The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the progressive movement, it was one of the first large-scale environmental preservation organizations in the world. It has lobbied for policies to promote sustainable energy and mitigate global warming, as well as opposing the use of coal, hydropower, and nuclear power. Its political endorsements generally favor liberal and progressive candidates in elections.

In addition to political advocacy, the Sierra Club organizes outdoor recreation activities, and has historically been a notable organization for mountaineering and rock climbing in the United States. Members of the Sierra Club pioneered the Yosemite Decimal System of climbing, and were responsible for a substantial amount of the early development of climbing. Much of this activity occurred in the group's namesake, the Sierra Nevada. The Sierra Club operates only in the United States and holds the legal status of 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization. Sierra Club Canada is a separate entity.

Overview

The Sierra Club's stated mission is "To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives."

The Sierra Club is governed by a 15-member board of directors. Each year, five directors are elected to three-year terms, and all club members are eligible to vote. A president is elected annually by the Board from among its members. The executive director runs the day-to-day operations of the group. Michael Brune, formerly of Rainforest Action Network, served as the organization's executive director from 2010. Brune succeeded Carl Pope. Pope stepped down amid discontent that the group had strayed from its core principles.

In January 2023, former NAACP president Ben Jealous became the organization's new executive director, making him the first African American to fulfill the role. Jealous's tenure was marked by significant internal strife, including repeated restructures and layoffs that sparked tension with staff, unions, and stakeholders. Allegations of unfair labor practices and union-busting were filed against both Jealous and the Sierra Club, contributing to growing discontent within the organization. In the spring of 2024, Progressive Workers Union, which represents over 50% of Sierra Club staff, conducted a vote of no confidence in Jealous's leadership.

In April 2025, Robert D. Bullard, widely regarded as the father of environmental justice, publicly requested that the Sierra Club remove his name from its Robert Bullard Environmental Justice Award, citing unmet promises and a failure to protect the predominantly Black Shiloh community. His statement intensified criticism of Jealous's leadership, after Jealous was reported to have referred to Bullard and community members as "snakes" in response to public criticism. Bullard subsequently called for a vote of no confidence in Jealous. Multiple no-confidence votes from staff, volunteers, and chapters further underscored organizational unrest. In July 2025, Jealous took a leave of absence from his role at the Sierra Club. On August 11, 2025, the Sierra Club board "unanimously voted to terminate Mr. Jealous' employment with the Sierra Club for cause following extensive evaluation of his conduct." In September 2025, Loren Blackford was named as the group's new executive director.

History

thumb|upright|Petition and map from [[John Muir and other founders of Sierra Club]]

Founding

Journalist Robert Underwood Johnson had worked with John Muir on the successful campaign to create a large Yosemite National Park surrounding the much smaller state park which had been created in 1864. This campaign succeeded in 1890. As early as 1889, Johnson had encouraged Muir to form an "association" to help protect the Sierra Nevada, and preliminary meetings were held to plan the group. Others involved in the early planning included artist William Keith, Willis Linn Jepson, Warren Olney, Willard Drake Johnson, Joseph LeConte and David Starr Jordan.

In May 1892, the young botany professor, Willis Linn Jepson from the University of California, Berkeley, helped Muir and attorney Warren Olney launch the new organization modeled after the eastern Appalachian Mountain Club. The charter members of the Sierra Club elected Muir president, an office he held until his death in 1914. The early Sierra Club favored the needs of white members to the exclusion of people of color, and Muir and some of his associates, such as Joseph LeConte, David Starr Jordan, and Henry Fairfield Osborn were closely related to the early eugenics movement in the United States.

The first goals of the club included establishing Glacier and Mount Rainier national parks, convincing the California legislature to give Yosemite Valley to the U.S. federal government, and preserving coastal redwood forests of California.

Muir escorted President Theodore Roosevelt through Yosemite in 1903, and two years later the California legislature ceded Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove to the federal government. The Sierra Club won its first lobbying victory with the creation of the country's second national park, after Yellowstone in 1872.

