Sierra Club Florida

Since 2015, the group has also advocated for ending the practice of pre-harvest sugarcane “field burning” through its “Stop the Burn–Go Green” initiative to end the practice in several state counties including Palm Beach, Glades, Martin, and Lee Counties, claiming the practice is a form of “environmental racism.”  ^{5  6  7}

Background

Sierra Club Florida is the local state chapter of the Sierra Club, a national environmentalist organization that advocates for left-of-center policies. A Southeast chapter of the group was initially formed in 1968 but split into chapters for individual states.  ^{8  9}

As of 2026, the Florida chapter claims to organize local volunteer leaders and civic activists through 16 local groups within the state. The group has also advocated land conservation, improved water quality, weather dependent energy, and left-wing environmental justice. Donations to the chapter are not tax-deductible because the national Sierra Club is organized as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization rather than a 501(c)(3) charity; tax-deductible gifts to Sierra Club programs flow through the Sierra Club Foundation. ^{1  10  4  11  12}

Activities

As of 2026, Sierra Club Florida operates several initiatives through its “Our Wild Florida” program, including Everglades restoration, water quality promotion, wildlands protections, and its “Stop the Burn–Go Green” campaign against sugarcane burning. The chapter also operates a “Beyond Coal” campaign to end the use of coal as a source of energy in Orlando and Tampa Bay as well as a “Ready for 100” campaign to push municipalities into committing to fully weather-dependent energy by 2050. Chapter staff have also participated in the “No Roads to Ruin” coalition, which claimed credit for blocking the Florida M-CORES toll roads and Northern Turnpike Extension. ^{3  13  2}

The chapter has also advocated in favor of increased funding and resources towards Everglades restoration and the regulation of agricultural nutrient runoff by claiming excess nitrogen and phosphorus from sugar farming fuels increased algal blooms and red tide along Florida’s coasts. Chapter staff have regularly participated in public hearings at state and federal levels on water management issues related to Lake Okeechobee and the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). ^{14  15}

A primary initiative of the Sierra Club Florida Chapter is the “Stop the Burn–Go Green” project. Starting in 2015, the project campaigned to end the practice of preharvest sugarcane “field burning” in certain counties within the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) that includes Palm Beach, Glades, Martin, and Lee Counties in south Florida. The chapter claims that sugar production companies will burn up to 400,000 acres of sugarcane fields annually prior to harvest as a cost-cutting measure to remove leaves and tops before the stalks are processed but end up producing smoke and ash-like “black snow.” ^{16  17  18} The chapter also claims the burns affect African-American communities more than white communities in the region, cause long-term health issues for affected communities, and increase environmental damage from acid rain and soil erosion as well as polluting nearby waterways.   ^{19  20  21  22  23   19}

The campaign advocates for transition towards “green harvesting,” whereby sugarcane is cut and processed without prior burning while the existing leaves and plant matter is repurposed as mulch, biofuels, and cattle feed. ²⁴ In August 2023, the national Sierra Club filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging that the Florida Forest Service’s burn authorization practices produced discriminatory effects against affected African-American communities.  ²⁵ The campaign is ongoing as of 2026. ²⁶

Leadership

Susannah Randolph was the chapter director of Sierra Club Florida as of 2026. She joined the Sierra Club in 2017 as a senior campaign representative for the Beyond Coal campaign in Florida. Before joining the Sierra Club, Randolph was the Florida political director for ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and later the executive director of Florida Watch Action. She was appointed chapter director of Sierra Club Florida in 2023 by the chapter’s executive committee. ^{27 3}

As of 2026, the Sierra Club Florida chapter’s elected executive committee was chaired by Kristine Cunningham, who had held multiple leadership roles in Sierra Club chapters in Nevada, North Carolina, and Florida. Cris Costello was the chapter’s state campaign director, which included the Stop the Burn campaign. Costello had organized with the Sierra Club since 2007. Before the Sierra Club, Costello worked as a grassroots organizer, a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, and for more than a decade and a half as a union organizer and contract negotiator. ^{28 3}

Financials

As a subsidiary of the national Sierra Club, Sierra Club Florida does not file its own tax returns. Its operations are funded through the national Sierra Club, a 501(c)(4) organization, and through the Sierra Club Foundation, the 501(c)(3) charitable and fiscal-sponsorship arm of the national organization, which receives tax-deductible contributions on behalf of Sierra Club programs. Direct donations to the Florida chapter are not tax-deductible. ^{4 11}