Sierra Club Co-Hosts Borderlands Congressional Reception

This past Wednesday the Sierra Club, in conjunction with the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), hosted a congressional reception in the Senate to present awards to two of our champions who have taken leadership roles in addressing the ecological negative impacts of expansive and fiscally wasteful border walls.  The event also served to celebrate the culmination of a two-week photo exhibit of the borderlands and the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  The reception was a huge success and gave the environmental community and its coalition partners in the faith and human rights communities the chance to honor Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and applaud them for their tireless efforts to advocate for a more responsible border policy that respects communities, wildlife, and the borderlands' unique natural resources.

Senator John Kerry (left) and Sierra Club Director of the Lands Protection Program (right) 

The reception capped off a two-week display of an amazing collection of photographs by the ILCP.  The photos, partially commissioned by the Sierra Club, were taken during an expedition last January across the entire border region, from Brownsville, TX to San Diego, CA.  The photographers spent three weeks traversing the borderlands and documenting the ecological and cultural values of the region as well as the devastation that the construction of the wall has left in its wake.  The stunning canvas prints that resulted from that trip have been on display in the Senate for the past two weeks to show our federal legislators a beautiful and wrenching portrait of the true effects of this irresponsible border policy.

Photograph courtesy of the Intenational League of Conservation Photographers