March-April 2002
The Missouri Group of the Sierra Club – A History Before the Ozark Chapter
by Dorothy K. Stade, 35-year member of the Sierra Club
Another decade has passed, and the Ozark Chapter recently turned thirty. With the increased national interest in the past and the ever-growing number of new members in the Chapter who do not know anything of our past, perhaps it is time to look at the roots of the Ozark Chapter.
In 1892 the Sierra Club founders did not envision a powerful national environmental organization, but that is what has developed. Originally a California organization with chapters only within that state, the Club’s name and numbers spread slowly but surely across the country. Eventually chapters were formed outside California’s boundaries, and the Club divided the country into what might be called regional chapters which each encompassed several states. As membership increased in those states, especially in the late 50’s and through the 60’s, each state became a group within the regional chapter and then worked toward achieving chapter status of its own.One such group was the Missouri Group of the Great Lakes Chapter.
The Great Lakes Chapter, headquartered in Chicago, included not only Great Lakes states, but also upper Mississippi River and lower Ohio Valley states. As time passed, a dozen or more chapters were formed within the area originally covered by the Great Lakes Chapter. One of them was named the Ozark Chapter. How did the Missouri Group become the Ozark Chapter? It did not happen overnight. It took several years and the work of many dedicated people to achieve this result.
Our Group began in late 1967 when Carl Seltzer sent a letter to some Missouri Sierrans asking if there was interest in getting together to do things as Sierrans. This small Group chose some officers, held meetings sporadically at several locations, and went on some outings, but it was far from being a viable Sierra Club entity. This changed in 1969, in part because of a float trip.
A group of Sierrans, who originally had become friends as cavers, was sitting around a gravel bar campfire telling stories and reminiscing about shared experiences and accomplishments. The conversation turned serious as they discussed the future of the Sierra Club in Missouri. They felt there were many things that needed doing, and they decided to get the Club really organized and active in the small environmental community which existed in Missouri at the time.
Ron Oesch volunteered to chair meetings until an official election could be held. Don Stokes volunteered to edit a group newsletter called The Clarion to communicate with all Sierrans in the area, and Audrae Stevens organized what became a very busy, varied, and popular outings program. A regular time and place was established for both general and ExCom meetings, and the group became a genuine Sierra Club entity by officially becoming the Missouri Group of the Great Lakes Chapter. The Group By-Laws stated that the Group’s membership “shall comprise members of the Sierra Club who reside in Missouri and Arkansas and the following Illinois counties: Calhoun, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair.”
An election was held in the fall, and 1970 saw the Group being led by Chairman John Stade, Vice-Chairman Dave Bedan, Treasurer Ed Marks, Recording Secretary Pat Harris, Corresponding Secretary Leo Kluesner, Conservation Chair Eva Lovett, Program Chair Dick Youse, Membership Jeane Allen, Outings Chair Audrae Stevens, and Editor Don Stokes.
Under John Stade’s leadership, a real Sierra Club presence was established in Missouri, and the Group worked towards its next goal – chapter status. Stade represented the Group at Great Lakes Chapter ExCom meetings and other events, testified for the Group at numerous hearings, helped to increase member involvement, and brought the Sierra Club name before the public (although in the early days, we were often referred to as the Sahara Club).Group members participated in Chapter outings and activities like the Save Allerton Park and Save Lusk Creek campaigns and the effort to stop the “Peabody Ditch” (channelization of the Kaskaskia River for coal barge traffic). The Group also mobilized to join in Club efforts opposing the SST, the Timber Supply Act, and Disney’s Mineral King Valley development; and supporting the creation of the Buffalo National River and maintaining a free-flowing Cossatot River. But the real focus was more local, and the next two years laid the groundwork for the Chapter’s later successful campaigns and effective programs.
In the St. Louis area the Group worked against Linclay Corporation’s Earth City in the Missouri River flood plain, opposed the L-15 levee in St. Charles County, and supported a more primitive development plan for Queeny Park. Statewide the Group supported hiking trail efforts, and began monitoring strip mining and associated efforts to re-claim strip mined areas. The Group was very involved in an ill-fated effort to create a Missouri Scenic Rivers System, and worked diligently with the Citizen’s Committee for Conservation in an initiative petition campaign for a tax on soft drinks to support an expanded program for the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Later, of course, the Chapter worked hard in support of the Department’s Design for Conservation.
Other major activities included a long-range study of the free-flowing Ozark streams with the possibility of gaining protection for some of them as National Scenic Rivers; a long-range study of the Mark Twain National Forest; a roadless area/de facto wilderness area survey leading to eventual federal wilderness area protection; and the development of a plan opposing the construction of the Meramec Park Dam and other dams in the Meramec Basin Project which led, over some years, to the de-authorization of the project.
Slowly but surely the Sierra Club was becoming an environmental force in Missouri. By mid-1971 the Group had over 800 members with many of them participating in meetings and outings and actively involving themselves in committee work. The Group ExCom voted to apply for Chapter status. Petitions to that effect were sent to Group members for their signatures, letters were sent to the Great Lakes Chapter and Mills Tower (Club headquarters at the time), and Elaine Hackerman was given the responsibility for compiling the Group’s history and filling out the lengthy questionnaire received from San Francisco. This she did very ably, and the Missouri Group’s application to become the Ozark Chapter (Missouri and Arkansas) was approved at the Board of Directors meeting in San Francisco on December 5, 1971. On January 1, 1972, the Ozark Chapter officially came into existence as the 36th Chapter of the Sierra Club. The Group’s Illinois counties continued as the Piasa-Palisades and Kaskaskia Groups of the Great Lakes Chapter, and later Arkansas attained its own Chapter status.
The process by which Chapter status was achieved may have been long, and sometimes arduous, but it was well worth the effort. A firm foundation had been laid, programs were well-established, a cadre of very capable leaders had been developed, and the members’ esprit de corps could not have been higher. The many successes of the past thirty years show the importance of the sturdy roots provided by the Missouri Group.
For 3½ decades, Dorothy K. Stade has consistently been one of the most generous contributors of volunteer time and financial support to the Sierra Club in Missouri. Her long list of leadership duties includes 12 years on the Chapter Excom, Chapter Secretary, Chapter Vice-Chair, Chapter Conservation Chair, 4½ years as Chapter Chair, Delegate to the MRCC, and Delegate to the Sierra Club Council of Club Leaders. Her various Sierra Club honors include 1974 Ozark Chapter Sierran of the Year, 1981 Ozark Chapter Distinguished Service Award (the highest honor bestowed on a member by the Ozark Chapter), and the 1982 Susan Miller National Sierra Club Award. All of the 10,000 members of the Ozark Chapter are deeply indebted to Dorothy and to all the others who helped anchor our Chapter so securely all those years ago.