Keith Kaulum

This is a tough time to be an environmental activist. We are faced with challenges to existing regulations at the federal level, and state and local as well. At the Council of Club Leaders meeting this fall, I heard presentations on how the National Club leadership plans to organize our grassroots for the 2004 election to combat the Bush Administration's assault on the environment. These plans will involve the Chapter to help the national campaign, but we will also need to focus on the State and local elections as well.

I have served on your Chapter Excom, first as Sonoma Group Rep, and then as At-Large member this past two years. Also I have been Chapter Legal Chair for three years; a member of several Chapter committees including the Budget, Political, Water, Forest Conversion; and Chapter Rep to the Regional Conservation Council. I also am an active leader in the Sonoma Group.

At this critical time, the Chapter will need to carefully allocate our resources between local issues and support of our national Club campaign. I hope to continue to serving on the Excom, and I would appreciate your vote. Please contact me if you have questions.

Keith Kaulum
707-538-5569
kkaulum@cds1.net

Margaret Pennington

I'm running for an At Large seat on Redwood Chapter's ExCom and I'd very much appreciate your vote. I've served on Redwood Chapter's ExCom for 6 years now and 2 years as Group Rep from Sonoma and 4 years as an At Large delegate. I have been Chapter Chair for the past four years. I joined Sierra Club in 1992; inspired by an environmental studies course I took at SRJC. I joined because I had deep concerns about the adverse environmental impacts so many human activities were having on the natural world, and because I wanted to work toward reversing those trends and to make a difference. Rather than sit by and feel depressed about the situation around me, I wanted to counter that depression with action.

I was drawn to Sierra Club because it was a National environmental organization that offered an opportunity for members to truly get involved through participation in their local Chapters and Groups. I'm not alone in this. The Sierra Club just conducted member survey and found that about 40% of members join the Club because they want to become more active in environmental protection.

The conservation issues that I'm personally most concerned about are loss of biodiversity and negative impacts stemming from our reliance on fossil fuels. My overarching concern is sustainability leaving a livable planet for the next generations to come. My strongest desire is that my hours of Sierra Club activism will contribute to our species learning to live sustainably now so that future generations (both humans and other species) will have that same opportunity into the future.

Although I'd be pleased to trade hats and take on a job other than Chapter Chair, since filling this position my Sierra Club emphasis has been as much on organizational effectiveness as on conservation. That may sound rather bureaucratic, but I don't think that's the case. In order to be successful in our mission to protect the earth I think we need to operate strategically. That takes planning. It takes stepping back, looking over the lay of the land, setting goals that both matter and are achievable, and crafting thoughtful plans for attaining the results we're after.

To this end, our Chapter Excom now holds yearly planning retreats. We have a Chapter strategic plan that incorporates Sierra Club's Four Habits of Highly Successful Chapters: setting conservation goals, involving members, reaching out beyond our membership, working effectively within Sierra Club. We have sponsored workshops on campaign planning and have more scheduled for next year. I'm dedicated to ensuring that our Chapter operates in a manner that will grow and nurture effective grassroots environmental activism because I see this as Sierra Club's greatest strength and greatest hope for creating a sustainable future.

With your support, I look forward to continuing to work with dedicated Redwood Chapter ExCom members in pursuit of our Chapter's specific goals and the Sierra Club's mission to "educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment."

Carol Kunze

I am currently chair of the Napa Group Executive Committee. In addition, I am chair of Napa's Website Committee, the Trails, Parks and Public Access Committee, and serve on the Conservation Committee. This year I was appointed to be Napa's delegate to the Redwood Chapter Executive Committee. A former attorney, I am currently executive director of a non-profit organization I created to engage in trail building, environmental education and conservation projects.

The environment faces threats on many fronts, from indifference by those whose lives are already hectic with other concerns to active dismantling of legal protections. Our challenge is to persuade our members to actively engage on behalf of the planet.

While Chapter plays an oversight role, I also think that there is a role to play in fostering and serving the Groups by ensuring they are aware of what assistance is available at the National level to help build membership, fund raise, obtain training for grass roots organizing, and assist in strategic planning.

I'd like to see more of a focus on Groups' involvement in Chapter activities and policy development so that we can better take advantage of the skills, talent and knowledge available to us at the Group level. Greater participation in policy development would be assisted by early and widespread distribution of agendas to allow Groups time to consider and express their view on matters that Chapter will be addressing.

I am very much interested in pursuing a Chapter-wide approach to conservation issues, and in helping the different Groups benefit from solutions to similar issues in other areas of the Chapter. I would also like to see Chapter take advantage of whatever professional services are available to us from the National office in terms of strategic planning, facilitation, and meeting management.

With the current administration in Washington, DC, we face dilution of our environmental laws and regulations on many fronts. It is more important than ever that we work together to present a strong and united front in our region.

Carol Kunze
Napa, CA
707.966.5211
ckunze@ix.netcom.com

Hugo Steensma

All people concerned about the future of the natural world must become more resourceful and effective if we are to put a stop to the ongoing dismantling of environmental laws and regulations. We must continue to promote policies and practices designed to protect and restore the natural systems, which nurture us. Where possible, we must build coalitions with like-minded people to increase our leverage and effectiveness.

These objectives can only be accomplished by the adoption of clearly prioritized goals and focused coordination of political and other action.

I believe that the Sierra Club must contribute to these objectives by:

• enhancing public knowledge through education and information
• attracting new members and activate our membership
• providing venues for political action
• working with other environmental and interest groups to cooperate on specific political and conservation campaigns

I will work to make a contribution to these objectives. I have been a member and supporter of the Sierra Club since 1973 and have served on the Redwood Chapter Excom since 2001.

Hugo Steensma
(707) 996-6500
sica4hs@aol.com