Robert Marshall (January 2, 1901November 11, 1939) was an American
forester
A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...
, writer and wilderness
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
who is best remembered as the person who spearheaded the 1935 founding of the
Wilderness Society in the United States. Marshall developed a love for the outdoors as a young child. He was an avid hiker and climber who visited the
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...
frequently during his youth, ultimately becoming one of the first
Adirondack Forty-Sixers
The Adirondack Forty-Sixers are an organization of hikers who have climbed all forty-six of the traditionally recognized High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. They are often referred to just as 46ers. As of 2021, there were nearly 14,000 regi ...
. He also traveled to the
Brooks Range
The Brooks Range ( Gwich'in: ''Gwazhał'') is a mountain range in far northern North America stretching some from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada's Yukon Territory. Reaching a peak elevation of on Mount Isto, the range is believ ...
of the far northern
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
n wilderness. He wrote numerous articles and books about his travels, including the bestselling 1933 book ''
Arctic Village.''
A scientist with a
PhD in
plant physiology
Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (bi ...
, Marshall became independently wealthy after the death of his father in 1929. He had started his outdoor career in 1925 as forester with the U.S. Forest Service. He used his financial independence for expeditions to Alaska and other wilderness areas. Later he held two significant public appointed posts: chief of
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
in the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
, from 1933 to 1937, and head of recreation management in the
Forest Service, from 1937 to 1939, both during the administration of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
. During this period, he directed the promulgation of regulations to preserve large areas of roadless land that were under federal management. Many years after his death, some of those areas were permanently protected from development, exploitation, and mechanization with the passage of the
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 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...
of 1964.
Defining wilderness as a social as well as an environmental ideal, Marshall promoted organization of a national group dedicated to the preservation of primeval land. In 1935, he was one of the principal founders of The Wilderness Society and personally provided most of the Society's funding in its first years. He also supported
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
throughout his life.
Marshall died of heart failure at the age of 38 in 1939. Twenty-five years later, partly as a result of his efforts, The Wilderness Society helped gain passage of the Wilderness Act. The Act was passed by Congress in 1964 and legally defined wilderness areas of the United States and protected some nine million acres (36,000 km
2) of federal land from development, road building and motorized transportation. Today, Marshall is considered largely responsible for the wilderness preservation movement. Several areas and landmarks, including The
Bob Marshall Wilderness
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Area is a congressionally-designated wilderness area located in Western Montana region of the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall (1901–1939), an early forester in the federal government, conservationist, a ...
in
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
and
Mount Marshall in the Adirondacks, have been named in his honor.
Early life and education
Born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, Bob Marshall was the third of four children of
Louis Marshall
Louis Marshall (December 14, 1856 – September 11, 1929) was an American corporate, constitutional and civil rights lawyer as well as a mediator and Jewish community leader who worked to secure religious, political, and cultural freedom for a ...
(1856–1929) and Florence (née Lowenstein) Marshall (1873–1916).
His father, the son of Jewish immigrants from
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, was a noted wealthy constitutional lawyer, conservationist, and a champion of minority rights. The family moved to
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, where Louis Marshall was active in the Jewish community and a co-founder of the
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...
. In 1891, he was part of a national delegation that sought federal intervention on behalf of persecuted
Russian Jews
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
. An amateur naturalist and active conservationist, Louis Marshall was instrumental in securing "forever wild" protection for the
Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves in New York State. He helped found the
New York State College of Forestry
The New York State College of Forestry, the first professional school of forestry in North America, opened its doors at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, in the autumn of 1898., It was advocated for by Governor Frank S. Black, but after jus ...
at
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
, now
(SUNY-ESF). Florence Marshall, meanwhile, devoted herself to her family, the education of young Jewish women, and the work of several Jewish welfare organizations.
Bob Marshall attended
Felix Adler's private
Ethical Culture School
Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also referred to as Fieldston, is a private independent school in New York City. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1,700 students with 480 facul ...
in New York City until 1919. The school nurtured independent thinking and commitment to social justice. Marshall became involved in nature from a young age; two of his childhood heroes were
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...
and
William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...
, who explored the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
in the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
. His family took him to the Adirondack Mountains when he was six months old; they returned every summer for the next 25 years. After that, Marshall returned often on his own.
