Adolph Murie

Infobox Writer
name = Adolph Murie


imagesize =
caption = Adolph Murie on Muldrow Glacier, 1939, Denali National Park
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birthdate = September 6, 1899
birthplace = Moorhead, Minnesota
deathdate = August 16, 1974
deathplace = Moose, Wyoming
occupation = author, ecologist, forester, wildlife biologist, and |environmentalist
nationality = American
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genre =
subject = Conservation, Wilderness Preservation, Animal Behaviors
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notableworks = Wolves of Mount McKinley, A Naturalist in Alaska
spouse = Louise Murie
partner =
children =
relatives =
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Adolph Murie (1899-1974), the first scientist to study wolves in their natural habitat, [ [http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwmag/2002/summer/research.pdf] "A Brief History of Wolf Research, " Steve Grooms, International Wolf, Summer, 2002, Volume 21, No. 2, p. 9 ] was a naturalist, author, and wildlife biologist who pioneered field research on wolves, bears, and other mammals and birds in Artic and sub-Arctic Alaska. He was also instrumental in protecting wolves from eradication and in preserving the biological integrity of the Denali National Park and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. , [ [http://www.wilderness.net/library/documents/IJWAug05_nixon.pdf] "Science and Learning in the Alaskan Wilderness," Ingrid Nixon, International Journal of Wilderness August, 2005, Volume 11, No. 2, p. 35 ]

Early life

Adolf Winstrom was born on September 6, 1899, in Moorhead, Minnesota, the child of Ed and Marie Winstrom. [Joachim Murie, father of Olaus and Martin, died in 1895. His widow, Marie, married a Swedish-American, Ed Winstrom. Marie gave birth to Adolf in 1899 and Winstrom died shortly thereafter. Probably to avoid confusion for her children, Marie resumed her first husband's name. Adolf preferred Murie to Winstrom and later formally changed his name. He also later changed the spelling of his first name to Adolph. Footnote 6, "A Wilderness Apprenticeship", John Little, Environmental History, October 2000 issue, p. 12, available online at [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3854/is_200010/ai_n8926451/pg_12 ] ] In 1922, prior to completing college, Adolph Murie joined his brother, Olaus Murie, on an expedition to Mt. McKinley National Park, the first of many trips he would make to Alaska to do biological research. Murie received a Bachelor’s Degree from Concordia College, and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, where he earned his Ph. D. in 1929. [ [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/wy/MurieRanch.pdf] "Murie Ranch Historic District," National Register of Historic Places Registration, U. S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, p. 27] He subsequently worked on projects for the university’s Zoology Museum, among other things doing research on mammals in Guatemala and British Honduras. [ [http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56271/1/MP026.pdf] "Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Zoology, No. 26", University of Michigan, July 15, 1935]

Books and articles

In 1934, Adolph Murie went to work for the Wildlife Division of the National Park Service. In 1937, Murie conducted a study of coyotes in Yellowstone National Park, published as "Ecology of the Coyote in Yellowstone." This book set off a storm of controversy within the Service, and represents one of the first studies published that argued against the Service’s long tradition of predator eradication. In 1939, the National Park Service assigned Murie to assess the relationship between the Dall sheep and the wolf in the Mt. McKinley area. The resulting book, "The Wolves of Mt. McKinley", is considered a classic, especially given the detailed field observations which Murie spent hours collecting from 1939-1941. The publication of these two works led directly to the termination of the predator eradication programs in Yellowstone and Mt. McKinley national parks. [ [http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/wy/MurieRanch.pdf] "Murie Ranch Historic District," National Register of Historic Places Registration, U. S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, p. 30-31]

Murie’s book, "A Naturalist in Alaska", won the John Burroughs Medal in 1963.

=Service, research and wildlife organizations= Along with his brother, Olaus, Murie helped to enlarge existing national park boundaries and to create additional new units, notably the Jackson Hole National Monument in 1943 (it was upgraded to national park status several years later, then incorporated into the Grand Teton National Park).

In addition to his books, Murie published numerous articles against predator control programs and excessive human intrusion on wilderness areas. He wrote letters and submitted testimony to Congress regarding Isle Royale, Jackson Hole, Mt. McKinley, and other wilderness areas threatened by development or predator control programs, including an article against pesticide use in Grand Teton National Park in 1966.

Honors, Awards, Memorials

Adolph Murie died on August 16, 1974 at his STS Ranch, now part of the Murie Ranch Historic District in Moose, Wyoming. The ranch was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006, and the house and grounds are the headquarters for the Murie Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to conservation work. [ [http://www.muriecenter.org] Murie Center web site]

The Stanford University Law School presents the “Olaus and Adolph Murie Award” for the best work done by a student in Environmental Law. [ [http://law-stage.stanford.edu/calendar/?type=law_school_events&start_date=2008-05-21&time_period=past&page=2] Stanford Law School web site]

The Murie Science and Learning Center in Denali National Park was opened and officially dedicated to Murie on August 16, 2004. The Center also serves as the visitor’s center for the park in the winter. [ [http://www.nps.gov/dena/parkmgmt/upload/TheSuperintendentReport2004.pdf] Superintendent’s Report, Denali National Park Preserve, Fiscal Year 2004, p. 3]

References

Footnotes

Works by Adolph Murie

*"Birds of Mount McKinley National Park, Alaska" LCCN 64007158 [http://lccn.loc.gov/64007158]
*"The ecological relationship of two subspecies of Peromyscys in the Glacier park region" (Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1933) LCCN 43003482 [http://lccn.loc.gov/a43003482]
*" Fauna of the national parks of the United States. Ecology of the coyote in the Yellowstone" (Washington, U.S. Govt. print office, 1940) LCCN 41050357 [http://lccn.loc.gov/41050357]
*" Following fox trails" (Ann Arbor, Mich., University of Michigan press, 1936) LCCN 37027580 [http://lccn.loc.gov/37027580]
*" The Wolves of Mount McKinley" (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1985) ISBN 0295962038
*" The Grizzlies of Mount McKinley" (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1985) ISBN 0295962046
*"Mammals from Guatemala and British Honduras" (Ann Arbor, Mich., University of Michigan press, 1935) LCCN 35028361 [http://lccn.loc.gov/35028361]
*"Mammals of Denali" (Alaska Natural History Association, 1994) ISBN 0930931122
*" The moose of Isle Royale" (Ann Arbor, Mich., University of Michigan press, 1934) LCCN 34027764 [http://lccn.loc.gov/34027764]
*"A naturalist in Alaska" (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1990) ISBN 0816511683

External links

* [http://www.muriecenter.org/ The Murie Center (Wyoming)]
* [http://www.murieslc.org/ The Murie Science and Learning Center (Alaska)]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/science/14/contents.htm Online edition of "The Grizzlies of Mt. McKinley"]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/fauna5/fauna1.htm Online edition of "The Wolves of Mt. McKinley"]
* [http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56271/1/MP026.pdf Online edition of "The Mammals of Guatemala and British Honduras"]
* [http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56270/1/MP025.pdf Online edition of "The Moose of Isle Royale"]