The Sierra Club organisation began as a group of people dedicated to saving the "wild places" in America in 1892. These men and women who became the charter members of the Sierra Club, worked towards keeping the earth beautiful for the generations to come, and through much perseverance, their dream of creating a strong conservation movement came to fruition, producing one of the most active groups in the world.

John Muir was the first president of the 182-member Sierra Club. Its first task was to ensure the boundaries of Yosemite National Park stayed where they were. By 1903, membership had rocketed to 663.

During the twentieth century the members worked to keep;

• Damming proposals away from Yosemite National Park (1920),
• Kings Canyon free of development (1935-),
• Opposed nuclear explosives to be used to excavate a harbour in Alaska (1961),
• The Grand Canyon clean and untouched (1963-),
• Clean air for all Americans (1973-),
• Enforcement of the Clean Water Act (1987).

Ceaselessly, through their campaigning, the Sierra Club have had support from the Federal American government, and have very close relations with Congress.

In 1971, the Sierra Club proudly became an international group for environmental conservation. As their membership expanded to over 325,000 dedicated people (1982), the club took on environmental issues from all around the globe.

Now, after celebrating their first successful century in 1992, the Club is continuing on with its dedication to the preservation of the wild, and recently responded to the issue of endangered animals.

To contact the Sierra Club for more information on activities and progress, or even to join, visit their web site. A good ThinkQuest web site also promoting how to make a difference about environmental issues is Save Our Earth and Make a Difference.