BECOME a Sierra Club Member
The mission of the Sierra Club is “To Enjoy, Explore and Protect the Planet.” Our main focus is Lancaster County and all issues
related to improving and enhancing the environment. We strive to enjoy and explore while we protect our resources, and we need your help. Won’t you please join us?
Executive Committee is made up of nine elected officers each holding a position for two years. Organization membership is made up of everyone in Lancaster County who is a National Sierra Club Member. Elections are held at the end of every year with the start of terms in January of the following year .
Our committees do the bulk of the planning work and then report to the Executive Committee at scheduled business meetings. Please read about what each committee does and please consider joining us in our adventures.
CONSERVATION – We are tasked with involving our group in the most current issues that have the greatest effect on Lancaster County. We meet to discuss the issues and present our findings to the Executive Committee. Join us and be a part of making real change in your world.
EDUCATION – We have monthly activities with the focus of educating the public on issues that concern us. Our education activities involve creating exhibits, providing library programs, working with children both outdoors and in school, as well as creating materials presented at our events and outings. Great opportunity if you are creative, crafty, an educator or just willing to help out. We typically meet Wednesday nights 7ish to plan for many of our activities on Saturdays. Please join us as we strive to educate fellow Lancastrians on the importance of our natural resources.
OUTINGS – We plan all things outdoors: Campouts, Hikes, Bike Trips and Cleanups. We usually meet 5 or 6 times a year with
refreshments and we plan about 10 fun and educational events a year. Please join us as we EXPLORE Lancaster
County.
MEMBERSHIP – We try to grow the organization through outreach, pleasant conversation and technology. We meet, greet, inform, and interact to make you feel welcome and knowledgeable.
GIFT A MEMBERSHIP
Our History
The Lancaster Group of the Sierra Club was authorized by the national Sierra Club in 2008. Prior to that time, members of the Sierra Club from Lancaster County were affiliated with the Chapter’s Governor Pinchot Group (GVP), which covered Lancaster County and most of south-central Pennsylvania.
Sierra Club’s governance structure is as follows (from top down): The National Organization; State Chapters; and Groups within those chapters, defined by geographic boundaries. The Lancaster Group is one of ten in Pennsylvania and the only one whose area of jurisdiction lies totally within one county. Sierra Club Groups, which operate at the grassroots level, are run solely by volunteers.
Efforts to establish an independent Lancaster Group began in 2005 when the core membership of GVP’s Lancaster Committee realized there were numerous environmental opportunities and challenges in Lancaster County that required the focus of its own Group. Further, with a population fast approaching a half million and a Sierra Club membership inching toward 1,000, the county was prime territory to support a Group of its own. Today, Sierra Club members who reside in Lancaster County are automatically members of the Lancaster Group.