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This is a list of prominent 20th-century wilderness explorers, naturalists, survival instructors, and exponents of outdoor education, adventure education, adventure therapy, wilderness therapy, etc.
Name | Notability | Reference |
---|---|---|
Ansel Easton Adams | Outdoorsman, environmentalist, photographer. | |
George Adamson and Joy Adamson | Wildlife conservationists who raised Elsa the lioness and inspired the movie and song Born Free. | |
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen | Polar explorer. Traveled to the South Pole in 1911, and to the North Pole in 1926. | |
"Anastasia" of Siberia | Wilderness dweller. The subject of Vladimir Nikolaevic Megre's Anastasia and Ringing Cedars books, she lives in the Siberian taiga (arboreal forest), immersed in nature, amongst plants, animals, and nature spirits which provide for all her needs. After her parents' accidental deaths, she was raised by two sages, her grandfather and great-grandfather. Her story has inspired thousands to take up country living, simplicity, and nature awareness. [2] | Vladimir Megre |
Roy Chapman Andrews | Naturalist, adventurer, explorer. President of The Explorers Club. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
Bradford Angier | Country dweller. Authored many books on camping, hiking, backpacking, horsepacking, foraging, outdoor skills, and country living. | |
David Arama | Outdoor programs and wilderness survival instructor. Les Stroud's first survival instructor. Director of the WSC Survival School. | David Arama |
Aram Attarian | Physical educator specializing in outdoor and adventure education. Compiled The Research and Literature on Challenge Courses. [3] | Aram Attarian |
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell / 1st Baronet Baden-Powell of Bentley / 1st Baron Baden-Powell of Gilwell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Powell) | British Army officer. [4] Founder of The Scout Association. [5] [6] Organised Scout Huts (emulating YMCA Huts) for soldiers' R&R in WW2. [7] "Chief Scout of the World". Many works include books on military scouting (reconnaissance) and youth Scouting, including Scouting for Boys , bestseller of the 20th century, and Rovering to Success . East Twin and West Twin peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains have been renamed Mount Baden-Powell and Mount Burnham after the two friends. | [8] |
Frederick Marshman Bailey | Soldier, intelligence officer, linguist, explorer. | |
Ian Baker | Explorer of the Himalayas and scholar of Tibetan Buddhism. With Brian Harvey and Ken Storm, explored the Tsangpo Gorge and discovered massive hidden waterfall in the Tsangpo River in 1998. Chinese authorities downplayed the discovery, claiming that the falls had been photographed from the air in 1987. [9] | [10] |
Robert Abram Bartlett | Foremost Arctic explorer. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
Wolf G. Bauer | Boy Scout, [11] foldboater, skier, climber, ceramic engineer, climbing instructor, mountain rescuer, conservationist, kayaker. Co-founder, with Ome Daiber and Dr. Otto Trott, of the Mountain Rescue Council (Seattle Mountain Rescue). His climbing courses in The Mountaineers and its Climbers' Notebook were the direct progenitors of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills . | [12] [13] |
Daniel Carter Beard | Outdoorsman; illustrator. Founder of the Sons of Daniel Boone, later known as the Boy Pioneers. Co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America and the Camp Fire Girls. Received the Silver Buffalo of the BSA in 1926. Honorary Member, Alpha Phi Omega. Many works. | Books by Dan Beard |
John Bennett | Technical diver. First human to scuba dive deeper than 1000 feet. | A Journey to 308 Meters |
Robert Birkby | Eagle Scout. Trail builder. Adventure guide in Africa, Alaska, Nepal, Siberia, etc. Writer, Boy Scouts of America: wrote 10th, 11th, and 12th editions of Boy Scout Handbook , 4th edition of Fieldbook, Backpacking Merit Badge Pamphlet, and works of his own. [14] | Robert Birkby |
Jens Bjerre | Adventurer. Conducted expeditions in Africa and Australia. | |
Christian John Storey Bonington | Soldier, climber. Recipient of many honors, including election as honorary president of the British Orienteering Federation, the Hiking Club, the Lancaster University Mountaineering Club, and Mountain Wilderness. Many works. | |
William Dickson Boyce | Entrepreneur, newspaper publisher, philanthropist, safari explorer. Founder of the Boy Scouts of America and the Lone Scouts of America. | [15] [16] [17] [18] |
David Breashears | Cinematographer, climber. | |
Steve Brill | Naturalist, nature guide, environmental educator. Authored books on foraging for edible and medicinal plants. [19] | |
David Ross Brower | Climber; environmentalist; founder of Earth Island Institute, Fate of the Earth Conferences, Friends of the Earth, John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, League of Conservation Voters, North Cascades Conservation Council, and Sierra Club Foundation. Member of the Board and Executive Director of the Sierra Club. | |
