Retired teacher Jon Sturtevant moved up to the area and volunteered to help. Within a short time Jon had become the Tuolumne Group’s chairperson. He soon was creating and publishing the newsletter as well as coordinating his support team to get it folded and mailed.
Jon got involved with the Group’s outings programs and often participated in hikes. He helped brainstorm potential presenters for monthly Sierra Club programs. He organized spring fling fundraising raffle events, led the Club’s monthly cleanup days along Highway 120, and even served as the Group’s treasurer.
But it has been Jon’s activism that has made him the visible face of the local Sierra Club. As a representative for the Club, Jon became a founding member of the Tuolumne-Stanislaus IRWM water collaborative group. He also serves in the same role as a founding member and current participant of the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS) forest collaborative group.
He has attended countless Tuolumne County planning commission and board of supervisor meetings, often testifying in support of the environment on land development or General Plan policies. He’s been one of the most valuable citizen activists — participating in Forest Service planning meetings, field sessions, and workshops. Jon served for a long time on the CSERC board of directors, and his active participation over the years in CSERC restoration workday projects has been outstanding. The photo above shows Jon at just one of countless workday projects where he has donated time and energy to build protective meadow fences, pull invasive weeds, rehabilitate eroded hillsides, and do many other timely tasks – when he hasn’t been out of the area backpacking on the John Muir Trail or elsewhere in his travels.
