Bob Marshall (wilderness activist) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Robert "Bob" Marshall was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Forester

250px|thumb|right|Foresters of [[Southern University of Chile|UACh]] in the [[Valdivian forest]]s of San Pablo de Tregua, ChileA forester is a person who practices forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber...

, writer and wilderness activist. The son of wealthy constitutional law

Constitutional law

Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....

yer and conservationist Louis Marshall, Bob Marshall developed a love for the outdoors as a young child. A consummate hiker and climber, he visited the Adirondack Mountains

Adirondack Mountains

The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....

frequently during his youth, ultimately becoming one of the first Adirondack Forty-Sixers

Adirondack Forty-Sixers

The Adirondack Forty-Sixers are an organization of hikers who have climbed all forty-six of the traditionally recognized High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. They are often referred to just as 46ers.- Origins :...

. He also traveled to the Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

n wilderness and wrote numerous articles and publications, including the bestselling 1933 book Arctic Village
Arctic Village (book)
Arctic Village is a book written by Robert Marshall about the Koyukuk River area and the town of Wiseman, Alaska around the year 1930. He referred to the people of this area as "...the happiest civilization of which I have knowledge." The book was republished by the University of Alaska Press as...

.

A scientist with a Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

in plant physiology

Plant physiology

Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology , plant ecology , phytochemistry , cell biology, and molecular biology.Fundamental processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition,...

, Marshall became independently wealthy after the death of his father. He held two significant public posts: chief of forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

in the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...

, from 1933 to 1937, and head of recreation management in the Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

, from 1937 to 1939. Defining wilderness as a social as well as an environmental ideal, Marshall was the first to suggest a formal, national organization of individuals dedicated to the preservation of primeval land. In 1935, he became one of the principal founders of The Wilderness Society

The Wilderness Society (United States)

The Wilderness Society is an American organization that is dedicated to protecting America's wilderness. It was formed in 1935 and currently has over 300,000 members and supporters.-Founding:The society was incorporated on January 21, 1935...

and personally provided most of the Society's funding in its first years. He also supported socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

and civil liberties

Civil liberties

Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...

throughout his life.

Marshall died of heart failure at the age of 38. Twenty-five years later, partly as a result of his efforts, The Wilderness Society fostered the Wilderness Act

Wilderness Act

The Wilderness Act of 1964 was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected some 9 million acres of federal land. The result of a long effort to protect federal wilderness, the Wilderness Act was signed...

, which legally defined the wilderness of the United States and protected some nine million acres (36,000 km²) of federal land. Today, Marshall is considered largely responsible for the wilderness preservation movement. Several landmarks and areas, including The Bob Marshall Wilderness

Bob Marshall Wilderness

The Bob Marshall Wilderness is a wilderness area in Flathead National Forest of western Montana in the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall , an early forester, conservationist, and co-founder of The Wilderness Society. The Bob Marshall Wilderness extends for 60 miles along the...

in Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

and Mount Marshall

Mount Marshall (New York)

Mount Marshall is a mountain located in Essex County, New York.Originally named for Governor DeWitt Clinton, and then for Herbert Clark, it was renamed for wilderness activist Bob Marshall after his death. Marshall is part of the MacIntyre Mountains...

in the Adirondacks, have been named in his honor.

Early life

Born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Bob Marshall was the third of four children of Louis

Louis B. Marshall

Louis Marshall was an American corporate, constitutional and civil rights lawyer as well as a mediator and Jewish community leader who worked to secure religious, political, and cultural freedom for all minority groups...

and Florence Lowenstein Marshall. His father, the son of a Jewish immigrant from Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, was a noted constitutional lawyer and a champion of minority rights. Louis Marshall was also active in the Syracuse

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

Jewish community, co-founder of the American Jewish Committee

American Jewish Committee

The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...

