Four Southern Californians singled out for national Sierra Club awards

Sierra Club leader and volunteer Bill Crane.

Each year the Sierra Club gives out national awards to individuals, volunteers and leaders who have shown extraordinary commitment to the Club and to the environment. Four Southern Californians were singled out for their achievements. The Sierra Club will celebrate these awardees and others from across the country at an awards ceremony Sept. 10 in Oakland, Calif.

Bill Crane

Oliver Kehrlein Award: Bill Crane is recognized for his outstanding 40-plus years of service to the Sierra Club. As an outings leader of several decades, he has lead dozens of backpacks and bus trips, and several thousand day hikes. He has served as chair of the Backpacking Committee since about 1979 and later also became the committee's webmaster. Since 1976, Crane has lead an annual hiking week to one of the Hawaiian Islands. This is a very popular trip, integrating outings, conservancy and a good time. This trip always sells out and also contributes financially to the section and chapter.

In his role as a teacher,  instructor, leader and experienced hiker, he has been involved with teaching a beginning backpacking course, harnessing and inculcating the love for the great outdoors in many new members of the Sierra Club. He was also actively involved in teaching the advanced mountaineering classes for several years. This Basic Mountaineering Training Course (which is now the Wilderness Travel Course), taught rock, snow, navigation and outings knowledge equipping its students with skills to safely take into the wilderness. Bill was an instructor, an assistant group leader, and a group leader. He played a key role in hundreds of students becoming safe and skilled mountaineers.

As a recruiter, he has presented outings slide shows to many entities of the Angeles Chapter as well as outside groups and organizations such as REI. 

In 1977 he was one of five leaders to start the Tuesday Tiger Hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains and remains the only one of the five still actively leading those hikes. His backpacking trips have included the Sierra Nevada mountains, Ventana Wilderness, Grand Canyon National Park, Havasupai, Zion National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore, Los Padres National Forest, San Georgonio Mountain, San Jacinto Mountain, Lassen National Park, Catalina Island, Oregon Coast, and Big Basin Park.

Besides leading for the Backpacking Committee and the Santa Monica Mountains Task Force, Crane also has lead outings for a dozen other Chapter entities. As part of his service to the Angeles Chapter, he served as Secretary and Vice-Chair  In addition, he served on the Angeles Chapter's Safety Committee for seven years, overseeing outings and protecting the chapter. Bill has been the recipient of several Angeles Chapter awards, including the Outings Service Award, the Chester Versteig Award and the Lifetime Service Award. 

Glenn Pascall

Glenn Pascall is author of "Southern California Mountain Country."

Special Achievement Award: Glenn Pascall is the photographer and compiler of “Southern California Mountain Country: Places John Muir Walked and Places He Would Have Loved to Know.” This is the first book of color landscape photography covering all high country areas in Southern California and the most recently published book to carry the Sierra Club logo.

In 2015, Glenn paired his photographs with quotes from John Muir to create this beautiful book, which raised funds for the Chapter. More importantly, the book helps the Chapter with outreach to donors and politicians by providing a gift that inspires new appreciation of the local areas we strive to enjoy, explore and protect.

Angeles Chapter ran the book's images on its Facebook page in 84 daily installments ending Dec. 24, 2014, the centennial of John Muir’s passing in Los Angeles. Although each image appeared only for a single day, Chapter members, groups and the National Sierra Club posted up to 150 “likes” for individual photos. Since its May 2015 publication, the book has been an Angeles Chapter appreciation gift for recipients of Earth Day awards, elected public official service awards, Sierra Club National staff including Michael Brune and Bruce Hamilton, and the National Board of Directors. Upon receiving the book, Sierra Club Board Chair Aaron Mair asked Glenn to personally autograph his copy. 

Large format photographs from the book line the walls of the Angeles Chapter conference room, and have been featured as posters at the Joshua Tree National Park Education Center, The Art Institute of Colorado, and other venues.

Glenn’s devotion to the Southern California mountains is remarkable. Although he knows the Sierra Nevada well, these mountains remain his personal favorite. In the last five years of his 50 year photo odyssey, Glenn said, “My best hope would be to do the same thing for these mountains that Ansel Adams did for the Sierra – namely, to make them known and therefore loved.”

These photos have also served advocacy of a specific conservation cause. During 2012-15, the boundaries of the proposed San Gabriel Mountains National Monument were under review by the National Park Service. Glenn prepared a special presentation for NPS on the eastern San Gabriels and the initial NPS proposal included the area. (Later, it was removed under pressure from local business interests.) These images of San Antonio Canyon, Icehouse Canyon, and Cucamonga Peak will help the Chapter continue the fight to preserve and protect this outstanding natural area.

Glenn also serves as Chair of the Angeles Chapter's Finance Committee and has donated all proceeds from book sales to the Angeles Chapter. He is also librarian for the Chapter’s outstanding collection, which has provided an Ansel Adams first edition of “This is the American Earth” to the National Sierra Club library. 

Susan Heitman

William E. Colby Award: Susan Heitman is recognized for this award given "for outstanding leadership, dedication and service to the Sierra Club." She has led or served on several national committees and also served as board member of the Sierra Club Foundation.

In the past, Susan has served on the Outdoor Activities Governance Committee and Board of Directors Nominating Committee as a member and chair, the Election Reform Task Force as its chair, and the Communication and Education Governance Committee as a member and co-chair. In addition, she has served on the Organizational Change Steering Committee, the Business Partnerships Task Force, and on the Visibility and Outreach Advisory Committee.

“Susan'’s leadership has been a major asset for the Sierra Club. She has served several roles in the Angeles Chapter, including Communications Chair and Executive Committee member. Susan also received a national Special Service Award from the Club in 2009.

Nick Brandt

Ansel Adams Award: The Malibu resident received the Ansel Adams Award for photography. Brandt has published a trilogy of books that document the vanishing natural grandeur of East Africa and has founded a nonprofit organization called the Big Life Foundation, which is dedicated to the conservation of Africa's wildlife and ecosystems.

Click here for a full list of national Sierra Club awardees, past and present.