HomeMy WebLinkAbout112025 - Director’s Notes_ From Loren Blackford_ November 2025ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
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Dear John,
Even amidst historic challenges to our movement, I’m thankful for the tireless efforts of our Sierra Club community – organizing, rallying, and speaking up to protect our National Parks
and natural landscapes – and for our creativity and resilience in advancing a healthy, livable environment for all.
This year, we’ve continued to make real progress, from pushing for coal plant retirements and protecting keystone species and vital habitats, to bringing clean energy to communities
across the country, and connecting youth and veterans with the wonder and beauty of the great outdoors. Being November is Native American Heritage Month, it is an important time to
acknowledge the leadership and partnership of Indigenous groups and individuals on the front lines of many of our important fights. Indigenous wisdom about stewardship and our relationships
with each other and the natural world continues to teach us important lessons which we incorporate into our work.
On behalf of Sierra Club staff, board and volunteer leaders, I want you to know how grateful we are for you and your steadfast partnership as we stand together to meet the current moment.
I am also personally grateful for the unshakable dedication of the entire Sierra Club community in bringing our vision to life: a future where every child has clean air to breathe and
clean water to drink, every person can access the beauty of our natural world, and where species thrive in their natural habitat.
As we come to the close of this year, and start looking ahead to the next, what gives me hope is the strength and shared commitment of this community. The challenges we face are real,
but so is our power to meet them. Together, we will continue to press ahead with our critical work to defend the people, places and planet we love.
Thank you, as always, for everything you do.
Loren Blackford
Sierra Club Executive Director
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P.S. In case you’ve seen the recent New York Times article about Sierra Club, I invite you to check out my letter in response <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae68666e3229c4640026cc5
77d25f08551ffd026189d333a21da1c2a487b42bac9b4c23267b3de0ed91cddb16781a339c2dee1e> .
P.P.S. Join us on December 4 for a Sierra Forum <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae68666d4f949258bedf64a6b4e1a9e70b2220935dca0bf3f2231651dc8c1204a7849dc5a5d7f18c2bc88a7b6570b8397a2f0
98> featuring attorneys from our Environmental Law Program. Litigation is one of our key tactics to fight against unlawful federal actions, defend vital ecosystems, and advance clean
energy. Hear from our attorneys resisting the Trump agenda and discuss how you can contribute to our vital defense.
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SPOTLIGHT: Sierra Club Military Outdoors
Earlier this month, our Sierra Club Military Outdoors team celebrated Veterans Day with outings and events for veterans and their families across the country. Check out the video below
and read more about how our program helps veterans and servicemembers find healing and connection through nature.
* Our Military Outdoors program honored Veteran’s Day with inclusive outings <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae68666db3b6d4e4249990de978268e2e0bfa696552bb7b4bcb255bd4db3682931c06ce6
d6f749f5d84fc106bbf654469d22bfc> for active and former military members and their families in Florida, Georgia, California, New York, and Michigan, including a river paddle in North
Carolina <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae68666617e1f4ee9f0f5b2d0aa07d0fb34e75b55b332e4d684170576c78807b884ba48a8a46eebe1ef89e04ca7181a510503f5> co-led by the Military
Outdoors Program, Water Campaign, North Carolina Chapters, and Indigenous Veterans from the Coharie Tribe.
* Listen to an interview on the Parks Podcast <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae686660f72158fe8ebf1c326f5bfa99e3f71d5352601969ae7aeb59fd9581f5d2ab7b680c04e916e4c227f1a04c7d5d18de802
> with Sherman Neal II, the Director of Sierra Club Military Outdoors, about how parks and public lands provide opportunity for community, camaraderie, and healing, and read his op-ed
on the Marines 250th anniversary: Voices: Protecting those who protect us <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae6866649e79c9e82853d3e1791be2a6c002d1d436a71f691d5389563fb709784f977d7a38
81bad95004ee4d742e50686548576> .
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Other Highlights: Public Lands Rule Comment Period
The comment period for the Trump Administration's proposed rescission of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Public Lands Rule <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae68666195dbcb4286c2b6
01ac3b9bde6c37c465a611a46d3acfcce3dc3a7de58d2c606fc6d37e98616a104319d2a28db9328f1> wrapped up on Monday. Sierra Club collected over 16,000 comments, more than 10% of the approximately
150,000 comments received by the agency.
