Wilderness, Then, Assumes Unexpected Importance As A

Is It Possible To Preserve The Element Of Unknown Places In Our National Life? Is It Practicable To Do So, Without Undue Loss In Economic Values? I Say 'yes' To Both Questions. But We Must Act Vigorously And Quickly, Before The Remaining Bits Of Wilderness Have Disappeared.

In That Year [1865] John Muir Offered To Buy From His Brother ... A Sanctuary For The Wildflowers That Had Gladdened His Youth. His Brother Declined To Part With The Land, But He Could Not Suppress The Idea: 1865 Still Stands In Wisconsin History As The Birth-year Of Mercy For Things Natural, Wild, And Free.

I Have Read Many Definitions Of What Is A Conservationist, And Written Not A Few Myself, But I Suspect That The Best One Is Written Not With A Pen, But With An Axe. It Is A Matter Of What A Man Thinks About While Chopping, Or While Deciding What To Chop. A Conservationist Is One Who Is Humbly Aware That With Each Stroke He Is Writing His Signature On The Face Of His Land.

The Drama Of The Sky Dance Is Enacted Nightly On Hundreds Of Farms, The Owners Of Which Sigh For Entertainment, But Harbor The Illusion That It Is To Be Sought In Theaters. They Live On The Land, But Not By The Land.

A River Or Stream Is A Cycle Of Energy From Sun To Plants To Insects To Fish. It Is A Continuum Broken Only By Humans.