This month, as April encourages
us to linger outdoors and play, we honor the death of Rachel Carson on the 14th,
remember the birth of John Muir on the 21st and celebrate Earth Day
on the 22nd.
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The Land Prophets dedicate
their lives to showing others how to do less damage to the land. They confront
people in politics and businesses who exploit the land only to make money, who
listen to special interest groups rather than the everyday people they
represent, and who betray the public trust as trustees of the land. These are
some of our prophets.
In California, John Muir saw sheep destroying the
wilderness meadows of the Sierra Nevada and worked to get them removed. In the
process, he helped create the Sierra Club and the National Park system that has
saved large tracts of wilderness areas. He also wanted to save Hetch Hetchy,
but the politicians in San Francisco sold nature out for votes.
