Application Assignment #3

An important figure in the environmental history of the United States is John Muir.  Throughout John Muirs life he had many accomplishments that changed the United States forever. He would become one of the most famous environmentalists because he was very involved with the environment and standing up for it. John was very big into keeping earth beautiful. However, before he was one of the most famous environmentalists, he was just a guy. John was born April 21, 1838 in Dunbar, Scotland. He lived in Scotland till he was 11, when he was 11 his family moved to Wisconsin. He finished his schooling and attended University of Wisconsin for 3 years. After school is when Johns journey to becoming one of the most famous environmentalists really began. He did things like study plants, sail around the world, walk from Indiana to Florida John was very big into the natural beauty of the earths landscape which is what motivated him to fight and try to preserve the natural landscape at all costs. He was involved in things like the creation and push of the National Park Systems and then actually getting some areas classified as a National Park. He also was the co-founder of a club called the Sierra Club and later became the first president of that club. All of these things were attributes to why over 100 years after his death he is still regarded as the most famous if not one of the most famous environmentalists to ever live. 

  This is a very famous picture of John Muir.

A key event that changed the United States that John Muirs involvement in the National Park System.  Today the National Park System has around 85 million acres under its protection. It didn’t start like this though, it started in 1872 when Yellowstone was made the first National Park in the system. That started a huge movement which is when John was able to help out in. He was able to be involved in getting Yosemite, Sequoia, Mount Rainer, Petrified Forest, and the Grand Canyon all a part of the National Park System. That is how he got the nickname “Father of our National Park System”. If it wasn’t for him standing up and pushing so hard a lot of these places that people like to go sightseeing at wouldn’t be nearly as beautiful as they are today.  

This is a valley in Yosemite National Park which was one of the first parks he pushed to become a national park. 

Another huge impact that John Muir had on the united states environmental history was that he helped co-found the Sierra Club. This club was also one of the first large scale organizations that was fighting for the sake of the environment. The Sierra Club is a conservation group that does its work based off John Muir’s philosophy which was to “explore, enjoy and protect the planet”. When it was first created it aided in things like getting Mt. Rainer into the National Park System. They would also go on what they called “outings” which is means basically they would go to places and just enjoy nature. One of the first few documented outings was a trip to the Yosemite Valleys. With around 3.5 million members the Sierra Club is still around today and still making a large impact in the community. Today they are fighting against things that effect  

This is John Muir with the Sierra Club. 

John Muir left such a legacy that even today over a century after his death we are still impacted by the things he set in place. All of the protected lands and national parks that are in New Hampshire and in other parts of New England. Another way he affected us is that there is actually a chapter of the Sierra Club in New Hampshire. This allows people to get involved and create a direct impact to the area that we live in which is huge. Its huge because when people are able to see of their positive actions are directly impacting their community, they feel good about it and are likely to get others to join. I think the John Muir impacted our lives much more than we think, like for someone who wants to make a difference in the area, he laid the groundwork for them or for someone who wants to start their own group or even just for people who enjoy nature. It's impossible to say what the United States would be like without his contributions.