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Home My WebLink About043026- Director’s Notes_ From Loren Blackford_ April 2026ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. <http://image.emails.sierraclub.org/lib/fe9b13727661047e75/m/1/SCLogo_HorizWebBlack_200x72pxforCM.png> Dear John, I hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy nature this Earth Month and celebrate the people who, like you, are helping protect it! Maybe you were able to join one of the 1,200 Earth Month events we held from coast to coast, including over 350 outings. We welcome all of the new Sierra Club members who joined us for the first time at one of these gatherings! If you haven’t experienced them yet, you can still catch our three signature Earth Month events on our YouTube channel: * Sierra Symposium <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiOjEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_SyTClRK6M6xKyu7N6jRal-eCQnmcwxZzPilgNOXHUpeYKTg0XVhUpA3reDv79WMspJX5YgqDNDF-1tyK3YRziimulrI3ojzEQ> : Featuring conversations with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and other thought leaders about the world we dare to imagine for our children. * Trail Blazers Ball <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiOjEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_SzCKB36jTwyx8wQCc8qC-jBMoz1v3ZcT9SMD8iQFR2tXSjzQB_S1Za-1_MyYHNHliOsKoI4CZUjqbkqwkzeHafX9RpAUxAXMQ> : Where we honored environmental heroes including Speaker Pelosi, Morgan Freeman, Sage Lanier, Dr. Lyla June, Rebecca Tickell, and Our Children’s Trust. * Sierra Sessions <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiOjEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_S0XDWHUUEmeMGae85jpf_OiB79H9x5jfWSGVsjkstkBuNmlGTzLgIBRcn8bKxfp4cfhN6v5Wi0wLlm-dYrtHOZruoiX2p3me8> : A unique celebration of music, storytelling, and climate action with performers such as Hurray for the Riff Raff, Irene Diaz, Dr. Lyla June, Rising Appalachia, Rozzi, Aja Monet, and Frederic Yonnet. Sierra Club Chapters around the country hosted watch parties for the streamed Sierra Sessions concert event on Earth Day. Without a doubt, we’ve had big setbacks this month, including the Senate voting 50 - 49 in favor of allowing toxic sulfide mining in the Boundary Waters <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7I nYiOjEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_S1-amoJBeXptwdtrbq-Tt4kWVuHAxsy-9-1tpM2UDQFdHIfaULclgOoVe0FQjj8Wiksapm5nj2p81Uf3p6D6Pzmx7BkqDslT0> in MN, one of the country’s most visited wilderness areas. But we’ve also made important progress, including new litigation to defend the Endangered Species Act, and an eleventh hour Earth Day win, when a bill that would have drastically undermined the ESA was pulled before Congress could vote on it. In Arizona, our Grand Canyon Chapter helped drive a major clean energy victory, despite active opposition from the right wing group, Turning Point USA. Keep reading below for additional details! Your support is at the heart of everything we do at the Sierra Club. It strengthens our legal action, advocacy, and grassroots organizing. You are part of a movement that is leading the fight for a healthier and greener future guaranteed for us all. And that work will continue, all year long. There is so much ahead – and with the challenges our shared outdoor spaces are facing right now, we should take more opportunities to ensure each and every one of us can explore, enjoy, and protect our wild places. Thank you for showing up for public lands, for the wildlife that depend on them, for the clean air and water that nourish us, for the natural world we all cherish, and for each other. In gratitude, <https://image.emails.sierraclub.org/lib/fe9b13727661047e75/m/1/8c7e7c3f-4879-4901-a344-c1648c1618b4.jpg> Loren Blackford Sierra Club Executive Director <https://image.emails.sierraclub.org/lib/fe9b13727661047e75/m/1/e5d61d8b-4302-49b5-ad85-db5c22063da7.jpg> ________________________________ SPOTLIGHT: Important win in our fight to defend the Endangered Species Act I’m happy to share some big updates on our ongoing work to defend the Endangered Special Act (ESA). On Earth Day, the House of Representatives pulled the “ESA Amendments Act” <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiOjEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_S2I_8nFcwiqtJP1bJAwSlrsfdJ1FzT9mOmJVM9mKeBEbL mquPJI1xXIviyKcsKwQlLVHHdWiMe3SF7-eIihtObC3UNwrxXK5M> (HR 1897 <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiOjEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_S3pDRwDZPQCgg3MBFjFhlslHmKbygch3JO89-DsoaxYlefmetwynl1cz 9PqHJdcYCjXTFYyCZEjgM2WRYYShBEYN79pf_8qf8> ) from consideration following immense grassroots pressure on members of Congress that led to a bipartisan outcry against the bill. If passed, the bill would rewrite key parts of the ESA and have dangerous consequences for endangered and threatened species across the country. The Sierra Club community showed up in force to oppose this bill, submitting