NO SHIFT IN SIERRA CLUB PATH
Environmental Group Fends Off Takeover By Immigration Opponents

SAN FRANCISCO - Sierra Club leaders beat back efforts by anti-immigration forces trying to gain control of the nation's largest environmental group, persuading members to defeat the challengers by a landslide in board elections.

Candidates picked by the club's nominating committee won all five open seats on the 15-member board in this year's highly publicized election, which has been conducted by mail and online since March 1. The results were announced Wednesday, several hours after the voting closed.

Many club leaders had been reluctant to address the politically charged issue of immigration. But an increasingly vocal faction of the San Francisco-based Sierra Club has advocated a tougher stance on immigration, calling U.S. population growth the greatest danger to the environment.

Sierra Club leaders had warned that immigration opponents were trying to take over the organization. A record number of members -- 17,616 out of 757,058 -- participated in the vote, by far the highest level of participation in the club's 112-year history.

The five board members elected are Nick Aumen, Dave Darpf, Jan O'Connell, Ranchod Sanjay and Lisa Benstrom, said club spokeswoman Kerri Glover. Mr. Aumen and Mr. Karpf were elected to their second terms, and the others will be serving their first terms.