Environmental action over the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

thumb|[[Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir in Yosemite National Park, c. 1906]]

In the first decade of the 1900s, the Sierra Club became embroiled in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir battle that divided preservationists from "resource management" conservationists. In the late 19th century, the city of San Francisco was rapidly outgrowing its limited water supply, which depended on intermittent local springs and streams. In 1890, San Francisco mayor James D. Phelan proposed to build a dam and aqueduct on the Tuolumne River, one of the largest southern Sierra rivers, as a way to increase and stabilize the city's water supply.

Gifford Pinchot, a progressive supporter of public utilities and head of the US Forest Service, which then had jurisdiction over the national parks, supported the creation of the Hetch Hetchy dam. Muir appealed to his friend U.S. President Roosevelt, who would not commit himself against the dam, given its popularity with the people of San Francisco (a referendum in 1908 confirmed a seven-to-one majority in favor of the dam and municipal water). Muir and attorney William Edward Colby began a national campaign against the dam, attracting the support of many eastern conservationists. With the 1912 election of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who carried San Francisco, supporters of the dam had a friend in the White House.

The bill to dam Hetch Hetchy passed Congress in 1913, and so the Sierra Club lost its first major battle. In retaliation, the club supported creation of the National Park Service in 1916, to remove the parks from Forest Service oversight. Stephen Mather, a Club member from Chicago and an opponent of the Hetch Hetchy dam, became the first National Park Service director.

End of the Brower era

Despite the club's success in blocking plans for the Grand Canyon dams and weathering the transition from 501(c)(3) to 501(c)(4) status, tension grew over finances between Brower and the board of directors. The club's annual deficits rose from $100,000 in 1967 and 1968 to some $200,000 in 1969. Another conflict occurred over the club's policy toward the nuclear power plant to be constructed by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) at Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo, California. Although the club had played the leading role blocking PG&E's nuclear power plant proposed for Bodega Bay, California, in the early 1960s, that case had been built around the local environmental impact and earthquake danger from the nearby San Andreas Fault, not from opposition to nuclear power itself. In exchange for moving the new proposed site from the environmentally sensitive Nipomo Dunes to Diablo Canyon, the board of directors voted to support PG&E's plan for the power plant. A membership referendum in 1967 upheld the board's decision.

But Brower concluded that nuclear power at any location was a mistake, and he voiced his opposition to the plant, contrary to the club's official policy. As pro- and anti-Brower factions polarized, the annual election of new directors reflected the conflict. Brower's supporters won a majority in 1968, but in the April 1969 election the anti-Brower candidates won all five open positions. Ansel Adams and president Richard Leonard, two of his closest friends on the board, led the opposition to Brower, charging him with financial recklessness and insubordination and calling for his ouster as executive director. The board voted ten to five to accept Brower's resignation. After a two-year interlude with Douglas Wheeler, whose Republican credentials were disconcerting to liberal members, the club hired Michael Fischer, the former head of the California Coastal Commission, who served as executive director from 1987 to 1992. Carl Pope, formerly the club's legislative director, was named executive director in 1992.

Lobbying within the club

In the 1990s, club members Jim Bensman, Roger Clarke, David Dilworth, Chad Hanson and David Orr along with about 2,000 members formed the John Muir Sierrans (JMS), an internal caucus, to promote changes to club positions. They favored a zero-cut forest policy on public lands and, a few years later, decommissioning Glen Canyon Dam. JMS was successful in changing club positions on both counts.

21st century

thumb|[[Debbie Stabenow|Senator Stabenow meets with representatives of the Sierra Club in 2017.]]

In 2008, several Sierra Club officers quit in protest after the Sierra Club agreed to promote products by Clorox, which had been named one of a "dangerous dozen" chemical companies by the Public Interest Research Group in 2004. According to Carl Pope, the Sierra Club chairman, the deal brought the club $1.3 million over the four-year term of the contract. In November 2011, Pope stepped down amid discontent about the deal and other issues.

