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Sierra Club People:
Larry Mehlhaff, In Memoriam
On June 21, 2006, Sierra Club Deputy Field Director Larry Mehlhaff died at his home in Salt Lake City, of complications related to brain cancer. He was 49.
"Larry's death is a great loss to this organization and the planet," said Club Executive Director Carl Pope. "He spent his life speaking for the prairies, mountains, and wildlife with passion and good cheer. More importantly, he inspired others to join that work. There are rivers and lands that are protected for generations to come because Larry was there for them."
Among Mehlhaff's many conservation accomplishments were helping secure passage of the Wyoming Wilderness Act of 1984 and the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993; leading the Club's successful efforts to block oil and gas leasing and development in national forest roadless areas and wilderness; organizing and assisting wilderness and wild river campaigns in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska; leading the Club's efforts to reintroduce wolves into Yellowstone National Park and to protect the grizzly bear from threats to its habitat and protected status; and helping countless Sierra Club staff and volunteers to raise funds to support critical Club conservation programs.
The son of a grain-elevator operator in Freeman, South Dakota, Mehlhaff became interested in conservation as a college student in Colorado. "Like other Sierra Club members, I got hooked because I cared about a place," he told Club staffer Jenny Coyle in 2001. "The Pawnee National Grasslands were proposed for wilderness designation. I checked them out and decided they were worthy of protection." (You can read Coyle's profile here.) Mehlhaff went on to be a leader in the efforts to protect those grasslands and the Soldier Creek Wilderness in Nebraska. He also played a key role in shepherding Wild and Scenic River legislation through Congress for the Clarks Fork River in Wyoming and the Niobrara River in Nebraska.
In the early 1980s Mehlhaff combined his passions for organizing and baseball in a successful campaign to get former Minnesota Twins star Harmon Killebrew elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1984, Mehlhaff moved to Sheridan, Wyoming, where he worked for many years as the Club's Northern Plains field director. He relocated to Salt Lake City in 2004, after becoming Deputy Field Director.
The week before he died, Mehlhaff was presented with the Club's John Muir Award, one of the highest honors in the environmental movement. He joined former executive director Mike McCloskey as the only Club staffer to receive the award. "John Muir would be honored to have Larry Mehlhaff follow in his footsteps because Larry has helped so many ordinary citizens protect the wild places they love," said Pope, who presented the award along with several of Mehlhaff's colleagues, family, and friends.
"Receiving the John Muir Award is like being inducted into the Sierra Club Hall of Fame for environmental champions," said Rob Smith, the Club's Southwest Regional Staff Director, who was present at the ceremony. Pope took the occasion to announce the creation of the new Larry Mehlhaff Award, honoring employee excellence and special achievement.
"Larry represents the best of Sierra Club tradition-dedication to the environment, commitment to grassroots involvement, and a great sense of humor to sustain us over the long haul," said Club director Joni Bosh, who was also present.
Mehlhaff receives the Sierra Club's John Muir Award, one of the highest honors in the environmental movement. Named for the Scottish-born naturalist who founded the Sierra Club in 1892, the award was established to honor "a distinguished record of leadership in national or international conservation causes such as to continue John Muir's work of preservation and establishment of parks and wilderness." On the left is Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope; on the right is Board member Joni Bosh.
"I'll always remember Larry's smile and the way he made us laugh," said National Field Director Bob Bingaman. "To me he was a brother, a friend, a highly respected professional colleague, and one of the highest-quality individuals I have known in my life. I'll miss him and our daily conversations about baseball. I'll miss his advice and counsel. But most of all, I'll miss his smile."
A Club staffer for 21 years, Mehlhaff is a previous recipient of the Mike McCloskey Award, the Club's highest staff award for service to the organization.
"Our thoughts, prayers, and expressions of concern go out to Marion Klaus, Larry's lifetime partner, Larry's family, and the many Sierra volunteers and staff who knew, respected, and loved Larry Mehlhaff," said Pope. "His death is a loss which will be felt deeply by those of us who knew and loved him."
Klaus requests that people wishing to honor Larry make contributions to the National Brain Tumor Foundation or to the Sierra Club Foundation, Larry Mehlhaff Memorial Conservation Fund. Those who choose to contribute to the Foundation should make checks payable to the Sierra Club Foundation and note on the check that it is a contribution to the Larry Mehlhaff Memorial Conservation Fund.
When these three men drink beer together, polluters and despoilers quake. From left, Sierra Club field wizards Bill Arthur, Larry Mehlhaff, and Bob Bingaman.
Press release, June 2006: Sierra Club Staffer Wins Prestigious Award