Sigurd F. Olson

Sigurd F. Olson was educated at Northland College, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Illinois. He was a president of the Wilderness Society and the National Parks Association, and a consultant to the Department of Interior. He was the author of many books including The Singing Wilderness (1951), Listening Point (1958), and Runes of the North (1963). He died in 1982.

The movement of a canoe is like a reed in the wind. Silence is part of it, and the sounds of lapping water, bird songs, and wind in the trees. It is part of the medium through which it floats: the sky, the water, the shores. Wilderness Days, 1956.

By generous reckoning some 6 percent of the old 48 states - less than 180,000 square miles out of more than three million - can today be considered wild. Ibid.

 

Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons. It is what we leave behind that is important. I think the matter of simplicity goes further than just food, equipment, and unnecessary gadgets; it goes into the matter of thoughts and objectives as well. When in the wilds, we must not carry our problems with us or the joy is lost. Reflections from the North Country, 1976.

 

They (swamplands) are like forgotten islands in time where a man can still sense the ancient presence of nature absolute. For others, could they read their secrets and their history, they would become, as Caribou Creek swamp is to me, a sanctuary of the spirit. Audubon magazine, March, 1982.

 

Today I may dream of the past but stand always in the beauty of the present. Ibid.

 

Great adventures beckon to all of us. Of Time and Place, 1982.

 

Little rivers, beautiful, wild, and clear, meander through my dreams. Ibid.

 

Sounds of the night have magic and mystery. Ibid.

 

A land ethic is a philosophical point of view involved with morality and character. Ibid.

 

We must ask ourselves how we truly feel about what we have done to the planet during our brief tenure upon it. Are we really willing to do what we should, and are we mature enough to forget selfish interests? Ibid.

 

We must be eternally vigilant and embrace the broad concept of an environmental ethic to survive. Ibid.