In January 2013, executive director Michael Brune announced that the Sierra Club would officially participate in the first civil disobedience action in its 120-year history as part of the ongoing protest calling on the Obama administration to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, stating, "We are watching a global crisis unfold before our eyes, and to stand aside and let it happen—even though we know how to stop it—would be unconscionable." On February 13, 2013, Brune was arrested along with 48 people, including civil rights leader Julian Bond and NASA climate scientist James Hansen. In May 2015, the Sierra Club appointed its first Black president of the board of directors, Aaron Mair. The Sierra Club endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, citing its opposition to Donald Trump's environmental deregulation.

In 2020, in wake of the George Floyd protests and subsequent public reconciliation of systematic racism in public history, the Sierra Club described their own early history intermingled with racism. In particular, the early Sierra Club favored the needs of white members to the exclusion of people of color, and Muir and some of his associates, such as Joseph LeConte, David Starr Jordan, and Henry Fairfield Osborn were closely related to the early eugenics movement in the United States. Michael Brune, writing as the executive director of the Sierra Club, disavowed founder John Muir in the summer of 2020,

In January 2023, former NAACP president Ben Jealous became the organization's new executive director, making him the first African American to fill the role. After Jealous' 2025 firing, civil rights leader Al Sharpton condemned the firing for its "serious racial implications". In August 2025, Bloomberg revealed that Jealous faced a sexual harassment and bullying complaint.

Outdoor programs

Mountaineering

In 1901, William Colby organized the first Sierra Club excursion to Yosemite Valley. The annual High Trips were led by mountaineers such as Francis P. Farquhar, Joseph Nisbet LeConte, Norman Clyde, Walter A. Starr, Jr., Jules Eichorn, Glen Dawson, Ansel Adams, and David R. Brower. A number of first ascents in the Sierra Nevada were made on Sierra Club outings. Sierra Club members were also early enthusiasts of rock climbing. In 1911, the first chapter was formed, Angeles, and it began conducting local excursions in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles and throughout the West. Steve Roper's Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, sponsored and published by the Sierra Club, is still considered one of the definitive rock climbing guidebooks in the United States. The Wilderness Travel Course is a basic mountaineering class that is administered by the Sierra Club.

Hiking and outings

In World War II, a number of Sierra Club leaders joined the 10th Mountain Division. Among them was David R. Brower, who managed the High Trip program from 1947 to 1954, while serving as a major in the Army Reserve.

In many areas of the country, Sierra Club also organizes hiking tours. Sierra Club's website has a "hiking near me" function. Section "Sierra Club Near You" shows all the upcoming trips in nearby area.

The historic High Trips, sometimes large expeditions with more than a hundred participants and crew, have given way to smaller and more numerous excursions held across the United States and abroad. These outings form a major part of Sierra Club culture, and in some chapters, constitute the majority of member activity. the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, the Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award, the Edgar Wayburn Award for public officials, the Rachel Carson Award for journalists and writers, the William O. Douglas Award for legal work, and the EarthCare Award for international environmental protection and conservation.

Policy positions

Land management

Land management, access, and conservation are traditionally considered the core advocacy areas of the Sierra Club. Uniquely for a progressive organization, the Sierra Club has strong grassroots organization in rural areas, with much activity focused on ensuring equitable and environmentally-friendly use of public lands. This is particularly accentuated by the fact that the club attracts many people who primarily join the club for recreation and use of public land for hiking.

In 2023, the Sierra Club sued the Puerto Rican government for 18 renewable energy projects on more than 2,000 hectares of land. The Sierra Club argued that the land was ecologically sensitive and of high agricultural value. The Sierra Club said that building renewable energy projects on agricultural land was a "serious attack on the food security of Puerto Rico."

Opposition to coal

thumb|Sierra Club at [[2017 People's Climate March|People's Climate March in Washington DC in 2017.]]