Tom Brown, Jr. (White Coyote) | Tracker. Proponent of wilderness living, conservation, and spirituality; trained for ten years by "Stalking Wolf." Founded The Tracker school in New Jersey and Tracker Search and Forensic Investigation. Many pupils include Tim Corcoran and Jon Young. [20] Wrote about extreme wilderness training, practices and abilities, including those similar to Tibetan tummo (which allows a person to survive in freezing temperatures) and lunggom (which enables a person to travel great distances swiftly without effort or exhaustion). Warns of ecological collapse unless humanity works to prevent it. Many works. [21] | [22] |
Frederick Russell Burnham | Soldier of fortune, prospector, cowboy, hunter. US Army scout. British Army officer and chief of scouts; nicknamed "king of scouts"; taught woodcraft to Baden-Powell during the Second Matabele War; commanded the Lovat Scouts, the first British Army sniper unit (during the Second Boer War). He was active in the Boy Scouts of America, was conferred the title of Honorary Scout, and received the Silver Buffalo in 1936. East Twin and West Twin peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains have been renamed Mount Baden-Powell and Mount Burnham after the two friends. [23] | |
Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr. | Naval aviator, officer, and polar explorer. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
Norbert Casteret | Climber and prominent caver. | |
George Kruck Cherrie | Naturalist, explorer. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
James Lippitt Clark | Scientist, explorer, taxidermist, sculptor. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
Helen Herz Cohen | Director of Camp Walden, an all-girls summer camp in Maine. | |
Mark Collard | Experiential educator. Project Adventure Certified Trainer. | Inspire Your Group |
William Floyd Collins | Pioneer US caver. | |
Jim Corbett / James Edward Corbett | Anglo-Indian hunter-turned-conservationist. Name source of Jim Corbett National Park. | |
Tim Corcoran | Teacher of wilderness skills, nature awareness, and spiritual philosophy. Pupil of Tom Brown. Founded Headwaters Outdoor School. Authored Growing Up with a Soul Full of Nature. | Headwaters Teachers |
Joseph Cornell / Bharat | Nature educator and author. His Sharing Nature with Children has had wide international influence. Student of yoga; pupil of Svāmī Kriyānanda Giri. | |
George C. Daiber / Ome Daiber | Boy Scout. Scoutmaster. Climber. Outdoor equipment designer. Rescuer. Co-founder, with Wolf Bauer and Otto Trott, of the Mountain Rescue Council (Seattle Mountain Rescue). Adviser, US Army. | [24] [25] [26] |
Edmund Wade Davis | Biologist, anthropologist, and explorer in Africa, the Arctic, Asia, Australia, Greenland, and Latin America. PhD ethnobotany, Harvard U. Member of the board of directors of the Amazon Conservation Association. Recipient, Explorers Medal, Explorers Club (2011). Many works. [27] | Wade Davis |
Robert-Jacques de Joly | Prominent caver. Founding chairman of the Spéléo-club de France. | |
Mick Dodge | US Marine Corps soldier. Outdoorsman, forest dweller. | |
Charles Minot Dole / Minnie Dole | Founder of the National Ski Patrol. During World War II, convinced the US War Department to form the US Army 10th Mountain Division, with which Dole and the National Ski Patrol were active in recruitment and training. Dole was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1958. | The Minnie Dole Collection at Denver Public Library |
Chris Duff | Sea kayaker. Made circumnavigations of Britain, Iceland, Ireland, and New Zealand South Island. Recipient of National Outdoor Book Awards for On Celtic Tides and Southern Exposure. | |
Jim Dutcher | Creator/author of films and books about nature, especially wolves. With his wife Jamie, founded Living With Wolves. | |
Mark Elbroch | Author of tracking books. Co-authored A Field Guide to Animal Tracks with Olaus Murie. | |
Doug Elliott | Naturalist; herbalist; story teller. | Doug Elliott |
Ranulph Fiennes / 3rd Baronet Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes of Banbury | Adventurer; soldier; explorer. | |
Colin Fletcher | Hiker, soldier, farmer, prospector, river runner, backpacker. Authored The Complete Walker . | |
Dian Fossey | Eminent primatologist, known for her 18 years of studying gorillas. | |
Steven Foster | Explored around the world researching plant medicine. Authored books on medicinal plants. | |
Euell Theophilus Gibbons | Outdoorsman and proponent of natural diets. Authored books on foraging. | Euell Gibbons |
Valerie Jane Morris Goodall / Jane Goodall | Eminent primatologist, in childhood inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan. The only human to be accepted into a troop of chimpanzees. Recipient of numerous honors. | |
Edward Urner Goodman / Chief Eagle | Scoutmaster. Soldier. Camp Director of Treasure Island Scout Reservation. Executive for Philadelphia, then Chicago, and finally National Program Director, of the Boy Scouts of America. Founded the BSA's Order of the Arrow [28] with Carroll Andrew Edson. [29] Honored and dubbed as "Chief Eagle" by the Blackfoot nation. Honorary Member, Alpha Phi Omega. | [30] [31] |
