Sierra Club Angeles Chapter
Fact Sheet and Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Angeles Chapter?
The Angeles Chapter is the oldest of more than 60 Sierra Club chapters in the United States, including thirteen in the state of California

How many Angeles Chapter members are there?
The Chapter has more than 50,000 members, making it the largest in the Sierra Club.

What geographical area does the Angeles Chapter represent?
Los Angeles and Orange counties. The territory extends from beyond Valencia and Lancaster in the north to Mission Viejo in the south and from the Pacific coast to the San Bernardino and Riverside county lines.

What is the Chapter’s mission?
The Angeles Chapter acts locally to carry out the mission of the national Sierra Club, which consists of four main goals:

• Explore, enjoy and protect the planet.
• Practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources.
• Educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment.
• Use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

When was the Chapter founded?
The Sierra Club was founded in 1892 and John Muir became the first president. The Angeles Chapter (then called the Southern California Chapter) came into existence in 1911.

What are the Chapter’s primary activities?
Major activities fall into three main areas:

• Conservation. The Chapter has task forces active on a variety of fronts, from air quality and coastal preservation to forest and desert conservation to protecting our urban environment and parks.
• Outings. The Angeles Chapter sponsors more than 4,000 outings annually for its members and friends. Outings include trail hiking, backpacking, canoeing, Inner City Outings for urban youth, photography tours, singles outings, and more.
• Political. The political committees promote the election of environmentally sensitive candidates to public office. The Chapter endorses and supports such candidates and takes positions of ballot measures dealing with environmental issues.

Are Sierra Club members paid to advocate for the environment?
The Sierra Club consists of unpaid volunteers and paid, professional staff members, who work together to advance our mission.

• There are more than 50,000 Angeles Chapter volunteers and activists. Volunteers set policy and positions in the Sierra Club, not staff. Because the Sierra Club is a grassroots organization, volunteers can speak for the Club to the public and to the media.
• There are six staff members in the Angeles Chapter who work with and support volunteers, and who also represent the Club to the public and the media.

Who are key chapter managers?

• Virgil Shields, chair of the Chapter Executive Committee (volunteer)
• Jack Bohlka, senior chapter manager (staff)
• Johanna Zetterberg, conservation coordinator, Los Angeles County (staff)
• Rachel O. Myers, conservation coordinator, Orange County (staff)

Does the Chapter provide spokespersons for the media?
Yes. The Chapter can provide expert spokespersons on a variety of conservation and political issues, including:

• Air and water quality
• Wetlands, desert, and forest conservation
• Open space preservation
• Endangered species and threatened habitats
• Outings and outdoor recreation
• Mountain and wilderness safety
• River restoration.
• Transportation
• Native American sacred sites
• Urban parks
• Port and harbor issues

In addition, the Chapter can link journalists and media staffs with independent, third-party experts on those issues and others. These experts include university professors, authors, and other authorities familiar with environmental matters.

What are some of the Angeles Chapter’s current major campaigns?
Currently the Chapter is actively supporting several priority campaigns. These are:

• The Orange County Open Spaces, Wild Places Campaign, a campaign to protect open space and stop sprawl in Orange County.
• Santa Clara River Greenway, a campaign to protect the last remaining wild river in Southern California from a sprawling mega development, and bring the full 500-year Santa Clara River floodplain into public ownership.
• San Gabriel River, a campaign to establish a greenbelt along the river from the mountains in Azusa to the Pacific Ocean at Seal Beach, while restoring the river’s natural functioning and promoting its cultural and historic significance.
  

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