Welcome to the USEE e-newsletter. Our new monthly e-newsletter will allow USEE to provide educators, organizations, and concerned citizens with current information, events and opportunities. If you have suggestions for making our new e-newsletter a better resource for you, or if you have something you would like posted, please contact us at (801) 328-1549 or email info@usee.org.

USEE’s 9th Annual Benefit Bash

Join USEE October 22nd at The Point Restaurant at the Huntsman Cancer Institute to support environmental education! The Annual Benefit Bash will include dinner, live and silent auctions, and an awards ceremony honoring the outstanding people in environmental education. To RSVP, donate auction items, or receive more information, http://www.usee.org/about/bash.html or contact Emory at emory@usee.org or 801-328-1549.

Exploring EE and Intercultural Competency Workshop & Bioneers Conference

October 15, 2005 (12-6pm), USU Campus, Logan, UT

Join USEE and representatives from the Environmental Education Training and Partnership (EETAP) as we explore multicultural issues within the real world of environmental education. Through discussion of case studies and other activities, you will examine the challenges of working with cultural groups different from your own and identify strategies for becoming more culturally competent. For more information and to register, please contact 801-328-1549 or email Lindsey@usee.org.

2nd Annual Bioneers Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah

October 14-16, 2005

Can’t make it to San Francisco for the Annual Bioneers Conference? The Utah State University College of Natural Resources, Utah State University Extension, and community leaders are hosting the Second Annual Bioneers Conference at Utah State University. Sessions from the Bioneers Conference will broadcast to the university via satellite. Additional workshops will address local issues including air quality & transportation, renewable energy, preserving agricultural land and water quality, and much more. For more information contact Leona Hawkes at leonah@ext.usu.edu or 435-760-2407 or visit www.extension.usu.edu/bioneers.

Project WET and Project Learning Tree Facilitator Workshop

Dates: November 3-4, 2005
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Place: Utah House – Kaysville, Utah
Cost: Free to participate; PLT and PWET Activity Guides will be sold at $15 each.

We are looking for trained educators in Project Learning Tree or Project WET to join us for this workshop and become facilitators! Please contact Lindsey at 801.328.1549 or Lindsey@USEE.org for more information or to register.

Beyond a Billion: Utah Clean Cities Coalition to Celebrate Nationwide Petroleum Savings

Utah Clean Cities Coalition will join Clean Cities coalitions across the country on Friday, Oct. 14, to celebrate displacing more than a billion gallons of oil. In Salt Lake City, the Utah Clean Cities Coalition is hosting a public celebration at the Salt Lake City International Airport from 10:30 a.m. to noon on October 14. The event will include a press conference and showcase every type of alternative-fuel vehicle now in use in Utah. State and local officials will speak, and private and commercial fleets that have committed to lower-cost, cleaner fuels will be recognized. Exhibitors will provide displays and information on various alternative-fuel applications, vehicle conversions and other money-saving transportation strategies. There will be a natural gas refueling demonstration and a cake-cutting commemorating Utah Clean Cities Coalition’s eleventh anniversary. For more information visit http://www.utahcleancities.org.

What else is going on in Utah? Find out! Visit the USEE On-Line Events Calendar.

Register online for the NAAEE 2005 Conference today!

Register now for the 34th Annual NAAEE Conference, “Sustainability and Environmental Education: Focus on the Future.” The conference will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 25 - 29, 2005. The host team from the Environmental Education Association of New Mexico (EEANM) is working with NAAEE leadership to offer more than 230 presentations, including Spanish-speaking strands, 6 exceptional keynote speakers, 14 workshops and 13 field trips. For more information visit: http://naaee.org/catalog/register.php. K - 12 teacher scholarships available.

New EE Classroom Lessons from Earth Day Network

Earth Day Network has just developed two new environmental education resources for classroom use: Environmental Jeopardy and the Bobbie Bigfoot Sustainability Lessons. Designed like the game show, Environmental Jeopardy allows students to learn interactively about issues in depth, with further opportunities to do research on the topics covered. The Bobbie Bigfoot Sustainability Lessons are a collection of over twenty lesson plans that accompany the Ecological Footprint Kid’s Quiz website and are designed to inform students about the importance of sustainability. Both resources are available for free to members of the Teacher’s Corner. For more information visit www.earthday.net

2 nd Edition of Place-Based Education is Released

The second edition of David Sobel's book Place-Based Education—Connection Classrooms and Communities has just been released. This book is more than fresh curriculum; it is a whole new way of thinking about learning, and getting kids out into their community and environment for all subjects. It provides a valuable resource to all teachers, particularly those who see the need to bring learning into a more dynamic relationship with the community. The book will help them take the next step and see how their efforts fit into a potentially much larger canvass of fundamental education reform. Let the spirit of environmental education infuse the whole curriculum!

Welcome to Hogwarts

Join YouthCity and Tracy Aviary October 15th, 22nd and 29th for a Potter of a mystery! Harry has lost his owl, and it will take all of his friends (and you) to help him solve the mystery. Class starts promptly at 5:00 pm. For more information call 801-322-BIRD, e-mail julieb@tracyaviary.org or visit www.tracyaviary.com.

Garden After Dark

Join Red Butte Garden for a Halloween festival on Mondays and Thursdays-Saturdays, October 17-29. Garden After Dark will include music by the Slickrock Gypsies, arts and crafts, and more!

For more information visit www.redbuttegarden.org.

According to Alliance to the Save Energy (ASE), over the next decade, US motor gasoline consumption will increase by almost 25 percent.

That increase alone would be enough to fuel nearly one-fifth of the rest of the World’s motor fuel consumption.

Here are some simple tips to help you conserve gasoline:

Avoid rapid acceleration to reduce fuel consumption.
Avoid hard braking and sudden stops.
Drive more slowly. One study reported that for all vehicles tested there was at least a 20% loss in fuel economy as cruising speed was increased from 55 to 75 mph. So, 20 miles per gallon (mpg) at 55 mph becomes 16 mpg or less at 75 mph.
Remove extra weight from the car; 100 extra pounds may cost 1 mpg.
Avoid using roof racks and remove when not in use.
Use cruise control on highway trips.
For any stop lasting more than a minute, shut off the engine rather than letting it idle.
Avoid warming the engine up before driving; it is not necessary, even in cold weather.
Check tires; an under-inflated tire can decrease fuel economy by 2%.

For more tips on conserving gas on the road, at home and at the office visit http://www.dep.state.fl.us/mainpage/em/energy_tips.htm

USEE extends a very special thank you to our 2005 Conference Sponsors:

Platinum Funders:
Office Max
U.S. EPA Office of Environmental Education

Silver Sponsor:
Kennecott Utah Copper

Gold Sponsors:
Acorn Naturalists
Adopt the Guidelines, National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education (NPEEE)
Cooper, Roberts, Simonsen Associates

Thanks and a warm welcome to our new and renewing Institutional Members:

Ogden Nature Center
Great Basin Environmental Education Center
Soldier Hollow Charter School

Each year, the USEE Program Advisory Council (PAC) solicits nominations for outstanding educators, programs, and volunteers in environmental education throughout the state. Congratulations to the winners of this year’s 2005 Utah Environmental Education Awards! The following will be recognized at USEE’s Annual Benefit Bash on October 22 nd.:

Vern A Fridley Environmental Educator of the Year: Trisha Hedin
Environmental Education Program of the Year: Bioregional Outdoor Education Project
Environmental Education Volunteer of the Year: Linda Wignall