David R. Brower
Encyclopedia
David Ross Brower was a prominent environmentalist
and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club Foundation
, the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, Friends of the Earth
(1969), the League of Conservation Voters
, Earth Island Institute
(1982), North Cascades Conservation Council, and Fate of the Earth Conferences. From 1952 to 1969 he served as the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club
, and served on its board three times: from 1941–1953; 1983–1988; and 1995-2000. As a younger man, he was a prominent mountaineer
.
. He was married to Anne Hus Brower (1913 – 2001) whom he met when they were both editors at the University of California Press
in Berkeley.
Most notably of Brower's children, Kenneth Brower
would go on to author a number of books, most notably The Starship and the Canoe about Freeman Dyson
and his son George Dyson
.
. In 1933, Brower spent seven weeks in the High Sierra with George Rockwood. After a close call with a loose rock while climbing in the Palisades, he met Norman Clyde
in the wilderness, who gave him some valuable climbing lessons. On that trip he also met Hervey Voge, who persuaded him to join the Sierra Club
. On May 18, 1934, along with Voge, he began a ten-week climbing trip through the High Sierra, to survey climbing routes and maintain mountaineering records for the club. Previously, they had established several food caches along their planned route, which began at Onion Valley and ended at Tuolumne Meadows
. In all, the pair climbed 63 peaks on this trip, including 32 first ascent
s. On the first day, they climbed Mount Tyndall
, Mount Williamson
, and Mount Barnard
. From June 23 to 26 the pair made eight first ascents in the Devils Crags along with Norman Clyde, and also climbed Mount Agassiz
. Clyde called the Devils Crag climbs "one of the most remarkable mountaineering feats ever accomplished in the United States". In the Palisades range, the pair climbed Thunderbolt Peak, traversed to North Palisade
by way of Starlight Peak, and descended the U-Notch Couloir. In the Sawtooth Range, they climbed The Doodad, the West Tooth, and Matterhorn Peak
.
Following a failed attempt in 1935 to make the first ascent of the remote, icy Mount Waddington
in British Columbia
, with a Sierra Club group, Brower added winter climbing to his expertise and made multiple first winter ascents of peaks in the Sierra Nevada.
From October 9 to 12, 1939 a Sierra Club climbing team including Brower, along with Bestor Robinson
, Raffi Bedayn, and John Dyer, completed the first ascent of Shiprock
, the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano with nearly vertical walls on the Navajo reservation
in northwestern New Mexico. This climb, rated YDS
III, 5.7 A2, was the first in the United States to use expansion bolts for protection.
Twelve previous attempts on Shiprock had failed, and it was known as "the last great American climbing problem". The Brower party's success was described as an "outstanding effort" by "probably the only group on the continent capable of making the climb".
Brower made the first ascent of seventy routes in Yosemite and elsewhere in the western United States
.
and Cambridge University Press
for use in training Allied mountain combat troops during World War II
. Techniques described in this book were used by U.S. forces in the battles in the North Apeninnes
and the Lake Garda Alps. The book was published in three later revised editions.
During World War II, he served as a Lieutenant in the 10th Mountain Division, training its soldiers in mountaineering and cross-country skiing
in Vermont and Washington states and earning a Bronze Star
in action in Italy
. Brower's role in the 10th Mountain Division is featured in the documentary film Fire on the Mountain. He served as a major in the Army Reserve for many years after the war ended.
from 1947 to 1954. Brower was named the first executive director of the Sierra Club in 1952, and joined the fight against the Echo Park Dam in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument
. Taking advantage of his background in publishing, Brower rushed This is Dinosaur edited by Wallace Stegner
with photographs by Martin Litton
and Philip Hyde
into press with publisher Alfred Knopf. Conservationists successfully lobbied Congress to delete Echo Park Dam from the Colorado River Project in 1955, and the Sierra Club received much of the credit. Brower began Sierra Club Books
' Exhibit Format book series with This is the American Earth in 1960, followed by the highly successful In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World, with color photographs by Eliot Porter
in 1962. These coffee-table books sold well and introduced the Sierra Club to new members interested in wilderness preservation. Brower published two new titles a year in the series, but they began to lose money for the organization after 1964, though many claim they were the primary cause of the Club's extraordinary growth and rise to national prominence. Financial management began to be a bone of contention between Brower and the Club's board of directors.
