Edgar Arthur Wayburn
Biography
Wayburn was born Edgar Arthur Waxelbaum on September 17, 1906, in Macon, Georgia to Lewis Isaac Waxelbaum and Marian "Mamie" Voorsanger Waxelbaum. He was a direct descendant of Rabbi Jacob Voorsanger, a prominent early Jewish leader in San Francisco and rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El. Wayburn graduated from the University of Georgia in 1926 and from Harvard Medical School in 1930.
In 1933, he relocated to San Francisco to begin his medical practice. Wayburn's involvement with the Sierra Club began in 1939 when he joined a burro trip. After serving four years in the military as a doctor
with the Army Air Forces in
England, he returned to San Francisco. He was elected to the executive committee of the local Sierra Club chapter and established its first conservation committee.
In 1947, Wayburn married
Peggy Wayburn, and together they actively participated in key conservation battles of their time, aiming to preserve wild places for future generations to explore and enjoy. Notably, Wayburn played a central role in the establishment of Redwoods National Park and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and contributed to the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
1995, he was awarded the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
Wayburn published his memoir Your Land and Mine: Evolution of a Conservationist in 2004.
Wayburn was honored at a 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration as the recipient of the inaugural Howard Zahniser Lifetime Achievement Award, given to someone whose life of achievement in protecting wilderness most closely parallels those of the person principally responsible for the Wilderness Act.
died of natural causes
Activism
Wayburn served five terms as the Sierra Club's elected president, and was named the club's Honorary President in 1993. During a half-century of environmental achievements, Wayburn led and won campaigns to protect millions of acres of America's coasts, mountains, forests and tundra. Wayburn has left his mark in the following ways:
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Establishing the nation's largest urban park, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Included in the park's expanse are San Francisco's beaches, Alcatraz and the Presidio
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Protecting over 100 million acres (400,000 km2) of Alaskan wild lands with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which doubled the size of Denali National Park, created 10 new National Parks, and doubled the size of America's National Park system
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Creating Redwood National Park, and then doubling the park's size 10 years later;
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Increasing the area of California's Mount Tamalpais State Park from . Mount Tamalpais is now among the state's 10 most-visited state parks
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Establishing the Point Reyes National Seashore
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Establishing Wilderness areas throughout the American West
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