John Muir’s Preservation Thoughts and Practices

Faced with the problems of natural resources and ecological environment caused by the early modernization in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries,John Muir combined the natural science knowledge as well as the observation and perception of nature,constructed the preservation thoughts which advocated the overall preservation concept by highlighting the aesthetics value,spiritual value and intrinsic value of nature,and perfected the cognition of the natural multi-value system and the relationship between man and nature.At the same time,the preservationists like Muir actively put preservation into practice,promoted the establishment of Yosemite and other national parks,contributing to the construction of the U.S.national park system.However,in the process of the management of national parks and forest reserves,it was difficult to really implement preservation because there existed the tension between it and the mainstream values such as the concept of development and progress.