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John Muir ( / mjʊər / MURE; April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914), [1] also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks ", [2] was a Scottish-born American [3] [4] : 42 naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United ...
- December 24, 1914 (aged 76), Los Angeles, California, US
- April 21, 1838, Dunbar, Scotland
- Overview
- Early life and travels
- Role in conservation and preservation
- Lasting contributions
John Muir (born April 21, 1838, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland—died December 24, 1914, Los Angeles, California, U.S.) Scottish-born American naturalist, writer, and advocate of U.S. forest conservation, who was largely responsible for the establishment of Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park, which are located in California. He and othe...
Muir emigrated from Scotland with his family to a farm near Portage, Wisconsin, in 1849. In 1860 he traveled the short distance south to Madison, where he subsequently attended the University of Wisconsin until 1863. After leaving Madison, Muir worked on mechanical inventions, but in 1867, when an industrial accident nearly cost him an eye, he aban...
As early as 1876, Muir urged the federal government to adopt a forest conservation policy. He became a central figure in the debate over land use, advocating on behalf of land preservation primarily through articles published in popular periodicals, such as Atlantic Monthly, The Century Magazine, and Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (now Harper’s Magazine). Although initially finding common ground in the ideas of forest protection put forth by Gifford Pinchot, a pioneer of U.S. forestry and conservation, Muir’s views ultimately diverged. Whereas Pinchot supported the sustainable use of resources within national forests, Muir believed that national parks and forests should be preserved in their entirety, meaning that their resources should be rendered off-limits to industrial interests. Although Sequoia and Yosemite national parks were established in 1890, representing a victory for environmental protection, the debate between Pinchot’s utilitarian approach to forestry and Muir’s preservationist approach was far from over.
On May 28, 1892, Muir founded the Sierra Club, an organization devoted to protecting the environment. He served as its first president, a position he held until his death in 1914. The Sierra Club Bulletin, a publication for the organization’s members, provided a vital outlet for Muir, enabling him through his writing to raise awareness of environmental issues.
Muir’s enduring contributions to the conservation and preservation of America’s wilderness have been far-reaching. His conviction that wilderness areas should be federally protected as national parks has given generations of U.S. citizens and tourists an opportunity to appreciate America’s landscapes as they exist in the absence of human industrial influence. Muir’s writings continue to serve as sources of inspiration for naturalists and conservationists in the United States and worldwide. The Mountains of California (1894), Our National Parks (1901), and The Yosemite (1912), as well as books published posthumously, including Travels in Alaska (1915), A Thousand-Mile Walk (1916), and The Cruise of the Corwin: Journal of the Arctic Expedition of 1881 in Search of De Long and the Jeannette (1917), remain important works in the body of literature on America’s natural history.
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Despite his legacy as a towering figure in American environmental conservation, it must be noted that Muir’s deeply harmful attitudes toward Black and Indigenous peoples have also had a lasting impact on the Sierra Club and the broader conservation movement. Drawing on racist stereotypes, Muir maligned native peoples and African Americans as “dirty and lazy.” Instead of showing empathy for their plight at the hands of white settlers or recognition of their vital stewardship and ownership of the lands he so loved, he felt that the continued presence of Native Americans in the Sierra Nevadas was a blight. His actions and writings contributed to an American land ethic that has long romanticized and idealized the heroic white man alone and at peace in the wilderness, leaving little room for Indigenous relationships with their ancestral lands or for the participation of other minorities in conservation efforts. Muir was also close friends with a number of other prominent scientists and Sierra Club members, including Henry Fairfield Osborn and David Starr Jordan, who were well known for their white supremacy. The organization was originally founded in such a way that membership could only be granted through sponsorship from existing members, which allowed for the effective screening of applicants of colour.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Apr 2, 2014 · John Muir was a Scottish-born naturalist, writer and advocate of U.S. forest conservation. He founded the Sierra Club and helped establish Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. He also wrote several books about his travels, ecology and conservationism. Learn more about his life, quotes, inventions and legacy.
Oct 3, 2023 · Learn about John Muir, the Scottish-born naturalist who became a champion of Yosemite and other wilderness areas. Discover his life, achievements, writings, and legacy in this official park web page.
Learn about John Muir, a famous naturalist and conservationist who inspired the creation of the National Park System and the Sierra Club. Discover his early life, his explorations of the wilderness, his political battles and his legacy.
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Learn about the life and achievements of John Muir, a Scottish-born naturalist, explorer, writer, and conservationist who loved the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite. From his childhood in Scotland to his travels around the world, from his inventions to his activism, discover how he influenced the national park system and the environmental movement.
Apr 7, 2011 · Learn about the key events and achievements of John Muir, the Scottish-born naturalist and conservationist who helped create the National Park Service. Explore his travels, writings, and political battles for the environment from 1838 to 1914.
