the john muir exhibit - people - frederick law olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
1822-1903
- Landscape architect
and conservationist.
- Olmsted is most
famous as the designer of New York City's Central Park.
- He later was
appointed the chairman of the state commission for Yosemite, directing the survey and taking charge of the property for the state of California. He warned as early as 1865 that the goal of management of Yosemite should be "the preservation and maintenance as exactly as is possible of
the natural scenery."
-
The other members of the Yosemite park commission
saw to it that the
report Olmsted wrote never reached the state legislature.
Not until 1952 was this most important document finally discovered
and published for the first time. Alfred Runte has said "Of all
the might-have-beens in national park history, the suppression
of Olmsted's report was among the most significant." His recommendations
were, however, used in support of the National Park Service by his
son, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., in 1916.
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