[Marshall, p. 44] His younger brother
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
(1904–2000) later described the family's visits to
Knollwood, their summer camp on
Lower Saranac Lake
Lower Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. With Middle Saranac Lake and Upper Saranac Lake, a paddle with only one portage is possible. ...
in the
Adirondack State Park
The Adirondack Park is a part of New York's Forest Preserve in northeastern New York, United States. The park was established in 1892 for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure”, and for watershed protection. The park ...
, as a time when they "entered a world of freedom and informality, of living plants and spaces, of fresh greens and exhilarating blues, of giant, slender pines and delicate pink twinflowers, of deer and mosquitoes, of fishing and guide boats and tramps through the woods".
Schooling and early exploring
Marshall was drawn to the outdoors. He discovered his passion for exploring, charting, and a love of climbing mountains, in part through the writings of
Verplanck Colvin
Verplanck Colvin (January 4, 1847 – May 28, 1920) was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features t ...
, who during the post-
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
decade surveyed the woods of northern New York. Throughout his life, Marshall kept a series of hiking notebooks, which he illustrated with photographs and filled with statistics. In 1915, Marshall climbed his first Adirondack peak, the
Ampersand Mountain
Ampersand Mountain is a mountain in Franklin County in the High Peaks Wilderness Area of the northeastern Adirondacks, west of the High Peaks proper in New York State. The trail up the mountain begins on New York State Route 3 southwest of t ...
, alongside his brother George and family friend Herb Clark, a
Saranac Lake guide.
[Brown, p. xxiv] The two brothers learned the arts of woodcraft and boating through Clark, who accompanied them on most of their longer trips during adolescence and early adulthood.
By 1921, they became the first climbers to scale all 42 Adirondack Mountains believed to exceed , some of which had never been climbed.
[Catton, p. 133] In 1924, the three became the first
Adirondack Forty-Sixers
The Adirondack Forty-Sixers are an organization of hikers who have climbed all forty-six of the traditionally recognized High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. They are often referred to just as 46ers. As of 2021, there were nearly 14,000 regi ...
, hikers who have climbed to the summits of all 46
High Peaks of the Adirondacks.
After graduating from the Ethical Culture School, Marshall spent a year at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. In 1920, he transferred to the
New York State College of Forestry
The New York State College of Forestry, the first professional school of forestry in North America, opened its doors at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, in the autumn of 1898., It was advocated for by Governor Frank S. Black, but after jus ...
at
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
. Marshall had decided in his teens that he wanted to be a forester, writing then about his love of "the woods and solitude;" he wrote that he "should hate to spend the greater part of my lifetime in a stuffy office or in a crowded city". For a while he was unhappy and withdrawn at Syracuse. But, he succeeded academically and was known for his individuality. As one classmate put it, Marshall was "always doing something no one else would ever think of doing. He was constantly rating things—the Adirondack peaks, his best days with George, and dozens of others." Marshall became a member of Alpha Xi Sigma, the forestry college's honor society. He ran on the Syracuse University freshman track team and participated in both junior varsity
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
and
cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...
.
During the early 1920s, Marshall grew interested in promoting Adirondack recreation. In 1922, he became one of the charter members of the
Adirondack Mountain Club
The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1922. It has approximately 30,000 members. The ADK is dedicated to the protection and responsible recreational use of the New York State Forest Preserve, parks, wild l ...
(ADK), an organization devoted to the building and maintenance of trails and the teaching of hiking in the park. In 1922, he prepared a 38-page guidebook, entitled ''The High Peaks of the Adirondacks.'' Based on his pioneering experiences on the peaks, the guide recommends that "it's a great thing these days to leave civilization for a while and return to nature." Marshall provided a brief description of each peak and arranged them in order of "niceness of view and all around pleasure in view and climb."
In 1924, Marshall graduated ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
'' from Syracuse with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree in forestry, finishing 4th of 59 at the College of Forestry.
The senior yearbook described him as "the Champion Pond Hound of all time, a lad with a mania for statistics and shinnying mountain peaks, the boy who will go five miles
kmaround to find something to wade thru. And the man who is
rear chainman for Bob will have to hump or get wet, and probably both." By 1925, he earned a
Master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in forestry from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
Forest Service and Alaska
Marshall started work in 1925 with the
Forest Service, where he worked until 1928. Although he had hoped to go to Alaska, he was assigned that year to the Northern
Rocky Mountain
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
Experiment Station at
Missoula, Montana
Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...