John Graham | Exponent of outdoor leadership. | [32] |
Richard Harry Graves | Founded and led a 60-man Australian jungle rescue detachment (attached to the US Army Air Force) that conducted some 300 rescue missions in enemy-held territory. After the war, he ran a bushcraft school for over twenty years. Authored Bushcraft. | Graves' Bushcraft Books |
Archibald Stansfeld Belaney / Grey Owl | Adopted Ojibwe. Conservationist. Black Watch sniper. Subject of the film Grey Owl by Baron Attenborough of Richmond upon Thames. | [33] |
George Bird Grinnell | Anthropologist, historian, naturalist, conservationist. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. Many works. | |
Edward Michael Grylls / Bear Grylls | Outdoor adventurer; summitted Jo.mo gLang.ma. Chief Scout of The Scout Association. | |
Luther Halsey Gulick | Physician. Co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America and the Camp Fire Girls. [34] [35] [36] YMCA Hall of Fame inductee 1992. | |
Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn / Kurt Hahn | Experiential educator. Founder of Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonstoun, and United World Colleges system. Founded Outward Bound with Lawrence Durning Holt and James Martin Hogan. [37] Originator of the Moray Badge, the forerunner of the County Badge (developed by Jim Hogan), which was the forerunner of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. [38] Baden-Powell and Kurt Hahn are arguably the most famous experiential / outdoor / adventure educators of the 20th century. The Expeditionary Learning schools movement is founded on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn and the experiences of Outward Bound USA. | [39] [40] [41] |
James C. Halfpenny / Jim Halfpenny | Tracker, hunter, cross-country skier, climber, wilderness guide, biologist, research explorer, and expert on lynxes, cougars, wolves, wolverines, and especially bears. Self-described "scientist and educator who specializes in carnivores, cold, and tracking." Founded Track Education Center and Museum. Chairman of the Board of Directors, National Outdoor Leadership School. PhD mammalogy & ecology, U Colorado, 1980. Many works. | James Halfpenny |
Haripal Singh Ahluwalia | Major, Indian Army. Climbed in Central Asia, Nepal, and Sikkim. First Indian to summit Jo.mo gLang.ma. President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and the Delhi Mountaineering Association. Authored books on his climbing experiences. | |
Heinrich Harrer | Climber. Authored Seven Years in Tibet . | |
Simo Häyhä | Farmer, hunter, marksman, dog breeder. Became famous as the most deadly military sniper in history. | |
Sven Anders Hedin | Linguist, explorer. Made travels through Asia, including 1927-1935 international archeological and scientific expedition to Mongolia, Gobi, and Xinjiang. | [42] [43] |
Claus Urbye Helberg | Commando, skier, mountain guide, and central figure of the Norwegian Trekking Association. | [44] [45] |
Matthew Alexander Henson | Explorer. Traveled towards the North Pole with Robert Peary in 1909. | |
Leslie James Hiddins | Australian Army scout and wilderness promoter. | |
John Hillaby | Hiker famed for long walking journeys and his accounts of these travels. | |
Edmund Percival Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa | First humans to summit Jo.mo gLang.ma. | |
William Hillcourt / Green Bar Bill (Vilhelm Hans Bjerregaard Jensen) | Boy Scout; Scoutmaster; Scouting professional. Served in various positions in the Boy Scouts of America. Authored many books and articles on Scouting, outdoor activities, and Scout skills, including the first Scout Fieldbook and three editions of the Boy Scout Handbook of the BSA. Endeavored to maintain the outdoor orientation of US Boy Scouting. Recipient of the Bronze Wolf and the Silver Buffalo. [46] | [47] |
James Martin Hogan / Jim Hogan | Scout leader, Wood Badge holder. First warden of the sea school at Aberdyfi; co-founder of Outward Bound. [48] | [49] |
Thomas F. Hornbein / Tom Hornbein | Climber and anesthesiologist. In 1963, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld became the first climbers to summit Jo.mo gLang.ma via the West Ridge. | |
Ralph Sheldon Hosmer | Forester. | |
Marvin Howard | US Army lieutenant colonel. In 1954 founded Troop 290, North Carolina, Boy Scouts of America. The troop lasted 10 years, and has been the only mounted Scout unit in the history of the BSA, with each member required to care for and train a horse. | |
Cliff Jacobson | Authored books on camping, canoeing, and outdoor skills. | Cliff Jacobson |
Ellsworth Jaeger | Exponent of American Indian lore. Authored Wildwood Wisdom. | |
John Nicholas Kallas | Researcher, author, educator on foraging. Founded Wild Food Adventures outdoor school and the Institute for the Study of Edible Wild Plants and Other Forageables in 1993. Editor of Wild Food Adventurer Newsletter, 1996-2006. Conducts workshops, events, and training about wild foods. | [50] [51] |
Harold S. Keltner (1893-1986) and Joseph Friday (1888-1955) | Founders of the YMCA Indian Guides - forerunner of the YMCA Adventure Guides and YMCA Roper Guides. | National Longhouse |
