WP on battle for control of Sierra Club

[DeepModem Mom]

Immigration Issue Sparks Battle at Sierra Club
Groups Vie to Reshape Nonprofit's Board
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 22, 2004; Page A02


....On one level, the battle for control of the Sierra Club board is a dispute over the impact on ecological concerns of population pressures fueled by immigration. More broadly, however, it is a tale of how the organization, buoyed by a rich treasury and a savvy grass-roots outreach effort, has become enmeshed in a bitter fight over how to best leverage the nonprofit's influence in national politics....

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"The Sierra Club is the most prominent and influential group in America in terms of environmentalism," said Mark Potok, editor of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report, who said the center got involved because it discovered hate groups were urging followers to vote in the board election. "That's why it's seen as a prize. The aim is to hijack the credibility, the reputation, the membership and the finances of a very important political player." ....

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Potok is just one of many activists weighing in on the election, which is taking place by mail over the next month. The controversy centers on three insurgent candidates, including former Colorado governor Richard Lamm (D), who are intent on curbing immigration to the United States in the name of environmentalism....

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The battle has spawned at least three lawsuits, a flurry of mailings to members, as well as two outside groups devoted solely to shaping the future of the Sierra Club. The battle intensified last week when the Internet-based liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org urged its members to help defeat the three insurgent candidates, triggering the latest in a series of complaints from both sides about the involvement of outside groups....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13539-2004Mar21.html