An environmental organization is an organization whose aim is to protect, conserve, and repair the natural environment against damaging human forces.
An environmental organization can be defined as a group concerned with the protection of the natural world.
It can also be defined as an institutional response to environmental issues. They are usually identified by their activism.
They usually appear as well-organized movements, especially in developed and industrialized nations. They aim to protect the biophysical environment and natural environment.
They can be nongovernmental organizations, governmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations, or even local ones.
The category called the environmental organizations in California is factored under local environmental organizations.
The most prevailing reason for the emergence of environmental organizations in less developed countries is as a result of imperialism and colonization.
Factors that have threatened natural resources and consequently, the living conditions of these countries.
In such countries, they are often occupied with resisting the activities of international organizations and foreign governments.
They do this to sustain biodiversity. Sometimes, environmental organizations take a monitoring and even predatory stance against government agencies.
Environmental organizations deal with environmental issues such as waste, resource depletion, climate change, environmental education, pollution, and overpopulation.
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How to Join an Environmental Organization in California
Want to save the planet? You’re not alone.
There are countless eco-aware individuals with the same drive and an almost endless list of organizations dedicated to making sure that one world can be preserved enough to keep holding seven billion dreams.
You only have to slide into membership. Discovering some (or several) to engage in and/or support just depends on which areas your interests and passions.
You can choose the environmental organizations in California to join based on their interests.
They include pollution abatement and recycling organizations, natural resource conservation organizations, botanical and horticultural organizations, civic environmental organizations, and environmental education programs.
In the U.S., the most famous environmental organizations are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which sets standards and regulates things like air, water, and land pollution, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which includes enforcing federal wildlife laws, listing, managing and protecting endangered species, and conserving wildlife habitats, such as wetlands.
To apply for EPA jobs, the vacancies are virtually posted on USAJobs. you can browse open positions and find the right job for you for jobs, upload your resume and apply for jobs.
You don’t have to take a test. Most times, just your resume, the questions asked during your application, and your social security number are needed. Sometimes, your college transcript will be required.
Beyond the government, the remaining hundreds of organizations are dedicated to making the earth a greener place.
Contact them to see if you can volunteer(we embedded their email addresses below) or click their respective names below to go to their website.
Environmental Organizations in California
- Grid Alternatives
- Rainforest Action Network
- Tree People
- Sustainable Conservation
- Sierra club
- The Trust for Public Land
- Earth Island Institute
- Klamath River Renewal Corporation
- Wildlife Heritage Foundation
- Green Corps
1. Grid Alternatives
Grid Alternatives’ mission is to provide the benefits of solar technology to communities that would not otherwise have access, provide needed savings for families and low-income homeowners, prepare workers for jobs in the solar industry, and support job training organizations by providing solar installations, and help clean the environment.
2. Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) makes the second group on our list of environmental organizations in California.
It is located in San Francisco, California.
It was established in 1985 as a nonprofit activist group to conduct research, educate the public, and protect rainforests and their inhabitants worldwide.
Their famous strategy includes imposing public pressure on people, corporations, agencies, and nations whom they believe are responsible for the destruction of the rainforests globally.
They achieve this by organizing letter-writing campaigns and consumer boycotts. They are also committed to supporting conservationists committed to rainforest protection around the world.
3. TreePeople
TreePeople was founded in 1973 by an 18-year-old teenager named Andy Lipkis who was passionate about a sustainable environment.
It is a nonprofit organization located in Los Angeles, California.
They aim to inspire, engage and support the people of Southern California to plant and care for trees and also personal responsibility for depleted landscapes.
TreePeople has succeeded in planting more than 3 thousand trees mitigating floods, drought, pollution, and climate change. They achieve this through a model called “Functioning Community Forests”.
They work with volunteers and influence government agencies to provide a greener and shadier homes, schools, neighborhoods, and cities. floods, drought, pollution, and climate change. Called “Functioning Community Forests,”
4. Sustainable Conservation
Sustainable Conservation was founded in 1993.
It is a nonprofit organization that achieves its goal by partnering with people, businesses, landowners, communities, and the government to find environmental solutions and meet the water needs of people in California.
The organization seeks to protect the climate, air, water, and biodiversity.
They provide and promote practical solutions. Some milestones include the brake pad partnership and recharging groundwater schemes.
Sustainable groundwater management and accelerating the stewardship of natural and working lands and waterways so all can have access to clean, affordable, and reliable water even in the future.
5. Sierra Club
Sierra Club is the USA’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. It was founded by the conservationist John Muir in 1892. They aim to preserve the environment as much as possible focusing on advancing sustainable energy and mitigating global warming.
They lobby politicians to advance environmentalist policies and use their influence for political endorsements, which are often sought after by liberal and progressive candidates in local elections.
The Sierra Club is organized on both a national and state level with chapters named for the 50 states. The state of California has numerous chapters in her counties. The club chapters allow for regional groups and committees, some of which have many thousands of members.
6. The Trust for Public Land
This environmental organization was founded in 1972 by Huey Johnson with its headquarters currently in San Francisco, California.
The Trust for Public Land (The Trust) are charitable, not-for-profit corporations whose mission is to “create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come”.
They seek to satisfy the public’s need for open spaces at national, state, and municipal levels -planning, funding, creating, and preserving them.