Horace Kephart | Travel writer. [52] | |
James Kielsmeier | Outward Bound instructor. Proponent of experiential education and service learning. Founder of the National Youth Leadership Council and the Center for Experiential Education and Service-Learning (University of Minnesota). | |
Ernst Killander | Soldier; Boy Scout leader; propagator of orienteering. | |
Frank Kingdon-Ward (Francis Kingdon Ward) | Explorer, botanist. Made expeditions to Burma, China, India, and Tibet. Many works. | |
Stanton Davis Kirkham | Naturalist, ornithologist, outdoor writer, nature philosopher. | |
Björn Kjellström | Orienteering champion; co-inventor of protractor compass; co-founder of Silva compass company. Authored Be Expert with Map and Compass. Possibly the most well-known name in 20th-century orienteering. | |
Jerome J. Knap | Outdoor author. [53] | |
Mors L. Kochanski | Outdoor skills and wilderness survival instructor and author. [54] | |
Jon Krakauer | Climber, writer. | |
Jerzy Kukuczka | Climber. Second person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. | |
Aldo Leopold | Outdoorsman, professional forester, wildlife manager, ecologist, environmentalist, nature writer. | [55] |
Erhard Loretan | Climber. Third person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. | |
Richard Louv | Journalist. Proponent of nature awareness and opponent of what he termed "nature-deficit disorder." Recipient of the Audubon Medal of the National Audubon Society. | |
Cody Lundin | Survival instructor. Founded Aboriginal Living Skills School. | Cody Lundin |
Donald Baxter MacMillan | Arctic explorer. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
John W. Malo | Wilderness traveler, canoeist. [56] | |
Mandip Singh Soin | Climber, tour operator, proponent of ecotourism. | |
Alice Manfield | Mountain guide. | |
Harvey Manning | Hiking proponent, preservationist, and author of many mountain climbing and hiking books. Edited the first edition of the famous manual of The Mountaineers entitled Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills . [57] | [58] |
Édouard-Alfred Martel | World pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation. Explored thousands of caves in France and other countries, popularised caving, introduced speleology as a distinct area of study, maintained an extensive archive, and founded the Société de Spéléologie (1895-1914), the world's first caving organization. | |
William Clifford Mason / Bill Mason | Outdoorsman, canoeist, artist, and film maker. Authored The Path of the Paddle [59] and other books. Featured on Canadian postage stamp in 1998. | [60] |
Douglas Mawson | Antarctic explorer. | |
Gary McGuffin and Joanie McGuffin | Canadian wilderness travelers, conservationists, and authors. [61] | |
John McPherson | Exponent of wilderness living. His pupils included special forces survival instructors. [62] | |
Raymond Paul Mears | Survival and bushcraft instructor, author, and television presenter. Founded Woodlore Ltd., "The School of Wilderness Bushcraft." | Ray Mears |
Reinhold Messner | Climber, famous for ascending mountains, including Jo.mo gLang.ma, without bottled oxygen. [63] First person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. | |
John P. Milton | Outdoorsman; ecologist; teacher of t'ai chi ch'uan (tàijíquán), ch'i kung (qìgōng) and meditation. Conducted life transformation journeys in wilderness areas of Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. Founder of Sacred Passage, The Way of Nature Fellowship, and the Sacred Land Trust. | [64] [65] |
Joshua Lewis Miner, III | Captain, US Army. Worked at Gordonstoun; took Kurt Hahn's ideas to the USA. Co-founder of Colorado Outward Bound School with Charles Froelicher. [66] Founder of Outward Bound USA. Inspired use of outdoor education in the Peace Corps. | [67] [68] |
Dee Molenaar | Climber, park ranger, mountain guide. Inducted into American Alpine Club Hall of Mountaineering Excellence in 2012. | |
Eric W. Morse | Proponent of wilderness canoeing. | |
John Muir | Conservationist, founder of the Sierra Club, and inspiration of the US national park system. American Episcopal feast day April 22. | Books by John Muir |
Walter Muma | Proponent of tracking, wilderness survival, and nature awareness. Organizer of Wildwood Trackers. | [69] [70] [71] |
Olaus Johan Murie | Naturalist, wildlife biologist, "father of elk management." President of The Wilderness Society and The Wildlife Society, and Director of the Izaak Walton League. Recipient of the Audubon Medal and the Sierra Club John Muir Award. Authored A Field Guide to Animal Tracks with Mark Elbroch. | |
William Wilson Naismith | Climber known for developing Naismith's rule. | |
Thomas Francis Neale / Tom Neale | Wilderness dweller; spent 16 years living alone in the Cook Islands. | |
Rüdiger Nehberg | Survival expert; human rights activist; advocate for indigenous people. | |
James Neill | Outdoor educator. Authored many articles. | [72] |
Ngawang Gombu Sherpa | First person to summit Jo.mo gLang.ma twice, 1963 (with Jim Whittaker) & 1965. Nephew of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa. | |
