LAKEPORT – At 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday, July 8 the Lake County Board of Supervisors will offer the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter a proclamation of appreciation to mark the occasion of the chapter's 50th anniversary, with commendation for its record of civic achievement and congratulations for 50 years of service to the environment of Northern California.

A delegation of local Sierra Club leaders, led by Chapter Vice Chair Victoria Brandon, looks forward to accepting this honor from the board.

The Redwood Chapter was formed in 1958 as one of the Sierra Club's first regional entities; it includes more than 25,000 square miles within nine counties in northwestern California stretching from the Oregon border to San Francisco Bay, and now has more than 10,000 members divided into six local Groups of which the Lake Group is the newest (established 2001) and smallest.

The conservation objectives of both the chapter and the group encompass forest preservation, protection of free-flowing rivers and their watersheds, sensible growth management, the preservation of open space and agricultural land, and creative approaches to the human and ecological conundrums caused by global climate change.

The chapter's achievements in the past 50 years include the passage of the Coastal Act, creation of Redwood National Park, design and construction of the Coastal Trail, designation of many federal Wilderness Areas including the Snow Mountain and Cache Creek Wildernesses here in Lake County, designation of numerous federal and state Wild and Scenic Rivers including Cache Creek, preservation of the Headwaters Forest, design and implementation of conservation management strategies on public lands throughout the region, and development of recovery plans for endangered and threatened species.

Recent legislative achievements include the passage of the state Cache Creek Wild and Scenic River Act in 2005 and federal Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act in 2006.

The chapter also conducts a comprehensive outings program, which has organized more than 6,000 hikes, nature walks, canoe trips and backpacking journeys within the region and elsewhere in California, as well as hundreds of trail-building projects and other service activities, with more than 50,000 participants during the past 50 years.

More information about the Redwood Chapter is available on their Web site, http://redwood.sierraclub.org.

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