Trinidad Resident Receives National Sierra Club Award

SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 24, 1999 – Trinidad resident Lucille Vinyard was among those receiving national awards from the Sierra Club this year.

Vinyard received a Special Service Award from the organization for her 35 years of conservation work at the state, local and national levels.

Vinyard began her career as a Sierra Club activist in 1963. She was the driving force behind the formation of the North Group of the Sierra Club and served as chair of the group from 1970 to 1978. She also served as chair of the Club’s Redwood Chapter from 1976 to 1978 and served as chapter secretary for the next 10 years.

For four years, Vinyard and the North Group campaigned to preserve a significant portion of the remaining ancient redwood temperate rainforest on the North Coast. Their efforts resulted in the creation of Redwood National Park in 1968.

In 1971, Vinyard began working for passage of the California Coastal Zone Protection Act. After the Act passed in 1972, she spent nine years monitoring coastal development permits for Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

Vinyard also helped get the Smith River added to California’s list of wild and scenic rivers and helped lobby for passage of the California Wilderness Act in 1984. From 1985 to 1990, she coordinated the annual Coastal Clean-up Day for Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

Vinyard has previously received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Sierra Club for her work leading to the creation of Redwood National Park.

The Sierra Club, which was founded in 1892 by John Muir, is the country’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization. It currently has nearly 600,000 members.