Ohiyesa / Charles Alexander Eastman | North American Indian of the Isáŋyathi tribe of the Dakota nation; physician; author; worked closely with YMCA, Woodcraft Indians, and YMCA Indian Guides; co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America and Camp Fire Girls; YMCA Hall of Fame inductee 2010. | [73] [74] [75] [76] [77] |
Kenneth Oldham | Conducted hiking, climbing, and outdoor education activities for children. First head of Whitehough Camp school, Lancashire, 1956-1983. | Kenneth Oldham |
Larry Dean Olsen | Teacher of outdoor survival skills. Exponent of outdoor education, adventure-based counseling, and wilderness therapy. Founded BYU Survival Course which successfully served as experiential human transformation workshop for students. Board Member, National Association of Therapeutic Wilderness Camps. Authored acclaimed Outdoor Survival Skills. [78] Has written for the Boy Scouts of America and the US Air Force. | Larry Dean Olsen |
Sigurd Ferdinand Olson | Wilderness guide, ecologist, highly-honored environmental advocate. Member of the Board of Trustees and President, National Parks Association. President, The Wilderness Society. Member of the Association of Interpretive Naturalists, the Ecological Society of America, The Explorers Club, The Nature Conservancy, and the Sierra Club. Recipient of many awards, including the Silver Antelope of the Boy Scouts of America. Authored many works, including The Boy Scouts Year Book. | [79] Olson Olson |
Daniel Eugene Osman / Dan Osman | Exponent of extreme speed free solo climbing. Died in bungee jump accident. | |
Peter Owen | Outdoorsman. Famed author of books on knots. [80] | |
Mark and Delia Owens | Zoologists, conservationists. Their 1984 book Cry of the Kalahari details their seven years of living deep in the Kalahari wilderness among lions and hyenas. | [81] |
Tony Pammer | Canoeing instructor. Co-founder and CEO of the Outdoor Education Group. | OEG |
Bruce Parry | Explorer, adventurer; soldier; outdoor film maker. | |
Doug Peacock | Outdoorsman, grizzly bear watcher. Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Round River Conservation Studies. | |
Robert Edwin Peary | Arctic explorer. Traveled towards the North Pole with Matthew Henson, along with the Inuit Ooqueah, Ootah, Egingwah, and Seeglo in 1909. | |
Clair Willard Perry / Clay Perry | Writer and caver who reputedly coined the word spelunker. | |
Roger Tory Peterson | Famous and multi-awarded naturalist, ornithologist, nature artist, "inventor of the modern field guide", and inspiration of the environmental movement. Many works. | |
Fernand Petzl | Caver and founder of Petzl outdoor equipment. | |
Paul Kiesow Petzoldt | Climber. Soldier, US Army 10th Mountain Division. Teton mountain guide. Assisted at early courses of the Colorado Outward Bound School. Founded the National Outdoor Leadership School. [82] | [83] |
Rod Phillips, Gail Davis, and Neil Phillips | Rover Scouts, Surrey-Thomas Rover Crew, Scouts Australia. Founders of rogaining. | |
Jerry Pieh | Son of Bob Pieh. Outward Bound instructor and school principal who pioneered the introduction of Outward Bound methods into the mainstream school system; father of Project Adventure (founded with Mary Ladd Smith, Robert Lentz, Karl Rohnke, Jim Schoel and others), which gave impetus to Adventure-Based Counseling and the now standard and ubiquitous ropes courses, group initiatives, and trust-building games which take participants out of comfort zones. | Project Adventure Evolution |
Robert Pieh / Bob Pieh | Founder of Minnesota Outward Bound School. | |
Gifford Pinchot | Founder, Society of American Foresters. | |
Jean-Pierre Gontran de Montaigne / Vicomte de Poncins | Soldier, adventurer. Authored Kabloona [84] about his 15-month life with the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. | |
Dick Pooley | Climber. First President of the Mountain Rescue Association. | |
Clifford Hillhouse Pope | China explorer and herpetologist. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
Saxton Temple Pope | Physician. Bow hunter. | |
Richard Louis Proenneke | Wilderness dweller; lived alone in the Alaskan wilderness, 1968-1999. | |
Richard Prouty / Dick Prouty | Proponent of adventure-based experiential education. President, Executive Director, and CEO, Project Adventure. | [85] |
Karl Prusik | Physician; climber; inventor of the Prusik knot. | |
Emil Racoviță | Biologist, explorer, caver, pioneer of biospeleology. | |
Philip James Ratz / Jim Ratz | Eagle Scout. Instructor (1973-78), Alaska Director (1979-83), and Executive Director (1984-95) for the National Outdoor Leadership School. Founding Chairman, Leave No Trace Inc. President, Jackson Hole Mountain Guides. Director, American Mountain Guides Association (2000-05). Founder of the 1985 NOLS Wilderness Education and Leadership Symposium, the 1986 NOLS Wilderness Medicine Symposium, and the 1994 NOLS Wilderness Risk Management Conference. Authored Soft Paths. | Jim Ratz |
Paul Rezendes | North American tracker. Nature photographer. Author of Tracking and the Art of Seeing. [86] | |
Robert B. Rheault | Alumnus, US Military Academy, West Point. US Army Special Forces officer. Worked with Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, 1969-2001. | |