; in 1891, he participated in a national delegation that asked President Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...

to intervene on behalf of persecuted Russian Jews

History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union

The vast territories of the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest populations of Jews in the diaspora. Within these territories the Jewish community flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of...

. An amateur naturalist and active conservationist, the elder Marshall was instrumental in securing "forever wild" protection for the Adirondack Forest Preserve in New York. He helped found the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

, now SUNY-ESF

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry is an American specialized doctoral-granting institution located in the University Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, New York, immediately adjacent to Syracuse University...

. Florence Marshall, meanwhile, devoted herself to her family, the education of young Jewish women, and the work of several Jewish welfare organizations.

Bob Marshall attended Felix Adler's Ethical Culture School

Ethical Culture Fieldston School

The Ethical Culture Fieldston School, known as "Fieldston", is a private "independent" school in New York City and a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. It has about 1600 students and a staff of 400 people , led by Dr. Damian J...

in New York City until 1919. The school nurtured independent thinking and commitment to social justice. Like his father, Marshall became involved in nature from a young age; two of his childhood heroes were Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark...

and William Clark. He first visited the Adirondack Mountains

Adirondack Mountains

when he was six months old, and returned there each summer for the next quarter-century, and at every opportunity thereafter. His younger brother George

George Marshall (conservationist)

George Marshall was an American economist, political activist, and conservationist. He was an early leader both of The Wilderness Society and later the Sierra Club.-Early life and education:...

later described the family's visits to Knollwood

Knollwood Club

Knollwood Club is an Adirondack Great Camp on Shingle Bay, Lower Saranac Lake, near the village of Saranac Lake, New York. It was built in 1899–1900 by William L. Coulter, who had previously created a major addition to Alfred G. Vanderbilt's Sagamore Camp...

, their summer camp on Lower Saranac Lake

Lower Saranac Lake

Lower Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. With Middle Saranac Lake and Upper Saranac Lake, a paddle with only one portage is possible. The Saranac Lake Islands Public Campground provides...

in the Adirondack State Park

Adirondack State Park

The Adirondack Park is a publicly protected area in northeast New York. It is the largest park and the largest state-level protected area in the contiguous United States, and the largest National Historic Landmark....

, as a time when they "entered a world of freedom and informality, of living plants and spaces, of fresh greens and exhilarating blues, of giant, slender pines and delicate pink twinflowers, of deer and mosquitoes, of fishing and guide boats and tramps through the woods".

Schooling and early exploring

Despite his urban upbringing, Marshall was drawn to the outdoors. He discovered his passion for exploring, charting, and a love of climbing mountains, in part through the writings of Verplanck Colvin

Verplanck Colvin

Verplanck Colvin was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical engineer whose understanding and appreciation for the environment of the Adirondack Mountains led to the creation of New York's Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park....

, who spent the post-Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

decade surveying northern New York's woods. Throughout his life, Marshall kept a series of hiking notebooks that he illustrated with photographs and demonstrating his preoccupation with statistical achievements. In 1915, Marshall climbed his first Adirondack peak, the 3352 feet (1,021.7 m) Ampersand Mountain

Ampersand Mountain

__notoc__Ampersand Mountain is a mountain in Franklin County in the northeastern Adirondacks, west of the High Peaks in New York State. The trail up the mountain begins on NY-3 southwest of the village of Saranac Lake, near Middle Saranac Lake; it is a popular day hike...

, alongside his brother George and family friend Herb Clark, a Saranac Lake

Saranac Lake, New York

Saranac Lake is a village located in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406. The village is named after Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes, which are nearby....

guide. Through Clark, who accompanied them on most of their longer trips during adolescence and early adulthood, the two brothers learned the arts of woodcraft and boating. By 1921, they became the first climbers to scale all 42 Adirondack Mountains believed to exceed 4000 feet (1,219.2 m), some of which had never been climbed. In 1924, the three became the first Adirondack Forty-Sixers

Adirondack Forty-Sixers

, hikers who have climbed to the summits of all 46 High Peaks of the Adirondacks.