A goal of the Sierra Club is to replace coal with other energy sources. Through its "Beyond Coal" campaign, the Sierra Club set a goal to close half of all coal plants in the U.S. by 2017. American business magnate and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $50 million to the Sierra Club's anti-coal work in 2011, and announced another $30 million gift to Sierra's Beyond Coal campaign in 2015. The Beyond Coal campaign says 187 coal plants have been closed since 2010. Other funders of the Sierra Club's anti-coal campaign include the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The CEO of Chesapeake Energy, a natural gas company, donated $26 million to the Beyond Coal campaign between 2007 and 2010.

Opposition to nuclear power

The Sierra Club is "unequivocally opposed" to nuclear power.

Opposition to hydropower and dams

The Sierra Club has lobbied against hydropower projects and large-scale dams. In lobbying against hydropower projects, the Sierra Club has expressed opposition to power lines and said that hydropower projects disrupt animal habitats.

The Sierra Club opposes dams it considers inappropriate, including some government-built dams in national parks. In the early 20th century, the organization fought against the damming and flooding of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Despite this lobbying, Congress authorized the construction of O'Shaughnessy Dam on the Tuolumne River. The Sierra Club continues to support removal of the dam.

The Sierra Club advocates the decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam and the draining of Lake Powell. The club also supports removal, breaching or decommissioning of many other dams, including four dams on the lower Snake River in eastern Washington. The Sierra Club opposes the importation of energy from Quebec's hydropower plants to New York, arguing that importing excess energy by the Quebec plants will cause environmental damage and lead to fewer in-state New York renewable energy projects.

Mixed views on solar projects

Some chapters of the Sierra Club have lobbied against solar power projects, whereas others have defended them. The Sierra Club opposed the Battle Born Solar Project, the largest solar project in the U.S., citing its potential impact on desert tortoise habitats. The Sierra Club sued the federal government to stop the 663.5-megawatt Calico solar station in the Mojave Desert in California, saying it would imperil protected wildlife.

Opposition to streamlined permitting

In response to proposed reforms to streamline the permitting process for environmental projects amid concerns that environmental permitting reviews were delaying and blocking projects with a beneficial environmental impact, the Sierra Club expressed opposition to such reforms, arguing "Whatever the proposed project is — whether it's a pipeline or a highway or a solar farm — it should be subject to the same commonsense review process. If we want these projects to move forward faster, we shouldn't be weakening environmental laws, but investing more resources into the agencies and staff."

Lawsuits against housing

The Sierra Club has a history of filing lawsuits against new housing developments and trying to block legislative proposals to ease housing construction. Critics have characterized the Sierra Club's actions on housing as NIMBYism.

In 2012, the Sierra Club sued to block the construction of a mixed-use development composed of 16,655 housing units (for an estimated 37,000 residents) and commercial space in Riverside, California. In 2018, the organization opposed SB 827, which would have permitted dense housing near major public transit stations in California. Most other environmental groups supported the legislation, as dense housing construction near public transit was estimated to substantially reduce car pollution and help California reach its emissions target. Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Change and Business Program at UC-Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law, called it “one of the most important climate bills in California.” In 2023, the Sierra Club lobbied against AB 1633, which prevents NIMBY abuse of the California Environmental Quality Act to block new housing developments that already comply with local and state land use and environmental regulations.

In 2023, the Sierra Club sued the state of Hawaii after Hawaii Governor Josh Green issued an emergency declaration to streamline housing construction in order to alleviate the Hawaii housing shortage. The Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii said that lack of housing supply was not the cause of the housing shortage in Hawaii, but rather the "decades of profiteering off of our lands and waters" by developers.

Population and immigration

Immigration was historically among the most divisive issues within the club. In 1996, after years of debate, the Sierra Club adopted a neutral position on immigration levels. As the club has shifted to the left over the years, this position was amended in 2013 to support "an equitable path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants".

