Sierra Club, Atlantic Chapter records,
- Author:
- Sierra Club. Atlantic Chapter.
- Call Number:
- MSS APAP-130 local
- Abstract:
- The collection documents the work of the Atlantic Chapter over three and a half decades. The earliest item is from 1964, but continuous records begin in 1967 and run up to 1999, with the large bulk of the materials dating from the 1980s and 1990s. Topics that are extensively documented in the collection include: the Storm King Mountain controversy, the Westway Highway, low-level radioactive waste, land use in the Adirondack Park, New York State compliance with the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act of 1996, the electric industry in New York State, environmental attitudes of New York State politicians, the recycling of beverage containers, the use of sludge in agriculture, Long Island drinking water contamination by pesticides, the James Bay controversy, and wildlife and habitat preservation. The collection also contains records from the national Sierra Club organization, and documents from other environmental organizations such as the Citizens' Environmental Coalition, the Environmental Planning Lobby, Hudsonia, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Audubon Society, the New York State Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), and Scenic Hudson.
- Historical Note:
- The Sierra Club is a national environmental organization founded in California in 1892 by naturalist and explorer John Muir. The Atlantic Chapter is responsible for the Sierra Club's membership and activities in New York, and deals with a variety of environmental issues in the state, such as land use controls, pollution, recycling, and endangered species and habitat protection. The Atlantic Chapter has devoted much of its energy to battling what it regards as environmentally unsound development projects, to waste reduction, and to pollution elimination. Over the period 1967-1999 the Chapter has fought the proposed nuclear power plant at Storm King Mountain and the proposed Westway Highway in Manhattan, helped to expose the toxic contamination at Love Canal, lobbied for beverage container recycling and the establishment of Lake Minnewaska State Park, campaigned for passage of state environmental bonds in 1986, 1990, and 1996, and taken part in the opposition to the James Bay Hydroelectric Project. The Atlantic Chapter in the early 1990s was headed by four officers: the chair, vice-chair, secretary, and treasurer. There was also a twenty-seven member Board of Governance, nine members of which made up the Executive Committee. The state organization further consisted of eighteen administrative committees which handled the various operational concerns of the chapter, and sixteen conservation committees that dealt with specific environmental issues at the state level. The Atlantic Chapter divided New York State into eleven regional groups which dealt with local environmental issues, possessed their own internal organization, issued their own newsletters, and sent representatives to the state Board of Governance.
- Physical Description:
- 29 cu. ft, 9 videotapes, 1 microfilm reel, and 1 audio tape
- Access Terms:
- Access to the collection is unrestricted.
- Notes:
- Part of the Archives of Public Affairs and Policy. local
- Subjects:
- Air quality New York (State), Ecology New York (State), Environmentalism New York (State), Hazardous wastes New York (State), Pesticides New York (State), Water quality New York (State), Air quality, Ecology, Environmentalism, Hazardous wastes, Pesticides, Politics and government, and Water quality
- Genres/Forms:
- Budgets. aat, Bylaws. aat, Clippings. aat, Correspondence. aat, Minutes. aat, Newsletters. aat, Periodicals. aat, Reports. aat, and Videocassettes. aat
- Corporate Names:
- Sierra Club, Sierra Club. Atlantic Chapter, James Bay Hydroelectric Project, James Bay Hydroelectric Project, Sierra Club, and Sierra Club. Atlantic Chapter
- Chronological Terms:
- Since 1951 fast
- Geographic Terms:
- Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.), New York (State) Politics and government 1951-, New York (State), and New York (State) Adirondack Mountains
Access
Rare books do not circulate
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