Annual Report 2007 Table of Contents Table of Contents
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Sierra ClubSIERRA CLUBBC BC Annual Report 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Our Mission ....................................................................................................................... page 1 Message from the Executive Director, Kathryn Molloy .................................................. page 2 Message from the Chair of the Executive Committee, Martin Golder .......................... page 3 Forests and Wilderness ..................................................................................................... page 4 Funder Profile: Mountain Equipment Co-op .................................................................... page 5 Global Warming: Enormous Policy Progress! .................................................................. page 6 Seafood and Oceans ......................................................................................................... page 7 Educating for a Better Future .......................................................................................... page 8 Grassroots Hub .................................................................................................................. page 10 Donor Profile: Tom Lane .............................................................................................. page 10 Funder Profile: Best Western Inn - Kelowna .................................................................... page 12 The Sierra Club BC Team .................................................................................................. page 13 An Investment in the Future ............................................................................................ page 14 Funder Support in 2007 ................................................................................................... page 15 Make a Donation Today ................................................................................................... page 16 Audited Statement of Operations ................................................................................... page 17 2 Sierra Club BC Annual Report 2007 • www.sierraclub.bc.ca OUR MISSION OUR MISSION • TO EXPLORE, ENJOY AND PROTECT THE WILD PLACES OF THE EARTH; • TO PRACTICE AND PROMOTE THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF THE EARTh’s ecosySTEMS AND RESOURCES; • TO EDUCATE AND ENLIST HUMANITY TO PROTECT AND RESTORE THE QUALITY OF THE NATURAL AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT; AND • TO USE ALL LAWFUL MEANS TO CARRY OUT THESE OBJECTIVES. SIERRA CLUB BC represents the regions of BC and the Yukon on behalf of the Sierra Club of Canada. The Executive Committee acts as the board of Sierra Club BC and is composed of elected BC members as well as representatives of local groups. SIERRA CLUB OF BC FOUNDATION is a separate organisation, with an independent board. Its primary responsibility is to raise charitable funds for the education and research work of Sierra Club BC. SIERRA CLUB , GREENPEA C E AND FORE S T ETHI cs RE C EIVIN G THE GI F T TO THE EARTH AWARD IN JUNE 2007. SIERRA CLUB ’S EXE C UTIVE DIRE C TOR KATHRYN MOLLOY , 3RD F RO M LE F T . Sierra Club BC Annual Report 2007 • www.sierraclub.bc.ca 1 MESSAGE FROM KATHRYN MOLLOY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 2007 was a roller-coaster Financially, 2007 was a year of challenges. Our widely year of tremendous acclaimed work on climate change was largely unfunded, accomplishments achieved as was much of our vital grassroots work. The near- on tightening budgets. We parity of the loonie with the US dollar meant that the celebrated a tectonic shift real value of our Foundation funding – much of which in the B.C. government’s comes from the US – dropped by nearly 20 percent. And stance on climate change: the presidential elections south of the border attracted a legislated commitment funding that would otherwise have been devoted to the to slash greenhouse gas environmental cause. As a result, our resources at year- emissions 33 percent by end showed a substantial deficit. 2020. Sierra Club BC played a pivotal role in raising the In response, we pulled back and refocused. We streamlined public awareness about our campaigns and enhanced our efforts to grow our global warming, generating individual donor base. Through these difficult times, I PHOTO BY PETER CA M PBELL thousands of petitions, was heartened and encouraged by the dedication of our letters and postcards, as well Board and staff, who stayed on course and achieved many as significant media coverage. These efforts, and the resulting fine successes, as you will read in these pages. groundswell of public support for climate-friendly policies, set the stage for a carbon-lean budget in 2008. At the time of writing, we are happy to say that we expect to clear up most if not all of our deficit by the end of 2008. 