Malcolm H. Ringwalt | Teacher, counselor, clinical hypnotherapist. Founded (1985) Earth-Heart Institute of Vision and Healing. Conducts vision quests and spiritual growth retreats. Teaches philosophy courses at Tom Brown's Tracker School. Member of the Board of Directors, The Medicine Waters Nature Conservancy. MA counseling psychology. | |
Bill Riviere | Author of books on camping and canoeing. [87] | |
Edgar Munroe Robinson | YMCA summer camp director. The man who actually set up the fledgling Boy Scouts of America organization on its feet. He pulled together Ernest Thompson Seton (Woodcraft Indians), Daniel Carter Beard (Boy Pioneers), Peter Sporr Bomus (Boy Scouts of the United States), William Verbeck (National Scouts of America), [88] Luther Halsey Gulick (Playground Association), and others, and persuaded them to join the Boy Scouts of America [89] incorporated by William Dickson Boyce. [90] [91] [92] [93] Received the Silver Buffalo of the BSA in 1926. YMCA Hall of Fame inductee 2000. [94] Honorary Member, Alpha Phi Omega. | [95] [96] |
Roy Lister Robinson / 1st Baron Robinson of Kielder Forest and Adelaide | First President of the Society of Foresters of Great Britain. Honorary Member, Society of American Foresters. Honorary Member, Institute of Foresters of Australia. Member, Académie d'Agriculture de France. | |
Joseph Francis Charles Rock / Pohaku | Explorer, ethnologist, and botanist. | |
Karl Rohnke | Outward Bound instructor. Author of books on ropes courses and adventure education, including The Complete Ropes Course Manual. [97] Co-founder, Project Adventure. Recipient, National Outdoor Book Award. [98] | |
Kenneth Kermit Roosevelt | Explorer. British Army and US Army officer. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
Theodore Roosevelt | Politician, outdoor enthusiast, hunter, US Army officer, President of the USA. Chief Scout Citizen, Boy Scouts of America. Founder, Boone and Crockett Club. | |
Bradley James Rowe | Proponent of scuba diving, river rafting, adventure programming, ecotourism, and sustainable development. Instructor, Colorado Outward Bound School. Founder of Save the Rainforest Expeditions School and Outward Bound Costa Rica. | CROBS Team |
Calvin Rutstrum | Cowboy, Marine Corps medic, conservationist, author of books on wilderness living. [99] | Calvin Rutstrum Works |
Frederick Henry Salter | Farmer, fisher, horseman, hunter, sheepherder, WW2 US Cavalry reconnaissance scout, wilderness traveler. He and his wife raised their three sons in a log cabin in Alaska. | [100] |
Ernst Schäfer | Explorer, naturalist, spy. | [101] |
Carl Alwyn Schenck | Founder, Biltmore Forest School. | |
James Willard Schultz / Apikuni / W. B. Anderson | Explorer, national park guide, fur trader, and historian of the Blackfoot Indians. Many works. | [102] |
Robert Falcon Scott | Explorer who reached the South Pole in 1912. | [103] |
Frederick Courtney Selous | Adventurer, wilderness guide, military scout, hunter, sportsman, and vice commander of the Frontiersman Battalion (whose members, later, were early supporters of Baden-Powell and the Scout Movement). He was friends with Baden-Powell, Frederick Burnham, and Theodore Roosevelt. Selous became the pattern for the fictional Allan Quatermain who allegedly was the pattern for Indiana Jones. The Selous Scouts, the Rhodesian special forces regiment, was named after him. [104] | |
Ernest Thompson Seton / Black Wolf (Ernest Evan Thompson; Ernest Seton Thompson) | British-Canadian-American naturalist, outdoor artist, conservationist. Founded the Woodcraft Indians and the Woodcraft League. Inspiration and major source of Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys . Co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America and the Camp Fire Girls. Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of America. He highly respected and promoted North American Indian culture, [105] and served as inspiration to E. Urner Goodman. Attacked by nature writer John Burroughs in the nature fakers controversy. Received the Silver Buffalo of the BSA in 1926. Many works. | [106] [107] [108] [109] [110] |
Ernest Henry Shackleton | Antarctic explorer. | |
Earl V. Shaffer | US Army soldier. Called "The Crazy One" for making the first hike-through of the Appalachian Trail. | |
Karen and Frank Sherwood | Primitive living instructors at Tom Brown's Tracker School for 15 years. Later founded (1995) Earthwalk Northwest. | Instructors |
Bertram Evelyn Smythies | Botanist, forester, ornithologist. | |
Evelyn Arthur Smythies | Indian Forest Service officer, 1908-1940. Chief Conservator of Forests, Nepal, 1940-1947. | |
Theodore Howard Somervell | Surgeon, alpinist, painter, missionary. Awarded an Olympic gold medal by Pierre de Coubertin for his achievements in mountaineering. | |
