Robert Sterling Yard
Born in Haverstraw, New York, Yard graduated from Princeton University and spent the first twenty years of his career in the editing and publishing business.
Yard served as head of the National Parks Educational Committee for several years after its conception, but tension within the NPS led him to concentrate on non-government initiatives.
Creating high standards based on aesthetic ideals for park selection, he also opposed commercialism and industrialization of what he called "America's masterpieces".
After helping to establish a relationship between the NPA and the United States Forest Service, Yard later became involved in the protection of wilderness areas.
[1] In 1915, Yard was invited to Washington, D.C., by his friend Stephen Mather, who had started working on national parks as assistant to the Secretary of Interior.
[5] The United States had authorized 14 parks and 22 monuments over the previous forty years (1872–1915), but there was no single agency to provide unified management of the resources.
[7] Although Yard was not an outdoorsman like most advocates of a national park service, he felt a connection to the cause, and eventually became personally invested in its success.
At the National Park Conference in March 1915, he stated, "I, the treader of dusty city streets, boldly claim common kinship with you of the plains, the mountains, and the glaciers.
"[2] He gathered data regarding popular American tourist destinations, such as Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada, together with reasons why people visited certain areas; he also collected photographs and compiled lists of those who might enlist in the conservation cause.
[9] Yard and Mather distributed this publication to a carefully selected list of prominent Americans, including every member of Congress.
[11] Yard and Mather's publicity and lobbying resulted in the creation of the National Park Service; on August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill establishing the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wild life therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.
Consisting only of Yard and a secretary,[12] this division of the NPS produced informative publicity in order to draw visitors to parks and develop programs to enhance the educational value of their experience.
[13] Yard believed that while the National Park Service was effective as a government agency, it was not capable of promoting the wishes of the common American.
[17] In its early years, the NPA was Yard's livelihood and passion: he recruited the key founding members, raised money and wrote various press releases.
Often referring to parks as "American masterpieces", he sought to protect them from economic activities such as timber cutting and mineral extracting.
[21] In 1920, Congress passed the Water Power Act, which granted licenses to develop hydroelectric projects on federal lands, including national parks.
In 1921, Congress passed the Jones-Esch Bill, amending the Water Power Act to exclude existing national parks from hydroelectric development.
While visiting Yosemite National Park in 1926, he stated that the valley was "lost" after he found crowds, automobiles, jazz music and a bear show.
[25] Yard, who preferred to give the land that did not meet his standards to the Forest Service rather than the NPS, began to work closely with the USFS.
He slowly warmed to the Everglades idea, and in 1931 supported the proposal under conditions that the area remain pristine, with limited tourist development.
Additional founding members included notable conservationists Bob Marshall, Benton MacKaye, Bernard Frank, Aldo Leopold, and Harvey Broome.
[36] He ran the society from his home in Washington, D.C., and single-handedly produced The Living Wilderness during its early years, with one issue annually until 1945.
[37] Yard did the greater share of work during the Society's early years; he solicited membership, corresponded with other conservation groups, and kept track of congressional activities related to wilderness areas.
"[42] Yard's effect on the Wilderness Society proved long-lasting; he was responsible for initiating cooperation with other major preservationist groups, including the National Park Association.
