John Muir 's Influence On American History

1. Karl Jacoby book brings the remarkable accounting of the negative aspects of conservation movement to the sunlight. Jacoby uses the early years of Adirondack Park, Yellowstone National Park, and the Grand Canyon Forest Preserve to demonstrate his theme of the locals’ reactions to the creation of the park and the actions from the conservationists. And the fantasies the early conservationists’ promulgated of the locals of being satanic rapists of the environment are dispelled (193).

John Muir was a muckraker who protested against the expansion of people and animals that would ruin our soon to be national parks. Muir was a man that loved to explore natural formations in nature and traveled around the world to see as much natural land as possible. As he traveled around the world, he found out that California was his place to live. In California, his favorite places to explore and watch were the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Yosemite. As more and more settlers moved West, the land that Muir loved was soon to be destroyed by herds of animals and people looking for a place to build their homes. Muir wrote most of his 300 articles and 10 major books in Oakland, California. In Muir’s writings, he elegantly

It was John Muir one of the first advocates for the national park idea who developed the idea and also scientific theory that Yosemite Valley had been carved by glaciers. Muir was a very spiritual person coming from a religious family in which his father was a itinerant Presbyterian minister. John Muir had such a huge love and appreciation for nature, and being the religious man that he was he believed that “God is revealed

In the serious yet optimistic journal entry, John Muir employs the idea of spiritual duty, and personification, as humans to preserves the continuously killed Redwoods. Muir has seen the death of hundreds of trees and knows the irreparable damage it could cause if the damage continues, “...kings of the forest, the noblest of a noble race, rightly belong to the world, but as they are in California we cannot escape responsibility as their guardians” (paragraph, 6). The author’s use of “noblest of a noble race” and “responsibility as their guardian” evokes an intense need to not only protest the killing of these giants but to nurture and advocate respect for the Redwoods. As humans, Muir demands an explanation as to our mistreatment of the sacred creatures and will take no other answers than of one that demonstrates total and complete love for the trees. He expects those who are damaging God’s prized forests to questions themselves and to examine their actions so that they can correct their mistakes. Another example of personification that appeals to the trees is John Muir’s description of the insurgence of rebellion against the murder of the trees, and the rejoicing of the behemoths, “... this righteous uprising in defense of God’s trees in the midst of exciting politics and wars… and every Sequoia… has heard the good news and is waving its branches for joy” (paragraph, 1). The words in this sentence serve primarily to illustrate the tree’s emotions. By giving the trees the ability to feel and exhibit joy over their possibly brighter future, it gives people a sense of pride about alleviating some of the Redwood’s pain. As Muir has demonstrated many times before, it is the people's duty to cherish the Redwoods; there will never be a moment when this job is completed.

Muir was captivated by nature at an early age and he traveled to explore the environment. An early memory of a walk was with his grandfather. Muir heard a sound and “dug into the haystack until he uncovered a mother field mouse with half-dozen tiny babies clinging to her teats. In that moment the wondrous world of nature began to open for Johnnie Muir.” Ever since that walk with his grandfather, John Muir was

One day, John Muir said, “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity...”-John Muir.(Brainyuote) As John Muir stated, we must experience true wilderness and nature. Yosemite showcases a variety of natural wonders such as waterfalls, Giant Sequoia trees, and rock formations.

Wilderness in its true state is lush, sleek, and channels water. It is because of its true natural state that is has the ability to generate billions of dollars into America’s recreational economy. One provident example, is the San Gabriel Wilderness in California. Now of course protecting this land has natural benefits,

“Timber!” is a word that engulfed Woodrow Wilson in fear, as a loving, determined environmentalist he was the driving force behind the Organic Act of 1916. Wilson’s Organic Act set grounds for the founding of the National Park Service, which sets and enforces regulations that protect National Parks. Woodrow Wilson’s determination, conveyed by his adamant support for the Organic Act, was evident throughout Wilson’s lifetime. Wilson realized how important it was to protect America’s land and took action to protect it. Through the Organic Act, Wilson was able to save the current thirty-five national parks and land for hundreds of future national parks throughout the United States. The founding of the National Park Service was a major part of Wilson’s plan to preserve and protect America 's natural land. Wilson’s idea of preservation of the United States’ land has lived throughout the years through the National Park Service. The National Park Service today continues with the same responsibilities along with a multifarious collection of others. The actions taken in the Organic Act of 1916 have helped eternalize the ideas proposed by President Wilson by preserving the scarce remaining natural land of America.