After graduating from the Ethical Culture School, Marshall spent a year at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. In 1920, he transferred to the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

. Marshall had decided in his teens that he wanted to be a forester, writing at the time about his love of "the woods and solitude" and that he "should hate to spend the greater part of my lifetime in a stuffy office or in a crowded city". For a while he was unhappy and withdrawn at Syracuse. However, he succeeded academically and stood out to his fellow students for his individuality. As one classmate put it, Marshall was "always doing something no one else would ever think of doing. He was constantly rating things—the Adirondack peaks, his best days with George, and dozens of others." Warming to his collegiate experience, he became a member of Alpha Xi Sigma, the forestry college's honor society; ran on the Syracuse University freshman track team; and participated in both junior varsity lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

and cross country running

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

. Halfway through school, Marshall had become a class leader; he was elected as class secretary and appointed an associate editor of the Empire Forester, the College's yearbook

Yearbook

A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...

.

During the early 1920s, Marshall grew interested in promoting Adirondack recreation. In 1922, he became one of the charter members of the Adirondack Mountain Club

Adirondack Mountain Club

The Adirondack Mountain Club is a nonprofit organization founded in 1922. It has approximately 35,000 members. The ADK is dedicated to the protection and responsible recreational use of the New York State Forest Preserve, parks, wild lands, and waters; it conducts extensive conservation, and...

(ADK), an organization devoted to the building and maintenance of trails and the teaching of hiking in the park. In 1922, he prepared a 38-page guidebook, entitled The High Peaks of the Adirondacks. Based on his pioneering experiences on the peaks, the guide, which states that "it's a great thing these days to leave civilization for a while and return to nature", provides a brief description of each peak and arranges them in order of "niceness of view and all around pleasure in view and climb".

In 1924, Marshall graduated with a Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

degree in forestry, magna cum laude, finishing fourth in a class of 59 at the College of Forestry. The senior yearbook described him as "the Champion Pond Hound of all time, a lad with a mania for statistics and shinnying mountain peaks, the boy who will go five miles [8 km] around to find something to wade thru. And the man who is rear chainman

Gunter's chain

Gunter's chain is a measuring device used for land survey. It was designed and introduced in 1620 by English clergyman and mathematician Edmund Gunter long before the development of the theodolite and other more sophisticated equipment, enabling plots of land to be accurately surveyed and plotted,...

for Bob will have to hump or get wet, and probably both." By 1925, he earned a Master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

in forestry from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

Forest Service and Alaska

Marshall was intrigued by the idea of the Alaska

Alaska

n wilderness, but the Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

—where he worked from 1925 to 1928—was unable to accommodate his request for an immediate position there. Instead he was assigned to the Northern Rocky Mountain

Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

Experiment Station at Missoula, Montana

Missoula, Montana

Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area...

in 1925. Marshall's research at the Experimental Station focused on the dynamics of forest regeneration after fires

Wildfire

A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...

, but he was faced with the task of fighting an actual fire after a July storm started more than 150 fires in Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

's Kaniksu National Forest

Kaniksu National Forest

The Kaniksu National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in northeastern Washington, the Idaho panhandle, and northwestern Montana. The Idaho portion is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, along with the Coeur d'Alene National Forest and St. Joe...

. He was put in charge of supporting and provisioning one of the organized crews led by the Forest Service. As he later recalled, Marshall worked "18 to 20 hours a day as time-keeper, Chief of Commissary, Camp Boss, and Inspector of the fire line". Spending time with loggers and fire fighters, as well as witnessing the conditions under which they worked, Marshall learned vital lessons about labor issues and natural resource use. It was while at the Experimental Station that Marshall became interested in the unsafe conditions for many working Americans, and this was the origin of his liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

and socialist

Socialism

philosophies.

