Bruce Hamilton, Sierra Club's deputy executive director, will speak about Muir, who died in Los Angeles on Dec. 24, 1914. The Chapter has dedicated 2015 as a "Year of Muir" to honor his writings, his legacy and most importantly his founding of the world's largest environmental organization.
Hamilton started with the Sierra Club 38 years ago as a regional organizer in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Northern Plains. He then served as National Field Director and National Conservation Director. During his tenure, he has helped design and implement campaigns to promote climate change solutions through clean energy. He has worked to preserve Our Wild America and to support Safe, Healthy Communities through lifestyle changes.
His many credits on behalf of the Sierra Club include serving on the Support Center for the Environmental Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA National Advisory Council on Sustainable Economies. He is presently a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas.
Prior to joining the staff, Hamilton was field editor for High Country News, an environmental magazine covering the West, and a consultant in drafting federal environmental impact statements. He is the recipient of a 1973 summa cum laude B.S. degree in Wildlife Biology and Natural Resources Administration from Colorado State University.
He has spoken about John Muir and Sierra Club history at public events at the Oakland Museum, Le Conte Lodge in Yosemite, the University of the Pacific John Muir Symposium and the John Muir National Historic Site. Hamilton describes himself not as an expert on Muir but as an amateur who loves what Muir wrote and did and stands for. He hopes to build on that legacy, and last year he and his wife walked the John Muir Trail from Yosemite to Mount Whitney.
Tickets for the Annual Awards Banquet cost $40 per person or $400 for a table of 10. Reservations must be made by April 19.
Fill out the reservation form and please make checks payable to "Sierra Club Angeles Chapter." Mail to Donna Specht, 22221 Wood Island Lane, Huntington Beach, Calif. 92646; donnaspecht@juno.com.
Who's being honored? Check out 2014 Angeles Chapter Award winners.