.
Marshall's research at the experimental station focused on the dynamics of forest regeneration after
fires
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are pr ...
. He had to fight a widespread fire after a July storm started more than 150 fires in
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
's
Kaniksu National Forest
The Kaniksu National Forest (pronounced "Kuh-NICK-su") is a U.S. National Forest located in northeastern Washington, the Idaho Panhandle, and northwestern Montana. It is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National ...
.
He was put in charge of supporting and provisioning one of the crews led by the Forest Service. As he later recalled, Marshall worked "18 to 20 hours a day as time-keeper, Chief of Commissary, Camp Boss, and Inspector of the fire line".
[Sutter, p. 204] Spending time with loggers and fire fighters, and seeing the conditions under which they worked, Marshall learned vital lessons about labor issues and natural resource use. At the experimental station, Marshall became interested in the unsafe conditions for many working Americans. He began to develop
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and socialist philosophies.
After leaving the Forest Service in 1928, Marshall worked to complete his studies for a PhD in plant physiology at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
in Baltimore, Maryland. The following year he made his first trip to Alaska, visiting the upper
Koyukuk River
The Koyukuk River (; ''Ooghekuhno' '' in Koyukon, ''Kuuyukaq'' or ''Tagraġvik'' in Iñupiaq) is a tributary of the Yukon River, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the last major tributary entering the Yukon before the larger river empties into ...
and the central Brooks Range, and preparing for an extended stay for study.
The scientific objective of the trip was to study tree growth at the northern
timberline near the
Arctic Divide
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
. For his 15-month sojourn in the small town of
Wiseman, Alaska
Wiseman is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. The full time resident population is 12 as of 2022.
Wiseman is a small mining community along the Middle Fork Koyukuk River in the Brooks Range. It w ...
, Marshall rented a one-room cabin next to the only
roadhouse in the village. He furnished it with books, records, a phonograph player, and a writing desk.
[Catton, p. 138] He placed the desk so that he could sit by the cabin's single window and admire the view of the Koyukuk River and the range of steep, snow-covered mountains in the background. His travels engendered in him a great love for the central Brooks Range in the Alaskan wilderness. Marshall was one of the first to explore much of the range, especially the headwaters of the North fork of the Koyukuk River,
where he bestowed the name "
Gates of the Arctic" on a pair of mountains, Boreal Mountain (6,375 ft) and Frigid Crags (5,501 ft).
Bob Marshall's mother died of cancer in 1916. In 1929, his father Louis died in
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, Switzerland at the age of 72. The four children inherited most of their father's estate, which was worth several million dollars. Although Marshall became financially independent, he continued to work throughout his life. He used his wealth to pursue his interests, such as The Wilderness Society, which he essentially supported in its early years.
In 1930, Marshall received his PhD under the supervision of
Dr. Burton E. Livingston at the Johns Hopkins Laboratory of Plant Physiology. Marshall's doctoral dissertation was titled ''An Experimental Study of the Water Relations of Seedling Conifers with Special Reference to Wilting.''
In February 1930, Marshall published an essay,
"The Problem of the Wilderness," after it was rejected by four magazines. This is now celebrated as a defense of wilderness preservation, and the essay expanded themes developed in his earlier article, "The Wilderness as a Minority Right." Published in ''
The Scientific Monthly
''The Scientific Monthly'' was a science magazine published from 1915 to 1957. Psychologist James McKeen Cattell, the former publisher and editor of ''The Popular Science Monthly'', was the original founder and editor. In 1958, ''The Scientific Mo ...
,'' the essay is considered one of Marshall's most important works. He argued that wilderness was worth saving not only because of its unique aesthetic qualities, but because it could provide visitors with a chance for adventure.
[Shabecoff, p. 81] Marshall stated: "There is just one hope of repulsing the tyrannical ambition of civilization to conquer every niche on the whole earth. That hope is the organization of spirited people who will fight for the freedom of the wilderness." The article became a much-quoted call to action and by the late 20th century was considered seminal by wilderness historians.
In July 1930, Marshall and his brother George climbed nine Adirondack High Peaks in one day, setting a new record.
