Discover

:''See Bob Marshall-Andrews for the British MP.''
:''See Robert G. Marshall for the Virginia delegate.''
'Robert Marshall' (January 2, 1901 – November 11, 1939), usually known as 'Bob Marshall', was an American conservationist and visionary for wilderness preservation. He was the first person in the United States to suggest a formal, national organization of individuals dedicated to the preservation of primeval land. Today he is mostly known as the principal founder of The Wilderness Society.

Contents

Biography

Legacy

Publications

References

External links

Biography

Born in New York City, Bob Marshall was the son Louis and Florence Marshall. His father was a noted constitutional lawyer and active conservationist who was instrumental in securing "forever wild" protection for the Adirondack Forest Preserve in New York. He also helped found the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Like his father, Marshall became involved in nature from a young age and became an early forester. He was also a strong socialist, and believed that private interests would eventually destroy America's forests.^[1] With his brother George, he was among the first Adirondack Forty-Sixers, or hikers who have climbed to the summits of the 46 major peaks of the Adirondack Mountains in northeastern New York. The Adirondack Museum even houses several backpacks owned by Bob and George during their travels. ^[2] He worked for the Forest Service from 1925 to 1928 at the Northern Rocky Mountain Forest Experiment Station at Missoula, Montana.^[3] In 1929 he took the first of several trips to the remote town of Wiseman, Alaska. These travels spurred a great love for the Central Brooks Range in the Alaska wilds. Marshall was one of the first to explore much of this range, especially the headwaters of the North Fork of the Koyukuk River, where he bestowed the name "Gates of the Arctic" to a pair of mountains. Many of Marshall's writings from this time period were later compiled for publication.
By the age of 29 he had received three degrees; a B.S. degree from the Syracuse School of forestry in 1924, a Masters of Forestry from Harvard University in 1925, and a Ph.D. in plant physiology from The Johns Hopkins University in 1930. That same year, in the February issue of ''Scientific Monthly'' magazine, Marshall promulgated the challenging and militant statement:
Five years later in 1935, The Wilderness Society was formally founded in Washington, D.C. by Marshall, Benton MacKaye, Aldo Leopold, Bernard Frank, and Harvey Broome. Robert Sterling Yard became the Society's first president and Marshall provided the bulk of the Society's funding in its early years.
Marshall died of heart failure at the age of 38 while on a midnight train from Washington, D.C. to New York City on November 11, 1939. One-quarter of his $1.5 million estate went to the Society. After his death, his brother George, also a conservationist, helped continue the Society's funding.

Legacy

Since its conception, The Wilderness Society has helped pass many bills and has contributed a total of 104 million acres (421,000 km²) to the National Wilderness Preservation System.^[4] Marshall's dream of permanent wilderness protection became a reality 25 years after his death when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, written by Howard Zahniser, into law on September 3, 1964 at the Rose Garden of the White House. The bill enabled the United States Congress 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. The signing of The Wilderness Act was the most historic event in the history of The Wilderness Society; members Mardy Murie and Alice Zahniser stood next to Johnson as he signed the legislation. With The Wilderness Act, the United States became the first country in the world to guarantee permanent protection of untrammeled land for future generations.
The Bob Marshall Wilderness, in both Flathead and Lewis and Clark National Forests in Montana, was designated a Wilderness in 1964 after being as the South Fork, Pentagon, and Sun River Primitive Areas in 1941.^[5] The area encompasses a million acres (4,000 km²) and is one of the most preserved ecosystems in the world. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Area is the second largest wilderness in the contiguous 48 states, the first being Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho.

Publications

''Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Central Brooks Range'' by Bob Marshall

Marshall was a prolific writer and authored numerous articles and pamphlets during his short lifetime. His first book, ''High Peaks of the Adirondacks'', was published in 1922. His explorations and early field work in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska in the 1930s resulted in two books, ''Arctic Village'', a 1933 bestseller and Literary Guild selection, and the posthumous ''Alaska Wilderness, Exploring the Central Brooks Range''. Published in 1956, ''Alaska Wilderness'' served as a seminal work inspiring the establishment of the Gates of the Arctic National Park, the largest national park in the United States in the late 1970s.
His Adirondack writings were published by Lost Pond Press in 2006. Edited by Phil Brown, editor of the ''Adirondack Explorer'' news magazine, the anthology is titled ''Bob Marshall in the Adirondacks: Writings of a Pioneering Peak-Bagger, Pond-Hopper and Wilderness Preservationist.'' 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, 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." ^[6]

References

1. The Wilderness Society's biography on Bob Marshall
2. Adirondack Attic blog: by Andy Flynn
3. USDA Forest Service Marshall Biography
4. History of the Wilderness Society
5. Bob Marshall Winderness at The National Wilderness Preservation System
6. Lost Pond Press official website

External links

★ The Wilderness Society's official website

★ The Bob Marshall Foundation