Bob Marshall (wilderness Activist) - Writing and Conservation

Writing and Conservation

Marshall returned to the east coast in late September 1931. Although he busied himself with writing Arctic Village, he also wrote prolifically on other topics and published several articles about American forestry. He was particularly concerned that few articles during this time were addressing the issue of deforestation, and went so far as to write a letter to the president of the American Forestry Association, George D. Pratt, on the matter. He also pursued a variety of other activities: he accepted an invitation to serve on a committee to dedicate a memorial (Louis Marshall Memorial Hall) to his father at the forestry college in Syracuse, and delivered speeches about his travels and wilderness preservation.

Shortly after his return, he was asked by Earle Clapp, head of the Forest Service's Branch of Research, to help initiate badly needed reforms in the forest-products industry and to create a broader vision of national forest management. Marshall moved to Washington, D.C. in September 1932 to take up the position, which entailed writing initiatives for forest recreation, and immediately began compiling a list of the remaining roadless areas in the United States. He sent this data to regional foresters, and urged them to set aside areas for wilderness; all of them responded negatively. Marshall's input into what became known as the Copeland Report amounted to three extensive chapters of a two volume, 1,677-page work. He considered it "the best piece of forestry work I have yet done".

Marshall had clearly defined himself as a socialist by 1932–1933. He told a correspondent: "I wish very sincerely that Socialism would be put into effect right away and the profit system eliminated." He became active in the Tenants Unemployed League of the District of Columbia, a group that helped unemployed people with housing problems; later he joined the fight against federal aid cuts to scientific research. He had learned of the American Civil Liberties Union from his father and served as chairman of the Washington branch. Marshall was even arrested briefly for participating in a March 1933 United Front demonstration. He did not forget his conservation causes, however, and soon pondered the question of wilderness and national parks. In the early 1930s, he joined the National Parks Association, eventually becoming a member of its board.

In August 1933, Marshall was appointed director of the Forestry Division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), a position he held for four years. He besieged government personnel with letters, telephone calls, and personal visits in the cause of wilderness, rapidly gaining recognition in Washington as a champion of preservation. One of his last initiatives as chief forester of the BIA was to recommend 4,800,000 acres (19,425 km2) of Indian lands for management as either "roadless" or "wild" areas; the order, which created 16 wilderness areas, was approved shortly after Marshall left office to join the Forest Service once more. Marshall became increasingly concerned with civilization's encroachment upon the wild lands, writing "The sounds of the forest are entirely obliterated by the roar of the motor. The smell of pine needles and flowers and herbs and freshly turned dirt and all the other delicate odors of the forest are drowned in the stench of gasoline. The feeling of wind blowing in the face and of soft ground under foot are all lost."