Environmental group celebrates anniversary with book launch

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Fifty years of defending our wild places and species, the Sierra Club BC is celebrating a half-century of activism with a new book.

Diane Pinch is the author of “Passion and Persistence,” which launches Tuesday night at Massy Books on E. Georgia Street in Vancouver.

She says the mission of the Sierra Club is as vital as ever – especially given the threat of climate change.

“We just need the political will to make those kinds of changes happen and Sierra Club is really good about trying to make sure that the public and everyone knows what’s going on,” she says.

Pinch remembers how the group played a big role in swaying public opinion against the deforestation of Clayoquot Sound, back in the early 90s.

“They developed these maps showing how much logging had happened and it was this visual display that just galvanized the public to be really concerned about what’s happening in the forests,” she says.

The group also acted on saving the Nitinat Triangle on Vancouver Island.

“They wanted it to become part of Pacific Rim National Park so they had this huge, massive publicity that went on for about a year and it became the first successful environmental campaign in Canada,” Pinch says.

The book launch begins at 7:00 p.m.