Although anti-immigration groups were trying to take over the Sierra Club, this week the organization’s leadership at a board of director’s election defeated a slate of independent candidates who wanted to see the club adopt a tougher stance on immigration.  Instead, the club’s membership elected the five candidates endorsed by the organization’s nominating committee.  Each candidate supports maintaining the club’s neutral stance on immigration.

This election is widely seen as a referendum on the Sierra Club’s immigration policy.  The organization has been urged in recent years to adopt a tougher stance on immigration, as anti-immigrant advocates call the growing U.S. population, and its consumption of natural resources the greatest threat to the environment.

Before the election, the club’s leaders warned the voting body by a written ballot notice warning that anti-immigration and non-environmental groups were trying to influence the vote.

Some club leaders organized a movement called Groundswell Sierra to defeat what they called an attempted takeover by outside groups.  Groundswell Sierra volunteers communicated with group members via phone, e-mail and postcards and encouraged them to vote for the candidates nominated by the group’s nominating committee.