letters to the editor and op-eds, sending over 11,000 messages to elected officials, and even traveled to Washington, D.C. to deliver messages in person to their members of Congress. This shows the incredible work we can accomplish when we stand up for what we believe in. Additionally, we filed a lawsuit <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiOjEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_S4t1euGkvCzjXUT0qd6tRr8anw7HdYWXeFy1oYPVu8ozjHuA_C0J-QDfktNy20QlBynA-48p4uFQ4jYfwl1RJa9 XRUD8ia5gs> against the Trump administration challenging an unprecedented blanket exemption to critical Endangered Species Act protections for oil and gas drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had invoked an ESA provision to convene the long- dormant Endangered Species Committee (also known as the “Extinction Committee” or “God Squad”) to wipe out protections for imperiled species, citing "national security." The decision by the committee to wipe out ESA protections threatens a range of species, making them vulnerable to extinction, including the critically endangered Rice’s whale, sea turtles, fish, rays, corals, and birds. Through powerful grassroots organizing and litigation, we are upholding the ESA which has prevented the extinction of nearly 300 species and helped save 99% of species listed for protection from extinction since its bipartisan passage in 1973 – making it one of the most important and impactful conservation laws in American history. Other Updates From the states: Huge election win for clean energy in Arizona! In Arizona, Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter helped power a HUGE election win, securing an 8-6 majority for clean energy on the board of the Salt River Project (SRP) – a public power utility and water supplier in central Arizona that serves over 1 million electric customers and manages water for the Phoenix metropolitan area. The SRP board is now predominantly pro-renewables, and skeptical towards fossil fuels and data centers. This win has major implications for renewable energy progress in Arizona. The victory is even more impressive when taking into account that the SRP elections are unjustly only open to landowners. Another important part of the story is that far-right interest groups led by Turning Point USA spent and campaigned heavily for a rival slate of anti-clean energy candidates, and were largely unsuccessful against our campaign. One headline in the Phoenix New Times <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiOjEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_S58uoEDwBlmvXAxjvlYQPeXb0eqzhP7NPpyPrJKyLx8F4Vci4KRnJY6J9jxTXFVb4zwEFMHV1QsUwImnG_ Wd8FCaaMeQc063I> read, "Turning Point gets its ass handed to it in the SRP elections," and Sierra Club also scored a mention in the New York Times' <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiO jEsImQiOjQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_S6_LHY8BhTTC2naF0mxCnBxTRrG0veVSK3iXcUdgmkr2pRZFzS4khs-q3n5RzMtWHwE-aJqsmEbleV9Bc1Gv_XUAtyRMdWKgg> coverage of the election, which noted how the race drew national attention. Both the dynamics of the election and the news coverage show how central the energy transition has become in our current politics – and how central a role the Sierra Club continues to play in that arena. Boundary Waters Repeal: A Heartbreaking Reminder of What’s At Stake Our fight to protect Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness took a major blow this week with the US Senate’s 50-49 vote to repeal <https://click.emails.sierraclub.org/?qs=ABB7InYiOjEsImQiO jQ4NjJ9AAcAAAAAAMIhI_S7aecI4GNkdfXHnBZI-lCUZbvB9YX-KLPJqcl-ZkagewZSQg9OyeoSfq0kadgdJ8_S-L5-iSjrWpoawa4TdkxaT7EPKKgB1j4> the 20-year moratorium on mining in the area. It’s thanks to the incredible work of our Federal Policy team and many others in the organization that we almost stopped the repeal and made the vote so close. Boundary Waters is America’s most visited wilderness area, attracting an estimated 200,000 paddler, campers, and hikers each year. The Senate’s vote helps clear the path for a Chilean mining conglomerate’s plans to build a metals mining operation that will pollute a critical watershed. As Sierra Club Lands Program Director Athan Manuel said in his statement that was used in coverage by several news outlets: “It should be a place for recreation and conservation, not for pollution and exploitation. Allowing a foreign company to open a toxic mine on its doorstep puts a fragile ecosystem at risk and shows the Trump Administration will always act to benefit corporations over the American people.” We'll continue to fight similar attacks by this administration and Congress on our protected public lands and will work with our partners to raise awareness, explore every option we have to keep the fight going, and hold the elected leaders who sold us out accountable. Thank you for your ongoing support! Have questions or feedback? 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