David Brower

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For the Florida politician, see David L. Brower.
David Brower

David Ross Brower

Born
July 1, 1912
Berkeley, California
November 5, 2000 (aged 88)
Died
Berkeley, California
Occupation Conservationist, mountaineer
Presidency of the Sierra Club
Known for Foundation, Founding Friends of the
Earth, Earth Island Institute
Spouse(s) Anne Hus Brower
Kenneth Brower, Robert Brower,
Children
Barbara Brower, John Brower

David Ross Brower (/ˈbraʊ.ər/; July 1, 1912 – November 5, 2000) was a prominent
environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the John Muir
Institute for Environmental Studies, Friends of the Earth (1969), Earth Island Institute (1982),
North Cascades Conservation Council, and Fate of the Earth Conferences. From 1952 to 1969,
he served as the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club, and served on its board three times:
from 1941–1953; 1983–1988; and 1995–2000. As a younger man, he was a prominent
mountaineer.
Contents
 1 Early life
 2 Mountaineering achievements
 3 World War II
 4 Career with Sierra Club
o 4.1 Coffee table books
o 4.2 Membership rises, revenues drop
o 4.3 Board conflict and resignation
o 4.4 Rejoins and resigns from board
 5 Founds Friends of the Earth
o 5.1 Widens environmental campaigns
o 5.2 Resigns from board
 6 Later years with Earth Island Institute
 7 See also
 8 References
 9 Bibliography
 10 Video resources
 11 External links

Early life
Brower was born in Berkeley, California. He was married to Anne Hus Brower (1913 – 2001)
whom he met when they were both editors at the University of California Press in Berkeley.
Anne was the daughter of Francis L M. Hus and Frances Hus (1876 – 1952), while Frances was
the daughter of John P. Irish.

Kenneth Brower, David Brower's son, authored a number of books, most notably The Starship
and the Canoe about Freeman Dyson and his son George Dyson.

Mountaineering achievements
Beginning his career as a world-class mountaineer with more than 70 first ascents to his credit,
Brower came to the environmental movement through his interest in mountaineering. In 1933,
Brower spent seven weeks in the High Sierra with George Rockwood. After a close call with a
loose rock while climbing in the Palisades, he met Norman Clyde in the wilderness, who gave
him some valuable climbing lessons. On that trip he also met Hervey Voge, who persuaded him
to join the Sierra Club. On May 18, 1934, along with Voge, he began a ten-week climbing trip
through the High Sierra, to survey climbing routes and maintain mountaineering records for the
club. Previously, they had established several food caches along their planned route, which
began at Onion Valley and ended at Tuolumne Meadows. In all, the pair climbed 63 peaks on
this trip, including 32 first ascents. On the first day, they climbed Mount Tyndall, Mount
Williamson, and Mount Barnard. From June 23 to 26, the pair made eight first ascents in the
Devils Crags along with Norman Clyde, and also climbed Mount Agassiz. Clyde called the
Devils Crag climbs "one of the most remarkable mountaineering feats ever accomplished in the
United States". In the Palisades range, the pair climbed Thunderbolt Peak, traversed to North
Palisade by way of Starlight Peak, and descended the U-Notch Couloir. In the Sawtooth Range,
they climbed The Doodad, the West Tooth, and Matterhorn Peak.[1] [2]

Following a failed attempt in 1935 to make the first ascent of the remote, icy Mount Waddington
in British Columbia, with a Sierra Club group, Brower added winter climbing to his expertise
and made multiple first winter ascents of peaks in the Sierra Nevada.[3]

Shiprock, first climbed by David Brower and friends in 1939

From October 9 to 12, 1939, a Sierra Club climbing team including Brower, along with Bestor
Robinson, Raffi Bedayn, and John Dyer, completed the first ascent of Shiprock, the erosional
remnant of the throat of a volcano with nearly vertical walls on the Navajo reservation in
northwestern New Mexico. This climb, rated YDS III, 5.7 A2, was the first in the United States
to use expansion bolts for protection.[4]

Twelve previous attempts on Shiprock had failed, and it was known as "the last great American
climbing problem". The Brower party's success was described as an "outstanding effort" by
"probably the only group on the continent capable of making the climb".[5]

Brower made the first ascent of seventy routes in Yosemite and elsewhere in the western United
States.

World War II
In 1942, Brower edited and contributed to the Manual of Ski Mountaineering, published by the
University of California Press and Cambridge University Press for use in training Allied
mountain combat troops during World War II. Techniques described in this book were used by
U.S. forces in the battles in the North Apeninnes and the Lake Garda Alps. The book was
published in three later revised editions. [6]

During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the 10th Mountain Division, training its
soldiers in mountaineering and cross-country skiing in Vermont and the state of Washington and
earning a Bronze Star in action in Italy.[3] Brower's role in the 10th Mountain Division is featured
in the documentary film Fire on the Mountain. He served as a major in the Army Reserve for
many years after the war ended.[7]