Although the position of the Sierra Club has generally been favorable towards immigration, some critics of the Sierra Club have charged that the efforts of some club members to restrain immigration, are a continuation of aspects of human population control and the eugenics movement. In 1969, the Sierra Club published Paul R. Ehrlich's book, The Population Bomb, in which he said that population growth was responsible for environmental decline and advocated coercive measures to reduce it. Some observers have argued that the book had a "racial dimension" in the tradition of the Eugenics movement, and that it "reiterated many of Osborn's jeremiads."

During the 1980s, some Sierra Club members, including Paul Ehrlich's wife Anne, and in 1988, the organization's Population Committee and Conservation Coordinating Committee stated that immigration to the U.S. should be limited, so as to achieve population stabilization.

Other Sierra Club members thought that the immigration issue was too far from the club's core environmentalist mission, and were also concerned that involvement would impair the organization's political ability to pursue its other objectives. In the mid 1990s, the club began gradually stepping away from the immigration restrictionist position, culminating with the board adopting a neutral position on immigration policy in 1996. In 1998, 60.1% of Sierra Club voting members voted that the organization should remain neutral on America's immigration policies, while 39.2% supported a measure calling for stricter curbs on immigration to the United States.

After the 1996 board policy adoption, some members who were advocates of immigration reduction organized themselves as "SUSPS", a name originally derived from "Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization", which now stands for "Support U.S. Population Stabilization". SUSPS advocates a return to the Sierra Club's "traditional" (1970–1996) immigration policy stance. SUSPS has called for fully closing the borders of the United States, and for returning to immigration levels established by the Immigration Act of 1924, which includes strict ethnic quotas. David Brower also cited the club's position shift on immigration as one of the reasons for his resignation from the board in 2000. Supporters of immigration reduction within the club also charged that the board had abandoned the restrictionist position on immigration due to donations from investor David Gelbaum, who reportedly gave $200 million to the club between the mid 1990s and early 2000s and threatened Carl Pope in the mid 1990s to cease donations if they did not change their position on immigration adopted in 1988.

The controversy resurfaced when a group of three immigration reduction proponents ran in the 2004 Sierra Club Board of Directors election, hoping to move the club's position away from a neutral stance on immigration, and to restore the stance previously held. Groups outside of the club became involved, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and MoveOn. Of the three candidates, two (Frank Morris and David Pimentel), were on the board of the anti-immigration group Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America and two (Richard Lamm and Frank Morris) were on the board of directors or the board of advisors of the Federation for American Immigration Reform; Their candidacies were denounced by a fourth candidate, Morris Dees of the SPLC, as a "hostile takeover" attempt by "radical anti-immigrant activists". The immigration reduction proponents won 7% of all votes cast in the election. In 2005, members voted 102,455 to 19,898 against a proposed change to "recognize the need to adopt lower limits on migration to the United States."

With the increased number of progressive activists joining the club in recent years, the Sierra Club has dramatically shifted its stance on immigration further towards the affirmative. Today, the Sierra Club supports a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, opposes a border wall and works with immigrant groups to promote environmental justice.

Affiliates and subsidiaries

The Sierra Club Foundation was founded in 1960 by David R. Brower. A 501(c)(3) organization, it was founded after the Internal Revenue Service revoked the Sierra Club's tax-exempt status due to the group's political activities. The Sierra Club added its first Canadian chapter in 1963 and in 1989 opened a national office in Ottawa. Canadian affiliates of the Sierra Club operate under the Sierra Club Canada.

In 1971, volunteer lawyers who had worked with the Sierra Club established the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. This was a separate organization that used the "Sierra Club" name under license from the club; it changed its name to Earthjustice in 1997. The Sierra Student Coalition (SSC) was the student-run arm of the Sierra Club. Founded by Adam Werbach in 1991, it had 30,000 members. The Summer Program (SPROG) was a one-week leadership training program that teaches tools for environmental and social justice activism to young people across the country.

