Sierra Club

[Beo]

Just wondering if anyone here was a member of the Sierra Club and what ya'll thought of them. So give me some feed back peoples Actually I don't know much about them other than stuff I've read an we all know articles are the opinion of those writing them. I know about Green Peace, and P.E.T.A. or as I like to call it People Eating Tasty Animals, and other conservation groups, but you are mostly like minded folks so I just wanted your opinion.
Facts I know:
The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization founded on May 28, 1892 in San Francisco, California by the well-known preservationist John Muir, who became its first president. The Sierra Club has hundreds of thousands of members in chapters located throughout the United States, and is affiliated with Sierra Club of/du Canada.
Mission statement:
1. Explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth.
2. Practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources.
3. Educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment.
4. Use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.
But what do ya survivalist and woodsy folks think? Hmmmmmmmmm.

[Rick]

Beo, I don't belong but have contributed as has my son. I also support Rails to Trails and am a past member of that group.

Activists, whatever the cause, are important elements in our society (I'm not suggesting we have to agree with all of them). The Sierra Club happens to support wildlife and wilderness areas and they do so on a number of fronts including political and humanitarian. Their work with children in teaching them respect for the outdoors and actually getting them outside to see it for themselves is a pretty good deal, I think. A large portion of the wilderness areas we enjoy today are there because activists fought to save them. Yea, they're okay in my book.

[Beo]

Great answer, and I agree.

[pgvoutdoors]

I've been a member of the Sierra Club for many years and I've been very pleased for the most part. Protecting and preserving our wilderness is no easy job. Even us bushmen want the wilderness pressured but at the same time we want almost full access. I believe the Sierra Club has tried to educate people on how to use the natural resources we have in a more low impact way. Sometimes this interferes with some of the things we may want to do, but I feel it's a small price to pay to ensure that generations to come will have at least what we have.

I didn't grow up as a hunter but when I opened my own outfitting business I would do business with hunters. I sold firearms, hunting clothing, and even had a full time gunsmith. I was approached by a good customer the year I opened (1994) and was asked would I be interested in supporting the National Wild Turkey Federation? I was aware of the their work to try to reintroduce wild turkeys back into Ohio. Long story short I agreed but did receive some guff from my backpacking/bird watching customers. I stood to my position and within just a few years the area had so many wild turkeys that everyone was happy. As I sit here I have two Sponsor Membership certificate hanging on my wall.

No club is for everyone, but there are many that support the protection and fair use of this nations wilderness. Sometimes you just have to get on board for the greater cause.

[RBB]

I grew up in an area where groups like the Sierra club were anathema. Most of the people in our area lived by trapping, logging, or farming - if they could keep the wolves away from the cows. The federal act protecting wolves was not popular in our area.

As I grew older, I began to realize the wilderness norm I'd lived with growing up was extremely rare in the world and began to have more respect for organizations that protect the land. We used to be upset with the large amounts of land belonging to the government. No so, anymore - because I know that if the government sold off the land - it wouldn't belong to poor people like me, but rather to rich people who would post their land and show up once a year to hunt or fish. Bad enough the way it is. I'd just as soon the government owned more land.

[Rick]

The student becomes teacher, eh, RBB? Good for you. Now, you have to pass that knowledge on so others carry the same respect as you (somehow I think you are). I'm walkin' the talk with my kids and my grandkids.

[Elkchsr]

Sierra club = save the world at some one else’s expense but they in the end get to do what they want because they feel good about what their doing=hypocrite

You are who you hang with and I don't care for many or really any of the groups they work with...

[wildWoman]

I'm not a member of the Sierra Club but have been an environmental activist at grassroots/local level for years. We worked with the Sierra Legal Defense Fund on one campaign and I think it's a fine organization. There's so much pressure on wilderness areas that if nobody pushes back, they'll be developed even faster. What really bugs me that you're pretty much dependent on law suits and media coverage these days to achieve anything. The one you can only do if you have loads of funding, which most groups don't have or pair up with a large group which is unlikely, the second you only get at the whim of journalists and their employers.

[Rick]

You are who you hang with

Maybe. But if NO ONE fights for clean water and wilderness, what do we wind up with? If I have to hang with a shmuck to preserve the wilderness then you can call me a shmuck as long as the goal is achieved. Once it's done, I can always take a shower and wash the shmuck off.

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[Elkchsr]

Your right Rick...

Problem is, as with most environmental groups and this one is one of the worst (not the worst)

!!!They don't know when to stop!!!

