Edgar Wayburn: A Hero Departs

Edgar WayburnIt was announced today that last Friday, the conservationist Edgar Wayburn died. He was in his one hundred and fourth year. (1906 – 2010). Dr. Edgar Wayburn, was a five-term president of the Sierra Club. He was one of the 20th century's leading champions for protecting the environment,  preserving  wilderness areas, and safeguarding America's natural heritage. Among Dr. Wayburn's achievements were the important work he did to help win passage of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which created millions of acres of national parkland. In the 1950s and  1960s, he led the movement to create the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California.

In 1999, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor, for his efforts in preserving open spaces in California, Alaska and elsewhere. President Bill Clinton presiding at the ceremony, said that Dr. Wayburn had "saved more of our wilderness than any person alive."

Sources: (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jGNnH5K53A7EnSY6MQrWqk...).(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/08/MN5O1CCB1S.DTL).(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Wayburn), (http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_14635001).