In August of that year, Marshall returned to Alaska. He planned to explore the Brooks Range to pursue more tree research, and he also wanted to study the Arctic frontier society of Wiseman. He described the village, which was 200 miles north of
Fairbanks
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
, as "the happiest civilization of which I have knowledge." Befriending a number of the area's inhabitants, he meticulously recorded thousands of hours of conversation with them. Marshall persuaded a number of villagers, most of whom were single males, to take intelligence tests. He also recorded statistics on all aspects of the villagers' lives, from their financial resources to their diets to their sexual habits.
He spent 12-1/2 months—from late August 1930 to early September 1931—exploring and collecting data. From this work (and his previous trip to Alaska), he wrote ''
Arctic Village,'' a sociological study of life in the wilderness. Published in 1933 the book was selected by the
Literary Guild
The Literary Guild of America is a mail order book club selling low-cost editions of selected current books to its members. Established in 1927 to compete with the Book of the Month Club, it is currently owned by Bookspan. It was a way to encourag ...
and became a bestseller. Marshall shared the royalties from the book with the residents of Wiseman.
Writing, conservation, and Federal government
Marshall returned to the
East Coast
East Coast may refer to:
Entertainment
* East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop
* East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017
* East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004
* East Coast FM, a ra ...
in late September 1931. Although he was writing ''Arctic Village,'' he also wrote prolifically on other topics and published several articles about American forestry. In particular, he was concerned that few articles of this time addressed the issue of
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
, and he wrote a letter to the president of the
American Forestry Association
American Forests is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization, established in 1875, and dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy forest ecosystems. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
Activities
The mission of American ...
, George D. Pratt, on the matter. He also pursued a variety of other activities: he accepted an invitation to serve on a committee to dedicate a memorial (Louis Marshall Memorial Hall) to his father at the forestry college in Syracuse. He lectured in various cities, delivering speeches about his travels and wilderness preservation.
Shortly after his return, Marshall was asked by Earle Clapp, head of the Forest Service's Branch of Research, to help initiate badly needed reforms in the forest-products industry and to create a broader vision of national forest management. Marshall moved to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
in September 1932 to assume the appointed position, which entailed writing initiatives for forest recreation. He immediately began compiling a list of the remaining roadless areas in the United States. He sent this data to regional foresters, urging them to set aside areas for wilderness; all of them responded negatively. Marshall's contributions to what became known as the
Copeland Report The Copeland Report was the result of a United States Congressional investigation of forestry for the purpose of outlining a coordinated plan that would "insure all of the economic and social benefits which can and should be derived from productive ...
amounted to three extensive chapters of a two-volume, 1,677-page work. He considered it "the best piece of forestry work I have yet done."
During the depths of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
in 1932–1933, Marshall had defined himself as a
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
. He told a correspondent: "I wish very sincerely that Socialism would be put into effect right away and the profit system eliminated." He became active in the Tenants Unemployed League of the District of Columbia, a group that helped unemployed people with housing problems; later he joined the fight against federal aid cuts to scientific research. Having learned of the
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
from his father, he served as chairman of the Washington, DC chapter. Marshall was arrested and briefly held for participating in a March 1933
United Front
A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...
demonstration.
Marshall did not forget his conservation causes, and soon was pondering the question of wilderness and
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s. In the early 1930s, he joined the
National Parks Association, eventually becoming a member of its board.
In 1933, Marshall published ''The People's Forests''
n Forestry in America in which he "made a forceful case for socializing the nation's industrial timberlands."
[William Cronon, "First Roll Call
The Conversation That Launched the Wilderness Society: Where Did It Take Place?", p.2, William Cronon website, n.d.; accessed November 23, 2016] He believed that public ownership was the "best way to ensure both the sustainability of the forest industry and the preservation of wilderness."
[Jesse Lichtenstein, "Jesse Lichtenstein reviews The People’s Forests by Robert Marshall"](_blank)
''Grist,'' February 11, 2003; accessed November 24, 2016
In August 1933, Marshall was appointed as director of the Forestry Division of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
(BIA), a position he held for four years.
