Was John Muir world’s first environmental activist?
It could be said that John Muir was the first Environmental Activist. He was born in Scotland in 1838 awnd when he was 11, immigrated along with the rest of his family to America. From an early age it was obvious the John had a great connection with and love of nature.
When John graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1863 he took up studying botany and exploring the natural world on foot taking casual employment where ever he travelled.
He became totally blind for a time after an accident at work. When he regained his sight, he fully embraced his devotion to nature and walked from Indiana to Florida (over 1,500km), creating detailed sketches of the wildlife and landscape he saw on his travels. He continued his walking explorations through most of the rest of his life.
During the 1870s and 1880s John Muir wrote and published many articles about the natural world, speaking in poetic and spiritual terms about his affection for ecology and describing the connections that he believed linked humans, the earth and all the other species with which we share the planet.
His papers and publications became widely read and he gained a large and varied readership. He also published many essays campaigning for the establishment of Yosemite National Park, which was eventually created in 1890. Muir became a major figure in the creation of other national parks and nature reserves in America.
In 1892, he co-founded The Sierra Club which is perhaps America’s oldest environmental organisation. He was the clubs president for more than two decades and continued to make history by helping to shape the then, U.S. president, Theordore Roosevelt’s conservation policies, particularly by bringing him on a threenight camping trip in 1903. Muir was also a world-traveler who at age 73 took an extended trip to the Amazon, studying its flora and fauna and being swept away by the region’s beauty.
John Muir died in December 1914. His legacy still lives on not only in the establishment of National Parks, the Sierra Club and his environmental activism but also in the many articles that he wrote.
The John Muir Trust is a Scottish charity which was established in 1983 to conserve wild places for the benefit of all. The Trust manages several estates, mainly in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and campaigns for better protection of wild places. The Trust also runs an environmental award scheme which encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places.
Killarney National Park Education Centre and the National Park Rangers have put together a programme of activities for 12 to 16 year olds which will introduce them to some of the more remote areas of the National Park. This programme follows the principles laid down by the John Muir Trust Award Scheme and has been successfully accredited by them. There are three different award levels of the scheme which the participants will be able to work towards while assisting the Park Rangers in their work conserving the habitats and species within the Park. The young people taking part will also learn some navigation and bush craft skills, they will do canoeing on the lakes, hike in the mountains and stay a few times in the National Park overnight.
The programme will run one Saturday a month from March to October (except for July & August) with an overnight in June and again in October. It is hoped that those taking part will get a chance to explore areas of the National Park that they haven’t been to before and through the guidance of the staff from the Education Centre and the Rangers will connect with, enjoy and help care for wild places.
For more information on the John Muir Award Scheme running in the National Park please email knpeducationcentre@chg.gov.ie