WASHINGTON - April 21 - Sierra Club members turned out in unprecedented numbers this year to elect five members to the 112-year-old environmental organization's Board of Directors. A record 22.7 percent of the Club's membership returned 171,616 ballots, compared to the previous high voter turnout of 15 percent in the 1998 board election.

Incumbent directors elected to a second consecutive term were Jan O'Connell of Grand Rapids, Michigan and Nick Aumen of Loxahatchee, Florida. Lisa Renstrom of Charlotte, North Carolina, who served on the board from 2001-2003, was elected to a new term, while Sanjay Ranchod of San Francisco and David Karpf of Philadelphia were elected to a first term.

Sierra Club President Larry Fahn said the grassroots organization's membership sent a clear message through its record voter turnout.

"Nearly a quarter of the Sierra Club's members have indicated they love the Club the way it is," Fahn said. "They have elected people who have been active leaders in the Sierra Club and who support our core agenda to protect the environment and to educate Americans about the destructive environmental practices of the Bush administration."

For more information about the Board of Directors election, visit the Sierra Club's website at http://www.sierraclub.org/bod/2004election/

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