the permit hearing is scheduled.
What: NC Biomass Network Zoom
When: Tuesday, Aug. 26, Noon to 1 pm
Who: You will hear from the Impacted Communities Against Wood Pellets (ICAWP), Dogwood Allicance, SELC, & CleanAIRE NC.
Why: Stop the Enviva Northampton wood pellet expansion.
Register now!
Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Annual Report
The Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) is a federally-mandated and federally-funded entity that provides regional and cooperative transportation (multimodal) planning that serves as the basis for the expenditure of all federal transportation funds in the greater Wilmington area. WMPO recently released its Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Annual Report.
Contents of note include:
Drafting the Cape Fear Navigating Change 2050 plan, which will serve as the blueprint and foundation for our transportation network over the next 25 years;
The US Department of Transportation’s award of $242 million to the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge;
Successful events including the Brunswick Heritage Riverside Ride, River to Sea Ride, and the Be A Looker ("Watch for bikes and pedestrians") campaign; and
Several feasibility studies in partnership with the NCDOT that have been adopted, including the Gullah Geechee Heritage Trail, Island Greenway, and Downtown Trail Phases II and III.
Protect Roadless Areas in NC and Nationwide!
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in June that it intends to revoke the Roadless Rule. The Sierra Club is fighting back against revoking the Rule, which protects large, remote and pristine swaths of our national forests in North Carolina and nationwide by banning the construction of new roads within their boundaries.
The USDA can’t revoke Roadless Rule protections without going through an administrative process that requires public input. In the coming weeks we expect the USDA to release a Notice of Intent (NOI) to revoke the Roadless Rule which will open up a public comment period. We'll let you know when the NOI is released and want you to be ready for that announcement in order to overwhelm the USDA with comments supporting the Roadless Rule protections.
Until the NOI is released, please urge your U.S. representatives and senators to support the Roadless Area Conservation Act (RACA), which would enshrine the administrative Roadless Rule into federal law.
Use our form to send a message supporting RACA!
Learn more about the issue and what's at stake.