The Meaning of Wilderness: Essential Articles and Speeches

225 Pages·2001·5.35 MB·English

by  Sigurd F. Olson

The Meaning
of Wilderness
also
published
by the
university
of minnesota
press
By Sigurd F. Olson
Listening Point
The Lonely Land
Of Time and Place
Open Horizons
Reflections from the North Country
Runes of the North
The Singing Wilderness
By David Backes
A Wilderness Within:
The Life of Sigurd F. Olson
Sigurd F. Olson
The Meaning
essential articles and speeches
of Wilderness
Edited and with
an Introduction by
David Backes
University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis / London
Copyright 1928–1973 by the estate of Sigurd F. Olson
Introduction and other new material copyright 2001 by the Regents of
the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Olson, Sigurd F., 1899–1982
The meaning of wilderness : essential articles and speeches /
Sigurd F. Olson ; edited and with an introduction by David Backes.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8166-3708-3
1. Natural history—North America. 2. Philosophy of nature.
I.Backes, David. II. Title.
QH102 .O386 2001
508.7—dc21
00-011869
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and
employer.
12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the Listening Point Foundation, which works not
only to preserve and protect Listening Point, the rugged
and beautiful northern Minnesota lakeshore property
that served as a getaway for Sigurd Olson, but also
to promote Sigurd’s philosophy and build upon his
legacy in the field of wilderness education.
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contents
ix Preface
xiii Chronology of Sigurd Olson’s Life
xix Introduction David Backes
3 Reflections of a Guide (1928)
14 Search for the Wild (1932)
22 The Romance of Portages (1936)
29 Let’s Go Exploring (1937)
39 Why Wilderness? (1938)
48 Flying In (1945)
58 We Need Wilderness (1946)
69 The Preservation of Wilderness (1948)
79 The Quetico-Superior Wilderness Laboratory (1951)
84 Those Intangible Things (1954)
92 Our Need of Breathing Space (1958)
100 Beauty Belongs to All (1959)
108 The Spiritual Aspects of Wilderness (1961)
122 The Wilderness Concept (1962)
134 The Spiritual Need (1966)
145 Remarks to National Park Service Master Plan Team
Members (mid-1960s)
151 What Is Wilderness? (1968)
154 A Longing for Wilderness (1973)
175 Writings by Sigurd F. Olson
183 Index
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Preface
S
igurd f. olson (1899–1982) is best known as the au-
thor of nine popular books that express the awe and wonder
he found in nature. He is also remembered as a powerful
speaker and environmental leader who became an icon of
the wilderness preservation movement in the 1960s and
1970s. Sigurd’s wilderness philosophy found strong support
among national environmental leaders, federal land managers
in the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the
Interior, and many thousands of ordinary citizens. Probably
no other person since John Muir has received so much affec-
tionate recognition in his lifetime as both a writer and envi-
ronmental leader. Sigurd not only received the highest award
in nature writing, the John Burroughs medal, but the top
honors presented by four of the major American environ-
mental groups: the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club, the
National Wildlife Federation, and the Izaak Walton League.
He is the only person to have received more than two of
thesetop environmental awards; only two of the more than
sixty other Burroughs medal winners have received even one.
George Marshall, who served as president of both the Wilder-
ness Society and the Sierra Club, summed up the affection
people felt for Sigurd in six words: “He made wilderness and
life sing.”
ix