Margaret Thomas "Mardy" Murie (August 18, 1902 – October 19, 2003) was a naturalist, writer, adventurer, and conservationist. Dubbed the "Grandmother of the Conservation Movement" by both the Sierra Club and the
Wilderness Society, she helped in 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 ...
, and was instrumental in creating the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Arctic Refuge) is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States on traditional Gwich'in lands. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest national wildli ...
. She was the recipient of the
Audubon Medal
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...
, the
John Muir Award, and the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
—the highest civilian honor awarded by the United States.
Early life
Born Margaret Thomas on August 18, 1902 in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
, Murie moved to
Fairbanks, Alaska
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 p ...
, with her family when she was nine years old. She attended
Reed College
Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...
in Oregon for two years before transferring to
Simmons College
Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include:
* Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts
* Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky
* Ha ...
in Massachusetts for a year, then transferred to and became the first woman to graduate from the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines (now the
University of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...
); she graduated in 1924 with a degree in business administration. She met
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 ...
in Fairbanks, and they married in 1924 at sunrise in
Anvik, Alaska
Anvik ( Deg Xinag: ) is a city, home to the Deg Hit'an people, in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. The name Anvik, meaning "exit" in the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, became the common usage despite multiple names at the ...
.
From 1927 onward, the Muries were residents of
Jackson, Wyoming
Jackson is a town in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 10,760 at the 2020 census, up from 9,577 in 2010. It is the largest town in Teton County and its county seat. Jackson is the principal town of the Jackson, WY-ID Micro ...
, where Olaus studied ecology, specifically the
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 ...
population. Mardy worked side-by-side with Olaus in the field, studying elk, sheep and numerous other animals in the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is one of the last remaining large, nearly intact ecosystems in the northern temperate zone of the Earth. It is located within the northern Rocky Mountains, in areas of northwestern Wyoming, southwestern M ...
. The couple would camp for weeks at a time in the wild, open valley of
Jackson Hole
Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unit ...
. Olaus' primary goal was to identify pressures on the elk population, causing the startling decrease in the area. Over the course of nearly 40 years, The couple had numerous backcountry expeditions tracking the wildlife in the area. The couple even took expeditions when their three children were still nursing.
After World War II, they chose to buy a
dude ranch after Mardy decided she no longer wanted to live in town; she wanted to walk out her back door and into the woods. The Murie Ranch became a hub for conversations and problem solving to protect the wild. Olaus and Mardy took on work as director and secretary of the Wilderness Society, helping draft recommendations for legislation and policy like the protection of
Jackson Hole National Monument. After Olaus died, Mardy traveled to Alaska, Tanzania, and New Zealand studying wild areas, assessing areas for wilderness qualities and working to protect nature from exploitation.
Books and articles
''
Two in the Far North'', a memoir published in 1962, chronicles Murie's early life, her marriage, and research expeditions in Alaska. She wrote ''Island Between'', published in 1977, and ''Wapiti Wilderness'', published in 1966 with
her husband. A documentary, ''Arctic Dance'', was made about her life.
Work as a wilderness advocate, advisor and consultant
Mardy and Olaus spent their honeymoon studying birds and traveling over 500 miles by dogsled, conducting research on the
caribou of 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 belie ...
. Margaret's idea of preserving an entire ecosystem laid the scientific and intellectual groundwork for large parks and preserves.
In 1956, Murie began a campaign with her husband to protect what is now the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Arctic Refuge) is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States on traditional Gwich'in lands. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest national wildli ...
. The couple recruited U.S. Supreme Court Justice
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views, and is often ci ...
to help persuade President Dwight Eisenhower to set aside as the Arctic National Wildlife Range, which was expended and renamed in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter.
After her husband's death in 1963, Murie began writing and continued the conservation work she and Olaus had begun, writing letters and articles, traveling to hearings and making speeches. She served as a consultant to the Wilderness Society, the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
and the
Sierra Club, among many other organizations. Murie returned to Alaska to survey potential wilderness areas for the National Park Service and worked on the
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) is a United States federal law signed by President Jimmy Carter on December 2, 1980. ANILCA provided varying degrees of special protection to over of land, including national parks, n ...
, testifying before congress in favor of the act, which was signed by President Carter in 1980. That legislation set aside of land in Alaska and doubled the size of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Arctic Refuge) is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States on traditional Gwich'in lands. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest national wildli ...
. The
Murie Residence in
Moose, Wyoming, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1990, and as part of the
Murie Ranch Historic District was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 2006. It now houses a conservation institute named for Murie and her husband.
Awards
Murie received the
Audubon Medal
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...
in 1980, the
John Muir Award in 1983, and the Robert Marshall Conservation Award in 1986. She was made an honorary park ranger by the National Park Service and received an honorary
Doctor of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society.
The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
from the University of Alaska.
In 1998 President Clinton awarded her the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
. Just prior to her 100th birthday in 2002, Murie received the
J.N. Ding Darling Conservationist of the Year Award, the
National Wildlife Federation's highest honor.
Murie died in Moose, Wyoming, on October 19, 2003, at the age of 101.
References
Footnotes
Sources
* Charles Craighead, Bonnie Kreps: ''Arctic Dance''. , 2002
*''Two in the Far North''
*''Waipiti Wilderness''
*''Island Between''
External links
*
Mardy Murie obituary''Los Angeles Times'' Obituary for Mardy Murie*
Inventory of the Murie Family Papersat the
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
-
American Heritage Center
The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United ...
Select digital collection of photos and film of the Murie Family- AHC digital archives
blog posts on the Murie Familyon th
AHC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murie, Margaret
1902 births
2003 deaths
American conservationists
American naturalists
National Park Service
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
American centenarians
Writers from Seattle
Writers from Fairbanks, Alaska
University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni
20th-century American women writers
Sierra Club awardees
People from Moose, Wyoming
Women centenarians
20th-century naturalists
21st-century American women