News
The Sierra Nevada Group of the Sierra Club helped stop a dam from being built on the South Yuba River in the 1980s and mothered three local environmental groups into being.
But as the group turns 25 on Friday, the aging members wonder if younger activists will step forward to lead the group in coming years.
"We're looking for the next generation," said Richard Thomas, a long-time member who also helped form the spin-off group Friends of Spenceville.
The local Sierra Club has maintained a consistent roster of about 1,300 members, who loyally make annual financial contributions. But only 100 are active volunteers, averaging in their sixties, said Thomas.
Building an activist base hasn't been a strong suit of the Sierra Club for a number of years, partly because of its wide range of environmental concerns, ranging from logging to development, he said.
"It's hard for everyone to embrace all those issues," he said.
Specialized environmental groups have been more successful in galvanizing volunteers, Thomas said. They include the South Yuba River Citizens League and the Nevada County Land Trust, both spinoffs of the local Sierra Club, he said.
The Sierra Club was started in 1892 by naturalist John Muir and is responsible for establishing numerous national parks, but is the club still relevant?
"I think our whole social structure has changed," said Barbara Rivenes, conservation chair for the club's Sierra Nevada Group. "Kids aren't getting out as much as they used to."
Rivenes blames a lack of interest in the natural world on iPods, computers and the "electronic age." She hopes to bridge the gap with younger generations by reaching out to students at Sierra College.
The national Sierra Club already has begun to reach out to younger prospects through Internet blogs and a website, giving people the ability to become active with the click of a button.
"They are the grandfather of environmental groups" and still have a lot of state and local clout, Thomas.
The Sierra Club has a storied history of financing legal battles to protect wild places. It fought against the damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite in 1907 (though Congress let a dam be built), sued to block the harvest of ancient redwood trees on the North Coast, helped blocked efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act and helped preserve tens of millions of acres of public lands.
The group also won a lawsuit requiring the EPA to regulate release of radioactive pollutants.
With 1.3 million members, the sheer size of the club makes them effective, said Kristina Johnson, a spokeswoman from the Sierra Club's San Francisco headquarters.
"We are the largest and oldest environmental group in the country. We have a lot of influence," Johnson said.
Identity crisis?
This Friday, a handful of the original founders will celebrate and reflect on the Sierra Nevada Group of the Sierra Club's 25 years in Nevada County, while preparing for the challenges ahead. The public gathering will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Seaman's Lodge in Nevada City's Pioneer Park.
"This is one of those remember-when events," said Joe Bell a lawyer and one of the founders of the group, who led a 10 year legal battle to protect the South Yuba River from more dams.
"We have our general meeting, the annual fund raising events and spend significant amounts of money on a variety of things, but beyond that what are we all about?" asked the group's chair, Charlie Chisholm, in the most recent edition of the group's newsletter, Sierra Uplift.
Although some of the original members remain because of the social network it provides, others have left to focus on families or careers. "Burn out" is what Ted Toal said caused him to leave his "thankless job" after more than a decade of volunteering and leading the organization.
"I was really hoping to change the world and that didn't happen," Toal said.
"When it comes to smaller local issues, we don't have much power," Toal said. "In a way we spread ourselves too thin. We care about all the issues affecting the environment," he said.
Past triumphs
The Sierra Nevada Group of the Sierra Club was born in 1982 after the San Francisco-based Northwest Power Company revealed plans to dam and build a power plant on a stretch of the South Yuba River called Miner's Tunnel.
"It was just abhorrent to people who treated the river as a sacred place... It became pretty clear this was a big issue," Bell said.
During the past three years, the group has spent much of its efforts to rally support and funding to keep Donner Summit's historic Clair Tappan Lodge open.
Earlier this year, the group signed onto a lawsuit with the Friends of Spenceville and the Sierra Foothills Audubon Society opposing the Yuba Highlands, a development the size of a small town positioned on the border of Spenceville Wildlife Area.
Growing concerns about global warming and air quality are attracting young environmentalists to the Sierra Club on college campuses nationwide and could be the ticket to increased awareness in Nevada County, Johnson said.
