David Brower

Brower was born on July 1, 1912, in Berkeley, California, the third child of four born to Mary Barlow and Ross J. Brower. Brower's interest in wilderness started at an early age. After the older Brower lost his job as a mechanical drawing instructor at the University of California, he worked mundane positions as a landlord and janitor. To escape, he took his family on long weekend drives into the woods in a 1916 Maxwell fitted for camping when young Brower was just five years old.

He rarely strayed far from his parents' watchful eyes on those trips, afraid of the deep ravines and rushing rivers bordering the trails his family hiked. On one trip to Sentinal Dome, a steep hike in Yosemite National Park, he refused to even get out of the car.

Brower was eight years old when his younger brother was born, and a brain tumor took his mother's sight. Brower became his mother's guide, leading her first around the neighborhoods of Berkeley and eventually into the surrounding hills. Giving "sight" to his mother, Brower, too, appreciated the views from high places and the beauty of the natural world, building on his budding interest in the wilderness. In his book, Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run, he recalls:

"Then she got bold, and I got bold, and together we walked from our house, about 200 feet above sea level, to Grizzly Peak–at 1,759 feet, it was the second- highest point in our Berkeley Hills…At the top, I described the vista for her: the hills; the galaxy of wild flowers; the few new houses; a red-tailed hawk floating on the wind, looking for field mice; the fog coming over San Francisco Bay; the glimpse of the open sea through the Golden Gate."

Brower lost his teeth in a childhood accident. The embarrassment of having no teeth and the ridicule from his classmates led him to spend much of his childhood alone, playing outside in the woods. His appreciation for nature grew as he found solace and peace there, feeling safe in the world away from other humans.

Brower was interested in entomology when he entered the University of California at Berkeley at the very early age of 16. But financial hardship forced him to leave the after his sophomore year. Instead, he worked not far from home at a concession stand in Yosemite. Immersed in park life, Brower explored his surroundings and, having overcome his childhood fear of heights, honed skills as a mountain climbing enthusiast. He also befriended renowned nature photographer Ansel Adams, who later inspired him to join the Sierra Club.

In 1930, Brower was hired as a clerk at Echo Lake Camp on the outskirts of Yosemite, one of three summer camps run by the city of Berkeley. He ventured into the wilderness with guests of the camp, met other outdoor enthusiasts and ascended peaks in the off-season. It was a guest at Echo Lake Camp who introduced Brower to the Sierra Club Bulletin, a publication that Brower read often and used as inspiration for trips into the mountains. 

After three years working at Echo Lake Camp, adventuring in the wilds and diligently reading back issues of their Bulletin, Brower officially joined the Sierra Club. A short two years later, in 1935, he was hired as publicity manager for Yosemite National Park. He worked this job for the next six years, all the while becoming a more ardent and outspoken advocate for the protection of wild places. 

Brower is credited with the first ascents of 70 peaks around the United States. In 1939, he led the first successful climb of New Mexico's dangerous Shiprock. As these accomplishments mounted, so did his ideals as an environmentalist. Time in the wilderness fueled his passion for preserving it, and in 1941, Brower was elected to the Sierra Club Board of Directors. He was also hired as an editor at the University of California Press where he shared an office with an Anne Hus, who he briefly courted.

A year later, he enlisted in the army as a mountaineering guide, training troops stationed in the Italian Alps during World War II. He proposed to Anne via mail–the two were married during Brower's leave from the army on May 1, 1943. The couple built a home on Grizzly Peak in Berkeley, where Brower had led his mother on hikes as a child. He and Anne raised their four children and spent the rest of their lives there.

Brower continued to work for the University Press after his service and became an editor for the Sierra Club Bulletin, the magazine that had inspired many of his outdoor trips in and around Yosemite. 

In 1952, he was employed as Executive Director of the Sierra Club. Though membership grew from 2,000 to 77,000 during his seventeen-year tenure, he was often thought of as militant and opinionated, his leadership extreme and somewhat controversial. Yet, Brower played a key role in many of the organization's successes. He published the Sierra Club's first book, This is the American Earth, with Ansel Adams and was instrumental in lobbying for the 1964 Wilderness Act. 

In 1963, construction started on the Glen Canyon Dam of the Colorado River, despite Brower's efforts to prevent it. He spent large amounts of time and money on the prevention of dam construction in the Grand Canyon, running a controversial full-page advertisement on the back of the New York Times, calling for wide-scale opposition to the dam's construction. Brower's aggressive lobbying backfired, and the Sierra Club lost its tax-deductible status in 1967. Two years later, Brower lost his status in the Sierra Club–he was fired.

Widespread controversy didn't deter him from his passion as an influential, albeit fiery, environmentalist. He founded the environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth and its sub-organization the League of Conservation Voters. Today, this organization has several branches around the globe and is still a well-known conservation entity. 

Brower continued to fight for the preservation of wild landscapes. His impact on the formation of national parks stretches from Alaska to Cape Cod. Always passionate about the prevention of dams, he continuously worked to keep construction out of the Grand Canyon, the Yukon, and Dinosaur National Monument. In 1982, he founded the Earth Island Institute, another environmental organization working for environmental and social justice. 

At times, Brower's strict and extreme viewpoints on wilderness protection made the road rocky, but he never strayed from his ultimate goals of preservation. In honor of his dedication to wildland preservation, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times, in 1978, 1979, and 1998. Though often isolating, his commitment never wavered. He remains one of the environmental movement's most respected advocates. 

David Brower passed away on Sunday, November 5, 2000, at the home he and Anne built on Grizzly Peak. His voice lives on through the numerous organizations he had a hand in creating, and his legacy still inspires the thoughts and actions of today's wilderness lovers around the world.

"Do you have magic in you? You bet. Magic is that little genetic genius that has been evolving for three billion years: It connects us all to each other and to everything that has come before and still lives on the planet. That is some magic, and it was formed in wilderness. Let us begin. Let us restore the Earth. Let the mountains talk, and the rivers run. Once more, and forever." 

-David Brower (Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run)