Every year, about three and a half million visitors travel to
Yosemite National Park to marvel at Yosemite Valley, Glacier
Point, Hetch Hetchy Valley and the grove of giant sequoias at
High Sierra. Most are struck by the beauty of well-preserved
wilderness -- more than a thousand miles of forest and meadow,
stunning rock formations and diverse wildlife. In the late 19th
century, the Sierra Club formed to defend such natural monuments
from encroachment and destruction. Today, the organization
members refer to as "the club" is one of the premier
conservation groups in the United States. The Sierra Club
lobbies for environmental legislation, protects state and
federal wildlands and promotes eco-conscious tourism. Its
efforts have helped create the National Park Service and
Wilderness Act and saved natural monuments like Yosemite
National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Joshua Tree
National Park from development. The Sierra Club also pursues
broader environmental concerns like mitigating global warming
and pr