The John Muir Newsletter, Fall 2006
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University of the Pacific Scholarly Commons John Muir Newsletters John Muir Papers Fall 8-1-2006 The ohnJ Muir Newsletter, Fall 2006 The ohnJ Muir Center for Environmental Studies Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmn Part of the American Studies Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation The oJ hn Muir Center for Environmental Studies, "The oJ hn Muir Newsletter, Fall 2006" (2006). John Muir Newsletters. 84. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmn/84 This Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by the John Muir Papers at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in John Muir Newsletters by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TH£ JOHN MUIR NEWSLETTER JOHN MUIR'S WORLD TOUR (PART IV) Introduction by W. R. Swagerty Director, John Muir Center Edited by John Hurley and W.R. Swagerty n Part IV of John Muir's unpublished World Tour, we follow one occasion, "Universal beggary prevails;" and on another, "Few Muir from Egypt to Ceylon (Sri Lanke) to Australia. geniuses in any age." Still, as in all of his journeys of discovery, I Notebook"# 51" begins with a description of Suez as a Muir finds the flowers, trees, sunrises, and sunsets "charming," a "queer old town" followed by praise for the oasis-environment universal word in Muir's vocabulary describing his "plant that produces so many palms and bananas. Much of the friends" and the colors of dawn and dusk. notebook focuses on Muir's touring of the Pyramids, those Muir left Port Said on the German steamer Barbarossa "stupendous monuments of the past" which are less impressive bound for Australia on November 22. During a brief stop-over in to Muir "when closely approached" than from a distance. Up Ceylon, Muir was most impressed with the coconut palms, as close, he writes of the tombs of Assiout, "Smell horrid, strong as well the bread fruit trees, jack fruit trees, banyans, and especially the centuries." And elsewhere, "How old the world is since the purple-flowered lotus. A Buddhist temple intrigued him civilization!" wherein the priest explained, "many kinds of hell in pictures for We include one sketch of three pyramids that he made, but different sinners, and got two or three fees out of us." Equally this segment of his trip is disappointing for lack of drawings and impressive were the native catamarans and "canoes with illustrations, given what he was observing. On one occasion he outriggers," which he sailed for the first time on December 5 prior gives us clues why sketching was minimalized. November 9: to departure for Australia the next day. "Bought more photos of ruins, inhabitants, etc." Some of these Now in the Southern Hemisphere, after "crossing the line," have survived, but most have not. the long-anticipated Southern Cross turned out to be a "Not very •Throughout Egypt, Muir's comments on human activities striking constellation." Arriving at Perth on December 16, Muir reveal his keen power of observation when subsistence needs and the botanist returns to describing in detail the fascinating new human priorities transform landscapes. He describes in some plants and trees that he discovers immediately upon landing. For depth the crops, animals, and technologies used by Egyptians and the next month, as new species of eucalyptus, gum trees, pines, rides a donkey himself on one leg of his expedition. Overall, he is and others are encountered, Muir's excitement shines through as not impressed with the status of modem Egypt, commenting on (Continued on page 4) page 1 The state report estimated that it would take $7 million - the amount that the Bush administration now seeks - for a "conceptual" study and another $13 million for a further "reconnaissance"-level FUNDS FOR STUDY OF RESTORING study. RETCH HETCHY VALLEY FACE LONG ODDS ******************** By Michael Doyle NEW BOOK ABOUT JOHN MUIR The Mercu1y News A Wanderer All My Days Posted on Wed, Feb. 07, 2007 John Muir in New England J. Parker Huber (Author) WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's quiet request for $7 million to study restoring the Hetch Hetchy Valley- which Sierra Compiled from John Muir's journal entries, letters and hundreds of Club founder John Muir dubbed "Yosemite's twin"- keeps a additional sources, this resource presents a detailed examination of controversy flowing, but probably not for long. Muir's travels throughout New England- from the mountains of This week, the administration slid the Hetch Hetchy study Maine t~ the hal~s of Harvard University. With comprehensive money into its overall Interior Department budget proposal. If rnsrght~ mto Mmr's wanderings, this unique reference discusses the Congress approves it, it would pay for research into the begmnmgs of the environmental movement as well as how 19th environmental and economic consequences of removing Hetch century New England literary Hetchy's O'Shaughnessy Dam. society evolved. This "We are extremely pleased that the federal government has distinctive look at Muir seen fit to become a full partner with California in the Hetch showcases how he was just as Hetchy restoration-study process," said Ron Good, the executive much shaped by the cultural drrector of the Sonora, Calif., organization Restore Hetch Hetchy. landscapes of the East as he Almost certainly, the pleasure will be short-lived. was by the pathless expanses "It's dead on arrival," Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., said of the West. Wednesday. "It's a complete surprise, and I don't support one bit of it.