I don't want to try to speak for all of the group showing a "lack of
interest" in the upcoming elections, but here are my thoughts:

I find this whole "takeover"deal really distasteful, and I really want to
keep it from happening.  I suspect pretty much everyone agrees with me on
that.

I don't want to spend a ton of time on the web trying to get information
about it, I just want someone to identify who the "good" and "bad"
candidates are (which has pretty much already been done on this
listserve, although it would be a good idea to repeat it), and make sure
I get a form on which to vote.  If someone can help me with that, before
the election, then I assure you I will be voting to keep the club as is,
and not let it be hijacked out from under us.

If there is something else that I/we need to be doing, please let me/us
know what that is, and I'll try to help with that too.

Mike Wyrick

On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 11:59:09 -0600 Bill Witt <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> Dear Sierra Friends,
>
> I'm puzzled by what appears to be a considerable lack of interest in
> the
> upcoming BOD elections.  Only three of the 94 members on this
> list-serve
> have responded to my expressions of concern.
>
> Others, however, are taking note.  Here's a list of newspapers that
> today
> published an AP story on the takeover effort.
>
> Bill Witt
>
>
>
>
> USA Today
> Kansas City Star
> Seattle Times (ran with their own story that had local interviews)
> Sarasota Herald-FL
> Salt Lake City Tribune
> Chicago Tribune
> Boston Globe
> Miami HeraldContra Costa Times-CA
> Fort Wayne Journal Gazette-IN
> Fort Wayne News-Standard-IN
> Grand Forks Herald-ND
> Belleville News-Democrat-IN
> Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> Providence Journal-RI
> Corvallis Gazette Times-OR
> Tri-Valley Herald-CA
> Wichita Eagle
> Wilkes Barre Weekender-PA
> Bradenton Herald-FL
> Rocky Mount Telegram-NC
> Columbus Ledger-GA
> Centre Daily Times-PA
> News Journal-TX
> Fort Worth Star-Telegram
> The Guardian-UK
> MLive.com
> KTVU.com-SF
> Biloxi Sun Herald-MS
> San Jose Mercury News-CA
> phillyburbs.com-PA
> Wilmington Morning Star-NC
> Dayton Daily News-OH
> Macon Telegraph-GA
> Akron Beacon-Journal-OH
> The Ledger-FL
> Tuscaloosa News-AL
>
> Rival factions compete to control powerful Sierra Club
> SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? A fierce battle is brewing over the future of
> the
> Sierra Club, and an unlikely issue is at the center of the debate:
> immigration.
> A growing faction in the nation's most influential environmental
> group has
> urged a stronger stance against immigration, calling the growing
> U.S.
> population and its consumption of natural resources the biggest
> threat to
> the environment.
>
> Past and present Sierra Club leaders say the anti-immigrant faction
> has
> teamed up with animal-rights activists in an attempt to hijack the
> 112-year-old organization and its $100 million annual budget.
>
> "At stake is really the heart and soul of the organization," said
> Adam
> Werbach, the club's president from 1996-98. "It's a sad attempt by a
> very
> small special-interest group to take over the entire Sierra Club
> organization."
>
> Some of the old guard has organized a movement called Groundswell
> Sierra
> to oppose what they say is an attempted takeover by outside groups.
> Their
> opponents responded by filing a lawsuit claiming the leaders are
> unfairly
> trying to influence an upcoming board election.
>
> Between March 1 and April 15, members will cast mail-in ballots to
> fill
> five open seats on the club's 15-member governing board. The club's
> anti-immigration faction says it needs only three more seats to
> control
> policy.
>
> "It's a democratic process. To accuse these candidates of taking
> over the
> Sierra Club is like accusing the Democrats of taking over the White
> House," said board member Paul Watson, who co-founded Greenpeace and
> now
> heads the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
>
> Groundswell Sierra was formed after club leaders learned that
> Watson, who
> won a seat as a petition candidate last year, spoke openly about a
> takeover attempt during a speech at a conference on animal rights.
> Animal
> rights activists have agitated for the club to denounce hunting,
> fishing
> and meat consumption.
>
> Club leaders say the anti-immigration debate has drawn in outsiders
> who
> want to promote their agenda. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a
> Montgomery, Ala.-based civil liberties group, has reported that
> extremist
> racist and anti-immigration groups are encouraging their members to
> pay
> $25 to join the Sierra Club and vote in the election.
>
> In January, center co-founder Morris Dees said he would run for a
> board
> seat to draw attention to the anti-immigration movement.
>
> Groundswell Sierra is encouraging members to vote because less than
> 10% of
> the club's 750,000 members have participated in recent elections,
> making
> it easy for candidates to win board seats with relatively few votes.
>
> Founded by Scottish immigrant John Muir in 1892, the San
> Francisco-based
> Sierra Club, the country's oldest and largest environmental group,
> has
> traditionally advocated for clean air and water and protection of
> wildlands and wildlife.
>
> Despite its swelling ranks ? membership has grown by 50% over the
> past
> decade ? the Sierra Club hasn't had much success at achieving its
> top
> priority these days: stopping what members believe is an assault on
> the
> environment by the Bush administration, said executive director Carl
> Pope.
>
> "This administration has played by a different set of rules," Pope
> said.
> "If you don't play by the normal rules, you can do a lot of damage ?
> even
> in three years."
>
> Immigration came to the fore in recent years as some members pointed
> out
> that the United States consumes more natural resources than any
> other
> country. The debate came to a head in 1998, when members voted by a
> 60-40
> margin to remain neutral on immigration.
>
> But the issue has not gone away. In recent elections, several
> members who
> favor tighter curbs on immigration have been elected to the board.
>
> "Many environmentalists are not willing to deal with this very
> important
> issue," said board member Ben Zuckerman, a UCLA astronomy professor
> who
> co-founded a network of club activists called Support US Population
> Stabilization. "The numbers need to come down. Legal and illegal
> immigration are at record-high levels."
>
> Many club leaders say an anti-immigration stance would alienate
> members as
> well as allied progressive groups that represent immigrants and
> minorities.
>
> "The Sierra Club is an inclusive organization," said Groundswell
> spokesman
> Lawrence Downing, the club's president from 1986-88. "If the Sierra
> Club
> adopted an anti-immigration policy, you've lost your constituency
> and your
> credibility."
>
> In an unusual move last month, all 13 living former club presidents
> sent a
> letter to the board demanding action to protect the club and endorse
> the
> candidates nominated by the board.
>
> Last week, the three most prominent candidates supported by the
> anti-immigration faction filed a lawsuit against the Sierra Club,
> seeking
> to bar the organization from using club resources to back certain
> candidates.
>
> Board President Larry Fahn called the lawsuit an attempt to "muzzle
> the
> leadership."
>
> Watson and his allies, meanwhile, say the group's ruling elite is
> simply
> afraid of losing power.
>
> "I think there's a group that's trying to protect their turf," said
> David
> Pimentel, a candidate supported by the anit-immigration faction.
> "They
> want to run it their way from the inside."
>
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