The Sierra Club - Protecting Nature - America

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The Sierra Club - Protecting Nature -Americas
premier grassroots environmental organization

• Barry Wulff, Ph. D.
• Vice President, International Affairs

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The stimulus for founding the Sierra Club

• The battle to save the Yosemite valley and
  federal legislation making it a National Park in
  1890, all due to the lobbying efforts of John
  Muir and Robert Underwood Johnson.

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The Original Purposes of the Sierra Club (founded
in 1892)

• To explore, enjoy, and render accessible the
  mountain regions of the American Pacific Coast
• to publish authentic information about their
  beauty and biodiversity
• to enlist the support and cooperation of the
  people and the government in preserving the
  forests and other natural features of the Sierra
  Nevada Mountains.

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Sierra Club Timeline - the early years

• 1892 Our first conservation effort was to defeat
  a proposed reduction in the boundaries of
  Yosemite National Park.
• 1899 Worked with Congress to establish Mt.
  Rainier National Park by legislation based on a
  statement prepared by the Sierra Club and other
  organizations.
• 1907 Sierra Club submits resolution to Secretary
  of the Interior opposing the damming of Hetch
  Hetchy Valley in Yosemite.

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Citizen Action at Work

• John Muir wrote
• "We held a Sierra Club meeting last
  Saturday--passed resolutions and fanned each
  other to a fierce white Hetch Hetchy heat.
• "I particularly urged that we must get everybody
  to write to senators and the president keeping
  letters flying all next month thick as storm snow
  flakes, loaded with park pictures, short
  circulars, etc. Stir up all other park and
  playground clubs, women's clubs, etc. .. "

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Hetch Hetchy Valley Before 1914
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Hetch Hetchy A Lost Campaign

• We lost the battle.
• Congress approved the dam in 1913, and Muir died
  in 1914.
• Some say he died from a broken heart at the loss.

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An outings program was developed.

• While battles over preservation of the valleys
  took place, a campaign to take people to the
  mountains began.
• Why? To instill within the public an
  appreciation for the beauty and value of the
  natural world.

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Outings To Explore and Enjoy
...If properly conducted the outing will do
an infinite amount of good toward awakening the
proper kind of interest in the forests and other
natural features of our mountains, and will also
tend to create a spirit of good fellowship among
our members.
Will Colby
The 1905 Climb of Mt. Rainier
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Sierra Club Timeline - The middle years

• 1920 We successfully opposed dams proposed for
  Yellowstone National Park.
• 1940 With the help of Ansel Adams, who became a
  famous American landscape photographer, armed
  with photographs, our efforts led to the
  establishment of Kings Canyon National Park.
• 1964 U.S. Congress passes Wilderness Act, first
  wilderness protection in the world, after years
  of battle.
• 1968 Sierra Club succeeds in a campaign to stop
  the damming of the Grand Canyon.
• Redwood National Park established after long
  fight.

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Sierra Club Timeline - recent years

• 1975 Sierra Club wins long-sought additions to
  Grand Canyon National Park.
• 1978 Sierra Club wins a 48,000 acre addition to
  Redwood National Park, protecting the watershed
  of the world's tallest trees.
• 1980 Congress passes Alaska National Interest
  Lands Conservation Act, designating more than 103
  million acres of parks, wildlife refuges, and
  wilderness areas.

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Sierra Club Timeline - recent successes

• 1986 Sierra Club wins designation of 270,000
  acre Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area in
  Oregon and Washington states.
• 1989 Sierra Club presses World Bank to withdraw
  500 million loan to Brazil, which kills plans to
  build 147 dams and flood large areas of Amazon.
• 1994 California Desert Protection Act signed
  into law, after an 8-year effort led by the Club.
• 1996 Club's Utah Wilderness campaign helps
  pressure President Clinton to create Grand
  Staircase-Escalante National Monument, thereby
  protecting 1.7 million acres in Utah.

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The Sierra Club Purposes Today

• To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of
  the earth
• to practice and promote the responsible use of
  the earths 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.

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How we do it
The Sierra Club has over 200 staff and 5,000
volunteers working in every state and in Canada.
Our tools include

• public education,
• lobbying to influence elected and appointed
  officials,
• litigation of government agencies and private
  companies,
• books and other publications, and
• participating in elections by endorsing
  candidates with strong environmental records.

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A rally against toxins in our rivers
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Current Sierra Club Priorities

• Stop sprawl end runaway growth,
• Protect America's wildlands,
• End commercial logging on public lands,
• Protect water from factory farms.

• Energy and global warming,
• Human Rights and the environment,
• Population stabilization,
• Responsible trade also
• Ending the toxic threat.

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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge America's
National Treasure in Peril

• A current campaign is to save the Alaskan Arctic
  National Wildlife Refuge from being drilled for
  oil.
• Why?
• Threatens the integrity of the entire Alaskan
  tundra ecosystem.
• Threatens the local caribou herds.
• Defeats the goal of energy conservation.

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Organization of the Sierra Club

• National offices in San Francisco Washington,
  DC
• State and provincial chapters across North
  America.
• Local groups throughout many communities.

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Sierra Club Chapters across North America
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Today, we offer more than 350 trips each year to
unique destinations around the world for people
of all ages.
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Printed membership application forms
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Raising funds and membership through calendar
sales
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Communicating with our members with brochures,
cards, newsletters and automobile bumper stickers
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National Volunteer CommitteesPresently 110
committeesSome examples

• Global Warming Clean Energy Program
• Marine Wildlife Habitat
• Genetic Engineering
• National Parks Monuments
• Group Chapter Outings
• Radiation
• Toxins
• International

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The International Committee
Mission To protect and restore the global
environment through three main grassroots-based
thrusts

• Empower communities and individuals globally
• Reduce the global environmental impact of
  US-based activities
• Promote environmental perspectives and protection
  in international agreements and actions

http//www.sierraclub.org/international/committee/
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The Sierra Club
http//www.sierraclub.org/
85 Second Street, 2nd Floor San Francisco,
California 94105 Tel [phone] FAX
415-977-5799
A healthy environment will support a healthy
economy.
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Golden Lake, Oregon Cascades
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Sequoia National Monument 2000
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Wild Forests Campaign

• As Americans, we treasure our National Forest
  heritage. But over half of our National Forests
  have already been scarred by logging,
  roadbuilding, mining, and oil and gas drilling.
  This year, we have an historic opportunity to
  protect 60 million acres of the last unspoiled
  wildlands in our National Forests. Your help is
  needed!
• Take Action to Protect Our Wild Forests
• Send an e-mail to President Clinton and Secretary
  of Agriculture, Dan Glickman.
• How to Get Involved
• Tool kit for Wild Forest activists and
  organizers.
• Off-Road Vehicles
• Damaging America's Threatened Wilderness
• One Million Comments Delivered
• An estimated one million comments in favor of
  increasing protection for wild forests were
  delivered to the Forest Service by the July 17th
  deadline!