Building on the biennial Wilderness Conferences which the Club launched in 1949 together with The Wilderness Society
, Brower helped the Club win passage of the Wilderness Act
in 1964. Brower and the Sierra Club also led a major battle to stop the Bureau of Reclamation from building two dams that would flood portions of the Grand Canyon. In 1964, Brower organized a dory river expedition led by Martin Litton
with Philip Hyde
and author Francois Leydet. The trip led to the book Time and The River Flowing which galvanized public opposition to the dams. In June 1966 the Club placed full-page ads in the New York Times and the Washington Post asking, "Should we also flood the Sistine Chapel so tourists can get nearer the ceiling?" The campaign brought in many new members. The Internal Revenue Service
announced it was suspending the Club's 501(c)(3) charitable organization status. The board had set up the Sierra Club Foundation as an alternative for tax-deductible contributions, but revenues to the Club dropped, despite victories in blocking the Grand Canyon dams and a considerable increase in membership.
As annual deficits increased, tension grew between Brower and the Sierra Club board of directors. Another conflict grew over the Club's position on the Diablo Canyon Power Plant
planned for construction by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) near San Luis Obispo, California. The Club had played a major role in blocking PG&E's plan for a nuclear power plant at Bodega Bay
in the early 1960s, but that campaign had centered on the earthquake danger from the nearby San Andreas Fault
, not out of opposition to nuclear power itself. The Club's board of directors had voted to support the Diablo Canyon site for the power plant in exchange for PG&E moving its initial site from the environmentally sensitive Nipomo Dunes
. In 1967 a membership referendum upheld the board's policy. Brower had come to believe that nuclear power was a dangerous mistake at any location, and he publicly voiced his opposition to Diablo Canyon, in defiance of the Club's official policy.
Sierra Club board elections in the late 1960s produced sharply defined pro- and anti-Brower factions. In 1968 Brower's supporters won a majority, but in 1969 anti-Brower candidates won all five open positions. Brower was charged with financial recklessness and insubordination by two of his former close friends, photographer Ansel Adams
and board president Richard Leonard. Brower's resignation was accepted by a board vote of ten to five.
Eventually reconciled with the Sierra Club, Brower was elected to the board of directors for a term from 1983 to 1988, and again from 1995 to 2000. Brower was deeply concerned about issues of overpopulation
and immigration
- which was a major factor leading to his resignation in protest from the board of directors in 2000.http://www.commondreams.org/views/061500-104.htm "Overpopulation is perhaps the biggest problem facing us," he said, "and immigration is part of that problem. It has to be addressed." Some of his views with regard to population control were quite controversial. For example, he once stated that, "Childbearing [should be] a punishable crime against society, unless the parents hold a government license ... All potential parents [should be] required to use contraceptive chemicals, the government issuing antidotes to citizens chosen for childbearing.
(FOE) in 1969, soon after resigning as executive director of the Sierra Club. The move was timely, as FOE was positioned to grow with the burst of environmental concern generated by the first Earth Day
in April 1970. FOE also benefited from the publicity generated by a series of articles in The New Yorker
by John McPhee
, later published as Encounters with the Archdruid, which recounted Brower's confrontations with a geologist and mining engineer, a resort developer, and the director of the Bureau of Reclamation. Brower so enjoyed being called the Archdruid that he later used the term in his e-mail address
.
FOE set up its headquarters in San Francisco, and opened an office in Washington, D.C.. Brower soon spun off two new organizations from the FOE Washington staff, the League of Conservation Voters
in 1970 and the Environmental Policy Center in 1971. Brower's international contacts led to the founding of FOE International in 1971, a loose federation of sister organizations in some forty-four countries. Brower also started a publications program at FOE, which had initial success with The Environmental Handbook in the wake of Earth Day, but then began to lose money.
