In today’s world of environmental consciousness, it is commonplace for business to have environmental considerations.  The last few years have witnessed a growing trend to make businesses and society more environmentally friendly, and in many cases governments have stepped in to mandate these changes.  Governments and businesses did not have nearly the same amount of environmental awareness a hundred years ago, but the efforts of environmental organizations played a key role in creating today’s reality.

On this day, May 28th, in 1892, the Sierra Club was founded in San Francisco by conservationist John Muir.  The club was first created in an effort to protect the Sierra Nevada mountain range, but quickly grew to support more general conservationist efforts. In the Sierra Club’s early years, the club gained thousands of members from involvement in a number of environmental issues, such as the creation of the National Park Service and the preservation of the Kings Canyon National Park. As environmental issues gained more political attention in the 1960s, the Sierra Club played a key role in the passage of the Wilderness Act, passage of the Clean Air Act, stopping dams from being built in the Grand Canyon, and establishment of the Redwoods National Park.

Today, the Sierra Club is considered one of the most influential grassroots environmental organizations. There are approximately 1.4 million members of the Sierra Club with chapters located across the United States. Since 1892, the Sierra Club has stayed true to its mission “to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of earth.”