Mission
Vision: A planet healed from the ravages of human impacts.
Mission: To protect and enjoy the natural places in South Florida, to teach others to understand and respect the fragile environment in which we live, to promote the responsible use of South Florida’s ecosystems and resources , and to encourage all to be sustained through a plant based diet and minimize or mitigate their personal environmental footprint.
Despite our past successes, the fight to save Earth is never over. There are always new projects and proposals that threaten the delicate balance of nature. Miami Group has successfully fought off two challenges to our founding concept - one is that Everglades National Park needs to be a quiet, peaceful place without an airport.
The second challenge occurred in 1996 when the Dade County Commission took back the Homestead Air Force Reserve Base and sold it to a development company for the building of a new airport between Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. We know that a win is often a temporary win, but a loss of nature is forever. Now more than ever, we are living in a time where life as we know it may soon change unless regular people, like you and each of us, help rise to the challenge.
History
The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization founded on May 28, 1892 in San Francisco, California by environmental-enthusiast and preservationist John Muir. Since its inception, the Sierra Club has spread throughout the United States and now boasts over 3,500,000 members nationwide. It has also inspired the founding of the Sierra Club du (of) Canada.
Our Miami Group was started in 1972 when local governments were threatening to build a new airport in the middle of the Everglades. Ironically, five decades later there are still developers trying to figure out how a runway 30 miles from commerce can be used for profits. The Miami Group is one of seventeen Sierra Club groups that make up the Florida Chapter. The local groups are positioned to address local and regional environmental issues and support nation initiatives that the national organization is focused on. Despite our past successes, the fight to protect the planet is never over. There are always new projects and proposals that threaten the delicate balance of nature. More recently, the Miami Group has spearheaded efforts to save the Pine Rocklands from further encroachment from developers. We also helped to defeat plans to build two more nuclear reactors at Turkey Point.
Some other examples of our work are protecting Biscayne Bay from nutrient overload, pollution from storm sewers, loss of seagrass, and boaters that damage the shallow waters. Then, there are decisions to decide what to do with our waste. The reality is that they are all connected because what we do to one part of our ecosystem affects other parts as well.
We can use your help!
Executive Committee 2024: Noel Cleland, Steven Leidner, Linda Benson, Jim Teas, Kaatje Bernabei, John Bernabei, Cindy Lerner
Chair/Political/Programs: Noel Cleland - miami-chair@florida.sierraclub.org
Vice-Chair/Secretary/Conservation: Steven Leidner- miami-conservation@florida.sierraclub.org
Outings Chair: Kaatje Bernabei
Membership: John Bernabei
Newsletter Editor: Sasha Sampaio
Treasurer: Linda Benson - Linda.Benson@florida.sierraclub.org
Miami Group Leaders 2024:
Political Co-Chair: Naomi Papirno - Naomi.Papirno@florida.sierraclub.org
Webmaster Editor: Jim Teas - miami-webmaster@florida.sierraclub.org
Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO): Karen Kerr - KarenKerr50@gmail.com