[Catton, p. 142] The BIA managed the resources of many Indian reservation lands, deciding on logging and other leases for resource extraction. This was before many tribes asserted their sovereignty and took over their own management of their lands. Marshall besieged government personnel with letters, telephone calls, and personal visits in the cause of wilderness, rapidly gaining recognition in Washington as a champion of preservation. One of his last initiatives as chief forester of the BIA was to recommend designation of of Indian reservation lands for federal management as either "roadless" or "wild" areas. The administrative order, which created 16 wilderness areas, received approval shortly after Marshall left the BIA to join the Forest Service again. He was appointed to a political position there as well.
Marshall became increasingly concerned with civilization's encroachment upon the wild lands, writing:
The sounds of the forest are entirely obliterated by the roar of the motor. The smell of pine needles and flowers and herbs and freshly turned dirt and all the other delicate odors of the forest are drowned in the stench of gasoline. The feeling of wind blowing in the face and of soft ground under foot are all lost.
The Wilderness Society
In 1934, Marshall visited
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...
and met with
Benton MacKaye
Benton MacKaye ( ; March 6, 1879 – December 11, 1975) was an American forester, planner and conservationist. He was born in Stamford, Connecticut; his father was actor and dramatist Steele MacKaye. After studying forestry at Harvard Unive ...
, a regional planner who gained support to designate and lay out the
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...
. Together with
Harvey Broome
Harvey Benjamin Broome (July 15, 1902 – March 8, 1968) was an American lawyer, writer and conservationist. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Broome was a founding member of The Wilderness Society, for which he served as president from 1957 un ...
, a Knoxville lawyer, they discussed Marshall's 1930 proposal for an organization dedicated to wilderness preservation.
Bernard Frank
Bernard Frank (11 October 1929, in Neuilly-sur-Seine – 3 November 2006, in Paris) was a French journalist and writer.
Early life
Bernard Frank was raised in a comfortable family, where his father was a bank manager. After his baccalauréat ...
, a fellow forester, joined them later in the year; the men mailed an "Invitation to Help Organize a Group to Preserve the American Wilderness" to like-minded individuals. The invitation expressed their desire "to integrate the growing sentiment which we believe exists in this country for holding wild areas sound-proof as well as sight-proof from our increasingly mechanized life," and their conviction that such wildernesses were "a serious human need rather than a luxury and plaything".
[Nash, p. 207]
On January 21, 1935, the organizing committee published a folder stating that "for the purpose of fighting off invasion of the wilderness and of stimulating ... an appreciation of its multiform emotional, intellectual, and scientific values, we are forming an organization to be known as
the WILDERNESS SOCIETY".
They invited
Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his ...
to act as the society's first president, but the position ultimately went to
Robert Sterling Yard
Robert Sterling Yard (February 1, 1861 – May 17, 1945) was an American writer, journalist, and wilderness activist. Born in Haverstraw, New York, Yard graduated from Princeton University and spent the first twenty years of his career in the ed ...
. Marshall provided the bulk of the society's funding in its early years, beginning with an anonymous donation of $1,000.
T. H. Watkins, who later edited the society's magazine, ''Wilderness,'' contended that before Marshall and the Society there was "no true movement" for the preservation of the nation's roadless and primitive areas. "One could comfortably argue," Watkins wrote in 1985 on the occasion of the society's 50th anniversary, "that Robert Marshall was personally responsible for the preservation of more wilderness than any individual in history".
Later efforts and sudden death
Marshall's last years were productive. By May 1937, he was appointed as director of the Forest Service's Division of Recreation and Lands. Over the next two years, Marshall worked on two major initiatives: an effort to extend national forest recreational opportunities to people with lower incomes (as well as dismantling discriminatory barriers against ethnic minorities), and a program to preserve more wilderness within the
national forests. His biographer James Glover asserts that Marshall was probably the first high-level official to seriously fight ethnic discrimination in Forest Service recreational policies, at a time when racial segregation of public facilities was law throughout the Southern states and in some other states. During this time, Marshall continued to financially support The Wilderness Society, as well as various civil rights, labor, and socialist organizations.
In August 1938, Marshall began his last trip to Alaska, which included further exploration of the Brooks Range. He became a subject of interest of the
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
, a
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
committee investigating "un-American" activities. Known as the Dies Committee for its chairman,
Martin Dies, the committee announced in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' that eight federal officials (including Marshall) were contributing to
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
because of their connections to such organizations as the Workers Alliance and the
American League for Peace and Democracy The American League Against War and Fascism was an organization formed in 1933 by the Communist Party USA and pacifists united by their concern as Nazism and Fascism rose in Europe. In 1937 the name of the group was changed to the American League fo ...
