by C. Michael Hall
Hall, C.M. 2010,’ John Muir’, in Giants of Tourism, eds. R. Butler and R. Russel, Wallingford: CABI, pp.229-242 (draft only)
This is a draft of the chapter. For the authoritative version please consult the book at more
This is a draft of the chapter. For the authoritative version please consult the book at http://bookshop.cabi.org/default.aspx?site=191&page=2633&pid=2251
John Muir (1838-1914), botanist, geologist, natural historian, conservationist, philosopher, writer, and self-confessed 'tramp', is one of the 'the grandest character[s] in national park history' (Mills 1916, p. 25). In addition to being one of the founding fathers of the United States National Park System, and being especially associated with the creation of the Yosemite National Park, Muir influenced the nature and direction of the conservation and national park movements throughout the world (Fox 1981; Nash 1982; Cohen 1984; Worster 2008). As Powell (1977, p. 108) argued, the 'commitment to activism in the international wilderness movement is John Muir's best memorial'. However, Muir’s significance for tourism is much greater than the direct effects of his activism which helped protect a number of areas in the western United States as national parks, monuments and reserves – as important as that is. Instead, Muir, perhaps more than anyone else of the time, helped shape what many people in the United States, and later throughout the developed world, imagine a national park to be, and therefore served to substantially influence the way in which tourism to natural areas, and what would now likely be termed as ‘ecotourism’, was developed. For Muir, it was not only important to gaze upon nature’s wonders in terms of appreciating the sublime, but also to directly experience it through walks, rambles and overnight camps. This is especially significant, not only in terms of the growth of nature-based tourism, but also with respect to the role that tourism may play in both appreciating nature and providing an economic alternative to forms of land use that may otherwise reduce aesthetic and/or environmental values (Hall 1992; Runte 1997; Hall and Frost 2009). As a result, Muir was therefore instrumental in the development of the paradox faced by many national park agencies - to encourage both conservation and visitation to national parks as well as promoting national parks as visitor attractions in their own right (Frost and Hall 2009).
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