John Muir
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'Going to the Woods Is Going Home'
What better essay to read on Earth Day than one by the father of modern American environmentalism?
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Bettman/Corbis The American Forests
In decrying the destruction of woodlands by loggers, settlers, and industrialists, Muir, the father of America’s conservation movement, advanced the notion that natural resources ought to be preserved—an idea that spawned vast new parks as well as the creation of the U.S. Forest Service.
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Out of the Wilderness
The last of three excerpts from John Muir’s autobiography
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Lessons of the Wilderness
The second of three excerpts from John Muir’s autobiography
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The Plunge Into the Wilderness
The first of three excerpts from John Muir’s autobiography
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My Boyhood
“The natural inherited wildness in our blood ran true on its glorious course, as invincible and unstoppable as the stars.”
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My First Summer in the Sierra (Part IV)
Extracts from John Muir’s personal writings
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My First Summer in the Sierra (Part III)
Extracts from John Muir’s personal writings
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My First Summer in the Sierra (Part II)
Extracts from John Muir’s personal writings
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My First Summer in the Sierra (Part I)
Extracts from John Muir’s personal writings
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Sargent’s Silva
“Though accustomed to read the trees themselves, not written descriptions of them, I have read it through twice, as if it were a novel, and wished it were longer.”
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Hunting Big Redwoods
“Resolute, consummate, determined in form, always beheld with wondering admiration, the Big Tree always seems unfamiliar, standing alone, unrelated, with peculiar physiognomy, awfully solemn and earnest.”
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The Fountains and Streams of the Yosemite National Park
"All the streams are in flood and the birds are singing, and the landscape is glowing in a deep calm enthusiasm, like the face of a god."
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The Wild Gardens of the Yosemite Park
"Nature, like an enthusiastic gardener, could not resist the temptation to plant flowers everywhere."
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The Forests of the Yosemite Park
"Since Emerson was so soon to vanish, I concluded to stop with him. He hardly spoke a word all the evening, yet it was a great pleasure simply to be near him, warming in the light of his face as at a fire."
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Library of Congress The Yosemite National Park
“All the world lies warm in one heart, yet the Sierra seems to get more light than other mountains.”
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Among the Birds of the Yosemite
"No wonder he sings well, since all the air about him is music."
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Among the Animals of the Yosemite
“In my first interview with a Sierra bear we were frightened and embarrassed, both of us, but the bear’s behavior was better than mine.”
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The Yellowstone National Park
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The Wild Parks and Forest Reservations of the West
“Wander here a whole summer, if you can. Thousands of God’s wild blessings will search you and soak you as if you were a sponge, and the big days will go by uncounted.”
