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Guide to the Sierra Club National Legislative Office Records, 1960-[on-going]
BANC MSS 71/289 c  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
The Washington, D.C., office of the Sierra Club carries the principal responsibility for lobbying on legislation at the federal level. Records from this office reflect the Club's leadership in the drafting, enactment, and revision of laws, the implementation of which affect the environment in a favorable or an adverse manner.
Background
Although John Muir and Century Magazine editor Robert Underwood Johnson may be considered the Sierra Club's first lobbyists for their spirited battle against damming the Tuolumne River in Hetch Hetchy Valley, California, in the early twentieth century, the National Legislative Office traces its permanent beginnings to 1962. In that year, Executive Director David Brower urged the Sierra Club's Board of Directors to hire William Zimmerman, Jr., a former administrator in the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, as a part-time consultant in Washington, D.C. An office was established in the following year. Some of the significant conservation campaigns in the early years included efforts to establish North Cascades National Park in Washington state and Redwood National Park in California; support for the passage of the Wilderness Act and the Land and Water Conservation Fund, both in 1964; and the club's continuing crusade to keep dams out of Grand Canyon National Park.
Extent
Number of containers: 163 cartons, 5 oversize folders, 1 tube Linear feet: 200
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Availability
Collection is open for research.