[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 130 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1665-E1666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE REDWOOD CHAPTER OF THE SIERRA CLUB ON ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 31, 2008

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, together with my colleague 
Lynn Woolsey, I rise today to congratulate the more than 10,000 members 
of the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club on the occasion of its 50th 
anniversary. Named after Sequoia sempervirens, the Coastal Redwood, 
whose greatest forests are along the North Coast, the Chapter remains 
true to the visionary environmental ethic of Sierra Club founder, John 
Muir, striving daily to preserve and protect our lands, waters and 
wildlife.
  The Redwood Chapter, founded in 1958, is one of the earliest regional 
entities of the Sierra Club. With six local Groups in nine Northwestern 
Counties, it is a potent force for the environment.
  Over the years, the Redwood Chapter has marshaled grass roots forces 
to focus on forest preservation, protection of our spectacular coast, 
free-flowing rivers and verdant watersheds, sustainable growth 
management, endangered species protection, and the multifaceted 
challenge of global climate change. The Chapter played a strong 
supporting role in Sierra Club national initiatives to protect national 
environmental treasures like the Grand Canyon while safeguarding our 
water and air, and battling environmental rollbacks.
  Within the Chapter's 25,000 square miles, it has been particularly 
effective, playing major roles in the creation of the Redwood National 
Park, design and construction of the Coastal Trail, designation of 
Federal wilderness areas, including the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel, Snow 
Mountain, Yuki Sanhedrin, Cache Creek, King Range and Cedar Roughs 
Wildernesses; designation of numerous State and Federal designated Wild 
and Scenic Rivers, including portions of the Smith, Klamath, Gualala, 
Black Butte and Eel Rivers; preservation of the 7,400 acre Headwaters 
Forest; implementation of conservation management strategies on public 
lands; and development of recovery strategies for endangered and 
threatened species, including the marbled murrelet, the spotted owl and 
coastal salmon.
  In recent years, legislative achievements include the passage of the 
Cache Creek Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (2005). I am especially grateful 
for the Redwood Chapter's support for my Coastal Wild Heritage 
Wilderness Act, which was enacted in 2006, and Congresswoman Woolsey's 
Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries 
Boundary Modification and Protection Act, which was passed by the House 
this year.
  Members of the Redwood Chapter have also had a profound influence on 
local politics and policies, through its participation in initiatives 
to protect open space and agricultural lands, create trails and 
community separators, protect coastal forests, provide new low carbon 
transportation alternatives and promotion of smart growth management 
and climate protection.
  The Club also has played a vital educational, service and 
recreational function.

[[Page E1666]]

Over the past half century thousands of people have participated in the 
Chapter's ``Outings'' programs, which includes over 6,000 hikes, nature 
walks, backpacking journeys, canoe trips within the Chapter and 
elsewhere in California, as well as hundreds of trail building projects 
and other service activities.
  Madam Speaker, it is difficult to imagine what this area would be 
like without the Redwood Chapter's passionate resolve to protect the 
land and life that sustains us. What if there was no wilderness retreat 
in our coastal headlands? What if our cities were merged in endless 
sprawl? What if our pure rivers and streams were diverted, degraded and 
disrespected? We can be thankful that is not the case, and largely 
because the members of the Redwood Chapter have been such effective 
advocates for the environment.
  So today, Congresswoman Woolsey and I congratulate the members of 
Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club on their achievements in their first 
fifty years. And we look forward to the Chapter's continued active 
participation in public policy debates and to hearing their member's 
loud, clear, reasoned voice for a healthy, vibrant, natural world.

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