Olaus and Mardy Murie by their home in front of Grand Tetons, 1953. Source: NCTC Archives/Museum (Courtesy of Edith English, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Olaus Murie took up the position of director, and eventually president of the Wilderness Society, after resigning from his field biologist job in 1945, during which Margaret served as his secretary. The Wilderness Society was established in 1935, with a mission to create awareness and encourage Americans to protect wilderness areas in the U.S. The society focuses on creating a system of protected wilderness throughout the States, steering energy development away from sensitive areas of wildlife, and encouraging citizens to show ownership and care over the available wild habitats. The headquarters of the society was located at a log cabin in a ranch bought by the couple near Moose, Wyoming.
Map of the Murie Ranch. Source: National Park Service.
An expedition to the far north of Alaska in 1956 exposed the diversity of wildlife in that area (thereafter known as the Arctic Wildlife Range).
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Brooks Range, Aichilik River, Alaska. Source: National Geographic (Courtesy of James P. Blair).
Margaret documented the experiences and observations, in a book she later published called “Two in the Far North”. These experiences ultimately laid the foundation for the idea of preserving an entire ecosystem and the creation of national parks. Her book also impelled others to root for the preservation of the wilderness in the Arctic.
Sorex hoyi – Pygmy shrew (edited by Don E. Wilson & Sue Ruff, 1999). Source: The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals.
Grizzly bears. Source: Harry Bosen
The animals they dicovered ranged from the tiny pygmy shrew to the giant grizzly bear.
As a result, Margaret Murie, her husband Olaus Murie and then director of the Wilderness Society, Howard Zahniser, were compelled to urge the Congress at that time to pass a bill on a Wilderness Act. The Wilderness Act was set to establish the National Wilderness Preservation System, which is a group of federally-owned wilderness areas designated by the Congress to be protected to preserve the natural state. Margaret and her counterparts tirelessly fought for this cause, however both Olaus and Howard passed on before the Act was passed. Margaret Murie, and Howard Zahniser’s wife, Alice, attended the signing ceremony by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, which was held at the Rose Garden in the White House on 3 September 1964.
President Johnson signs the Wilderness Act with conservation advocate Mardy Murie (3 September 1964). Source: Sierra Club.