In 1929, Marshall was 28 years old and less than a year away from completing a PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

in plant pathology at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

in Baltimore, Maryland when he made his first trip to Alaska, visiting the upper Koyukuk River

Koyukuk River

The Koyukuk River is a principal tributary of the Yukon River, approximately 500 mi long, in northern Alaska in the United States.It drains an area north of the Yukon on the southern side of the Brooks Range...

and the central Brooks Range

Brooks Range

The Brooks Range is a mountain range in far northern North America. It stretches from west to east across northern Alaska and into Canada's Yukon Territory, a total distance of about 1100 km . The mountains top out at over 2,700 m . The range is believed to be approximately 126 million years old...

. The scientific objective of the trip was to study tree growth at the northern timberline near the Arctic Divide

Continental divide

A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not connected to the open sea...

. For his 15-month sojourn in the small town of Wiseman, Alaska

Wiseman, Alaska

Wiseman is a census-designated place in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 21 at the 2000 census.Wiseman is a small mining community in the Brooks Range. It was founded by gold miners who abandoned the Slate Creek settlement around 1919...

, Marshall rented a one-room cabin next to the only roadhouse

Roadhouse (facility)

A roadhouse is a commercial establishment typically built on a major road or highway, to service passing travellers. Its meaning varies slightly by country.-USA:...

in the village and furnished it with books, records, a phonograph player, and a writing desk. He placed the desk so that he could sit by the cabin's single window and admire the view of the Koyukuk River and the range of steep, snow-covered mountains in the background. His travels engendered in him a great love for the central Brooks Range in the Alaskan wilderness. Marshall was one of the first to explore much of the range, especially the headwaters of the North fork of the Koyukuk River, where he bestowed the name "Gates of the Arctic" on a pair of mountains. On September 11, 1929, Marshall's father Louis died in Zürich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

at the age of 73. Because their mother had died of cancer in 1916, the four children inherited most of their father's estate, worth several million dollars. Although he became financially independent, Bob Marshall continued to work throughout his life.

Shortly after receiving his PhD, he published "The Problem of the Wilderness", a celebrated defense of wilderness preservation that expanded some of the themes developed in his earlier article, "The Wilderness as a Minority Right". When it was published in The Scientific Monthly in February 1930, "The Problem of the Wilderness" had already been rejected by four other magazines, but it became one of his most important works. He argued that wilderness was worth saving not only because of its unique aesthetic qualities, but because of its ability to provide visitors with a chance for adventure. Marshall went on to state: "There is just one hope of repulsing the tyrannical ambition of civilization to conquer every niche on the whole earth. That hope is the organization of spirited people who will fight for the freedom of the wilderness." The article became a much-quoted call to action and is today considered seminal by wilderness historians.

In July 1930, Marshall and his brother George climbed nine Adirondack High Peaks in one day, setting a new record. In August, Marshall returned to Alaska. He planned to explore the Brooks Range to pursue more tree research, and he also wanted to make a study of Arctic frontier civilization in Wiseman. He called the village, which was two hundred miles north of Fairbanks

Fairbanks

Fairbanks may refer to:Places in the United States*Fairbanks, Alaska, city*Fairbanks, California, unincorporated community in El Dorado County*Fairbanks, Mendocino County, California, former settlement*Fairbanks, Indiana, unincorporated community...

, "the happiest civilization of which I have knowledge." Befriending a number of the area's inhabitants, he meticulously recorded thousands of hours of conversation with them. He persuaded a number of villagers, most of whom were single white males, to take intelligence tests, and even developed statistics on all aspects of the villagers' lives, from their financial resources to their diets to their sexual habits. He spent twelve and a half months—from late August 1930 to early September 1931—exploring and collecting data. The book that resulted from these excursions (and his previous trip in Alaska) was 1933's best-selling Literary Guild selection Arctic Village
Arctic Village (book)
Arctic Village is a book written by Robert Marshall about the Koyukuk River area and the town of Wiseman, Alaska around the year 1930. He referred to the people of this area as "...the happiest civilization of which I have knowledge." The book was republished by the University of Alaska Press as...