. Marshall was too busy traveling to respond to the allegations: after leaving Alaska he spent time in
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
, Montana,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
and
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. He visited Alaska for one last time the following year and made a tour of western national forests, addressing aspects of forest recreation.
While Marshall was in Washington State that September, two regulations (U-1 and U2) developed by his Forest Service committee were signed by Secretary of Agriculture
Henry A. Wallace; these "U-Regulations" protected wilderness and wild areas from road building, logging, hotels, and similarly destructive activities. It made their protected status more secure.
While on a midnight train from Washington, D.C. to New York City on November 11, 1939, Marshall died of apparent heart failure at the age of 38.
His sudden death came as a shock because of his relatively young age and high level of physical activity. He was greatly mourned by friends and relatives. His brother George (who lived to be 96) said: "Bob's death shattered me and was the most traumatic event in my life." Marshall was interred at
Salem Fields Cemetery
Salem Fields Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located at 775 Jamaica Avenue in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, United States, within the Cemetery Belt. It was founded in 1852 by Temple Emanu-el.
Salem Fields is the final ...
, a Jewish burial ground in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York City, beside his parents and sister Ruth (Putey) Marshall, who had died of
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
at age 38 in 1936.
Legacy
A bachelor, Marshall left virtually all of his $1.5 million estate (equivalent to $ million today) to three causes dear to him: wilderness preservation, socialism, civil liberties.
Three trusts were established in his will. The first, focused on education related to "the theory of production for use and not for profit", received half of his estate; the second, aimed at "safeguarding and advancement of the cause of civil liberties", received one-quarter of his estate; and the third supported "preservation of the wilderness conditions in outdoor America," establishing what became the Robert Marshall Wilderness Fund. Trustees of the latter trust included Robert Sterling Yard, Bob Marshall's brother George, Irving Clark,
Olaus Murie
Olaus Johan Murie (March 1, 1889 – October 21, 1963), called the "father of modern elk management", Teachers > Culture > Living in Kenai Fjords was a naturalist, author, and wildlife biologist who did groundbreaking field research on a variety ...
and Bill Zimmerman, early leaders of The Wilderness Society. Marshall left money to only one individual: $10,000 (equivalent to $ today) to his old friend and guide, Herb Clark.
Marshall's posthumously published book ''Alaska Wilderness, Exploring the Central Brooks Range'' (1956), edited by his brother George, became a seminal work. It inspired the establishment of the
Gates of the Arctic National Park. His Adirondack writings were published by Lost Pond Press in 2006, as an anthology titled ''Bob Marshall in the Adirondacks: Writings of a Pioneering Peak-Bagger, Pond-Hopper and Wilderness Preservationist.'' It was edited by Phil Brown, editor of the ''Adirondack Explorer'' news magazine. According to the publisher, the book includes "numerous accounts of his hikes in the High Peaks and the vast wild region south of
Cranberry Lake
Cranberry Lake is a lake on the East branch of the Oswegatchie River in the Adirondack Park in New York in the United States. It is the third largest lake in the Adirondack Park (after Lake George and the Great Sacandaga Lake). About 75 percent ...
, spirited defenses of the state's forever-wild
Forest Preserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
, a charming portrait of Herb Clark, and excerpts from an unpublished novel set partly in the Adirondacks".
Since its founding, The Wilderness Society has helped pass many bills for preservation and conservation of public lands. It has also purchased lands for preservation, contributing a total of 109 million acres (421,000 km
2) to the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Marshall's dream of permanent wilderness protection became a reality 25 years after his death when President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
signed the
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 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...
into law on September 3, 1964, in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Written by
Howard Zahniser
Howard Clinton Zahniser (February 25, 1906 – May 5, 1964) was an American environmental activist. For nearly 20 years, he helped lead The Wilderness Society as executive secretary, executive director, and editor of ''The Living Wilderness'', fr ...
—who died of a heart attack at age 58 four months before the bill was signed into law— the legislation authorized the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
to set aside a total of 9 million acres in selected areas in the national forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and other federal lands as units to be kept permanently unchanged by humans.
