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As always, I am grateful for the contributions that I have received for this Newsletter. I hope that it will be apparent that DJMA has maintained its momentum and is continuing to work towards the ultimate goal of the John Muir Centre. Alas, the publication of this issue is in advance of a public announcement from the Millennium Commission about the status of bids in their current assessment round. However, the Millennium Commissioner for Northern Britain - the Earl of Dalkeith - has asked to come to Dunbar on April 26th to meet with representatives of DJMA and its partners to discuss the John Muir Centre proposal. Naturally, we'll keep you informed of developments.
Traditionally, the Spring Newsletter brings news about the John Muir Birthday celebrations. Last year's event was a tremendous success and we hope to match it this year. We look forward to celebrating Muir's birthday - April 21st - with the next generation of eco-citizens. By reiterating Muir's principles on the absolute need for environ-mental responsibility and sustain-ability, DJMA will strive to leave Planet Earth in safer hands for future generations.
As ever, DJMA would be delighted to hear from potential volunteers to help towards its goals. Please contact any Council Member if you would like to get involved in any way.
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Mr Badenoch brought apologies and good wishes from his colleagues Alan Leitch and Niall Corbet, the East Lothian officers of SNH.
He continued: "I have to confess to uncanny affinities with John Muir! I spent my childhood, for the most part, at the east edge of East Lothian and on its beaches. All my ideas and love of the countryside were strongly shaped by the Lammermuir foothills. Then when I was twelve I was sat doing my homework one evening and my parents announced that we were off to Canada ...
This exhibition and the ideas being promoted by your organisation fit well with our own. SNH was the product of an amalgamation of the Countryside Commission for Scotland and the Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland enacted by the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991. Malcolm Rifkind - then Secretary of State - sought to get all the environmental departments under one roof; to hide some of their public disagreements perhaps! He made it clear that we would not be doing our job properly if we ceased to be a thorn-in-the-flesh of the Scottish Office. While continuing the work of the previous organisations, SNH much more seeks to involve Scotland's people. SNH aims are:
"Our basic philosophy is simple: we must care for and sustain our natural heritage if we want it to sustain us. So we seek to promote the good management of the natural heritage so that we can pass it on, in a healthy and invigorated state, to succeeding generations.
You can clearly see the coincidence with what you are trying to do here; John Muir's respect for all life is something we would seek to emulate so that caring and responsibility in all our environmental developments can be the cornerstones. We congratulate DJMA on the development so far, and wish you well for the future. The work of the Association should have an important place in the regeneration of Dunbar."
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It was a slow change: even after the opening of the John Muir Country Park in 1976, an exhibition in the National Library of Scotland in 1979, the creation of the museum in the John Muir House in 1981, and the foundation of the John Muir Trust in 1983 with its public launch here in 1988, much still needed to be done - North Berwick is within walking distance of the John Muir Country Park, yet he was asked "who is John Muir?" at a lecture there in 1989.
East Lothian District Council helped to establish twinning links, formal and informal, between Dunbar and Martinez where Muir spent the latter part of his life, and developed a project for a John Muir Environmental World at Linkfield in the Country Park. Dunbar's John Muir Association was formed in 1994, to raise awareness further still.
Who, then, is John Muir? A boy born in Dunbar in 1838, soon after Victoria became Queen, while Britain was still to develop a worldwide Empire and the backwoods of America were still to be opened up. The Muir family emigrated in 1849, to Wisconsin and not to Canada as they had originally intended. John's eyes had already been opened to the wonders of nature in Dunbar, and he was astounded by the beauty of Wisconsin. His zest for knowledge and exploration drove him westwards where he unlocked the secrets of glaciation. His horror at the expansion of the USA with its destruction of nature, both of animals and of landscape, impelled him to battle for conservation, earning him by the time of his death in 1914 the title of "the most rugged fervent naturalist America has produced, and Father of the National Parks".
What is Muir's relevance today? More than ever, the message of conservation is vital, with global population and increased appetites posing a worldwide threat: third world nations who want progress and cannot be convinced of the need for conservation instead of clearing wilderness in their search for resources; the teeming multitudes of Asia - just look at Beijing and Hong Kong; greed in the Western nations, Israelis using up the water of their grandchildren. The disappearance of habitats and the loss of species in an era of unparalleled knowledge is an affront to Nature.
Is there a way forward for us? The District Council has done much; and it bowed to public opinion over the Linkfield project. On 1st April the new East Lothian Council takes over, and hopefully will forge partnerships with many local bodies - not just with DJMA. It is vital for the world that John Muir's conservation message is heard loud and clear. It could be vital too for the much-needed regeneration of Dunbar: Stratford has Shakespeare, Melrose has Scott, Alloway, Burns. Dunbar needs John Muir. The world needs to hear his message.
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It is open to all children - not just those of members. Due to the generosity of local traders we are able to keep the cost down to £2 per child. The local organisers are Stefany Hawryluk (tel: 01368 863692 (day)) and Peter Hunt (tel: 01620 894735 (evening)). Tickets are available from Stefany's shop at 126 High Street or may be reserved by completing the enclosed booking slip.