Although Brower's background was in the wilderness preservation wing of the conservation movement, he quickly led FOE to take on many of the issues raised by the new environmentalists. FOE campaigned against the Alaska pipeline, the supersonic transport
airplane (SST), nuclear power, and the use of the defoliant Agent Orange
in the Vietnam War. After Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980, FOE led the opposition to Interior secretary James G. Watt
's efforts to sell and lease public lands in the West and develop land adjacent to the National Parks. Brower retired as executive director of FOE on its tenth anniversary in 1979, but continued as chairman of its board of directors. FOE's growing debt and tension between Washington lobbying and grassroots action led to a crisis between Brower and a majority of the board that recalled his conflict with the Sierra Club board. Facing staff cuts in 1984, Brower appealed over the board directly to the membership for emergency contributions. He was removed from the board for insubordination, but was reinstated when he threatened a lawsuit. In 1985 the board voted to close the San Francisco office and move to Washington, D.C.. A referendum of the membership supported the board majority, and Brower resigned in 1986 to work through his Earth Island Institute
.
in 1982. After FOE moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C.
in 1986, Brower developed Earth Island as a loosely structured incubator for innovative projects in ecology and social justice. Although he chaired the board of directors, Brower stayed in the background as co-directors David Philips and John Knox ran the organization. Projects were required to bring in their own funding, and often went their own way once well-established. Groups formed under Earth Island's umbrella include the Rainforest Action Network
, the Environmental Project on Central America (EPOCA), and many others. Freed from administrative worries and budget controversies, Brower was able to continue to travel, speak and work on many of his long-standing concerns. In addition to his returning to the Sierra Club board for two separate terms, he also served on the Board of Directors for Native Forest Council
from 1988 through his death in 2000. A supporter of Ralph Nader, Brower flew to Denver in June, 2000, for the Green Party convention and cast his absentee ballot for Nader the day before he died.
A monument, Spaceship Earth (sculpture)
, was erected in his honor at Kennesaw State University
. The intention is that the monument will serve as a permanent reminder to future generations about the delicate nature of our planet.
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club Foundation
Sierra Club Foundation
The Sierra Club Foundation is a public charity whose mission is to provide financial support to the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations for tax deductible work...
, the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
(1969), the League of Conservation Voters
League of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement. LCV's mission is to "advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt...
, Earth Island Institute
Earth Island Institute
The Earth Island Institute was founded in 1982 by environmentalist David Brower. It organizes and encourages activism around environmental issues and provides public education. Funding comes from individual members and supporting organizations...
(1982), North Cascades Conservation Council, and Fate of the Earth Conferences. From 1952 to 1969 he served as the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
, and served on its board three times: from 1941–1953; 1983–1988; and 1995-2000. As a younger man, he was a prominent mountaineer
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
.
Early life
Brower was born in Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. He was married to Anne Hus Brower (1913 – 2001) whom he met when they were both editors at the University of California Press
University of California Press
University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
in Berkeley.
Most notably of Brower's children, Kenneth Brower
Kenneth Brower
Kenneth Brower is an American nonfiction writer.He is best known for his many books about the environment, national parks, and natural places, many of them in hundreds of libraries and by major publishers, including several titles in the series The Earth's Wild Places published by the Friends of...
would go on to author a number of books, most notably The Starship and the Canoe about Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson
Freeman John Dyson FRS is a British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum field theory, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. Dyson is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists...
and his son George Dyson
George Dyson (science historian)
George Dyson is a scientific historian, the son of Freeman Dyson and Verena Huber-Dyson, brother of Esther Dyson, and the grandson of Sir George Dyson. He is the father of Lauren Dyson. When he was sixteen he went to live in British Columbia in Canada to pursue his interest in kayaking and...
.