2007 also signalled a strategic shift for Sierra Club BC, as we The financial outlook for 2009 is favourable, but we know refocused all of our work through the lens of climate change. that getting there will be a major effort that will require Throughout 2007 we strove to be a strong voice on behalf the help and generosity of many. Over the years, the Sierra of our supporters and donors, educating decision-makers Club has been sustained by a large and extended family on the importance of intact forests for carbon storage. We - thousands of British Columbians who saw the need for ramped up our endangered species campaign, emphasising action and got involved to make it happen. While we ecosystem resilience as a priority for forest management in are working hard to stabilize our core by diversifying a time of climate change. Our efforts were crowned with our sources of income, our family of donor-activists will success when the BC government decided to set aside more always be our root system and our most important source than a 2.2 million hectares of prime caribou habitat for the of inspiration. We invite you to stay connected in the recovery of mountain caribou. coming year! 2 Sierra Club BC Annual Report 2007 • www.sierraclub.bc.ca MESSAGE FROM MARTIN GOLDER CHAIR OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE As you will have seen in Executive Director’s message, 2007 combined outstanding accomplishments with some deep dips below the red line. It is, perhaps, not surprising. Environmental organizations have always had to walk the tightrope between the urgency of their mission in the world and a secure financial base. And sometimes we lean perilously far over the edge, deliberately and with our eyes open, because it’s the right thing to do. As almost everyone now agrees - in speech if not in action – global warming is the most urgent issue of our time. Whether we manage to stay below the dangerous threshold of 2 degrees temperature increase is a pivotal question for the survival of our civilisation. Bafflingly, for all the avowed commitment to climate change mitigation, funding for this issue in the past year has been scarce to nonexistent. In full knowledge of these facts, the Executive Committee made a proposals and renewed determination to strategic decision to go ahead with a global warming campaign. build a pipeline to service the Alberta tar Through 2007, Sierra Club BC was a proactive participant in government sands - we feel the ship of state has turned processes, notably on the carbon tax and the climate budget. We a significant corner and is going in the right also ramped up our public outreach - from our popular wallet-sized direction, albeit still too slowly. reminder (“Ten Things You Can Do to Help Stop Global Warming”) to in-depth engagement with British Columbians from all walks of life With your help, we are beginning to stabilize through our Sierra House-Cooling Parties and Sierra CERCles (Carbon our financial situation. Now it is time to Emission Reduction Circles). build a secure and diverse membership and funding base to provide a springboard for As you will read in these pages, the results exceeded our most hopeful many more successes in the years to come. expectations. With its legislated greenhouse gas emissions targets and carbon tax, British Columbia is one of North America’s most responsive jurisdictions to the social and environmental threat of global warming. While there is still much work to do -- notably on persistent and perverse subsidies to the oil and gas sector, coal and coal-bed methane Sierra Club BC Annual Report 2007 • www.sierraclub.bc.ca 3 FOREsts ANFORED STSWIL ANDD WILERNEDERNESSSS PROGREss IN THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREst Following the momentous Great Bear Rainforest SIERRA CLUB BC RECEIVED WORLD WILDLIFE FOUNDATion’s “GifT TO THE Agreement in 2006, Sierra Club BC and our allies in the EARTh” AWARD IN JUNE. THIS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AWARD Rainforest Solutions Project focused on the big task of WAS PRESENTED TO RAINFOREST SOLUTIONS PROJECT MEMBER GROUPS ensuring that the agreement leads to lasting change (SIERRA CLUB BC, GREENPEACE AND FOREST ETHICS), THE BC PROVINCE, THE on the ground. We have seen some significant progress AN in all of three pillars of the land use agreements FOREST INDUSTRY AND FIRST NATIONS IN RECOGNITION OF INNOVATIVE sm CONSERVATION ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST. RO -- protected areas, lighter-touch logging practices, G and funding for sustainable development for local communities. We worked with the BC government, ARNIE the logging industry and First Nations to set the stage : M for fully implementing the agreements to meet the GUARDIANS / WAtcHMEN HOTO P looming deadline of March 31, 2009. WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT Initial new logging regu- THE LAND AND WATER lations