"Stalking Wolf" | Reportedly, a great Apache scout, master of wilderness living, nature mystic, and healer. After his parents and grandparents were massacred by the US Army, he was raised by his great-grandfather "Coyote Thunder" who gave him the missions to save the remnants of their tribe from annihilation, and to seek the common truth in various religions. He traveled on foot through the Americas for 63 years, mastering living in desert, forest, jungle, snow, and human settlements, ever expanding and deepening his knowledge, skill, awareness, and understanding of nature, human nature, religion, and spirituality. He learned meditation from a Chinese immigrant, and mentored Tom Brown. [111] | [112] [113] [114] |
Randy Stoltmann | Hiker, climber, wilderness preservationist. | |
Les Stroud | Musician, singer, songwriter. Wilderness guide, survival instructor, and television filmmaker and television presenter on outdoor themes. Pupil of David Arama and John McPherson. | |
Hudson Stuck | Episcopal priest and explorer who was a leader of the first group to successfully summit Denali, the highest mountain in North America. American Episcopal feast day April 22. | |
Sundarānand | Yogi, mountain dweller, mountain climber, outdoor photographer. | [115] |
Tabei Junko | Japanese climber who became the first woman to summit Mount Everest (1975). | |
Ernest Tapley / Tap Tapley | Soldier, US Army 10th Mountain Division. Instructor, Colorado Outward Bound School. Instructor, National Outdoor Leadership School with Paul Petzoldt. | [116] |
Samuel Thayer | Author of books on foraging. | Sam Thayer Books |
Wilfred Patrick Thesiger | Soldier, adventurer, travel writer. Served with the Special Air Service and the Long Range Desert Group. | |
Richard Francis Thurman / John Thurman | Gilwell Camp Chief. Authored books on Scouting and outdoor skills. [117] Received the Silver Buffalo award of the Boy Scouts of America in 1962. | |
Buck Tilton | Outdoor educator and wilderness rescuer; co-founded Wilderness Medicine Institute of the NOLS with Melissa Gray; [118] authored many books on outdoor skills, especially known for works on wilderness medical emergency. [119] Authored over a thousand articles, plus columns [120] and blogs. [121] Received Paul Petzoldt Award for wilderness education and Warren Bowman Award for wilderness medicine. | Buck Tilton |
Otto Trott | Climber. Co-founder, with Wolf Bauer and Ome Daiber, of the Mountain Rescue Council (Seattle Mountain Rescue). | |
Uemura Naomi | Explorer, climber. First to reach the North Pole solo. | |
William F. Unsoeld / Willi Unsoeld | Climber; Outward Bound proponent. In 1963, Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein became the first climbers to summit Jo.mo gLang.ma via the West Ridge. | |
Laurence Austine Waddell | Army surgeon, chemist, explorer, linguist, ethnologist, archeologist. Cultural consultant of the Younghusband expedition to Tibet. | |
Mark Wagstaff | Outdoor, environmental, adventure, and challenge educator. Served in many positions with many organizations, including the North Carolina Outward Bound School, the Wilderness Education Association, and Leave No Trace. EdD, Oklahoma State U, 1997 (dss: Outdoor Leader Self-Awareness and Its Relationship to Co-Leaders' Perceptions of Influence). | Mark Wagstaff |
Watanabe Tamae | Mountain climber. | |
Stewart Edward White | Author of fiction and non-fiction books on adventure, travel, and outdoor living. Honorary Scout, Boy Scouts of America. | |
James W. Whittaker / Jim Whittaker | Pupil of Wolf Bauer. First American to summit (1963) Jo.mo gLang.ma (with Nawang Gombu). He led the 1990 Earth Day 20 International Peace Climb of over a dozen American, Soviet, and Chinese climbers to the summit of Jo.mo gLang.ma. The expedition also hauled off over two tons of trash left on the mountain by previous expeditions. | |
Richard Wiese | World explorer. President, The Explorers Club. | |
Hubert Wilkins | Polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer, and photographer. | [122] |
Alan S. Williams | Founded Camp Directors Association of America in 1910, forerunner of the American Camping Association. | |
Lofty Wiseman / John Wiseman | Special Air Service soldier and survival instructor. Authored The SAS Survival Handbook and other works. | |
Geoffrey Winthrop Young | Climber. | [123] |
Jonathan R. Young / Jon Young | Leader, educator and author on nature observation and environmental awareness. Pupil of Tom Brown. Associate of Kenyan tracker Norman "Ingwe" Powell (1914-2005). Founded Wilderness Awareness School. Created Kamana Naturalist Training Program. Authored Seeing Through Native Eyes and other works. | [124] [125] |
Francis Edward Younghusband | Soldier, explorer, spiritual explorer. Administrative head of 1904 British expedition to Lha.sa. President of the Royal Geographical Society. | |
Bruce Duncan Zawalsky | Professional wilderness survival instructor. Chief Instructor, Boreal Wilderness Institute, Canada. | BWI |
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ignored (help)Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth social movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. Another widely recognized movement characteristic is the Scout uniform, by intent hiding all differences of social standing in a country and encouraging equality, with neckerchief and campaign hat or comparable headwear. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as merit badges and other patches.