"The Sierra Club provides a mechanism or structure within which you can have more power than if you were out on your own," Toal said.
But as the group turns 25 on Friday, the aging members wonder if younger activists will step forward to lead the group in coming years.
"We're looking for the next generation," said Richard Thomas, a long-time member who also helped form the spin-off group Friends of Spenceville.
The local Sierra Club has maintained a consistent roster of about 1,300 members, who loyally make annual financial contributions. But only 100 are active volunteers, averaging in their sixties, said Thomas.
Building an activist base hasn't been a strong suit of the Sierra Club for a number of years, partly because of its wide range of environmental concerns, ranging from logging to development, he said.
"It's hard for everyone to embrace all those issues," he said.
Specialized environmental groups have been more successful in galvanizing volunteers, Thomas said. They include the South Yuba River Citizens League and the Nevada County Land Trust, both spinoffs of the local Sierra Club, he said.
The Sierra Club was started in 1892 by naturalist John Muir and is responsible for establishing numerous national parks, but is the club still relevant?
"I think our whole social structure has changed," said Barbara Rivenes, conservation chair for the club's Sierra Nevada Group. "Kids aren't getting out as much as they used to."
Rivenes blames a lack of interest in the natural world on iPods, computers and the "electronic age." She hopes to bridge the gap with younger generations by reaching out to students at Sierra College.
The national Sierra Club already has begun to reach out to younger prospects through Internet blogs and a website, giving people the ability to become active with the click of a button.
"They are the grandfather of environmental groups" and still have a lot of state and local clout, Thomas.
The Sierra Club has a storied history of financing legal battles to protect wild places. It fought against the damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite in 1907 (though Congress let a dam be built), sued to block the harvest of ancient redwood trees on the North Coast, helped blocked efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act and helped preserve tens of millions of acres of public lands.
The group also won a lawsuit requiring the EPA to regulate release of radioactive pollutants.
With 1.3 million members, the sheer size of the club makes them effective, said Kristina Johnson, a spokeswoman from the Sierra Club's San Francisco headquarters.
"We are the largest and oldest environmental group in the country. We have a lot of influence," Johnson said.
Identity crisis?
This Friday, a handful of the original founders will celebrate and reflect on the Sierra Nevada Group of the Sierra Club's 25 years in Nevada County, while preparing for the challenges ahead. The public gathering will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Seaman's Lodge in Nevada City's Pioneer Park.
"This is one of those remember-when events," said Joe Bell a lawyer and one of the founders of the group, who led a 10 year legal battle to protect the South Yuba River from more dams.
"We have our general meeting, the annual fund raising events and spend significant amounts of money on a variety of things, but beyond that what are we all about?" asked the group's chair, Charlie Chisholm, in the most recent edition of the group's newsletter, Sierra Uplift.
Although some of the original members remain because of the social network it provides, others have left to focus on families or careers. "Burn out" is what Ted Toal said caused him to leave his "thankless job" after more than a decade of volunteering and leading the organization.
"I was really hoping to change the world and that didn't happen," Toal said.
"When it comes to smaller local issues, we don't have much power," Toal said. "In a way we spread ourselves too thin. We care about all the issues affecting the environment," he said.
Past triumphs
The Sierra Nevada Group of the Sierra Club was born in 1982 after the San Francisco-based Northwest Power Company revealed plans to dam and build a power plant on a stretch of the South Yuba River called Miner's Tunnel.
"It was just abhorrent to people who treated the river as a sacred place... It became pretty clear this was a big issue," Bell said.
During the past three years, the group has spent much of its efforts to rally support and funding to keep Donner Summit's historic Clair Tappan Lodge open.
Earlier this year, the group signed onto a lawsuit with the Friends of Spenceville and the Sierra Foothills Audubon Society opposing the Yuba Highlands, a development the size of a small town positioned on the border of Spenceville Wildlife Area.
Growing concerns about global warming and air quality are attracting young environmentalists to the Sierra Club on college campuses nationwide and could be the ticket to increased awareness in Nevada County, Johnson said.
"The Sierra Club provides a mechanism or structure within which you can have more power than if you were out on your own," Toal said.
