Hooks to exit Sierra Club job

Arkansas director leaving post to join Audubon Delta

Longtime Arkansas environmental activist Glen Hooks will be leaving his position as director of the Arkansas Sierra Club, he said Monday.

Hooks, a native Arkansan, has been with the Sierra Club for more than 18 years and will be leaving Nov. 12.

“Glenn has been a tireless advocate for environmental justice,” George Wise, chairman of the Central Arkansas Group of the Arkansas Sierra Club, said via email. “His leadership has caused us to recognize that environmental justice, racial justice, civil justice, economic justice and social justice are all connected.”

Founded in the late 1800s, the Sierra Club is one of the nation’s oldest environmental organizations, according to the organization’s website. The Arkansas Chapter was established in 1982 to help protect the state’s wilderness areas and currently has just over 3,000 members.

Wise recognized Hooks for his work in retiring dirty coal plants in Arkansas and across the South.

Hooks will join Audubon Delta this month as a policy manager, working on climate and clean energy campaigns, he said.

The National Audubon Society works to protect birds and their habitats, according to its website. Audubon Delta works across Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

“I’ve really enjoyed my eighteen years at Sierra Club, and am excited to continue working on climate and clean energy issues for Audubon Delta,” Hooks said. “The Natural State and our people deserve a healthy environment and a clean energy economy. Audubon Delta is poised to help make that happen — I’m fired up to join their team and help make our region an even better place in which to live.”

Uta Meyer, chairman of the Arkansas Sierra Club Executive Committee, said Monday that it is in the very early stages of the process to find a new director.

“But I expect that Sierra Club will open a national search to continue leading the club’s work here in Arkansas. With support from the Sierra Club national office, we will appoint a hiring committee to coordinate those efforts and fill the spot with a quality candidate as soon as possible,” Meyer said.