Founders

  • Robert Sterling Yard

    Perhaps one of the greatest of Wilderness Society leaders, Robert Sterling Yard may have also been one of its most unexpected.

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  • Robert Marshall

    Robert Marshall, principal founder of The Wilderness Society, set an unprecedented course for wilderness preservation in the United States that few have surpassed.

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  • Harvey Broome

    Harvey Broome, revered for his conservation work in the Smoky Mountains, was president of The Wilderness Society for nine years.

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  • Benton MacKaye

    Benton MacKaye is widely known as the father of the Appalachian Trail.  Before co-founding The Wilderness Society, he made groundbreaking scientific contributions to the conservation movement.

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  • Aldo Leopold

    A Yale-educated professor of wildlife management with a deep appreciation for the natural world, Leopold worked with the Forest Service to protect the nation’s first wilderness area.  He also wrote A Sand County Almanac, the seminal book on the land ethic. 

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