It also provided for more acreage to be designated as wilderness for preservation. In defining wilderness, Zahniser invoked Marshall and his contemporaries, stating that "in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape,
ildernessis hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." The act's signing was the most important event in the history of The Wilderness Society; members
Mardy Murie and
Alice Zahniser stood beside Johnson as he signed the legislation. With the Wilderness Act, the United States guaranteed permanent protection of wild and scenic natural areas for future generations.
Places and dedications
The
Bob Marshall Wilderness
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Area is a congressionally-designated wilderness area located in Western Montana region of the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall (1901–1939), an early forester in the federal government, conservationist, a ...
, an area located in
Flathead and
Lewis and Clark
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
national forests in Montana, was created in the same year (1964) that the Wilderness Act became law. It had previously been set aside in 1941 as the South Fork, Pentagon, and Sun River Primitive Areas.
The area encompasses a million acres (4,000 km
2) and is one of the best-preserved ecosystems in the world. Known as "The Bob," it is the fifth-largest wilderness in the contiguous 48 states (
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth.
Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...
is the largest). In compliance with the 1964 Wilderness Act, no
motorized or
mechanical
Mechanical may refer to:
Machine
* Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement
* Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
equipment (including bicycles or
hang gliders
Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...
) is permitted. Although camping and fishing are allowed with proper permit, the area is roadless, and logging and mining are prohibited. There are numerous U.S. Forest Service cabins in The Bob for use by Forest Service personnel. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex (which encompasses Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, and
Great Bear Wilderness
The Great Bear Wilderness is located in northern Montana, United States, within Flathead National Forest Created by an act of Congress in 1978, the wilderness comprises 286,700 acres (1,160 km²) and borders the Bob Marshall Wilderness on the ...
es) is a habitat for the
grizzly bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...
,
lynx
A lynx is a type of wild cat.
Lynx may also refer to:
Astronomy
* Lynx (constellation)
* Lynx (Chinese astronomy)
* Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory
Places Canada
* Lynx, Ontar ...
,
cougar
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...
,
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
,
black bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
,
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
,
elk
The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...
and a variety of other birds, mammals, and plants.
Mount Marshall (previously called Mount Herbert), which stands high in the Adirondack Mountains, Camp Bob Marshall in the
Black Hills
The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...
, and
Marshall Lake in the Brooks Range of Alaska, north of the Arctic Circle, are also named for him.
In 2008, the Adirondack Council was encouraging the state of New York to create the Bob Marshall Great Wilderness near
Cranberry Lake
Cranberry Lake is a lake on the East branch of the Oswegatchie River in the Adirondack Park in New York in the United States. It is the third largest lake in the Adirondack Park (after Lake George and the Great Sacandaga Lake). About 75 percent ...
in the western Adirondacks; if successful, it would be the largest wilderness area in the Adirondack Park at .
At the
(SUNY-ESF), Bob Marshall Fellowships in wilderness management and policy studies are offered to graduate students and faculty engaged in research in recreation resource management; the fellowships are supported by the college's Bob Marshall Endowed Fund. Also at ESF, a student "
outing club
An outing club or outdoors club is a student society centered on outdoor recreation. Outing clubs provide their members with the planning, training, access, and equipment necessary to enjoy these activities.
Origins
Some students' unions beg ...
" named after Marshall honors his love of the outdoors and the Adirondack mountains. A bronze plaque commemorating Bob Marshall's contributions to wilderness conservation was installed in the entrance of Marshall Hall, a hub of campus events and activities named after his father.
Selected list of works
Articles
* "The Wilderness as a Minority Right", ''U.S. Forest Service Bulletin'' (August 27, 1928), pp. 5–6.
* "Forest devastation must stop", ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'' (August 28, 1929)
* "The Problem of the Wilderness", ''
The Scientific Monthly
''The Scientific Monthly'' was a science magazine published from 1915 to 1957. Psychologist James McKeen Cattell, the former publisher and editor of ''The Popular Science Monthly'', was the original founder and editor. In 1958, ''The Scientific Mo ...
'' (February 1930), pp. 141–148
* "A Proposed Remedy for Our Forest Illness", ''
Journal of Forestry
The ''Journal of Forestry'' is the primary scholarly journal of the Society of American Foresters. It aims to advance the forestry profession by keeping professional foresters informed about developments and ideas related to the practice of for ...
