John Muir
adapted from the National Park Service
A leaf, a flower, a stone—the simple beauty of nature filled John Muir with joy. Muir shared his love of nature through writing and inspired people to protect our country's wild places, fueling the formation of the National Park Service and the modern conservation movement. Muir loved all things wild and saw humans as one small part of nature. He valued the natural world not only for economic gain, but for its beauty and healing powers. Muir championed the idea that wild spaces should be set aside for all to enjoy.
Muir's passion for nature brought him to every continent except Antarctica. He experienced fantastic adventures—climbing a 100-foot tree in a thunderstorm, inching across a narrow ice bridge in Alaska, and spending a night in a blizzard on Mt. Shasta. He once stated, "Tracing the ways of glaciers, learning how Nature sculptures mountain-waves in making scenery—beauty that so mysteriously influences every human being, is glorious work." Muir transformed his adventures into articles and books that sparked peoples' interest in nature.
Muir's grandfather helped kindle Muir's love of nature at an early age by taking him on walks through the Scottish countryside. In 1849, when Muir turned 11, his family moved to Wisconsin and started a farm, where his nature lessons continued. As a young man, Muir studied biology, botany, and geology at the University of Wisconsin before venturing out to see nature's wonders.
Then one day, with a plant press in his backpack, Muir began a journey that would take him more than 1,000 miles from Kentucky to the Gulf of Mexico, gathering specimens along the way. His curiosity carried him farther to California and Alaska, where he tracked the movements of glaciers. He discovered glaciers in Yosemite and was the first to suggest that ice shaped its valleys.
Muir's descriptions of glaciers and sequoias brought the beauty of nature to readers nationwide. His ideas on saving land changed how the United States viewed wilderness. As increased settlement ended the western frontier in 1890, people began to worry about using resources wisely. Muir urged people to write politicians and "make their lives wretched until they do what is right by the woods." In 1890, unchecked grazing, logging, and tourism were damaging Yosemite. Muir's articles "The Treasures of Yosemite" and "Features of a Proposed Yosemite National Park" appeared in Century Magazine, which boasted more than one million readers. A month later, Congress designated Yosemite a national park.
7
What is a central idea of paragraph 2?
A.
Muir believed that traveling was essential for people to understand the world around them.
B.
Muir boldly traveled to remote places around the world and discovered places he had never seen before.
C.
Muir sought out challenging situations in order to prove to himself that he could overcome great difficulty.
D.
Muir's experience of traveling the world inspired a great appreciation for nature that he shared with others.