David Ross Browerwas born in Berkeley, California, on July 1, 1912, and died on November 5, 2000. He spent most of his life working to preserve the environment and natural resources of the earth, and to that end worked with and founded a number of environmental groups and organizations.
He joined the Sierra Club in 1933, became a member of its board of directors in 1941, and served as its first executive director from 1952 to 1969. In 1960 he successfully urged the formation of the Sierra Club Foundation.
In 1969, he founded Friends of the Earth, as well as the League of Conservation Voters.
Earth Island Institute and the Brower Fund were both founded in 1982. That same year also saw the first of the biennial Fate and Hope of the Earth Conferences. These three institutions continue to work to bring peace, environmental, social justice, and other similar groups together to achieve peace on and with the Earth.
In 1988 and 1990-1992, he led delegations to Lake Baikal in Siberia at Soviet request to aid its protection and restoration.
In the fall of 1994, Brower co-founded the Ecological Council of Americas as a network of organizations in the Americas focused on problems of environment and economic integration.
Brower also helped create national parks and seashores in Kings Canyon, the North Cascades, the Redwoods, Great Basin, Cape Cod, Fire Island, the Golden Gate, and Point Reyes. He worked for the protection of old-growth forests in Olympic National Park, and played a major role in keeping dams out of Dinosaur National Monument, the Yukon, and the Grand Canyon. He established the National Wilderness Preservation System, and the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission.
For Earth's Sake: The Life and Times of David Brower, his autobiography, was published in 1990. Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run, written with Steve Chapple, was published in 1995.
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The David Brower Center. www.browercenter.org
The Earth Island Institute. www.earthisland.org