Janie Figen: consummate activist | 1927-2002 Conservationists throughout the state expressed their sorrow at the passing of long-time Sierra Club activist Janie Figen, who died from cancer on Oct. 11. Janie served a total of 12 years on the Chapter Executive Committee. She was chosen chapter Chair in 1978 and 1979, and also held a number of positions at the state level, including membership on the Sierra Club Council, the Northern California-Nevada Regional Conservation Committee, the California Convention, the State Executive Committee, and the State Coastal Committee. She also served as Chair of the State Development Committee. Over the years Janie organized three conferences on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to help the public understand how to use CEQA to defend the environment. She had considerable mastery of environmental law and was able to use that knowledge effectively. Her passion for detail led her to follow the legal notices faithfully; on one occasion, for example, she read about a tax foreclosure sale on 38 lots in Sand City and quickly informed the Regional Park District and Big Sur Land Trust. The trust got an emergency loan from the Packard Foundation and made a dramatic and successful bid on the courthouse steps. These acquisitions later enabled the Park District to establish parkland where Sand City had envisioned resort and condo development. As the Chair of the chapter’s Coastal Committee she made many trips to Coastal Commission meetings from Eureka to San Diego to seek to overturn local and county governments’ approval of dense developments in sensitive coastal habitats. Along with other members of the Monterey Bay Dunes Coalition, which she helped found in 1985, she was instrumental in the defeat of a number of huge projects in the dunes, including the Sterling “fat farm” in Sand City and the Gullwing condominiums in Marina. Janie and Lowel Figen moved to the Peninsula in 1957 with their one-year-old son Peter. Daughter Anne and son Bill are native peninsulans. Until 1969 when she returned to the work force as a medical technologist, she was a stay-at-home mom who was active in the League of Women Voters, school affairs, and the Ventana Chapter, which she joined soon after it was formed in 1963. Soon she and Lowel were participating and later, leading outings. Former Chair Don Gruber, represented the Ventana Chapter at Janie’s memorial service. Sam Farr gave a memorable eulogy and many tributes to Janie were expressed. The Chapter expresses its deepest sympathy to her family in the loss of this remarkable woman. —Corky Matthews Tributes to Janie LEON PANETTA: “Janie Figen will take her honored place beside those pioneers who fought to protect the beauty of the Central Coast. Surely, we could pay her no greater tribute than to carry on the fight in her memory.” CHRIS BROADWELL, past chapter chair: “It was Janie who cajoled me into working with the Club’s California Executive Committee, and it was Janie who encouraged me to take on several tasks at the Club’s National Office in San Francisco. I am a better activist for Janie’s tutoring.” DON GRUBER, past chapter chair: “Janie developed a good grasp of the fundamentals of land use law, and it is in this area that perhaps her signature contribution to Sierra Club efforts occurred. Along with that [she] imposed a demanding, implacable, impossible-to-ignore personality and tenaciousness on the poor public officials she faced.” JANE HAINES, environmental attorney: “The view of the Monterey Bay shoreline that the public enjoys today is our legacy from the life and accomplishments of Janie Figen.” MAYOR PENDERGRASS, Sand City: “Although we sometimes disagreed about how best to appreciate nature’s beauty, we agreed on ways to accomplish both objectives of coastal preservation and the creation of tourism by promoting the 1996 Sand City Coastal Peace Accord adopted by the park agencies and the city.” SCOTT HENNESSY, Director, Monterey Co. Planning and Building Dept.: “Her tenacity and accuracy of comment before decision-making bodies was always impactful.” ZAD LEAVY, Park District Board member, Big Sur Land Trust counsel: “The result of all Janie’s heroic efforts is that 95% of the Monterey County shoreline north of the City of Monterey is now in permanent open space and available to the public!” SARA WAN, chair, California Coastal Commission, PETER DOUGLAS, Executive Director, California Coastal Commission, MEL NUTTER, former chair, California Coastal Commission: “Janie was one of the Monterey Bay Area’s and California’s coastal treasures. She did her homework and was always prepared. We will miss her great knowledge and wisdom.” MARK MASSARA, environmental attorney, Sierra Club Coastal Program: “The Monterey coastline is a living testament to her work that will exist in perpetuity.” [ top of page ]

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