the john muir exhibit - educational_resources - forestchoice john muir observer journal

ForestChoice John Muir Observer Journal

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The John Muir Observer Journal is a collaboration between the University of the Pacific's John Muir Center and ForestChoice, provided to students at the University of the Pacific. The University of the Pacific houses the largest collection of Muir's archives. Since the collection came to the University in 1970, the University has continued to build the collection and to make its contents more accessible. Muir' philosophies and legacies are promoted through classes, conferences, and special events supported by the University's John Muir Center. Students at the University of the Pacific have a rare opportunity to learn directly about John Muir through this vast collection of resource. However, many parts of his journals, sketchbooks, letters, and drawing are now readily available online for anyone to dig deeper into the mind of the famed naturalist.

Now available for purchase by the general public, this journal is designed to get you to observe the world around you like John Muir did. John Muir was a constant observer, and he recorded his observations in one of his countless journals. A portion of the proceeds from each journal will be donated to the John Muir Center and their effort to promote the study of John Muir's work.

The journal comes with a sturdy brown cover; the "title band" shown in image above is removed during use. The journal includes a ribbon place-marker, plus a ribbon strap on the back cover, handy for inserting additional notes or pages.

The 16 introductory pages include "The Purpose of this Journal," "The Muir-Pacific Connection," "The Art of Making Observations," "John Muir Chronology," a John Muir biography, quotes, and several photographs of Muir in action. Many of these materials are taken from the John Muir Papers at the University of the Pacific, making this journal far more unique than most journals of this kind.

Professor Kurtis Burmeister, Ph.D., of the University of the Pacific Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences provides some useful tips on "The Art of Making Observations," noting that to make a valuable observation, one must learn to see and not just to look. Professor Burmeister makes a further essential point that aspiring journalists will need to learn more of the "written and visual vocabularies" needed to faithfully capture their observations in their journal.

The last page of the journal provides a ruled page for your own journal index references and page numbers, while the inside back cover itself incorporates a page from one of John Muir's own journals to provide an example.

The ForestChoice brand of wood products, including this journal, is offered by California Cedar Products Company, based in Stockton, California. Its products are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an independent international non-profit organization which verifies that the products originate in a forest that has been determined to be well-managed using international principles and criteria.

The Sierra Club and most other environmental groups are united in support of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as the highest standard for forest certification. FSC certified forestry protects forest biodiversity, ancient old-growth forests, water quality, and the well-being of workers and forest-dependent peoples.

Related Journaling Resources

• Journal Writing with John Muir

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Harold Wood, John Muir Education Team Coordinator
Sierra Club
P.O. Box 3543
Visalia, CA 93278
E-mail: harold.wood@sierraclub.org

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