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Preserving the Green (John Muir)

Founder of the United States most significant environmental advocacy groups, maker of the Sierra Club, and father of the country’s National park system, John Muir is often attributed for commencing the modern Conservation movement. His articles and lobbying efforts helped to create awareness about the importance of the land conservation and forests in America.

He was born in Dunbar, Scotland on April 21, 1838. In his primary school, he studied French, English, and Latin. His father made an immediate plan to emigrate to America in 1849. He got settled along with his family in the new frontier forming the community of Fountain Lake, Wisconsin (Winkley 1959). For next few years, Muir worked on his family farm. He mostly woke up early to spent some time reading different books. His desire for the science urged him to leave his father’s farm. In 1860, Muir’s friend encouraged him to show some of his inventions to the Agriculture fair of the Wisconsin State. His unbelievable work earned him high honours for his “machines”, and suddenly he drew attention from many people from the University of Wisconsin. Despite having insufficient formal education, Muir’s got admitted to the Wisconsin University.

He became a successful student in the natural science subjects for three academic years, but he suddenly halted his studies. He went to Canada and began his career as a mechanic. Unfortunately, the factory in which he was working was burned to the ground. Muir’s travelled to the Indianapolis and started working in a wheel manufacturing company. Muir’s got blinded by a sharp file in a shop accident. He resigned from that job even after being recovered. Then he travelled towards San Francisco and finally went to the Sierra Nevada, and he decided to stay there.

Muir spent a lot of his time in working and hiking in the Sierra mountain range. He starts to study about the glaciers. He wrote series of his articles about the importance of Nature and its conservation in 1874. His articles got a great response and soon began to publish in the favourite magazines of the country. Due to his reports, people began to embrace the idea of preserving the nature genuinely. He also documented his experience with wildlife in the Sierra. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Roosevelt, the famous dignitaries, got impressed by his work. They spent some valuable time with Muir in the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges on some occasion (Winkley 1959).

In 1890, the United States Congress created the Yosemite National park under the advice and encouragement from John Muir’s writing. Muir was aware that the creation of U.S. national Park system would help others to learn more about the conservation of nature, and it would also allow the future generation to adore the nature. Sequoia, Mount Rainier, Petrified Forest, and Grand Canyon Nationa Parks were created because of the Muir’s writing and encouragement. The purpose of building these park was to preserve the beauty of nature. He brought the national attention towards the nature preservation. He got married at the age of 40 and got blessed with two daughters.

John Muir’s most significant achievement was the formation of the Sierra Club with the help of some persons who also shared his conservationist vision. Sierra club was formed to preserve the Sierra Nevada and to make it more accessible to visitors. John Muir’s had served as the president of the Sierra Club. Sierra club opposed the idea of building the dam in the Yosemite region, but they failed to stop it. John Muir died at the age of sixty-one due to pneumonia in Los Angeles, California (Sierra Club 2002).

Works Cited

Winkley, John W., and John Muir. “John Muir, Naturalist.” (1959).

Worster, Donald. A passion for nature: the life of John Muir. Oxford University Press, 2008.

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