Robert Marshall
Robert Marshall (1901-1939) was an influential American conservationist, writer, and forestry expert known for his advocacy in wilderness preservation. Born to a prominent family with a strong legal and conservation background, Marshall developed a deep appreciation for the natural world during his youth, particularly through exploration of the Adirondack Mountains. He pursued higher education in forestry and plant pathology, earning degrees from Syracuse University, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins University, which laid the groundwork for his later contributions to resource management and environmental literature.
Marshall's career included significant roles within the U.S. Forest Service, where his observations of vast wilderness areas inspired his groundbreaking article "The Problem of the Wilderness," published in 1930. This work emphasized the need to protect large tracts of natural land, advocating for a shift in how society perceives the value of wilderness beyond mere economic gain. His efforts led to the establishment of several wilderness areas, including his leadership in founding the Wilderness Society in 1935. Tragically, Marshall's life was cut short at the age of thirty-eight, but his legacy endures, exemplified by the designation of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area in 1964, which honors his commitment to preserving America's natural landscapes.
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Subject Terms
Robert Marshall
Forester
- Born: January 2, 1901
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: November 11, 1939
- Place of death: On a train en route from New York to Washington, D.C.
Identification: American forester and plant physiologist
Marshall influenced both government policy and public opinion through his numerous writings on the need for wilderness conservation and through his participation in the Wilderness Society, an organization he cofounded.
Robert Marshall was born in 1901. He was the son of Florence Lowenstein Marshall and constitutional lawyer and conservationist Louis Marshall, who had been a delegate at the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1894, which placed in the state constitution the famous provision that the New York Forest Preserve shall be “kept forever wild.” Marshall’s extensive utilization of the family library introduced him to books and topographical surveys of the Adirondack Mountains. At the age of fourteen, he, along with his brother George and a guide, ascended a high Adirondack peak, thus cementing a lifelong love affair with wilderness exploration and celebration.
Marshall’s higher education at three universities (bachelor of science in forestry at Syracuse, master’s degree in forestry at Harvard, and Ph.D. in plant pathology at The Johns Hopkins University) served him well as he developed a literary and resource management career. During his early professional work in the U.S. Forest Service, he had the opportunity to observe large, unbroken wilderness conditions, which served as the catalyst and foundation for his first major article on extensive natural landscapes. Titled “The Problem of the Wilderness” and appearing in the February, 1930, issue of The Scientific Monthly, it was a clarion call for setting aside and protecting large tracts of land in their natural and, to the extent possible, primeval condition. The article elucidated four salient wilderness themes: its great beauty and wildness, with integrated aesthetic, mental, and physical values; the rapid disappearance of wilderness; the need for human beings to look beyond commodity value of resources in wilderness as the sole arbitrator of its value; and the urgency to act for wilderness preservation.
In 1931 Marshall settled in Washington, D.C., and immediately devoted his efforts to writing assignments. Collaborating with the U.S. Forest Service on a book titled A National Plan for American Forestry (1932), he contributed sections on national parks, wilderness, and recreation. One year later he published The People’s Forests, in which he articulated the importance of conserving water, soil, and forests. Again he upheld the need to preserve forested areas through arguments related to human aesthetic needs, arguing that such preservation is of pivotal importance to contemporary society.
In 1933 Marshall was appointed director of forestry at the Office of Indian Affairs, where he helped develop sixteen wilderness areas on Indian reservations. Two years later, he was a leader of eight people who founded the Wilderness Society. In 1937 he became chief of the new Forest Service Division of Recreation and Lands and immediately began moving official Forest Service policy toward supporting wilderness. He also drafted new administrative regulations relating to a classification system for wilderness and wild areas. Approval for these regulations came just months before Marshall’s untimely death in 1939 at age thirty-eight. In 1964, as the Wilderness Act became law, the twentieth area to be named to the National Wilderness Preservation System was the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area in the Flathead and Lewis and Clark national forests.
Bibliography
Herron, John P. Science and the Social Good: Nature, Culture, and Community, 1865-1965. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Marshall, Robert. Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Central Brooks Range. Edited by George Marshall. 3d ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The People’s Forests. 1933. Reprint. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2002.