Mountaineering achievements
Brower came to the environmental movement as a result of his interest in mountaineeringMountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
. In 1933, Brower spent seven weeks in the High Sierra with George Rockwood. After a close call with a loose rock while climbing in the Palisades, he met Norman Clyde
Norman Clyde
Norman Clyde was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self trained naturalist. He is well-known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park...
in the wilderness, who gave him some valuable climbing lessons. On that trip he also met Hervey Voge, who persuaded him to join the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
. On May 18, 1934, along with Voge, he began a ten-week climbing trip through the High Sierra, to survey climbing routes and maintain mountaineering records for the club. Previously, they had established several food caches along their planned route, which began at Onion Valley and ended at Tuolumne Meadows
Tuolumne Meadows
Tuolumne Meadows is a gentle, dome-studded sub-alpine meadowy section of the Tuolumne River, in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is 8619 feet .-Natural History:...
. In all, the pair climbed 63 peaks on this trip, including 32 first ascent
First ascent
In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...
s. On the first day, they climbed Mount Tyndall
Mount Tyndall
Mount Tyndall is a peak in the Mount Whitney region of the Sierra Nevada in the U.S. state of California. It rises to , and is the tenth highest peak in the state...
, Mount Williamson
Mount Williamson
Mount Williamson, at , is the second highest mountain in both the Sierra Nevada range and the state of California. It is the sixth highest peak in the contiguous United States.- Geography :...
, and Mount Barnard
Mount Barnard
Mount Barnard is a mountain in California and has the dubious distinction of being the highest thirteener, a peak between 13,000 and in elevation, in the United States. It is located along the Sierra Crest on the border between Tulare and Inyo counties about southwest of Mount Williamson which...
. From June 23 to 26 the pair made eight first ascents in the Devils Crags along with Norman Clyde, and also climbed Mount Agassiz
Mount Agassiz (California)
Mount Agassiz, at , is one of the twenty highest peaks of California. It is the northernmost, and easiest to climb, major summit of the Palisades.-Geography:Agassiz is at the north end of the Palisades in the eastern Sierra Nevada, near Bishop Pass...
. Clyde called the Devils Crag climbs "one of the most remarkable mountaineering feats ever accomplished in the United States". In the Palisades range, the pair climbed Thunderbolt Peak, traversed to North Palisade
North Palisade
North Palisade is the third highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range of California. It is the highest peak of the Palisades group of peaks in the central part of the range. It sports a small glacier and several highly prized rock climbing routes on its northeast side.- History :North Palisade...
by way of Starlight Peak, and descended the U-Notch Couloir. In the Sawtooth Range, they climbed The Doodad, the West Tooth, and Matterhorn Peak
Matterhorn Peak
Matterhorn Peak is located in the Sierra Nevada, in the western U.S. state of California, at the northern boundary of Yosemite National Park. At elevation, it is the tallest peak in the craggy Alps-like Sawtooth Ridge and the northernmost peak in the Sierra Nevada. The peak also supports the...
.
Following a failed attempt in 1935 to make the first ascent of the remote, icy Mount Waddington
Mount Waddington
Mount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the US border between Alaska and British Columbia are taller, Mount Waddington is the highest peak that lies...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, with a Sierra Club group, Brower added winter climbing to his expertise and made multiple first winter ascents of peaks in the Sierra Nevada.
Bestor Robinson
Bestor Robinson was a California mountaineer, environmentalist, attorney and inventor. He was a law partner of Earl Warren, later governor of California and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Robinson was a long time leader of the Sierra Club...
, Raffi Bedayn, and John Dyer, completed the first ascent of Shiprock
Shiprock
Shiprock is a rock formation rising nearly above the high-desert plain on the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico, USA. It has a peak elevation of above the sea level. It lies about southwest of the town of Shiprock, which is named for the peak...
, the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano with nearly vertical walls on the Navajo reservation
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
in northwestern New Mexico. This climb, rated YDS
Yosemite Decimal System
The Yosemite Decimal System is a three-part system used for rating the difficulty of walks, hikes, and climbs. It is primarily used by mountaineers in the United States and Canada. The Class 5 portion of the Class scale is primarily a rock climbing classification system. Originally the system was...
III, 5.7 A2, was the first in the United States to use expansion bolts for protection.
Twelve previous attempts on Shiprock had failed, and it was known as "the last great American climbing problem". The Brower party's success was described as an "outstanding effort" by "probably the only group on the continent capable of making the climb".
