Three Mothers for Mother Nature

Happy Mother's Day!

With Mother’s Day coming up this Sunday, I want to tip my hat to three inspiring and noteworthy ladies: Rosalie Barrow Edge, Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Rachel Louise Carson. While they may not have birthed their own children, they sure had motherly strengths as advocates and activists, who worked hard to protect and preserve our parks and environment. They were “Mothers of Mother Nature!”  

Rosalie Barrow Edge

ROSALIE BARROW EDGE (November 3, 1877 – November 30, 1962)

“The time to protect a species is while it is still common.”

Rosalie Barrow was a New York socialite and suffragist, as well as an amateur birdwatcher and full-time volunteer conservationist. In 1929 she established the Emergency Conservation Committee, and in 1934 Edge founded Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the world’s first preserve for birds of prey. She also led grassroots campaigns to create Olympic and Kings Canyon National Parks, and successfully lobbied Congress to purchase 8,000 acres of old-growth sugar pines on the perimeter of Yosemite that were to be logged.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS: (April 7, 1890 – May 14, 1998) 

“It is a woman’s business to be interested in the environment. It’s an extended form of housekeeping.”

Known as “Defender of the Everglades,” Marjory Stoneman Douglas was a journalist and activist who took on the fight for feminism, racial justice, and conservation. As an environmentalist she fought hard against the efforts to drain the Everglades, and reclaim land for development. She is the author of “The Everglades: River of Grass,” and formed the Friends of the Everglades. Everglades National Park has a wilderness area named for in honor of her legacy.

Rachel Carson

RACHEL LOUISE CARSON (May 27, 1907 – April 14,
1964)

“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species — man — acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world.”

Best-selling author Rachel Carson was a marine biologist and conservationist whose activism, writing and books, “Silent Spring”, “The Sea Around Us”, “The Edge of the Sea”, and “Under the Sea Wind,” helped to advance the global environmental movement around the world. “Silent Spring” showcased environmental concerns regarding the use of synthetic pesticides and DDT, and inspired a grassroots movement that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

A Big Thank You to All Moms! Happy Mother's Day!
Miss P.