If you’ve been looking for an organization to align your passion for the environment you may want to check out the BC chapter of the Sierra Club. The club positions itself to work toward preserving BC’s wilderness and wildlife while also making certain that BC is considered a global leader with regard to climate change measures. Their eight-pronged mission statement pretty much sums up their focus:
- Press for strong, effective wilderness and wildlife protections in provincial legislation.
- Track provincial commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Monitor provincial forestry policy to ensure environmental protections.
- Advocate for parks and protected areas.
- Cultivate the next generation of environmental stewards through our award-winning Environmental Education Program, reaching 10,000 school children across B.C. each year in Kindergarten through Grade 12.
- Provide quick answers to urgent environment-related questions from the public through our innovative Enviro911 Program.
- Sow an enduring grassroots commitment to wild spaces through our guided Outings Program that introduces people to urban parks, wilderness and the marine environment.
- Create and publishes GIS maps of B.C.’s ancient rainforests, logging activity, the Great Bear Rainforest, land use plans, wild salmon stocks at risk and potential sea level rises due to global warming.
Some of their past achievements include launching a campaign to protect Nitinat Triangle on Vancouver Island and winning that fight along with the world-renowned West Coast Trail, and helping to kill two coal-fired power plant proposals (the reversal of which seemed to herald a sea-change in the province’s view and action on climate change).If you want to be a part of some of the clubs current projects (such as Fraser Headwater Alliance, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, or Canadian Department of Peace Initiative to name a few) or be on board to act on new projects, there’s no time like the present to get introduced to and involved in the Sierra Club.
