REDWOOD NEEDLES Presented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES Return to Article Menu Redwood Needles April 1999   Conservationist Extraordinaire Lucille Vinyard celebrated her 80th birthday on December 17, 1998. We thought our members might appreciate a review of her manifold endeavors and battles in a long career as an environmental activist. Lucille was a charter member of the Worth Group of the 6-year old Redwood Chapter in 1964, the year in which the Sierra Club began its campaign to preserve a significant portion of the remaining ancient redwood temperate rainforest on the North Coast. For 4 years, Lucille and the North Group fought relentlessly to establish a national redwood park. Her personal involvement began with backpacking hikes and float trips on Redwood Creek. She shared photo-graphs, 8mm movie camera footage, and her experiences with both club members and the general public up and down the coast. In 1965, she went to Sacramento as spokesperson for local supporters of a national park in the Redwood Creek area. Adrenaline having conquered apprehensiveness about speaking in such a forum, her 12-minute presen-tation to the Senate Natural Resources Committee was given a rare standing ovation by an audience of 300. Thereafter, she made presentations before the State Parks Commission and the U.S. Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee (in 1966, 1967, and 1968) and spoke at congressional field hearings. She spent a memorable week in Washington, DC, testifying and lobbying. The redwood park issue generated great controversy and passion within the community. With full support from her botany professor husband Bill and the help of Sierra Club colleagues, Lucille's activities on behalf of Redwood National Park and its expansion in 1978 were unflagging. In 1970, 2 years after Redwood National Park was established, she was elected chair of the North Group, a position she held for 8 years. She was also a founding member of the Northcoast Environ-mental Center in Arcata in 1971. In 1971, Lucille began working for passage of the California Coastal Zone Protection Act, leading hikes and speaking out whenever the oppor-tunity arose. The act was put on the ballot in 1972 as Proposition 20 and, with its passage, she traveled tirelessly up and down the coast as a monitor for the club on coastal development permits for Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties. Her monitoring of permits continued until the Regional Commission ended its duties in 1981, and she missed but 3 meetings in 8 years. In 1974, Lucille was actively involved with issues surrounding management plans for the Bureau of Land Management's King Range National Conservation Area, hiking and attending public meetings and hearings. She was appointed to the BLM's Resource Advisory Council for the Ukiah District and participated in its meetings and field trips for 2 years. Along with Sierra Club colleagues, she headed back to Sacramento to lobby for designation of and protection for California's wild and scenic rivers. These lobbying efforts were instrumental in the Smith River's being added to the list. Lucille has been a staunch supporter of wilderness over the years. During the fight against damming the Grand Canyon in the 1960s, she joined national Sierra Club leaders in exploratory outings on the Colorado River. She went on many Sierra Club exploratory hikes and backpacks into the Trinity Alps Primitive Area, the Marble Mountains Wilderness Area, and the wild areas of the high Siskiyous. As a represen-tative of a conservation organization, she joined Forest Service personnel on a week-long exploratory backpack, hiking 26 rugged miles of the Siskiyou crest. The North Group actively opposed construction of the final segment of the Gasquet-Orleans haul road in Six Rivers National Forest, an unmitigated folly that would have cut an egregious swath across the Siskiyou Wilderness. The California Wilderness Act was passed, finally, in 1984, and Lucille joined her colleagues in celebration at a large dinner event in Weaverville. From 1985 to 1990, Lucille coordinated the annual Coastal Clean-up Day for Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Reducing the size of the Woodley Island Marina and working to save open space between Eureka and Arcata were issues that kept her involved on the local and state levels. At present, she continues to monitor coastal developments, such as the Sand Pointe subdivision in McKinleyville, which after several years of effort was reduced in size due to the vigilance of neighbors, the North Group, and the Humboldt Coastal Coalition. Lucille served as chair of the Redwood Chapter from 1976 to 1978 and as secretary of the chapter Executive Committee for the next 10+ years. She has also been (and is currently) secretary of the North Group for umpteen years, attending all meetings as an elected and/or an appointed member of the ExCom. She is the mainstay of the North Group. Happy 80th, Lucille. We offer our deep gratitude and our love. --Diane Beck, North Group   Return to Article Menu Last updated on 3/02/99 Comments or suggestions? Drop us a line at heyneedles@aol.com