. It was hailed as an important work of sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

because of its focus on lifestyle in the wilderness. Marshall shared the royalties from the book with the residents of Wiseman.

Writing and conservation

Marshall returned to the East Coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

in late September 1931. Although he busied himself with writing Arctic Village, he also wrote prolifically on other topics and published several articles about American forestry. He was particularly concerned that few articles during this time were addressing the issue of deforestation

Deforestation

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....

, and went so far as to write a letter to the president of the American Forestry Association

American Forestry Association

The American Forestry Association was formed in Chicago, Illinois in September 1875 by John Aston Warder. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C.. The organization acts as a clearinghouse for environmental organizations working to preserve world tree growth. The "National Register of...

, George D. Pratt, on the matter. He also pursued a variety of other activities: he accepted an invitation to serve on a committee to dedicate a memorial to his father at the forestry college in Syracuse (Marshall Hall), and delivered speeches about his travels and wilderness preservation.

Shortly after his return, he was asked by Earle Clapp, head of the Forest Service's Branch of Research, to help initiate badly needed reforms in the forest-products industry and to create a broader vision of national forest management. Marshall moved to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

in September 1932 to take up the position, which entailed writing initiatives for forest recreation, and immediately began compiling a list of the remaining roadless areas in the United States. He sent this data to regional foresters, and urged them to set aside areas for wilderness; all of them responded negatively. Marshall's input into what became known as the Copeland Report

Copeland Report

The Copeland Report was the result of a United States Congressional investigation of forestry for the purpose of outlining a coordinated plan that would "insure all of the economic and social benefits which can and should be derived from productive forests by fully utilizing the forest land." The...

amounted to three extensive chapters of a two volume, 1,677-page work. He considered it "the best piece of forestry work I have yet done".

Marshall had clearly defined himself as a socialist by 1932–1933. He told a correspondent: "I wish very sincerely that Socialism would be put into effect right away and the profit system eliminated." He became active in the Tenants Unemployed League of the District of Columbia, a group that helped unemployed people with housing problems; later he joined the fight against federal aid cuts to scientific research. He had learned of the American Civil Liberties Union

American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...

from his father and served as chairman of the Washington branch. Marshall was even arrested briefly for participating in a March 1933 United Front

United front

The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...

demonstration. He did not forget his conservation causes, however, and soon pondered the question of wilderness and national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

s. In the early 1930s, he joined the National Parks Association

National Parks Conservation Association

The National Parks Conservation Association is the only independent, membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System...

, eventually becoming a member of its board.

In August 1933, Marshall was appointed director of the Forestry Division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Bureau of Indian Affairs

(BIA), a position he held for four years. He besieged government personnel with letters, telephone calls, and personal visits in the cause of wilderness, rapidly gaining recognition in Washington as a champion of preservation. One of his last initiatives as chief forester of the BIA was to recommend 4800000 acre (19,425 km²) of Indian lands for management as either "roadless" or "wild" areas; the order, which created 16 wilderness areas, was approved shortly after Marshall left office to join the Forest Service once more. Marshall became increasingly concerned with civilization's encroachment upon the wild lands, writing "The sounds of the forest are entirely obliterated by the roar of the motor. The smell of pine needles and flowers and herbs and freshly turned dirt and all the other delicate odors of the forest are drowned in the stench of gasoline. The feeling of wind blowing in the face and of soft ground under foot are all lost."

The Wilderness Society

In 1934, Marshall visited Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

and met with Benton MacKaye

Benton MacKaye

Benton MacKaye was an American forester, planner and conservationist. He was born in Stamford, Connecticut; his father was actor and dramatist Steele MacKaye. After studying forestry at Harvard University , Benton later taught there for several years. He joined a number of Federal bureaus and...

, a regional planner and originator of the Appalachian Trail

Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...