As usual, there will be plenty of fun and games and award-winning childrens' entertainer Malcolm LeMaistre makes a welcome return visit.
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MuirDay96 is an initiative to raise awareness about the life and work of John Muir not only in his birthplace of Dunbar but in Scotland, the UK, and beyond. MuirDay96 is the brainchild of Duncan Smeed, DJMA Council Member.
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However, the principle is exactly the same - DJMA will use the Internet to coordinate and disseminate information about MuirDay96. Our main aim locally is to take groups of school-children to points of interest in Dunbar and its surrounding area and to capture their pictures and words on the local environment thus fostering their awareness on how an ecologically sound natural environment plays its part in the quality of life for current, and future, generations.
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These records will then form a permanent feature of the proposed John Muir Centre. Given the fact that many thousands of Californian schools will have new found Internet facilities courtesy of NetDay96, DJMA hope that a number of these schools will mark their observation of John Muir Day by participating in MuirDay96 by making similar WWW journals of their own local environment and establishing 'electronic' contact with the children of Dunbar.
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Anyone wishing to contact DJMA for more information about MuirDay96 can phone Duncan Smeed on 01368 865257, e-mail: djma@cs.strath.ac.uk or mail: MuirDay96, DJMA, c/o 126 High Street, Dunbar EH42 1JJ.
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How I stopped loving bare mountainsides and learned to appreciate each stripling pine
by
Carole Ross
[This excerpt appears by kind permission of the John Muir Trust in whose newsletter it first appeared. Ed.]
It all started for me one New Year in the mid 1970's, with my first experience of the Cairngorms in winter. We stayed at Luibeg bothy, close to Derry Lodge, and walked up Glen Derry to Loch Etchachan, on a dismal, grey day through thawing snow. But the sensation of being in this silent winter wonderland filled me with such awe and excitement that a week later, I was out on Lochnagar with the Aberdeen Mountaineering Club, at the start of almost a decade of intense hill-walking all over Scotland and occasionally abroad. There were big snowfalls that year, and every Sunday, the walk from the Linn of Dee to Derry Lodge and beyond was rewarded with another aspect of the Cairngorm winter. It was only much later that I realised how lucky I was to have such a stunning introduction to the hills, although I recognised the same feelings of pleasure in such surroundings from half-remembered childhood holidays on Loch Linnhe, and student summers on the Isle of Mull. In the beginning, every hill was new, and the prospect of seeing the view from a different perspective was enough to make the effort to the top (even, it seemed, when there was no view to be had).
At Easter that same year, I went to Knoydart for the first time, camping by Loch Quoich and walking into Barrisdale. This was even better than the Cairngorms! I look at the place through different eyes now, seeing the age and dilapidation of the few trees left, and the grasses indicative of a soil leached of nutrients. But my first impressions were of its remote-ness, emptiness and ruggedness, linked with the unbeatable combination of mountainside and sea-loch. At the same time, I was aware of the beautifully cons-tructed tracks, and the walls of the harbour at Kinloch Hourn, evidence of much human habit-ation in past. Knoydart quickly became one of my most favourite places, somewhere to visit in the mind when back in Aberdeen, or later Edinburgh. I was horrified when the plans to make the peninsula an army firing range were first made public, and I read intently Chris Brasher's articles in the Observer on the subject. When I heard that an organisation called the John Muir Trust had bought part of Knoydart in order to manage it in an environmentally sustainable way, I knew that this was something I wanted to be involved in.
Now I go hill-walking less often, and I find that an equally enjoyable way for me to be in wild places is by visiting them to work in some connection with the landscape. Initially, I was able to do this through practical conserv-ation organisations such as BTCV and later SCP, to do things like tree planting on Rhum, fencing on South Uist and pathmaking on Raasay. On JMT work parties, there is the additional opportunity to contribute to the overall integrated plan for one of the Trust properties. One of my best days last year was spent in May with 20 other JMT members on the west side of the Elgol peninsula, clearing enough discarded plastic from one of the Strathaird beaches to fill 249 fertiliser sacks. These were then removed on a boat belonging to one of the Elgol crofters. That day was special not only because of the place, and the changes we brought about on that beach, but because of the way the whole group organised itself, with gentle direction from Terry Isles and Keith Miller, into a team to take on the task.
These practical experiences have been enormously enjoyable, and have also been a way for me to connect with the natural world. They go some way towards making up for the disappointment at my complete inability to remember the name of any flower or plant, even though, as a research cell biologist, I am familiar with the intimate physio-logical and biochemical details of transpiration or photosynthesis. I have always admired naturalists who can name plants with ease, and those who can also explain how plants work are even more impressive. John Muir was someone who, for his time, was an expert at both.