Brower made the first ascent of seventy routes in Yosemite and elsewhere in the western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
World War II
In 1942, Brower edited and contributed to the Manual of Ski Mountaineering, published by the University of California PressUniversity of California Press
University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
and Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
for use in training Allied mountain combat troops during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Techniques described in this book were used by U.S. forces in the battles in the North Apeninnes
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy
The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the Allied attack by Fifth United States Army and British 8th Army into the Lombardy Plain which started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of German forces in Italy....
and the Lake Garda Alps. The book was published in three later revised editions.
During World War II, he served as a Lieutenant in the 10th Mountain Division, training its soldiers in mountaineering and cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
in Vermont and Washington states and earning a Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
in action in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Brower's role in the 10th Mountain Division is featured in the documentary film Fire on the Mountain. He served as a major in the Army Reserve for many years after the war ended.
Career with Sierra Club
After the war, Brower returned to his job at the University of California Press, and began editing the Sierra Club Bulletin in 1946. He managed the Sierra Club annual High TripsHigh Trips
The High Trips were large wilderness excursions organized and led by the Sierra Club beginning in 1901. Club secretary William Colby initiated the High Trips, which usually traveled to the High Sierra, and led them from 1901 to 1929. Colby wrote, "It was from John Muir, President of the Club,...
from 1947 to 1954. Brower was named the first executive director of the Sierra Club in 1952, and joined the fight against the Echo Park Dam in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument is a National Monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers. Although most of the monument area is in Moffat County, Colorado, the Dinosaur Quarry is located in Utah...
. Taking advantage of his background in publishing, Brower rushed This is Dinosaur edited by Wallace Stegner
Wallace Stegner
Wallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers"...
with photographs by Martin Litton
Martin Litton
Martin Litton is a Grand Canyon river runner and a longtime environmental activist, best known as a staunch opponent of the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and other dams on the Colorado River....
and Philip Hyde
Philip Hyde (photographer)
Philip Hyde was a pioneer landscape photographer and conservationist. He attended Ansel Adams' photography program at the California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute, beginning with the Summer Session in 1946 and enrolling in the full-time professional photography training,...
into press with publisher Alfred Knopf. Conservationists successfully lobbied Congress to delete Echo Park Dam from the Colorado River Project in 1955, and the Sierra Club received much of the credit. Brower began Sierra Club Books
Sierra Club Books
Sierra Club Books is the publishing division of the Sierra Club, founded in 1960 by then Sierra Club President David Brower. Volumes intended for club members had been published prior to 1960. In addition, books under their name had been published before 1960, but done through already established...
' Exhibit Format book series with This is the American Earth in 1960, followed by the highly successful In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World, with color photographs by Eliot Porter
Eliot Porter
Eliot Furness Porter was an American photographer best known for his color photographs of nature.-Early life:...
in 1962. These coffee-table books sold well and introduced the Sierra Club to new members interested in wilderness preservation. Brower published two new titles a year in the series, but they began to lose money for the organization after 1964, though many claim they were the primary cause of the Club's extraordinary growth and rise to national prominence. Financial management began to be a bone of contention between Brower and the Club's board of directors.
Building on the biennial Wilderness Conferences which the Club launched in 1949 together with 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...
, Brower helped the Club win passage of 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...
in 1964. Brower and the Sierra Club also led a major battle to stop the Bureau of Reclamation from building two dams that would flood portions of the Grand Canyon. In 1964, Brower organized a dory river expedition led by Martin Litton
Martin Litton
Martin Litton is a Grand Canyon river runner and a longtime environmental activist, best known as a staunch opponent of the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and other dams on the Colorado River....
with Philip Hyde
Philip Hyde (photographer)
Philip Hyde was a pioneer landscape photographer and conservationist. He attended Ansel Adams' photography program at the California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute, beginning with the Summer Session in 1946 and enrolling in the full-time professional photography training,...
and author Francois Leydet. The trip led to the book Time and The River Flowing which galvanized public opposition to the dams. In June 1966 the Club placed full-page ads in the New York Times and the Washington Post asking, "Should we also flood the Sistine Chapel so tourists can get nearer the ceiling?" The campaign brought in many new members. The Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
announced it was suspending the Club's 501(c)(3) charitable organization status. The board had set up the Sierra Club Foundation as an alternative for tax-deductible contributions, but revenues to the Club dropped, despite victories in blocking the Grand Canyon dams and a considerable increase in membership.
