Robert Sterling Yard (1861 – 1945) was an American writer, journalist and
wilderness activist. Yard graduated from Princeton University and spent the
first twenty years of his career as a journalist, editor and publisher. In
1915 he was recruited by his friend Stephen Mather to help publicize the
need for an independent national park agency. Their numerous publications
were part of a movement that resulted in legislative support for a National
Park Service in 1916. Yard served as head of the National Parks Educational
Committee for several years after its conception, but tension within the NPS
led him to concentrate on non-government initiatives. He became executive
secretary of the National Parks Association in 1919. Yard worked to promote
the national parks as well as educate Americans about their use. Creating
high standards based on aesthetic ideals for park selection, he also opposed
commercialism and industrialization of what he called "America's
masterpieces". These standards caused discord with his peers. After helping
to establish a relationship between the NPA and the United States Forest
Service, Yard later became involved in the protection of wilderness areas.
In 1935 he became one of the eight founding members of The Wilderness
Society and acted as its first president from 1937 until his death eight
years later. Yard is now considered an important figure in the modern
wilderness movement.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sterling_Yard
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Today's selected anniversaries:
800:
Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, a title that had been out of use
in the West since the abdication of Romulus Augustus in 476.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiritimati)
1066:
William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England at
Westminster Abbey, completing the Norman Conquest, the last successful
foreign conquest of England.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_England)
1776:
American Revolutionary War: George Washington and his army crossed the
Delaware River to launch a surprise attack on Hessian mercenaries at the
Battle of Trenton.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%27s_crossing_of_the_Delaware)
1947:
The Constitution of the Republic of China went into effect, amid the ongoing
Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communists.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Republic_of_China)
1991:
Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev)
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
nativity (n) Birth; the place, time and circumstances of a birth.
(
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nativity)
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
--Isaac Watts
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts)