Sierra Club Will Support Feinstein, Sources Say

Democrat Dianne Feinstein has won a major victory in her gubernatorial campaign’s battle with Republican Sen. Pete Wilson for the support of environmentalists by collecting the endorsement of the 200,000-member Sierra Club of California, sources within the environmental movement disclosed Monday.

Wilson earlier got the backing of Friends of the River, which has the bulk of its 10,000 members in California, the Western River Guides Assn. and Trout-PAC, a nonprofit organization that works to preserve trout and salmon streams.

The major plum still to be won is the California League of Conservation Voters, a 32,000-member group that describes itself as the political action arm of the environmental community. The league has issued assessments of the candidates that generally praise both for their environmental records and campaign pledges. Most observers have expected the league’s support to go to Feinstein, should the league vote to back one candidate or the other. Endorsement requires a two-thirds vote of the group’s leadership.

The league had been expected to act by mid-September, but President Lucy Blake said Monday that no decision has been reached.

The Sierra Club’s endorsement also required a two-thirds vote of two bodies: the 64-member conservation committee and the 11-member statewide executive committee. Sources said Feinstein narrowly won the required margins.

Barry Groveman, Feinstein’s chief adviser on the environment, said: “We think it’s a pretty significant achievement. All the indications are that the environment is the No. 1 issue in the campaign and we have the support of the No. 1 environmental group.”

Wilson spokesman Bill Livingstone said the Sierra Club’s action was not unexpected, but argued that Wilson had a stronger record than Feinstein. “Unfortunately, partisan politics has played a part in the decision,” he said.

Groveman responded with an allegation of political pressure tactics by the Wilson forces in an attempt to block a Feinstein endorsement. He said that Wilson’s environmental chairmen, Mel Lane and Richard Wilson, told the Sierra Club in a letter that, in November, Wilson would either be governor-elect or he still would be a senator from California. It would be unfortunate if the club’s action threatened to disrupt a good working relationship with Sen. Wilson in either capacity, they said.

The Sierra Club declined comment on the endorsement pending a formal announcement at a press conference with Feinstein today. But Groveman thought that Feinstein’s support of Proposition 128, the sweeping and complex environmental ballot initiative on the Nov. 6 ballot, was an important reason for the club’s support, but not the only one.

Wilson opposes Proposition 128.

In a weekend speech, Feinstein cited public demand for a number of Proposition 128’s features, saying: “These are all ideas whose time has come.”

The League of Conservation Voters’ most recent assessment of the two candidates generally gave Wilson stronger marks on his record and favored Feinstein on campaign pledges and statements.

Wilson won the backing of Friends of the River largely on the strength of his support for federal legislation creating wild and scenic rivers in California.

“We chose Pete Wilson because his history on river conservation legislation shows us that he has the commitment and the leadership to help us save rivers,” said Larry Orman, board chairman of Friends of the River.