As annual deficits increased, tension grew between Brower and the Sierra Club board of directors. Another conflict grew over the Club's position on the Diablo Canyon Power Plant
Diablo Canyon Power Plant
Diablo Canyon Power Plant is an electricity-generating nuclear power plant at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. The plant has two Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. The facility is located on about in Avila Beach,...
planned for construction by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) near San Luis Obispo, California. The Club had played a major role in blocking PG&E's plan for a nuclear power plant at Bodega Bay
Bodega Bay
Bodega Bay is a shallow, rocky inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of northern California in the United States. It is approximately across and is located approximately northwest of San Francisco and west of Santa Rosa...
in the early 1960s, but that campaign had centered on the earthquake danger from the nearby San Andreas Fault
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
, not out of opposition to nuclear power itself. The Club's board of directors had voted to support the Diablo Canyon site for the power plant in exchange for PG&E moving its initial site from the environmentally sensitive Nipomo Dunes
Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes
Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes is the largest remaining dune system south of San Francisco and the second largest in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses an stretch of coastline on the Central Coast of California and extends from southern San Luis Obispo County to northern Santa Barbara County.The...
. In 1967 a membership referendum upheld the board's policy. Brower had come to believe that nuclear power was a dangerous mistake at any location, and he publicly voiced his opposition to Diablo Canyon, in defiance of the Club's official policy.
Sierra Club board elections in the late 1960s produced sharply defined pro- and anti-Brower factions. In 1968 Brower's supporters won a majority, but in 1969 anti-Brower candidates won all five open positions. Brower was charged with financial recklessness and insubordination by two of his former close friends, photographer Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
and board president Richard Leonard. Brower's resignation was accepted by a board vote of ten to five.
Eventually reconciled with the Sierra Club, Brower was elected to the board of directors for a term from 1983 to 1988, and again from 1995 to 2000. Brower was deeply concerned about issues of overpopulation
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
and immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
- which was a major factor leading to his resignation in protest from the board of directors in 2000.http://www.commondreams.org/views/061500-104.htm "Overpopulation is perhaps the biggest problem facing us," he said, "and immigration is part of that problem. It has to be addressed." Some of his views with regard to population control were quite controversial. For example, he once stated that, "Childbearing [should be] a punishable crime against society, unless the parents hold a government license ... All potential parents [should be] required to use contraceptive chemicals, the government issuing antidotes to citizens chosen for childbearing.
Career with Friends of the Earth
Brower founded Friends of the EarthFriends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
(FOE) in 1969, soon after resigning as executive director of the Sierra Club. The move was timely, as FOE was positioned to grow with the burst of environmental concern generated by the first Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
in April 1970. FOE also benefited from the publicity generated by a series of articles in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
by John McPhee
John McPhee
John Angus McPhee is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, widely considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction....
, later published as Encounters with the Archdruid, which recounted Brower's confrontations with a geologist and mining engineer, a resort developer, and the director of the Bureau of Reclamation. Brower so enjoyed being called the Archdruid that he later used the term in his e-mail address
E-mail address
An email address identifies an email box to which email messages are delivered. An example format of an email address is lewis@example.net which is read as lewis at example dot net...
.
FOE set up its headquarters in San Francisco, and opened an office in Washington, D.C.. Brower soon spun off two new organizations from the FOE Washington staff, the League of Conservation Voters
League of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement. LCV's mission is to "advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt...
in 1970 and the Environmental Policy Center in 1971. Brower's international contacts led to the founding of FOE International in 1971, a loose federation of sister organizations in some forty-four countries. Brower also started a publications program at FOE, which had initial success with The Environmental Handbook in the wake of Earth Day, but then began to lose money.