     Not many people know of the used-to-be 150-mile excursion that the Glen Canyon had to offer. Not many people know how to sail a raft down a river for a week. Not many people know how to interact with nature and the animals that come with it. We seem to come from a world that is dependent on time and consumed in money. Edward Abbey is what you would call an extreme environmentalist. He talks about how it was an environmental disaster to place a dam in which to create Lake Powell, a reservoir formed on the border of Utah and Arizona. He is one of the few that have actually seen the way Glen Canyon was before they changed it into a reservoir. Today, that lake is used by over a million people, and is one of

First and foremost a researcher of the environment, Muir believed that by spending time in nature, he could more deeply understand the earth and all of the knowledge it has to offer. During one of his numerous expeditions in the Yosemite Valley in 1869, Muir remarks that “…these lawless wanderings will be valuable as suggestive beginnings… if I should return to the awkward rules & laws of civilization & be buried as a strand into the thick of society.” He knows that if he returns to civilization, his excursions will be no more than beginnings of research that will serve no real purpose. He further comments that, “These sweet free roamings be as little chinks & seams on life’s horizon whence I may obtain narrow glimpses of the treasures of the Kingdoms of Nature beyond.” Just as the horizon blocks out sunlight, Muir argues that civilization blocks out the opportunity to discover

In June 1864 the Yosemite Land Grant was signed by Abraham Lincoln, which deeded 39,000 acres of the Mariposa Big Tree Grove and Yosemite Valley to the State of California (Hawken 40). It was an unprecedented piece of legislation, having almost universal support from private business, environmentalists and Congress. Sparked largely by the de-barking of “The Mother of the Forest”, one of the oldest sequoias in Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove, several years earlier (Hawken 39). The Yosemite Land Grant was the first piece of legislation founded on the principle that nature needed to be preserved and protected from humans (Hawken 40). After nearly a century of clearing many forests on the East Coast, affording protection to land on the West Coast was a novel concept.

     Often times Abbey tries to appeal to our emotions through connotation and metaphors by creating a picture perfect image of what Glen Canyons used to be like with its varied flora and fauna and beautiful landscape. Unfortunately this attempt is flawed because anyone who has ever been to Lake Powell or seen pictures knows that it is equally as beautiful as and maybe even more so than the common river and surrounding landscape scene.

He had an accident that almost made him blind, and he really started to go after nature then. What he saw was people destroying nature, and he wanted to stop that. That is a problem because wild life needs to be protected and preserved, not taken away and destroyed. He was a co-founder of the Sierra Club and he helped create national parks. Muir is often called “The Father of Our National Parks” or “Citizen of the Universe.” He wrote a lot of articles and books that inspired people to be in nature and enjoy it. One of his quotes from My First Summer in the Sierra is, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the

Environmentalism has always been two sided. Nature versus urban. locals versus national. Frequently, large tracts of public and federal land are bought and developed by industry. Pristine wilderness turned to bustling epicenters of human activity, all in the name of progress and economic growth. This tale of preserving natural wilderness is one that begins with John Muir, an advocate against the taming of Yosemite national park and the Hetch-Hetchy reservoir, while the head of the US Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, insisted on the reservoir to supply the city of San Francisco with water. This timeless epic of conservation or preservation brings us to the Jumbo Valley, a vast expanse of uninhabited, pristine wilderness home to diverse

Phrases such as “botanising in glorious freedom [...] wandering through innumerable tamarac and arbor-vitae swamps, and forests [...], rejoicing in their bound wealth and strength and beauty, climbing the trees, revelling in their flowers and fruit [...], glorying in the fresh cool beauty and charm of the bog [...] displayed in boundless profusion”, “rarest and most beautiful”, and “I was able to wander many a long wild fertile mile in the forests and bogs, free as the winds, gathering plants, and glorying in God's abounding inexhaustible spiritual beauty bread”, all show how Muir felt about nature and what nature meant to him. A key phrase that shows Muir’s attitude towards nature states, “Storms, thunderclouds, winds in the woods—were welcomed as friends”. These phrases, as well as the words mentioned above, are extremely positive and show the utmost joy Muir found in his surroundings. The long and detailed descriptions of Muir’s surroundings helps to reinforce his joy in nature. The words that Muir uses to describe nature shows that he is close to nature and feels a connection with it. These positive words also show how absolutely stunning Muir finds nature and how he finds peace and joy in the wild. All of this is also supported by one of Muir’s