INTRODUCING OUR ENVIRONMENTAL HALL OF FAME

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Henry David Thoreau, one of the Transcendental philosophers of Concord, Massachusetts, had a special love for nature . . . and kept journals of his excursions to the Maine woods, the White Mountains, the Catskills, Cape Cod, Canada, and the Upper Mississippi. Ironically, though, his most famous "expedition'' was that to Walden Pond, which was a scant two miles from Concord Center. There he lived in solitude for two years, setting down the notes arid thoughts that make tip the wonderful observations in Walden (published in 1854).

Thoreau's writings introduced a new genre to American literature: the nature essay. A gentle man who cared about the suffering of animals, this New England poet/naturalist was not a sportsman, nor did he collect specimens or hunt. Instead, lie wrote about his intellectual and spiritual relationship to what he saw. He was also a staunch individualist who sought self-sufficiency, a simpler lifestyle, and a harmonious coexistence with nature.

In 1868, John Muir arrived in California (after walking through the Midwest!). There, in the wilderness of the Yosemite Valley, he spent six years studying, writing journals, and making sketches of what he saw. Following that adventure, this rugged naturalist went on to explore Nevada, Utah, the Northwest and Alaska.

Glaciers and forests -re two of Muir's chief interests, and his research uncovered 65 glaciers in the Sierra . . . supporting the then-unproven theory that its ranges were formed by ice and not by the surrounding earth's collapse. Subsequently, Muir was largely responsible for the development of Yosemite National Park in 1890. He also founded the Sierra Club and-as its first president-lobbied actively for 22 years for the passage of conservation laws.

John Muir became the most notable turn-of-the-century spokesman for the wilderness. Unlike most of his contemporaries-who felt nature was a menace to be subdued-Muir found supreme value in the untouched world's capacity to serve as a teacher and a spiritual force. In his books on wilderness living, his hardships are colored by adventure and his adventures exalted by spiritual communion,

"Teddy" Roosevelt is often credited with being the first national political figure to bring the issue of conservation to the attention of the American public. Acting on his concerns for the efficient, economical use of natural resources and for wilderness preservation, Roosevelt established the federal Bureau of Land Reclamation . . . had the Grand Canyon designated as one of 16 national parks . . and added some 194 mil lion acres to this country's system of forest preserves.

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