Although Brower's background was in the wilderness preservation wing of the conservation movement, he quickly led FOE to take on many of the issues raised by the new environmentalists. FOE campaigned against the Alaska pipeline, the supersonic transport
Supersonic transport
A supersonic transport is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. The only SSTs to see regular service to date have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 with its last ever...
airplane (SST), nuclear power, and the use of the defoliant Agent Orange
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
in the Vietnam War. After Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980, FOE led the opposition to Interior secretary James G. Watt
James G. Watt
James Gaius Watt served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior for President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1983.-Early life and career:...
's efforts to sell and lease public lands in the West and develop land adjacent to the National Parks. Brower retired as executive director of FOE on its tenth anniversary in 1979, but continued as chairman of its board of directors. FOE's growing debt and tension between Washington lobbying and grassroots action led to a crisis between Brower and a majority of the board that recalled his conflict with the Sierra Club board. Facing staff cuts in 1984, Brower appealed over the board directly to the membership for emergency contributions. He was removed from the board for insubordination, but was reinstated when he threatened a lawsuit. In 1985 the board voted to close the San Francisco office and move to Washington, D.C.. A referendum of the membership supported the board majority, and Brower resigned in 1986 to work through his Earth Island Institute
Earth Island Institute
The Earth Island Institute was founded in 1982 by environmentalist David Brower. It organizes and encourages activism around environmental issues and provides public education. Funding comes from individual members and supporting organizations...
.
Later years with Earth Island Institute
Brower had incorporated Earth Island InstituteEarth Island Institute
The Earth Island Institute was founded in 1982 by environmentalist David Brower. It organizes and encourages activism around environmental issues and provides public education. Funding comes from individual members and supporting organizations...
in 1982. After FOE moved its headquarters 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 1986, Brower developed Earth Island as a loosely structured incubator for innovative projects in ecology and social justice. Although he chaired the board of directors, Brower stayed in the background as co-directors David Philips and John Knox ran the organization. Projects were required to bring in their own funding, and often went their own way once well-established. Groups formed under Earth Island's umbrella include the Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, with the financial help of Fund for Wild Nature....
, the Environmental Project on Central America (EPOCA), and many others. Freed from administrative worries and budget controversies, Brower was able to continue to travel, speak and work on many of his long-standing concerns. In addition to his returning to the Sierra Club board for two separate terms, he also served on the Board of Directors for Native Forest Council
Native Forest Council
"Native Forest Council is an American environmental organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of all publicly owned natural resources from destructive practices, sales, and all resource extraction...
from 1988 through his death in 2000. A supporter of Ralph Nader, Brower flew to Denver in June, 2000, for the Green Party convention and cast his absentee ballot for Nader the day before he died.
A monument, Spaceship Earth (sculpture)
Spaceship Earth (sculpture)
Spaceship Earth is a 350,000 pound Brazilian blue quartzite sculpture created by Finnish American artist Eino. The sculpture, commissioned by Brian Maxwell, of Powerbar the Maxwell Family Foundation for the late environmentalist David Brower and its name was often used by Brower referring to...
, was erected in his honor at Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University, also referred to as KSU, Kennesaw, or Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational, comprehensive university that is part of the University System of Georgia. The university's main campus is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States, approximately north of Atlanta...
. The intention is that the monument will serve as a permanent reminder to future generations about the delicate nature of our planet.
Video resources
- For Earth's Sake: The Life and Times of David Brower. Produced in 1989 by John de Graaf in cooperation with KCTS-Seattle. Distributed by Bullfrog Films, Oley, PA 19547. 58 minutes.
- Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America. Directed by Kelly Duane for Loteria Films, 2004. DVD, 78 min.
External links
- 88 Years of David Brower - The Legacy Continues
- Online guide to the David Ross Brower Papers, The Bancroft Library
- North Cascades Conservation Council
- The Brower legacy
- Whole Terrain link to Brower's articles published in Whole TerrainWhole TerrainWhole Terrain: Journal of Reflective Environmental Practice is an environmentally-themed literary journal that's published approximately once a year by Antioch University New England . Each volume explores emerging ecological and social issues from the perspectives of practitioners working in the...
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer obituary
- Guardian obituary
- Quotes by David Ross Brower