SIERRA CLUB DESERT PEAKS NEWSLETTER No.(53-4) AUGUST 1953 ISSUE

Dear Desert Peaker: There has been considerable discussion of late regarding the advisability of a proposal to elevate the Desert Peaks Section to the status of a Sierra Club committee in order that the avowed DPS ideals and attendant activities be more logically made available to S.C. members in chapters other than the So. Calif. Chapt. of which the DPS is now a part. In line with this proposal which is thought to have been originated by Executive Director Dave Brower, your chairman has spent some time discussing its ramifications with the Executive Committee of the So. Calif. Chapter at its June 29 meeting and later with Directors Lewis Clark (Club Sec'y) and Eivar Nilsson (Club Treas.). The proposal was generated after consideration of the fact that DPS members, as listed in the May, 1953, roster, are scattered throughout five Sierra Club Chapter domains; in addition, three are from the Club's general membership (two of these are out of state). Whereas the revised DPS bylaws, approved Feb., 1953, provide that any member of the Sierra Club may become a member of the So. Calif. Chapt. Section called the DPS, it is felt that the proposed revision of the DPS organizational structure would more logically allow the general Club-DPS membership provision as well as add further prestige to an activity whose purpose is rather lofty and whose activities cover such a potentially large scope by virtue of the vast, relatively unexploited areas over which it claims interest. The proposed change in the generalities was viewed with favor by all persons contacted and the following points are believed to represent significant detailed considerations which would prove acceptable to the present DPS membership, the So. Calif. Chapt. Exec. Committee and the Board of Directors. (The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors has approved the proposal in principle subject to the approval of the So. Calif. Chapt. Exec. Committee.) 1. There would be established a Desert Peaks Committee which would be responsible to the Board of Directors for;    a. Sponsoring interest in, and use and protection of the Desert Mountain Areas of California and the Southwest.    b. Preparing and issuing certificates paid for by the Club treasury to those Club members who had distinguished themselves by climbing nine peaks from the "qualifying peak list" including certain prescribed peaks (no changes in the qualifying peak list are implied by the proposal).    c. Preparing and issuing such written material as is deemed to be in accord with the purposes of the Committee (e.g. Desert Peaks Guide). 2. The Desert Peaks Committee would be appointed by the Sierra Club President and approved by the Executive Committee of the Bd. of Directors, and would consist of three persons from Southern Calif.-- a Chairman, and two others whose functions would be specified. 3. There would be established,(or more correctly, continued in modified form) in the Southern California Chapter, a Desert Peaks Section whose purpose would be to further the common interest of its members. The Section would be composed of;    a. Members-those from the Southern Calif, Chapt. who had climbed any six of the peaks on the "qualifying list".    b. Associate Members...those Sierrans from outside the So. Calif. Chapt. Who had climbed any six of the "qualifying list". 4. The Desert Peaks Section of the So. Calif. Chapt. would have three elected officers--as at present, and would;    a. Issue DPS pins in exchange for a small fee to those who could present a Certificate from the DPS committee--see l.b., above.    b. Plan and arrange outings to the desert areas. You are urged to make your opinions regarding the foregoing known to your Chairman as soon as possible. The present DPS officers will meet shortly to discuss the proposal in the light of comments which may be received and will prepare from this information a firm basis for discussion and vote at a general meeting of the Section membership in late September or early October. Parker Severson has now completed 13 additional pages to the original Desert Peaks Guide and would still be going strong but for lack of some long-promised information in the form of trip write-ups. How about sending us what you have, now while the idea's fresh!?

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