•• J. Parker Huber is the author of The Wildest Country: A Hetch Hetchy Valley broke Muir's heart. He bitterly fought San Guide to Thoreau's Maine. He Francrsco's plans to flood the valley for a reservoir, finally losing is the editor of the book when Congress passed a 1913 law. Ever since, environmentalists Elevating Ourselves: Thoreau and others - periodically have suggested removing the dam. on Mountains and the annual Fifteen miles north of Yosemite Valley, the original Hetch magazine Writing Nature. He Hetchy Valley was known for magnificent waterfalls and high-rising lives in Brattleboro, Vermont. ~h~fs. Now, the Tuolumne River, which once flowed freely through rt, IS backed up for one of California's 19 reservoirs. Price: $23.95 Radanovich, who represents Yosemite, said Bush Category: Academic: Natural administration officials didn't consult him. He's not happy about History, Academic: Travel that. Now, he said, he wants to find out who the administration did consult with. · Pages: 392 Book Type: Paper Another prominent skeptic of the Hetch Hetchy proposal chairs Size: 6 x 9 the Senate Appropriations Committee panel that funds the Interior Department. A former mayor of San Francisco, California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein dismissed the prospects of draining the reservoir that's served the city since the dam was completed in 1923. TH£ JOHN MUIR "I will do all I can to make sure it isn't included in the final bill," Feinste!n promised in a prepared statement. "We're not going N£WSLETIER to remove this dam, and the funding is unnecessary." Although Yosemite National Park officials had heard earlier rumors Volume 16, Number4 FALL2006 of the study, they also weren't directly consulted about the proposal. They learned for sure when the budget was released Monday. PUBLISHED.QUARITRLy BY . Asked for a further assessment of the proposal Wednesday, the THE JOHN MUIR CENITR FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES National Park Service offered only Interior Secretary Dirk UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC, STOCKTON, CA 95211 Kemp thorne's comment that the $7 million would allow "discussions with the state of California." The administration says it wants to build on preliminary Hetch +STAFF+ Hetchy research that's already been conducted in California. That DIRECTOR ................................ ... W.R. SwAGERTY doesn't persuade skeptics. EDITOR .......... ........................ W.R. SWAGERTY "The state has done the analysis," Feinstein said. "It would cost between $3 billion and $10 billion to remove a dam that provides PRODUCTION ASSISTANT. ..... MARJLYN NORTON clean drinking water for 3 million people." Completed last year, the California Resources Agency's 68- Unless othenvise noted. page study ofHetch Hetchy concluded that "much work remains to all photographic reproductions are courtesy of the John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Department ofSpecial Collections be done" in answering crucial questions, including how the 312-foot University ofthe Pacific Libraries. high dam would be removed, how the water and power would be Copyright 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust replaced and how to count the economic benefits of a restored Hetch Hetchy Valley. This Newsletter is printed on recycled paper "It is clear that further investigations into Hetch Hetchy Valley restoration cannot be led by the state of California alone" the agency said. ' page2 THE TRAMP'S WEB SITE IS VAMPED th at have the microform version John Muir Papers is also now available. Ever since the John Muir Papers came to the By Michael Wurtz University of the Pacific, the staff has supported the Archivist, Holt-Atherton Special Collections collection by obtaining other material rich in content about University of the Pacific Library Muir, his family, and his interests. The new web site desctibes all of these Muir related collections, from the This last fall, the Holt-Atherton Special Collections William Bade Papers to the James Eastman Shone staff completely redesigned the repository's web site in Collection, and provides links to finding aids that are order to help researchers find what they are looking for. available through OAC. Also included in the Muir related Special Collections' holdings have been virtually separated material is a link to a list of books in Muir's personal into four categories: Western Americana, University libraty.