A balance needs to be maintained with big business/environmental concerns

Ying and yang so to speak

They don't understand basic economics in any form no matter how educated most of them are

I bet most people on this board only know this organization by name and no more

How many of those same people would be dumping garbage or abusing Mother Earth?

I doubt any (which means we should associate with groups who are for a healthy balance in conjunction with what keeps this country strong enough to allow radical groups to exist in the first place)

If the Sierra Club had their way, none of you would be allowed into “Their” wilds unless you had a membership and went thru the indoctrination process

Some of you talk about owning guns; check out what their view is towards guns, in or out of the wilds

Some of you like to eat animals; you may want to educate yourselves to their view points

Every one here likes to trek into the wilds in one form or another (at least it is what is implied), maybe you should look into their ideals about “Evil Humans” in this environment

These are only a few of the elements that comprise this group

Kinda takes away from what America is if you ask me

Extremists of any form do this country no good no matter how they ‘feel’ about it

I’m not trying to rain on their parade when it comes to cleaning things up and helping to educate others the injustices of past practices of this great country, they do a good job, but that’s where they should have stopped

They would more than likely have kept a heck of a lot more people on their side of the fence in their endeavors if they would have kept their mission statement simple and the way it was at inception

One question:

Who is it actually picking up the garbage, and whats the location of this pic?

[Rick]

Your point is well taken. Restraint is often a broken leash on a wandering dog.

The picture is of the Citarum River, near the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. It is purported to be the world's most polluted river.

[pgvoutdoors]

Sierra club = save the world at some one else’s expense but they in the end get to do what they want because they feel good about what their doing=hypocrite

You are who you hang with and I don't care for many or really any of the groups they work with...

As I stated before, no one club is perfect for everyone. If you are who you hang with, and you hand with no one, then your no one. I don't believe you must be apart of a club but a lone wolf in this case may find it difficult to protect his home. As wild lands are used do to political policy, they can't just be return if the policy is changed. It would take a generation to redevelop the land if possible at all.

We must all do our part, in someway or some how!

[trax]

"I wouldn't belong to a club that would have me for a member"....I kinda like that.

However, I think what pgv said is very true. If you are who you hang with and you hang with no one.....

A club, any club, is going to be what the people there make it. Contribute nothing= gain nothing, keep your opinions to yourself= follow someone else.

It's true that many environmental groups don't know when to back off and we need balance in these areas, we're not going to get it if we don't provide it.

so, I'd join the Sierra Club, except I don't becaue I agree with Groucho.

[Elkchsr]

If you are who you hang with and you hang with no one

This is a great quote

What I find makes it the most interesting on who I should throw my hat in with is to do a little research on this/these groups (the internet is a great way to find things out any more)

Look to see what their doing with their money and what political attachments they follow or if they are selfless and only follow their own mantra

I see this as just as important as picking a political arena to throw my vote their way

If my money is allowed to be funneled off from the objective to issues that have no relevance or I don't believe in

Then it opens my eyes to what these people’s real motives are that I'm siding with

For example, look at what the Humane Society says and advertises, then do a little research on the subject and see where their real motives lie, where they spend their money and what political beds they climb into to meet objectives that have no foundation whatsoever with the who they say they are

Yet millions of sheeple every year donate to the "Cause" not understanding where their hard earned monies are really being spent...

I’m just saying, we are all smart people here, pay attention to who your climbing in bed with and find out if they (on the deepest sense) really represent what you want to be known as

Education goes a long way

JM2CW (Just my 2 Cents Worth)

[onewheelbiting]

I am a member...lol...long story but I gave enough to get the kewl pack they give out for a $500 donation. I got suckered in because of a area they own I wanted to camp and hike in a few years ago in California...It was worth being able to hike and explorer 8000 acres they hold for members only.

[Elkchsr]

Thats a plus, but from what I've seen and what I've heard, their real objective is that this 8000 acres is expanded to every green place the U.S. has to offer...

A little unrealistic in this case, but they do have a strong agenda to get what they can...

The "New Land Grab"

[onewheelbiting]

You are right they are off the far end on most things. But they have that preserve on the Pacific coast and it is great. I hiked and camped on it for a month making it worth the money to me.

[Beo]

I belong to the me club, ain't no one in it but me

[FVR]

Sierra Club = Dependancy on foreign oil.

[MCBushbaby]

I liked the original idea, you know, when Muir founded it but it's gone too public and soft. Now anyone can join, whether they practice or believe in conservation or not, and the values are a little softer. I prefer the old fashioned militant version. I think a subdivision called "john muir lives" has more this philosophy.