Name: Randy MacDonald
Member Since:So long I can't remember
Chapter Leadership Position:Redwood Chapter Executive Committee member
Areas of Interest:Climate, Energy, Forestry, Hiking
Residence:Comptche, Mendocino County
Q: How and when did you first become involved with Sierra Club?
A: My parents and grandparents belonged to the Sierra Club, so I grew up during the 1960's and early 70's in a family influenced by Club values. We did a lot of camping and backpacking in those years. I had a close relationship with my "Sierra Cup" (as we called it back then). On every hike, I hooked the curled handle of my cup under my belt loop and set out on the trail. I loved to stop alongside splashing mountain streams, taking out my Sierra Cup to enjoy a deep draught of the clean, cool rushing water. That connection between me, my Sierra Cup, and learning to explore, enjoy and protect nature as a member of my family was a very organic one for me -- so much so, in fact, that I didn't quite realize how influential the Club had been upon me in my formative years until well into my adult life.
Q: How has your involvement with Sierra Club changed your life?
A: I think the greatest gift the Club has given me has been inspiration. I'm inspired by the vision and innately "Big Picture" perspective of the Sierra Club's founder, who wrote his signature and location in his first field book as "John Muir, Earth - Planet, Universe." David Brower's tenacity, strategy and achievements inspire me (I'm actually re-reading a book about Brower, "Encounters with the Archdruid" by John McPhee, right now). Core Club values like leaving things better than we found them, taking responsibility and working collaboratively to protect, restore and explore our environment mean a lot to me, helping guide my decisions and actions. And I am deeply inspired by and grateful for the Club's professionalism and accomplishments in the political and legal process, proving again and again why the Sierra Club is one of the world's leading environmental organizations.
Q: What is one of your fondest memories participating in a Sierra Club event or activity?
A: I think I was eight years old when I took my first hike on an official Club-organized outing, somewhere in the western Sierra Nevada range. Up until then, I was rather hazy on what the Club was about (other than I loved my "Sierra Cup"!). The day of our hike was sunny and the weather was mild, though we were at a decent elevation. Along our way, we stopped to drink from a soda water spring, which I had not done before out in nature - how cool! The hike leader spoke quite knowledgeably about the local environs during our walk, and yet he wasn't a park ranger. Hmm, I thought to myself, so... volunteers do this sort of thing, too? Wow! The whole experience left a positive impression upon me about what the "Club" behind my good-ol' "Sierra Cup" was accomplishing.
Q: What do you see as Sierra Club’s fundamental role in your community?
A: Connecting people and policy with nature.
Q: What is your favorite thing about living in Northern California?
A: I would have to say the Redwoods, if I had to pick a single favorite thing. Living amidst a redwood forest in the coast range, I see and sense these unique trees daily. We're not far from Montgomery Woods State Reserve, where some of Earth's largest redwood trees reside. It's fun to visit there, look up and gasp at the majesty of these massive beings. I'm inspired by the potential of redwood forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks, and I feel that restoring our forestlands, which are so very efficient at absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide, should be high on the public agenda of ways to fight climate change.
Q: Where in the outdoors would we most likely find you?
A: We live on fifty forested acres in the Mendocino Coast Range, so if I'm not at my house, I'm probably up walking around on our steep hills here. I worked on a seasonal tree-planting crew back in the 1980's. All these years later, it's been really gratifying to plant and manage redwood seedlings here on our own land -- 2,500 in the ground so far, and growing strong!