My perspectives are now more and more influenced by the man after whom the John Muir Trust is named. Through my initial enthusiastic embrace of mountain-eering culture, I read about Yosemite as a climbing mecca, and I enjoyed friends' experiences of the John Muir trail. I had visited the John Muir Country Park in East Lothian, and knew that he was born in Dunbar. But it was only after becoming involved with JMT that I started reading John Muir's books, and have become aware of the force of both his personality and his vision. He was unafraid to live an unconventional existence. As a result of his wanderings through many areas of the United States, particularly the mountains of California, he came to a deep understanding of how all the different parts of the landscape fitted together. His scientific explanation of the effects of glaciation on the evolution of landscape, in contradiction to the accepted views of the time, is thrilling. His writings are full of the uninhibited celebration of each and every part of the wilderness areas he explored. It is no surprise that he has been an inspiration to people from many different backgrounds. What is more surprising is how little of the philosophy of this man is generally known. I hope this can be corrected when Dunbar's John Muir Association builds the John Muir Centre in Dunbar, with the aim not only of celebrating his life and work, but also of becoming a centre for environmental education in the U.K.
In advancing a radical alternative to the management of wild land, I think the Trust is setting out on a course of action just as important as the efforts of John Muir one hundred years ago. With the series of purchases which have been made, the Trust has contributed to the current realisation that many different types of land ownership are possible, even desirable. The driving force behind our purchases has been the intrinsic value of wild places, and the need to conserve them, but there is also the recognition that changes can be made to these areas to increase their richness and diversity. If that means changes to the bare landscape I used to think of as natural, then I am willing to make the "sacrifice."
There may well be further Trust purchases - I hope there are, including areas beyond Scotland's borders - but the total area of land held by JMT can only ever be a very small part of the British countryside. The most important part of the Trust's work, therefore, has to be what happens on Trust lands. Practical demonstration that the land can be managed more productively, for all the communities who live there, is a necessary consequence of our land purchases. This is a long-term project, and we need to distribute as much information as possible about the Trust's aims, how we are going about achieving them, and why we think they will work. For myself, this is as exciting as my first glimpse of a winter corrie, and I can't wait to see how it all comes about.
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The John Muir Center for Regional Studies at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, in cooperation with the John Muir National Historic Site, Martinez, will host this international conference on the theme 'John Muir in Historical Perspective.' This is the fourth in a series (previously 1980, 1985 and 1990). Muir scholars from around the world will participate.
The conference begins with a reception at JMNHS on Thursday evening, April 18. On Friday the 19th in Martinez, several academic papers will be presented in two sessions: Muir as Teacher, Critic, Ideologue; and Muir's Travels. At lunch, Steve and Patty Pauly will entertain with 'John Muir's Tribute to His Wife, Louie Strentzel Muir,' an exposi of the significant but quiet work Louie did behind the scenes to support John. In the afternoon, Jim Morley will present slides on Muir Woods.
Fifteen speakers and six moderators are on the program for Saturday the 20th at UOP in six sessions: Jed Smith Society Breakfast, Muir and His Friends, Student Session, John Muir and Yosemite, Teaching Muir and the Environment, and a session sponsored by the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment. Millie Stanley, author of 'The Heart of John Muir's World' will speak at the Saturday luncheon. The evening speaker is Richard Fleck, whose topic is North by Northwest with John Muir.
Two Sessions are scheduled for Sunday the 21st at UOP: Muir as Religionist and Literary Critic; and Muir's Influence: Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Luncheon with the Muir family in the UOP Regents Dining Room concludes the conference.
Two JMNHS volunteers have papers accepted for the conference. Mark Foley's topic is 'In the Lands of the Master: John Muir and the Strentzels', a subject he has researched as a student at Hayward State University. Steve Pauly speaks on 'The Importance of John Muir's First Public Lecture'.
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Ably assisted by other members of DJMA as well as County Ranger Bobby Anderson, the couple were shown John Muir's birthplace, visited the country park and were guests of DJMA at a meal in the Bayswell Hotel. Mr Cook presented a number of JMMA 'gifts' to DJMA including a John Muir festooned waistcoat, sweatshirt, and several fine posters of Yosemite scenes. On behalf of DJMA, Prof. Last reciprocated by presenting a DJMA sweatshirt and a book by Graham White.
In a letter of thanks, Dale wrote "We do wish to express our thanks for our very warm welcome and interchange at Dunbar - it was so enlightening - a real education - your people are so wonderful and dedicated to their goals in the various segments of the John Muir Dunbar Plan. They are interesting and enjoyable to be with and one can safely say intellectually dedicated not blind zealots. Thank you one and all."
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DJMA Exhibition:
Already reported upon.
On Saturday, 30th March, a DJMA work party again helped Bobby Anderson - this time in the northern part of the country park. The volunteers on this occasion were Andrew Chisholm (age 10), Peter Hunt, Duncan and Kenneth (age 8) Smeed, and Richard Weller. The work included the clearing of windborn-seeded pine from one of only two areas of dune heather in East Lothian; and then the cutting back of buckthorn amongst the dunes of Ravensheugh beach.
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DJMA would like to especially thank Stefany Hawryluk for organising and catering for the occasion. All agreed that it was a most enjoyable evening and look forward to next year's.
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FWAG are also organising walks near Edinburgh Airport on June 4th and the evening of June 6th. Details available in the DJMA Shop nearer the time.
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