A Brief History of the Sierra Club
The Links page has links to the National Sierra Club organization and web site.
Sierra Club BoD Election Results
5/23/23 update - Newly elected officers are:
Allison Chin, President
Ross Macfarlane, Vice President of Conservation
Patrick Murphy, Vice President of Chapters, Groups, and Volunteers
Cheyenne Branscum, Treasurer
Meghan Sahli-Wells, Secretary
4/27/23 - Shruti Bhatnagar, Rita Harris, David Holtz, Patrick Murphy, and Dave Scott have been elected to serve three-year terms (2023-2026) on the volunteer Board of Directors.
Board of Directors 2023-26 (first 3 rows below):
2023-2026 Shruti Bhatnagar Rita Harris-MS David Holtz Patrick Murphy-TX Dave Scott-OH
BOD ELECTION RESULTS- The results of the 2022 Board of Directors election have many firsts to celebrate, including a majority-female contingent, the highest number of BIPOC leaders elected, and the first tribal citizen to be elected to the board. Congratulations to Cheyenne Skye Branscum, Allison Chin, Michael Dorsey, Cynthia Hoyle, and Aaron Mair on their election to three-year terms on the all-volunteer board.
National Sierra Club Elections are Underway - VOTE!
A Democratic Sierra Club Demands Grassroots Participation. The annual election for Sierra Club’s Board of Directors is now underway. Those eligible to vote in the national Sierra Club election will receive in the mail (or by Internet if you chose the electronic delivery option) your national Sierra Club ballot in early March. This will include information on the candidates and where you can find additional information on Sierra Club’s web site. Your participation is critical for a Strong Sierra Club.
The Sierra Club is a democratically structured organization at all levels. Sierra Club requires the regular flow of views on policy and priorities from its grassroots membership in order to function well. Yearly participation in elections at all Sierra Club levels is a major membership obligation.
In a typical year less than 10% of eligible members vote in the Board elections. A minimum of 5% is required for the elections to be valid. Our grassroots structure is strengthened when our participation is high. That means your participation is needed in the voting process.
How can I learn about the candidates? Members frequently state that they don’t know the candidates and find it difficult to vote without learning more.
Each candidate provides a statement about themselves and their views on the issues on the official election ballot. You can learn more by asking questions of your group and chapter leadership and other experienced members you know. You can also visit the Sierra Club’s election web site for additional information about candidates:
http://www.sierraclub.org/board/election
Then make your choice and cast your vote!
Voting Online is Quick and Easy!
Even if you receive your election materials in the mail, we encourage you to use the user-friendly Internet voting site to save time and postage. If sending via ground mail, please note your ballots must be received by no later than noon EST Election Day, April 27, 2022.
SIERRA CLUB DIRECTORS
Current 2020-2021 Board of Directors:
(Above image: Candidates for 2020-2023) Top Row: Ramon Cruz (PR/NY), Rita Harris (MS), Marion Klaus (UT), Natalie Lucas (OH), Patrick Murphy (TX) - Bottom Row: Peter Sargent (CO), Igor A. Tregub (CA)
2019 Election Candidates:
Candidates for 2017-2020 Term:
2016 Candidates
2015-16 BOD below:
A Brief History of the Sierra Club
1838 John Muir born April 21 *, in Dunbar, Scotland.
1890 Yosemite National Park established.
Through his widely read magazine articles, naturalist John Muir became the nation's best-known advocate for the Sierra Nevada. In 1892, he and a number of prominent Californians incorporated the Sierra Club whose purposes were: To explore, enjoy, and render accessible the mountain regions of the Pacific Coast; to publish authentic information concerning them; to enlist the support and cooperation of the people and government in preserving the forest and other natural features of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
John Muir’s advice to “climb the mountains and get their good tidings” has been followed by Sierra Club members since the Club’s founding and has played a key role in shaping the Club’s history. As the Club’s first president, Muir reasoned that “if people in general could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish.”
The infant Club supported the establishment of forest reserves and parks that would protect scenic resources throughout much of the Sierra Nevada; conducted surveys of potential long-distance trail routes; appropriated money for trail improvement and marking; produced a periodic journal (the Sierra Club Bulletin); and published maps of Yosemite and the Kings River region. Club members pioneered mountaineering routes throughout the Sierra, inaugurating a climbing tradition that would endure for generations.
In 1901 the Club’s Board of Directors proposed an annual summer outing. Its purpose was to encourage members and other interested people to see firsthand the country the Club sought to preserve and protect. William Colby, who led these outings for 29 years, noted that “an excursion of this sort, if properly conducted, 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.”
The first outing, which drew 96 people to Tuolumne Meadows in 1901, was the model for what came to be called the High Trip. Nearly every summer for more than 50 years, groups numbering up to 200 were taken into the wilderness by the Club. In the 1950s the impact of such large numbers of people became a matter of concern, and in the 1960s the High Trip tradition passed into history.
1905 Club bylaws amended to allow formation of sections (chapters).
1908 Sierra Club membership reaches 1,000.
1911 First chapter (Southern California) organized.
1913 Southern California Chapter completes Muir Lodge in Big Santa Anita Canyon (destroyed by flood in 1938).
1914 John Muir dies in Los Angeles.
1916 With Club support, National Park Service created by Congress.
1923 Ice Skating Section founded (disbanded 1987).
1924 San Francisco Bay Chapter organized.
1927 Ansel Adams publishes first photo portfolio, The High Sierras.
1934 Clair Tappaan Lodge, at Donner Summit completed.
1934-35 Rock Climbing Section and Ski Mountaineers Section founded.
1936 Ansel Adams lobbies Congress on behalf of Kings Canyon National Park.
1945 Club establishes a Conservation Committee of local activists to advise Board on policy.
1950 Atlantic Chapter (first outside California) and Great Lakes Chapter (200 members in 8 states) formed .
1954 Club membership: 8000
1956 Sierra Club Council created by vote of the membership to deal with internal affairs.
1960 Club membership: 15,000
1963 Club opens office in Washington D.C.
1964 Wilderness Act passes Congress.
1967 Club membership: 57,000
1970 Club chapters represent members in every state in the U.S.
1972-74 Ozark Headwaters Group, then Central Arkansas Group formed within the Ozark Chapter.
1976 Political-Action Committee organized.
1981 Club membership: 200,000 in April, 260,000 by year end.
1982 Ozark Chapter divides into separate Arkansas and Missouri Chapters.
1983 More than 1000 attend Sierra Club International Assembly at Snowmass, Colorado.
1991 Sierra Student Coalition founded.
2002 Club membership: 750,000
2005 Sierra Summit held in San Francisco where 3000 members recommended that addressing global warming through Smart Energy Solutions should be the Club’s top priority, and that preserving America’s Wild Legacy and ensuring Safe and Healthy Communities should be our other priority Conservation Initiatives.
Initially, the Club's focus was on preservation of wilderness areas such as Yosemite Valley. That effort continues with Club activists recently encouraged to submit comments (9/28/14 deadline) to the U.S. Forest Service which is developing a new management plan for national forests in California.
From a charter group of 182 California mountaineers, naturalists, and educators, the Club grew dramatically during its first century, to more than 700,000 members. It now consists of 65 chapters and almost 400 regional groups. Today, local outings range from strolls on the beach to Inner City Outings for disadvantaged youths; from trail maintenance to whitewater kayaking; from potluck socials to backpacking trips. Always, they aim to be safe, fun, and inspirational for all!
* An obituary in the Los Angeles Times originally (12/25/1914) listed his date of birth as April 28 but has recently (4/21/2015) printed a correction indicating it was actually seven days earlier.