Counted among the environmental organizations in California, it was founded in 1972, they have completed 5,000 park creations and land conservation projects across the nation.
The work of this environmental organization in California revolves around ‘urban conservation.
Urban conservation is the practice of preserving green areas and natural resources in an urban setting. For instance, conserving parks and rivers, and planting trees in urban areas.
This is an attempt to reduce pollution for a majority of the entire population since most of them dwell in cities.
Unlike, most environmental organizations in California and beyond, The Trust for Public Land doesn’t steward the property after its completion.
Still, they only work with communities, public agencies, and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to identify park-creation and land protection projects, and then help them plan, fund and achieve them.
A few of their most noteworthy projects include the 606/Bloomingdale Trail, East Boston Greenway, Atlanta Beltline, Boston African American National Historic Site, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness/Superior National Forest expansion, Cape Cod National Seashore additions, Civic Center Playgrounds, San Francisco, Connecticut Lakes Headwaters, New Hampshire, Everglades National Park expansion, and Green Alleys.
7. Earth Island Institute
Founded in 1982 by legendary environmentalist David Brower, this environmental organization is one of the leading environmental organizations in California (BERKELEY) and in the entire nation.
It is a nonprofit environmental organization “working in the areas of conservation, energy, and climate, women’s environmental leadership, international and Indigenous communities, sustainability and community resilience, and more”.
They support activism around environmental issues through fiscal sponsorship that provides the administrative and organizational infrastructure for individual projects.
Earth Island’s Mission is to develop and support projects that counteract threats to the biological and cultural diversity that sustains the environment through education and activism.
These projects promote conservation and preservation.
8. Klamath River Renewal Corporation
The Klamath River was once the third largest salmon producer around with a generous abundance of salmon and trout. The name “Klamath” was derived from the Indian word “Tlamatl” which means “swiftness” in the Chinook language of the Native Americans who fished the river.
The construction of PacifiCorp’s hydroelectric dams on the river partially contributed to the decline in salmon, fishing, and water quality that the river previously provided.
These led to uncertainties in PacifiCorp’s ability to meet long-term regulatory compliance standards. Ultimately, willing stakeholders in the Klamath Basin agreed, called the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA). Part of this agreement includes the removal of four mainstem dams – Iron Gate, Copco 1, Copco 2, and JC Boyle.
Klamath River Renewal Corporation’s mission is to implement the Klamath hydroelectric settlement agreement by removing four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River restoring surrounding lands, implementing required mitigation measures, and restoring free-flowing water.
Contact Email: info@klamathrenewal.org
9. Wildlife Heritage Foundation
This environmental organization in California is a statewide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “protect, enhance, and restore wildlife habitat on lands conserved for the benefit of future generations”.
Founded in 2000 and located in Lincoln, California, its specialties are conservation easements, habitat protection, habitat preservation, and wildlife protection.
They are passionate about protecting, enhancing, and restoring wildlife habitats for the benefit of future generations.
Wildlife Heritage Foundation is a land trust currently preserving over 100,000 acres of land and water resources. and regularly engages and cooperates with land trusts, conservation organizations, public agencies, project proponents, and other land stewards that require expertise in the area of the protection of wildlife and open space habitat.
Currently, this is counted as one of the notable environmental organizations in California that have protected 2,000 fee title acres and 32,000 conservation easement acres.
10. Green Corps
Every day, people who are passionate and ready to contribute to the environment are faced with the question: How do I find a position with an environmental organization if I have next to no experience doing it?
In 1992, Green Corps emerged as the answer to this challenge.
One of the most impactful environmental organizations in California, the mission of this organization is to “train organizers, provide field support for today’s critical environmental campaigns, and graduate activists who possess the skills, temperament, and commitment to fight and win tomorrow’s environmental battles”.
Green Corps is a nonprofit field school for environmental organizers.
It trains college graduates to run environmental campaigns, starting by building a core group of activists and finishing by convincing decision-makers to pass laws, change policies and create reforms to protect the environment.
Conclusion
If you are passionate, interested, or curious about environmental organizations in California, we have thoughtfully picked these ten active and impactful environmental organizations in California among the hundreds that exist.
Wondering how to join? We’ve got you covered. Remember that environmental organizations in California are created based on interest so you can join based on your interest. Good luck in making the world a greener place!
Environmental Organizations in California – FAQs
What have environmental organizations done in California?
Collectively: They have trained hundreds of active environmental activists. They have spread awareness and educated Californians on environmental issues. They have lobbied and achieved the passing of environmental bills. They have built parks and thousands of trees in California reducing pollution. They have funded thousands of environmental projects. They have resisted the implementation of anti-environmental policies. They have contributed efforts to protect biodiversity in California (wildlife, marine, and plants). These are only but a few of the many ways in which environmental organizations in California have fought to contribute to the earth.
Are all environmental organizations in California funded by the government?
No. Not all environmental organizations in California are funded by the government. EPA is government owned and controlled so it is consistently funded by the government. However, some of the environmental organizations in California are funded by support from individuals such as you and me, grants, and organizational sales.
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Precious Okafor is a digital marketer and online entrepreneur that got into the online space in 2017 and since then have developed skills in content creation, copywriting and online marketing. He is also a Green activist and hence his role in publishing articles for EnvironmentGo