Wilderness for the people

One of the good things which came out of the devastating 1910 forest fire described in The Big Burn is the public realizing no one is taking care of our wilderness.  Disasters will happen and no one is responsible for preventing them or taking charge during them.

Roosevelt used the fire as a wake up call to voters and congress.  He felt it was important that lands be set aside and protected for the American public.   An avid outdoors person, he recognized the need for people to be able to get away from civilization and enjoy the beauty and peace of the wilderness.  Forests, mountains, empty land was being bought up and exploited without control.  He saw this was a time to put the brakes on and set some land aside before it was all gone.

I was surprised to discover John Muir was so involved in the “national” conservation movement.  When visiting New York, Egan describes Muir as an influential man “whose company was sought by everyone from Ralph Waldo Emerson to New York Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt.  He had just started the Sierra Club in 1892.

I wonder if he had to box and wrestle with Roosevelt, too.