. Together with Harvey Broome

Harvey Broome

Harvey Benjamin Broome was an American lawyer, writer and conservationist. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Broome was a founding member of The Wilderness Society, for which he served as president from 1957 until his death in 1968, and played a key role in the establishment of the Great Smoky...

, a Knoxville lawyer, they discussed Marshall's 1930 proposal for an organization dedicated to wilderness preservation. Bernard Frank

Bernard Frank (wilderness activist)

Bernard Frank was an American forester and wilderness activist. He is known for being one of the eight founding members of The Wilderness Society....

, a fellow forester, joined them later in the year; the men mailed an "Invitation to Help Organize a Group to Preserve the American Wilderness" to like-minded individuals. The invitation expressed their desire "to integrate the growing sentiment which we believe exists in this country for holding wild areas sound-proof as well as sight-proof from our increasingly mechanized life" and their conviction that such wildernesses were "a serious human need rather than a luxury and plaything".

On January 21, 1935, the organizing committee published a folder stating that "for the purpose of fighting off invasion of the wilderness and of stimulating ... an appreciation of its multiform emotional, intellectual, and scientific values, we are forming an organization to be known as the WILDERNESS SOCIETY

The Wilderness Society (United States)

". They invited Aldo Leopold

Aldo Leopold

Aldo Leopold was an American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac , which has sold over two million copies...

to act as the Society's first president, but the position ultimately went to Robert Sterling Yard

Robert Sterling Yard

Robert Sterling Yard was an American writer, journalist, and wilderness activist. Born in Haverstraw, New York, Yard graduated from Princeton University and spent the first twenty years of his career in the editing and publishing business...

. Marshall provided the bulk of the Society's funding in its early years, beginning with an anonymous donation of $1,000. His brother George was also deeply involved in the Society.

T. H. Watkins, former editor of the society's magazine, Wilderness, contended that before Marshall and the Society there was "no true movement" for the preservation of the nation's roadless and primitive areas. "One could comfortably argue", Watkins wrote in 1985 on the occasion of the society’s 50th anniversary, "that Robert Marshall was personally responsible for the preservation of more wilderness than any individual in history".

Later efforts and sudden death

Marshall's last years were productive ones. By May 1937, he had taken charge of the Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

's Division of Recreation and Lands. Over the next two years, Marshall worked on two major initiatives: an effort to extend national forest recreational opportunities to people with lower incomes (as well as dismantling discriminatory barriers against minority groups), and a program to preserve more wilderness within the national forests. His biographer James Glover asserts that Marshall was probably the first high-level official to seriously fight discrimination in Forest Service recreational policies. During this time, Marshall continued to financially support The Wilderness Society, as well as various civil rights, labor, and socialist organizations.

During his last trip to Alaska (beginning in August 1938), which included further exploration of the Brooks Range, Marshall became a subject of interest for the Dies Committee

House Un-American Activities Committee

The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...

, a House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

committee investigating "un-American" activities. Named for its chairman, Martin Dies

Martin Dies, Jr.

Martin Dies, Jr. was a Texas politician and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. His father, Martin Dies, was also a member of the United States House of Representatives.-Biography:...

, the committee announced in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

that eight federal officials (including Marshall) were contributing to communism

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

because of their connections to such organizations as the Workers Alliance and the American League for Peace and Democracy. Marshall was too busy traveling to respond to the allegations: after leaving Alaska he spent time in Washington State, Montana

Montana

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

and California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He visited Alaska for one last time the following year and made a tour of western national forests, addressing aspects of forest recreation. While he was in Washington state that September, two regulations (U-1 and U2) developed by Marshall's committee were signed; these "U-Regulations" protected wilderness and wild areas from road building, logging, hotels and similarly destructive activities. It also made their protected status more secure.

