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Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships
Tribal Partnerships
Andy Bessler is the Southwest Tribal Partnership representative for the Sierra Club based in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Born and raised in Colorado, Andy has lived in Flagstaff for the past 10 years. He is a graduate from Northern Arizona University with a MA in applied cultural anthropology with a focus on cultural concepts of boundaries. Before starting work for the Sierra Club in 1999, Andy's work connecting environmental conservation and cultural diversity included sea turtle protection in Central Mexico with the University de Guadalajara and sustainable agriculture in West Africa with Hausa villagers.
His work with the Sierra Club has included three significant environmental/cultural campaigns for the protection of important Native American sacred lands by the shutdown of several mining operations in Arizona and New Mexico. These campaigns included the shutdown of the White Vulcan Pumice Mine to protect the San Francisco Peaks, the Fence Lake Coal Mine to protect Zuni Salt Lake and the Black Mesa Coal Mine to protect Black Mesa.
As the Tribal Partnership Representative for the Sierra Club, Andy continues to explore the important connections with tribal partners for environmental protection and healthy communities.
Andy addresses a forum on protecting sacred sites at Prescott College with (l to r)
Manny Pino of Acoma Pueblo, Bucky Preston from the Hopi village of Walpi and
Enei Begaye of the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Contact Us:
Andy Bessler
Sierra Club's Environmental Partnership Program
P.O. Box 38
Flagstaff, AZ 86002
928-774-6103
fax 774-6138
andy.bessler@sierraclub.org