The first week in March of 2022 saw over 1200 GCA members from around the country participating in the Garden Club of America’s National Affairs and Legislation Conference (NAL), held entirely on Zoom.  We emerge from the conference with a list of key legislative priorities that offer real, practical solutions, that if implemented and supported now will dramatically advance our collective efforts in addressing Climate Change.   It is important to note that the GCA selects these specific priorities because they are pragmatic and stand a reasonably good chance of bipartisan passage.
Conservation Chair, Sam Muldoon and Assistant Chair, Larey Anne Swanson, were hoping to be on Capital Hill to meet with our state representatives to lobby on behalf of LMGC/GCA’s initiatives, however, they pivoted to pursue their work virtually! Along with their St. Paul Garden Club counterparts, they’ve met with Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Senator Tina Smith’s staff, and Senator Amy Klobuchar’s staff and report that all of our representatives have been strongly supportive of the GCA’s six conservation priorities. In some cases, the teams were able to bring attention to elements of specific bills that aligned with our representative’s legislative priorities, which they greatly appreciated. Meetings with Dean Phillips and Tom Emmer are currently in the works!
These proposed bills support GCA’s initiatives which are identified, researched and explained in the GCA Position Papers. You can review the NAL event and related information on the GCA webpage. In addition to our delegates, LMGC had approximately 20 additional members join in – one of the advantages of a virtual platform – it can be far reaching! Here are a few areas where you can get motivated and involved.
  • Scenic America – log on here and sign the ‘act now’ email. This will help move forward the ‘undergrounding’ of power lines. Yes, that means burying power lines so we don’t have to see them, or trees cut in disfiguring ways or worry about weather events causing downed power lines. A win, win, win situation! (PHOTO)
  • (RAWA) Recovering American Wildlife Act – this video will motivate you to sign the associated support letter.
  • Representative Mike Simpson talks about the importance of dam removal. See this documentary  DamNation  produced by Patagonia, Inc.
And finally, something simple and enjoyable suggested by Senator Mike Braun – “Plant a tree. It’s the simplest way of capturing carbon”.