While on a midnight train from Washington, D.C. to New York City on November 11, 1939, Marshall died of apparent heart failure at the age of 38. His sudden death came as a shock because of his relatively young age and high level of physical activity, and he was greatly mourned by friends and relatives. His brother George said: "Bob's death shattered me and was the most traumatic event in my life." Marshall was interred at Salem Fields Cemetery in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, beside his parents and sister Ruth.

Legacy

A bachelor, Marshall left virtually all of his $1.5 million estate (equivalent to $ million today) to three causes dear to him: socialism, civil liberties and wilderness preservation. Three trusts were established in his will. The first, focused on education related to "the theory of production for use and not for profit", received half of his estate; the second, aimed at "safeguarding and advancement of the cause of civil liberties", received one-quarter of his estate; and the third supported "preservation of the wilderness conditions in outdoor America", establishing what became the Robert Marshall Wilderness Fund. Trustees of the latter trust included Robert Sterling Yard

Robert Sterling Yard

, Bob Marshall's brother George

George Marshall (conservationist)

George Marshall was an American economist, political activist, and conservationist. He was an early leader both of The Wilderness Society and later the Sierra Club.-Early life and education:...

, Irving Clark, Olaus Murie

Olaus Murie

Olaus Murie , called the "father of modern elk management", was a naturalist, author, and wildlife biologist who did groundbreaking field research on a variety of large northern mammals. He also served as president of The Wilderness Society, The Wildlife Society, and as director of the Izaak Walton...

and Bill Zimmerman, early leaders of The Wilderness Society

The Wilderness Society (United States)

. He gave money to only one individual: $10,000 (equivalent to $ today) to his old friend and guide, Herb Clark.

Marshall's posthumously published book Alaska Wilderness, Exploring the Central Brooks Range (1956), edited by his brother George, became a seminal work, inspiring the establishment of the Gates of the Arctic National Park. His Adirondack writings were published by Lost Pond Press in 2006, as an anthology titled Bob Marshall in the Adirondacks: Writings of a Pioneering Peak-Bagger, Pond-Hopper and Wilderness Preservationist. It was edited by Phil Brown, editor of the Adirondack Explorer news magazine. According to the publisher, the book includes "numerous accounts of his hikes in the High Peaks and the vast wild region south of Cranberry Lake

Cranberry Lake

Cranberry Lake is a lake on the Oswegatchie River in the Adirondack Park in New York in the United States. It is the third largest lake in the Adirondack Park Cranberry Lake is a lake on the Oswegatchie River in the Adirondack Park in New York in the United States. It is the third largest lake in...

, spirited defenses of the state's forever-wild Forest Preserve, a charming portrait of Herb Clark, and excerpts from an unpublished novel set partly in the Adirondacks".

Since its conception, The Wilderness Society has helped pass many bills and has contributed a total of 109 million acres (421,000 km²) to the National Wilderness Preservation System. Marshall's dream of permanent wilderness protection became a reality 25 years after his death when President Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

signed the Wilderness Act

Wilderness Act

into law on September 3, 1964. Written by Howard Zahniser

Howard Zahniser

Howard Clinton Zahniser was an American environmental activist. Zahniser is noted for being the primary author of the Wilderness Act of 1964....

, the bill enabled the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

to set aside selected areas in the national forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges and other federal lands as units to be kept permanently unchanged by humans. In defining wilderness, Zahniser invoked Marshall and his contemporaries, stating that "in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, [wilderness] is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." The act's signing was the most important event in the history of The Wilderness Society; members Mardy Murie and Alice Zahniser stood beside Johnson as he signed the legislation. With The Wilderness Act, the United States guaranteed permanent protection of wild and scenic natural areas for future generations. The Society's most prestigious honor, the Robert Marshall Award, is named in Marshall's honor; its first recipient was Sigurd F. Olson

Sigurd F. Olson

Sigurd F. Olson was an American author, environmentalist, and advocate for the protection of wilderness. For more than thirty years, he served as a wilderness guide in the lakes and forests of the Quetico-Superior country of northern Minnesota and northwestern Ontario...

in 1981.

