Ed Wayburn's 100th birthday

It's not every day that a volunteer celebrates a 100th birthday - and rarely with such a track record or such a continuing level of activity as Edgar Wayburn.

Ed joined the Sierra Club as an outdoor enthusiast in 1939. In 1947 the Bay Chapter leadership needed new blood, and so Ed ran for the Executive Committee. He soon found himself serving as vice chair and then as chair.

In 1949 Ed was asked to found a Chapter Conservation Committee to organize the Chapter's work on local issues, and for several years he served as the Chapter's first conservation chair. By giving a local structure to work on issues in the Bay Area and Northern California, the committee could advance these concerns more effectively than the "national" organization. In 1948 Ed and the committee began working for the enlargement of Mount Tamalpais State Park, a campaign that engaged him for more than 20 years.

For years he and Ansel Adams dreamed of saving the headlands of the Golden Gate - and they led the campaign that did it. Ed led campaigns too to protect Point Reyes, Redwood National Park, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Alaska public lands.

Dr. Wayburn is a stellar example of volunteer accomplishments at all levels. He has worked on local issues which had links to Sacramento and Washington, DC; on other campaigns which depended on his expertise and skills and the contacts he had developed over the years; and mentoring new generations of conservation activists.

Ed served for many years on the Club's Board of Directors, as a trustee of the Sierra Club Foundation, and now as honorary president of the Sierra Club.

To learn more about Ed's work, see (among others) his article "How the West Marin was won (and then some)" in the July-August 2004 Yodeler; his book Your Land and Mine: Evolution of a Conservationist (Sierra Club Books 2004); or New Guardians of the Golden Gate by Amy Meyer (University of California Press 2006).