'' 28 (March 1930)
* "The Social Management of American Forests",
League for Industrial Democracy The League for Industrial Democracy (LID) was founded as a successor to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society in 1921. Members decided to change its name to reflect a more inclusive and more organizational perspective.
Background Intercollegiate So ...
(1930)
Books
* ''
Arctic Village''. New York: The Literary Guild (1933)
: (reprinted by the
University of Alaska Press
The University Press of Colorado is a nonprofit publisher supported partly by Adams State College, Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Colorado at Boulde ...
, Fairbanks, 1991. )
* ''The People's Forests.
n Forestry in America.'. New York: H. Smith and R. Haas (1933)
: (reprinted by the
University of Iowa Press The University of Iowa Press is a university press that is part of the University of Iowa.
Established in 1969, thUniversity of Iowa Pressis an academic publisher of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. The UI Press is the only universit ...
, Iowa City, 2002. )
* ''Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Central Brooks Range'', 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press (1970)
: (first published as ''Arctic Wilderness'', in 1956)
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Borneman, Walter R. 2003. ''Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land''. New York: HarperCollins. .
* Brown, Phil (ed). 2006. ''Bob Marshall in the Adirondacks: Writings of a Pioneering Peak-Bagger, Pond-Hopper and Wilderness Preservationist''. Saranac Lake, New York: Lost Pond Press. .
* Catton, Theodore. 1997. ''Inhabited Wilderness: Indians, Eskimos, and National Parks in Alaska''. University of New Mexico.
* Fox, Stephen. 1984. "We Want No Straddlers". ''Wilderness'' 48.167 (July): 5–19.
* Glover, James M. 1986. ''A Wilderness Original: The Life of Bob Marshall''. Seattle: The Mountaineers. .
* Graham, Frank Jr. 1978. ''The Adirondack Park: A Political History''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
* Marshall, George. 1951. "Adirondacks to Alaska: A Biographical Sketch of Robert Marshall". ''Ad-i-Ron-Dac'' XV(3): pp. 44–45, 59.
*
Nash, Roderick. 1987. ''Wilderness and the American Mind''. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. .
* Shabecoff, Philip. 2003. ''A Fierce Green Fire: The American Environmental Movement''. Washington: Island Press. .
* Sutter, Paul S. 2002. ''Driven Wild: How the Fight against Automobiles Launched the Modern Wilderness Movement''. Seattle: University of Washington press. .
* Zeveloff, Samuel I. 1992. ''Wilderness Tapestry: An Eclectic Approach to Preservation''. Reno: University of Nevada Press. .
Further reading
* Glover, James M., and Regina B. Glover. 1986.
Robert Marshall: Portrait of a Liberal Forester. ''Journal of Forest History'' 30(3), pp. 112–119.
* Marshall, George. 1951. "Bibliography of Robert Marshall, 1901–1939, With Reviews of His Published Works and Biographical Appreciations". ''The Living Wilderness'', pp. 20–23.
* Marshall, George. 1954. "Bibliography of Robert Marshall: A Supplement". ''The Living Wilderness'', pp. 31–35.
* Nash, Roderick F. 2001. ''Wilderness and the American Mind'', 4th ed. New Haven: Yale University Press. .
* Vickery, Jim. 1986. ''Wilderness Visionaries''. Merrillville, Ind.: ICS Books. .
* Hott, Lawrence, and Diane Garey. 1991. ''
Wild by Law: The Rise of Environmentalism and the Creation of the Wilderness Act''. .
* Woelber, Paxson. 2013.
The World Beyond the World', a short film with narration adapted from "Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Central Brooks Range".
External links
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation website – Wilderness Volunteer Projects in The Bob*
*
The Marshall archives at the SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Bob
1901 births
1939 deaths
Adirondacks
American conservationists
American foresters
20th-century American Jews
Columbia University alumni
Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni
Harvard University alumni
Johns Hopkins University alumni
People of the Alaska Territory
New York State College of Forestry
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry alumni
American non-fiction environmental writers
Burials at Salem Fields Cemetery
20th-century American non-fiction writers
Scientists from New York (state)
American socialists
New York (state) socialists