Earth Day: Our legacy from John Muir
In the spring of each year in the Sierra, it seems worthwhile to reflect on the legacy left by two men from Wisconsin who came to Northern California in their youth.The first was John Muir, who arrived in 1868 and who over a span of nearly 50 years convinced presidents and the nation that the Sierra Nevada were among the treasures of the world. His writings and his example gave us the understanding that our mountains and wilderness were of spiritual as well as economic value and should be preserved for all people, as well as for the wildlife that have made it their natural habitat for millennia. Muir was called "the greatest Californian" and recognized as the father of our National Park system. He died in 1914.
Years later, a second young man from Wisconsin arrived to attend college in San Jose. His name was Gaylord Nelson. He came to know California well. On a return visit here in 1970, Nelson, now a U.S. senator, had a vision similar to that of Muir a century earlier: Nelson thought we should have an Earth Day, a day to reflect on the enormous privilege of the mountains, forests, rivers and wilderness we share with the creatures of the earth and sky. And so, the first Earth Day came into being, to be held April 22, that day also being the anniversary of the first Arbor Day, which had been conceived in 1874 as a way to have schoolchildren plant a tree on a spring day each year. Today, every state celebrates Arbor Day.
Posted by Dane on April 22, 2005 | 0 Comments
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