The organization maintained a publishing imprint, Sierra Club Books. They also published the John Muir library, which includes many of their founder's titles. SCC was dissolved in 2023.

The Sierra Club Voter Education Fund is a 527 group that became active in the 2004 Presidential election by airing television advertisements about the major party candidates' positions on environmental issues. Through the Environmental Voter Education Campaign (EVEC), the club sought to mobilize volunteers for phone banking, door-to-door canvassing and postcard writing to emphasize these issues in the campaign.

Budget and funding

The Sierra Club's annual budget was $88 million in 2011 and $100 million in 2012. In 2023, the group's budget was $173 million. The Sierra Club used the Chesapeake Energy money for its Beyond Coal campaign to block new coal-fired power plants and close old ones. Michael Brune reported that he learned of the gifts after he succeeded Carl Pope as executive director of the Sierra Club in 2010. Brune reported that he ended the financial agreement with natural gas industry interests.

In 2013 Naomi Klein wrote on the club taking large, multi-million dollar funding from fossil fuel interests, had begun to spark "major controversy" within it and other "environmental" groups that were in similar receipt of fossil funding.

In 2014, the Energy and Environment Legal Institute filed a referral with the Internal Revenue Service pointing out that Sierra Club and Sierra Club Foundation were not paying income taxes from sales of solar panels for their partners across the US.

The Sierra Club has an affiliated super PAC. It spent $1,000,575 on the 2014 elections, all of it opposing Republican candidates for office. The Sierra Club is a partner of America Votes, an organization that coordinates and promotes progressive issues.

Donors to the Sierra Club have included David Gelbaum, Michael Bloomberg, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Sierra Club has also received funding from the Democracy Alliance and the Tides Foundation Advocacy Fund.

In 2015, a PR group, known as the Environmental Policy Alliance, claimed that the Sierra Club and other U.S. environmental groups received funding from groups with ties to Russia's state-owned oil company.

In April 2023, the Sierra Club announced a restructuring plan in response to a $40 million budget deficit. The following month, the union representing about 400 employees said that dozens of layoffs had occurred, and it filed two complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.

Criticisms

Stance on housing

The Sierra Club has come under criticism for opposing high-density housing development projects in California, which are intended to reduce the state's housing shortage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) at UC Berkeley Law, said that the Sierra Club's opposition to California Senate Bill 827—which would require cities to allow denser and taller housing near public transport centers and ease the parking requirements that cities can impose on housing developments—was "surprising".

In 2025, the New Jersey chapter was criticized for its opposition to an affordable housing project in Cranbury.

Potential foreign influence

In late 2020, Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming asked the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, saying that "robust political and judicial activism—combined with the fact that these groups often espouse views that align with those of our adversaries—makes it all the more critical that the Department is aware of any potential foreign influence within or targeting these groups."

Trips to Israel

In early 2021, as reported by MondoWeiss, a range of pro-Palestinian organizations demanded that the Sierra Club cancel "greenwashing" trips to "apartheid" Israel. As a result, the Sierra Club announced cancellation of two forthcoming trips, but quickly reversed its decision, saying it was "hastily" made "without consulting a robust set of stakeholders". MondoWeiss said it subsequently announced a rescheduled trip, which included visits to the Golan Heights and Palestinian territories, but did not cancel the trip.

Ramona Strategies Report

Source:

In June 2021, an executive summary of a report by D.C. consulting firm Ramona Strategies described widespread problems involving harassment, workplace discrimination, and organization protection of abusive senior leadership. The report was commissioned in 2020 after a rape accusation made against a volunteer leader became public and published in August 2021 by The Intercept. It acknowledged the Sierra Club's reliance on volunteer leadership presented unique challenges and advised reforming its structure as part of a "restorative accountability process". Politico called the resignation, "a major blow to the U.S. environmental movement and the Democratic party's green base".

