I know a lot of folks who join Sierra Club thinking they are helping wildlife.
Sierra doesn't spend any money helping wildlife -- they tie up the wildlife managers' hands with frivolous litigation aimed at ending all consumptive use of national forests. The USFS spends way too much time defending itself from these lawsuits, time taken away from managing wildlife and the forest.
Controlled burning and some logging is actually beneficial to a lot of wildlife, including some endangered and threatened species. I'd bet my last dollar controlled burns are a lot less deadly for wildlife than an out of control wildfire.
And yes, the Sierra was hijacked long ago by the radical and criminal Paul Watsons. Meanwhile, gullible folks who think they are helping the environment or wildlife continue to pay huge salaries for the Paul Watsons and other radicals -- MONEY THAT COULD BE USED TO RESTORE/MAINTAIN healthy wildlife populations.
I always tell these folks, when I talk to them, if they want to help wildlife, buy a hunting license. That money has been PROVEN to be responsible for wildlife restoration and the maintainance of healthy populations.
If people really want to help, they need to help groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever who actually work on habitat and helping the environment.
Fields of grass are important to elk, deer...thus some reasonable clear cutting can make good science.
Also eagles, hawks...like the fields for catching their lunch.
Like the ACLU lawyers, the Sierra Club lawyers make big money by suing the forest service and others...
Massive fires not only pollute the air, but also the ash kills fish and other marine life. The high heat from the big fires kills the organic soil...
The Paul Watsons are happy.