Los Gatos Resident Wins National Sierra Club Award

SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 23, 2000 – Los Gatos, California, resident Shirley Taylor was among those receiving national awards from the Sierra Club this year.

Taylor received the Walter Starr Award, which is given to former members of the Sierra Club’s board of directors who remain active in the club.

A biologist by training, Taylor became involved with the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club in the early 1970s and later became chair of the chapter as well as chair of the Sierra Club’s Gulf Coast Regional Conservation Committee. She chaired the club’s national Coastal Committee, working on issues such as offshore oil drilling, federal coastal zone management legislation, improved public use of urban waterfronts, and coastal area protection through government land purchases for parks.

Taylor served on the Sierra Club Board of Directors from 1982-1984 and again from 1986-1989.

After retiring from the board, she chaired the Sierra Club’s national Marine Committee, which worked to help pass federal legislation that would protect marine mammals and sustain marine fish populations.

"Shirley has done a mammoth and consistent job for the coasts and coastal waters," said Michele Perrault, a member of the Sierra Club’s Board of Directors.

"Shirley is a great role model for women and for all who have special skills to share with the Sierra Club," said Doris Cellarius, a member of the Sierra Club’s Conservation Governance Committee.

The Sierra Club, which was founded in 1892 by John Muir, is the country’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization. It currently has more than 600,000 members. For more information on the club, visit its Web site at http://www.sierraclub.org.