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Kimes Entry Number
203
Original Date
1-1-1896
Publication
Sierra Club Bulletin, v. 1, no. 7
Page/Column
pp. 271-284
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "The National Parks and Forest Reservations." (1896). John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes, 1986 (Muir articles 1866-1986). 227.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/227
William and Maymie Kimes Annotation
Muir did not write specifically for the Bulletin except on rare occasions (no. 259, no. 291, no. 328). By the time the Club was organized, he was writing for a national audience in well-known journals. Occasionally, excerpts from his writing and a few letters (see index) were printed; and, in this instance, his first appearance, a speech. Muir was one of the principal speakers at the annual meeting of the Sierra Club, November23, 1895. His address was included in the ""Proceedings"" which were printed in the Bulletin the following January. In giving some observations he made during a six-week summer trip through Yosemite National Park, he says, ""On this ramble I was careful to note the results of the four years of protection the region had enjoyed under the care of the Federal Government, and I found them altogether delightful and encouraging . ... The flowers and grasses are back again in their places as if they had never been away, and every tree in the park is waving its arms for joy. , .. Blessings on Uncle Sam's blue-coats!"" Muir reviews the events leading to the formation of Yosemite National Park, and stresses the urgent need for the Yosemite Valley to be included. He looks forward to the time when the federal government will guard the forest reservations; however, he warns that even if trespassers and fires were eliminated, there would still remain much work to be done. Muir anticipates the problems currently plagueing the Forest Service when he says: ""The underbrush and young trees will grow up as they are growing in Yosemite, and unless they are kept under control the danger from some chance fire ... will become greater from year to year. The large trees will then be in danger."" He closes saying: ""Forest management must be put on a rational, permanent scientific basis, as in -every other civilized country.""