Places and dedications

In the same year as the Wilderness Act became law, the Bob Marshall Wilderness

Bob Marshall Wilderness

, located in Flathead

Flathead National Forest

The Flathead National Forest is a national forest in the western part of the U.S. state of Montana. The forest covers of which about 1 million acres is designated wilderness. It is named after the Flathead Indians who lived in the area. The forest is located in the Rocky Mountains with elevations...

and Lewis and Clark National Forest

Lewis and Clark National Forest

Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning , the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "island" pockets of forested areas. Here, cattle leases to...

s in Montana

Montana

, was created. It had previously been set aside in 1941 as the South Fork, Pentagon, and Sun River Primitive Areas. The area encompasses a million acres (4,000 km²) and is one of the best preserved ecosystems in the world. Known as "The Bob", it is the second largest wilderness in the contiguous 48 states. In compliance with the 1964 Wilderness Act, there is no motorized

Motor vehicle

A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...

or mechanical

Machine

A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...

equipment (including bicycles or hang gliders

Hang gliding

Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider ....

) permitted. Although camping and fishing are allowed with proper permit, no roads or buildings exist in the area, and logging and mining are prohibited. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex (which encompasses Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, and Great Bear Wilderness

Great Bear Wilderness

The Great Bear Wilderness is located in northern Montana, United States, within Flathead National Forest Created by an act of Congress in 1978, the wilderness comprises 286,700 acres and borders the Bob Marshall Wilderness on the north...

es) is a habitat for the grizzly bear

Grizzly Bear

The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...

, lynx

Lynx

A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...

, cougar, wolf, black bear

American black bear

The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...

, moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

, elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

and a variety of other birds, mammals, and plants.

Mount Marshall

Mount Marshall (New York)

(previously called Mount Herbert), which stands 4360 feet (1,328.9 m) high in the Adirondack Mountains, Camp Bob Marshall in the Black Hills

Black Hills

The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...

, and Marshall Lake in the Brooks Range of Alaska, north of the Arctic Circle, are also named for him. As of 2008, the Adirondack Council is encouraging the state of New York to create the Bob Marshall Great Wilderness near Cranberry Lake in the western Adirondacks. If they succeed, it would be the largest wilderness area in the Adirondack Park at 409000 acre (639 sq mi; 1,655 km²).

At the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

(SUNY-ESF), Bob Marshall Fellowships in wilderness management and policy studies are offered to graduate students and faculty engaged in research in recreation resource management; the fellowships are supported by the college's Bob Marshall Endowed Fund. Also at SUNY-ESF, a student "outing club" named after Marshall honors his love of the outdoors and the Adirondack mountains, and a bronze plaque commemorating his contributions to wilderness conservation graces the entrance way of Marshall Hall, the hub of campus events and activities, named after his father.

Selected list of works

"The Problem of the Wilderness" (1930)
Arctic Village
Arctic Village (book)
Arctic Village is a book written by Robert Marshall about the Koyukuk River area and the town of Wiseman, Alaska around the year 1930. He referred to the people of this area as "...the happiest civilization of which I have knowledge." The book was republished by the University of Alaska Press as...

(1933)
The People's Forests (1933)
Arctic Wilderness: Exploring the Central Brooks Range (1956)

Related film

Hott, Lawrence, and Diane Garey. 1991. Wild by Law
Wild by Law
Wild by Law: The Rise of Environmentalism and the Creation of the Wilderness Act is a 1991 documentary film produced by Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature....

: The Rise of Environmentalism and the Creation of the Wilderness Act. ISBN 1-55974-420-0.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Early life

Schooling and early exploring

Forest Service and Alaska

Writing and conservation

The Wilderness Society

Later efforts and sudden death

Legacy

Places and dedications

Selected list of works

Further reading

Related film

External links