I have decided to skip the map of the railroads of the 1880's, and have moved forward to talk about railroads by 1890. So far, I have spoken about the terrible effects that the creation of the railroads led to but for this portion of the story map, I want to discuss some environmental good that came during the 1890's, and in some way can lead back to transportation. As seen on the map, by 1890 there was 163,597 miles of railroads stretching across the entire United States, which in turn had its negatives such as destroying of land, habitat loss, species depletion, and more; but it also had it benefits as well. Since the railroads had led to population growth, the rise of cities, and increased production across the United States, beginning in the 1890's a more conservative image towards the environment and nature was created by a group of people who were able to recognize how transportation and the growth that stemmed from it had led to terrible effects on the environment. We spoke in class on a few occasions about the impact of John Muir and the Sierra Club, and for this portion of the story map I want to discuss how they impacted the overall goal of nature conservation. Since the railroads were able to stretch out westward and people were able to travel to California, by the 1890's California and its citizens had a very important part in the conservation of nature and the environment. By 1890, two National Parks in California, the Yosemite and Sequoia became protected landmarks in the state, where humans could no longer deplete the natural resources and species that populated these areas. By 1892, John Muir and a group of others in California started the Sierra Club, where conservation became the top priority of these individuals. According to Brittanica, the Sierra Club had great success within its first decades of founding and even throughout the 20th Century. The website states that, "Among its first successes was the defeat of efforts to constrict the size of Yosemite National Park, which in 1905 was transferred from state to federal control. In the early 20th century the club built trails and park buildings, opposed damming and grazing on some public lands, and supported the establishment of the National Park Service (1916) and the California State Park Commission (1927). Landscape photographer Ansel Adams was an active member of the group, popularizing club causes with his nature images." While Muir and the Sierra Club had originally focused their conservation efforts in California, also according to Brittanica, their efforts began to shift throughout the United States throughout the 1900's. The website states, "Though much of its early work was concentrated in California and the West, after mid-century the Sierra Club expanded its efforts nationally, opening an office in Washington, D.C., in 1963. The club enjoyed a series of conservation successes in the Grand Canyon, Great Lakes, Florida Everglades, and Alaskan forests and was encouraged by federal legislation that created the Wilderness Act (1964), the Environmental Protection Agency (1970), and the Clean Air Act (1977). The club also mounted international campaigns related to overpopulation, international trade, and global climate change." So while the railroads and growing transportation system of the United States led to many environmental problems throughout the 1800's, I believe examples such as the Sierra Club show that by the end of the 1800's there was some great conservation efforts that were made to fix and conserve the environment. I would argue that the transportation system in the United States and especially the railroads played a part in this factor, because they were responsible for expansion and growing cities and populations, as well as being responsible for many environmental problems, that people such as John Muir aimed to fix. I will now be moving forward into the 1900's and talk about how modern transportation has created its own set of environmental issues that we are facing today.