1998–2004 – Immigration and the lawsuit

By the late 1990s, members split over whether population growth and immigration were legitimate environmental concerns. The fight culminated in Club Members For An Honest Election v. Sierra Club (2004), in which dissidents sued over alleged ballot manipulation in the board elections. The California Supreme Court ruled in 2008 in favor of the Sierra Club, affirming its internal election procedures.

2022 – John Muir and modern reckoning

After executive director Michael Brune acknowledged founder John Muir's racist statements, tensions erupted over the Club's legacy, workplace culture, and reform efforts guided by the Ramona Strategies report. Volunteers accused leadership of eroding grassroots power in favor of professional staff and DEI reforms.

2015–2025 – Housing

Some chapters and groups in different states have fought over pro-housing "YIMBY" activism, as newer members link infill housing and transit to climate action, while traditionalists see threats to conservation priorities.

Leadership

Presidents

Presidents of the Sierra Club have included:

  • 1892–1914 John Muir
  • 1915–1917 Joseph N. LeConte
  • 1919–1922 William F. Badè
  • 1922–1924 Clair S. Tappaan
  • 1925–1927 Walter L. Huber
  • 1927–1928 Aurelia Harwood
  • 1928–1931 Duncan McDuffie
  • 1931–1933 Phil S. Bernays
  • 1933–1935 Francis P. Farquhar
  • 1936–1937 Ernest Dawson
  • 1937–1940 Joel H. Hildebrand
  • 1940–1941 Francis D. Tappaan
  • 1941–1943 Walter A. Starr
  • 1943–1946 Duncan McDuffie
  • 1946–1948 Bestor Robinson
  • 1948–1949 Francis P. Farquhar
  • 1949–1951 Lewis F. Clark
  • 1951–1953 Harold E. Crowe
  • 1953–1955 Richard M. Leonard
  • 1955–1957 Alexander Hildebrand
  • 1957–1959 Harold C. Bradley
  • 1959–1961 Nathan C. Clark
  • 1961–1964 Edgar Wayburn
  • 1964–1966 William E. Siri
  • 1966–1967 George Marshall
  • 1967–1969 Edgar Wayburn
  • 1969–1971 Phillip S. Berry
  • 1971–1973 Raymond Sherwin
  • 1973–1974 Laurence I. Moss
  • 1974–1976 Kent Gill
  • 1976–1977 Brant Calkin
  • 1977–1978 William Futrell
  • 1978–1980 Theodore Snyder
  • 1980–1982 Joseph Fontaine
  • 1982–1984 Denny Shaffer
  • 1984–1986 Michele Perrault
  • 1986–1988 Lawrence (Larry) Downing
  • 1988–1990 Richard Cellars
  • 1990–1991 Susan Merrow
  • 1991–1992 Phillip Berry
  • 1993–1994 Michele Perrault
  • 1994–1996 Robbie Cox
  • 1996–1998 Adam Werbach
  • 1998–2000 Chuck McGrady
  • 2000–2001 Robbie Cox
  • 2001–2003 Jennifer Ferenstein
  • 2003–2005 Larry Fahn
  • 2005–2007 Lisa Renstrom
  • 2007–2008 Robbie Cox
  • 2008–2010 Allison Chin
  • 2010–2012 Robin Mann
  • 2012–2013 Allison Chin
  • 2013–2015 Dave Scott
  • 2015–2017 Aaron Mair
  • 2017–2020 Loren Blackford
  • 2020–2023 Ramón Cruz
  • 2023–present Allison Chin

Executive directors

The Sierra Club's executive directors have included:

  • 1952–1969 David R. Brower
  • 1969–1985 J. Michael McCloskey
  • 1985–1986 Douglas Wheeler
  • 1987–1992 Michael L. Fischer
  • 1992–2010 Carl Pope
  • 2010–2021 Michael Brune
  • 2022–2025 Ben Jealous
  • 2025–present Loren Blackford

Directors

  • Ansel Adams, 1934–1971