Edgar Wayburn
Encyclopedia
Edgar Wayburn was an environmentalist
who was elected president of the Sierra Club
five times in the 1960s. One of America's legendary wilderness champions, Dr. Edgar Wayburn was a tenacious and tireless leader of the Sierra Club since the 1940s and perhaps the least-known yet most successful defender of America's natural heritage.
In 1995, he was awarded the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
and in 1999 President Clinton
awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
.
Wayburn, a doctor by training but an ardent conservationist by heart, played a central role in the establishment of Redwoods National Park and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, as well as in the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. He and his late wife Peggy were involved in some of the key battles of their time to protect wild places so that future generations can explore and enjoy them.
Upon presenting the 1999 Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Clinton said, "Edgar Wayburn has worked to preserve the most breath-taking examples of the American landscape. In fact, over the course of more than a half-century, both as President of the Sierra Club and as a private citizen, he has saved more of our wilderness than any person alive."
In an editorial commending this award, the Los Angeles Times
wrote, "The White House has made a well-informed choice in selecting Wayburn, 92, as a recipient next Wednesday of the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. 'We should pass on to future generations the opportunity to enjoy these places and not have them transformed into ordinary places,' Wayburn said when he was notified of the honor. That legacy is more expansive today because of the quiet work of this committed man."
Wayburn was honored at a 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration as the recipient of the inaugural Howard C. Zahniser
Lifetime Achievement Award, given to someone whose life of achievement in protecting wilderness most closely parallels those of the person principally responsible for the Wilderness Act
.
Wayburn served five times as the Sierra Club's elected President, and was named the Club's Honorary President in 1993. During a half-century of environmental achievements, Wayburn led and won campaigns to protect millions of acres of America's coasts, mountains, forests and tundra. Wayburn has left his mark in the following ways:
Wayburn's autobiography, Your Land and Mine: Evolution of a Conservationist, was published in spring 2004. He died on the evening of March 5, 2010 at the age of 103. At the time he was at his home in San Francisco with his family by his side.
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
who was elected president of the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
five times in the 1960s. One of America's legendary wilderness champions, Dr. Edgar Wayburn was a tenacious and tireless leader of the Sierra Club since the 1940s and perhaps the least-known yet most successful defender of America's natural heritage.
In 1995, he was awarded the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
The Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism is a prize given to people who made exemplary contributions to humanity and the environment. The goal of the prize is to advance the cause of humanitarianism. The prize was established in 1986 by Albert Toepfer, an international grain merchant from...
and in 1999 President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
.
Wayburn, a doctor by training but an ardent conservationist by heart, played a central role in the establishment of Redwoods National Park and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, as well as in the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. He and his late wife Peggy were involved in some of the key battles of their time to protect wild places so that future generations can explore and enjoy them.
Upon presenting the 1999 Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Clinton said, "Edgar Wayburn has worked to preserve the most breath-taking examples of the American landscape. In fact, over the course of more than a half-century, both as President of the Sierra Club and as a private citizen, he has saved more of our wilderness than any person alive."
In an editorial commending this award, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
wrote, "The White House has made a well-informed choice in selecting Wayburn, 92, as a recipient next Wednesday of the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. 'We should pass on to future generations the opportunity to enjoy these places and not have them transformed into ordinary places,' Wayburn said when he was notified of the honor. That legacy is more expansive today because of the quiet work of this committed man."
Wayburn was honored at a 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration as the recipient of the inaugural Howard C. Zahniser
Howard Zahniser
Howard Clinton Zahniser was an American environmental activist. Zahniser is noted for being the primary author of the Wilderness Act of 1964....
Lifetime Achievement Award, given to someone whose life of achievement in protecting wilderness most closely parallels those of the person principally responsible for the Wilderness Act
Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act of 1964 was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected some 9 million acres of federal land. The result of a long effort to protect federal wilderness, the Wilderness Act was signed...
.
Wayburn served five times as the Sierra Club's elected President, and was named the Club's Honorary President in 1993. During a half-century of environmental achievements, Wayburn led and won campaigns to protect millions of acres of America's coasts, mountains, forests and tundra. Wayburn has left his mark in the following ways:
- Establishing the nation's largest urban park, the Golden Gate National Recreation AreaGolden Gate National Recreation AreaThe Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area administered by the National Park Service that surrounds the San Francisco Bay area. It is one of the most visited units of the National Park system in the United States, with over 13 million visitors a year...
. Included in the park's 76,000 acre (310 km²) expanse are San Francisco's beaches, Alcatraz and the PresidioPresidio of San FranciscoThe Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area... - Protecting over 100 million acres (400,000 km²) of Alaskan wild lands with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation ActAlaska National Interest Lands Conservation ActThe Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was a United States federal law passed in 1980 by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on December 2 of that year....
, which doubled the size of Denali National Park, created 10 new National Parks, and doubled the size of America's National Park system - Creating Redwood National Park, and then doubling the park's size 10 years later;
- Increasing the area of California's Mount Tamalpais State ParkMount Tamalpais State ParkMount Tamalpais State Park is a California state park, located in Marin County, California. The primary feature of the park is the Mount Tamalpais. The park contains mostly redwood and oak forests. The mountain itself covers around . There are about of hiking trails, which are connected to a...
from 870 to 6,300 acres (3.5 to 25 km²). Mount Tamalpais is now among the state's 10 most-visited state parks - Establishing the Point Reyes National SeashorePoint Reyes National SeashorePoint Reyes National Seashore is a park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California, USA. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as a nationally important nature preserve within which existing agricultural uses are allowed to continue...
- Establishing Wilderness areas throughout the American West
Wayburn's autobiography, Your Land and Mine: Evolution of a Conservationist, was published in spring 2004. He died on the evening of March 5, 2010 at the age of 103. At the time he was at his home in San Francisco with his family by his side.