The Canvass Program is the Club's nationwide door-to-door conservation
outreach and membership acquisition/donor development program.
Specifically, the Canvass educates people on important environmental
issues, garners support for Sierra Club conservation objectives and raises
the visibility of the Sierra Club's campaigns and programs while acquiring
new members, SIERRA subscribers and non-member donors.

The Club continues to operate the Canvass Program with The Fund For Public
Interest Research (The Fund), a public interest organization that has been
running canvasses for non-profit organizations such as Sierra Club for over
20 years.

SUMMER 2003

The Summer 2003 Canvass began in May with 19 offices across the country
from Newton, MA to Seattle, WA.

In May, the Canvass transitioned from the ARCTIC theme and began talking to
the public about the current threats to our NATIONAL FORESTS and NATIONAL
MONUMENTS.  As you know, the Bush Administration is working to undo a broad
range of protections for our country's wildlands.  Our National Forests and
the clean water, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities they
provide are at risk from increased logging and weakened environmental
protections.  Recent Forest Service decisions have increased logging under
the guise of fire protection and created loopholes in the Roadless Area
Conservation Rule, a historic effort to protect almost 60 million acres of
wild forests.  Our newest National Monuments, such as Giant Sequoia and
Canyons of the Ancients, also face a number of threats including increased
logging and mining, off-road vehicle use and power line construction.

Canvassers are carrying factsheets outlining these threats to our special
places.  For direct action, they are collecting signatures on postcards
addressed to Senators asking them to reject any legislative or
administrative measures that would lead to additional logging, mining or
development of our National Forests and National Monuments.  Canvassers are
expected to collect over 50,000 signatures on these postcards to Senators.

In April, Melinda Pierce (SC Lands Protection Team) briefed over 80
Regional Directors and local office Canvass Directors with an explanation
of NATIONAL FOREST and MONUMENT issues at the Spring East Coast Canvass
Director Training in Boston, MA.  In May, Julia Reitan (SC Director of the
Office of Volunteer & Activist Services) gave a briefing on NATIONAL FOREST
and MONUMENT issues to over 40 Regional Directors and local office Canvass
Directors at the Spring West Coast Canvass Director Training in Santa
Barbara, CA.

To date, the Summer 2003 Canvass has brought in over 5,500 new members,
3,000 SIERRA subscribers and 3,000 small donors.

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