The Public Lands Rule makes clear that conservation – access to nature, cultural resource protection, wildlife habitat, and climate resilience – is an essential use of the nearly 250
million acres of public lands overseen by the BLM. The rule prioritizes protection of areas with important historic, cultural, scenic, wildlife, and other values as mandated by Congress,
and includes red rock canyons, mountain peaks and valleys, unique deserts, essential forests, key water sources and wildlife habitat, and important cultural landscapes. The rule encourages
collaboration with Indigenous Tribes so the original stewards of these landscapes have a meaningful role in their future. However, the Trump Administration is seeking to discard the
public and Tribal input that went into the creation of the rule - and is even trying to eliminate conservation as a use of BLM-managed public lands altogether.
In addition to public comments, we also:
* Submitted detailed coalition technical comments and signed national letters opposing the rescission and supporting the rule's freshwater provisions.
* Engaged in strategic communications, including op-eds in Oregon <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae68666a5aeb3e3381e3667aa70620f8196d992759e52ef09f9f7a1a11a6613bef9dc5b5e5d47269569
43bbadd57817ee0f4e71> and New Mexico <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae6866688f5cf57174f219b706aba61da078337a5564915f07446e782520bdeb5d52e32b35377274e00dc644355972ea0c3d859>
, and letters to the editor such as this one in Utah <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae68666d0256f233090aa7aedd71f88c1e8aa472ef55ef96a2a18644208803c3e5e88e58ef3a3ec858a5f442c465a70
9b7748ec> .
* With our coalition partners, encouraged 61 members of Congress to send a letter to Secretary Burgum in opposition to the rule rescission. We joined Tribal partners, attorneys general
from 6 states, 180 Western officials, and other partners across the country <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae6866676b9736942ac161fc02659dd24f37c7cec1f5bc2b37408fb0b8c0585fefb67c3c
dc8275741dad6470937e5a796942921> to defend the rule.
We expect a final decision in early 2026, and will continue to work with our coalition partners to push back on the Trump Administration’s efforts to roll back conservation policy and
protections for BLM-managed public lands.
Chapter Highlights
* Florida: Florida is set to hold its first statewide black bear hunt in nearly a decade <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae686661d3d1b42407ebdb6948f49735725cccf448d460a910258c4d7a7e
826cc147b7bf77ebed600041716aea2f5450b3d614f> – but Governor DeSantis has the power to stop it. Our Florida Chapter has been helping to lead the fight to make sure he does. This week,
our Chapter led a major protest at the state Capitol, including running buses to Tallahassee from various cities to bring in Sierra Club members from around the state to demand that
the black bear hunt be shut down once and for all.
At the same time, Sierra Club Florida, with our allies, launched the “Spare a Bear, Bag a Tag” campaign, a novel tactic aimed at keeping hunting permits out of the hands of trophy hunters.
Because tags are awarded through a random lottery, any licensed adult can apply, whether they intend to use it or not. Sierra Club Florida helped secure 43 permits, meaning at least
43 bears will be spared this season.
* Colorado: In a major win, the Colorado Public Utility Commission sided with Sierra Club in setting decarbonization targets for gas utilities! Despite state agencies siding with the
gas industry and proposing extremely weakened targets in a critical rulemaking, the Colorado Public Utility Commission held the line in establishing an aggressive decarbonization target
for gas utilities – 41% emissions reductions by 2035, and 100% by 2050. Sierra Club’s multipronged effort illustrated the effectiveness of our unique strength– the partnership of legal
heft, technical expertise, and grassroots power to move both public opinion and decisionmakers in our campaigns. This collaborative effort between our Environmental Law Program, our
Colorado Chapter, our Communications team, and our Building Electrification campaign involved: three rounds of technical comments led by Sierra Club's Deputy Director of Research, Strategy,
and Analysis and ELP attorneys; extensive engagement with the Commissioners at t in he rulemaking hearing; organizing dozens of commenters who spoke at the rulemaking hearing and over
600 written public comments, including supportive comments from over 25 organizations across Colorado, several local elected officials, and 12 current and former state legislators;
generating favorable news coverage <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=8a0e565a6ae6866630cd0b6f3697f0e6497acd0575688cd524c3867d414274ce446f6a9d3bb0b1c09b1b756f2ff9691ccab87208dab321f2>
; and more!
Thank you for your ongoing support! Have questions or feedback? Please reach out to me any time at loren.blackford@sierraclub.org <mailto:loren.blackford@sierraclub.org?subject=> .
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