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 762,000 youth participants. The BSA was founded in 1910, and since then, about 110 million Americans have participated in BSA programs. BSA is part of the international Scout Movement and became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.
Ernest Thompson Seton was an English-born Canadian-American author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians in 1902, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1910.
A Scout is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section. Scouts are organized into troops averaging 20–30 Scouts under the guidance of one or more Scout Leaders or Scoutmasters. Troops subdivide into patrols of about 6–8 Scouts and engage in outdoor and special interest activities. Troops may affiliate with local, national, and international organizations. Some national Scouting associations have special interest programs such as Air Scouts, Sea Scouts, outdoor high adventure, Scouting bands, and rider Scouts.
Cub Scouting is part of the Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), available to boys and girls from kindergarten through fifth grade, or 5 to 10 years of age and their families. Its membership is the largest of the five main BSA divisions. Cub Scouting is part of the worldwide Scouting movement and aims to promote character development, citizenship training, personal fitness, and leadership.
Northern Tier High Adventure is a collection of high adventure bases run by the Boy Scouts of America in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota, Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park and Canadian Crown Lands, Manitoba's Atikaki Provincial Wilderness Park, Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, and points beyond. Northern Tier is the oldest of the four National High Adventure Bases operated by the Boy Scouts of America; the others currently in operation are Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, Florida Sea Base in the Keys, and The Summit in West Virginia. The oldest, largest and most prominent of the Norther Tier bases is the Charles L. Sommers National High Adventure Base. Central to its programs is trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) and Quetico Provincial Park
Woodcraft League of America, originally called the Woodcraft Indians and League of Woodcraft Indians, is a youth program, established by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1901. Despite the name, the program was created for non-Indian children. At first the group was for boys only, but later it would also include girls. Seton instructed the children in his town in Connecticut in outdoor "Woodcraft" – knowledge and skills of life in the woods – and based much of the group's terminology and structure on the misconceptions about Native Americans that were common in that era. The program spread internationally to become the Woodcraft Movement and many of these programs still exist. Seton's Woodcraft scheme also had a strong influence on later youth programs and organizations, particularly, the Scout Movement.
Housatonic Council is a regional organization of the Boy Scouts of America covering several towns adjoining the Housatonic River in South-Central Connecticut. The council originated from the Derby Council, voting to organize as a first class council at its annual meeting on January 25, 1923. The council had jurisdiction over Scouting in Ansonia, Shelton and Seymour in addition to Derby, with the town of Oxford incorporated into the council at a later date. It has been headquartered in Derby, Connecticut since its founding.
Scouts BSA Handbook is the official handbook of Scouts BSA, published by the Boy Scouts of America. It is a descendant publication of Baden-Powell's original handbook, Scouting for Boys, which has been the basis for Scout handbooks in many countries, with some variations to the text of the book depending on each country's codes and customs.
Mors Kochanski was a Canadian bushcraft and wilderness survival instructor, naturalist, and author. He acquired an international following and instructed for both military and civilians in Canada, the US, the UK and Sweden. He died from peritoneal mesothelioma in 2019.
Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors, typically during school camping trips. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or journey wilderness-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges and outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, canoeing, ropes courses and group games. Outdoor education draws upon the philosophy, theory, and practices of experiential education and environmental education.
Scoutcraft is a term used to cover a variety of woodcraft knowledge and skills required by people seeking to venture into wild country and sustain themselves independently. The term has been adopted by Scouting organizations to reflect skills and knowledge which are felt to be a core part of the various programs, alongside community and spirituality. Skills commonly included are camping, cooking, first aid, wilderness survival, orienteering and pioneering.
William Hillcourt, known within the Scouting movement as "Green Bar Bill", was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) organization from 1927 to 1992. Hillcourt was a prolific writer and teacher in the areas of woodcraft, troop and patrol structure, and training; his written works include three editions of the BSA's official Boy Scout Handbook, with over 12.6 million copies printed, other Scouting-related books and numerous magazine articles. Hillcourt developed and promoted the American adaptation of the Wood Badge adult Scout leader training program.
James Edward West was a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who became the first professional Executive Secretary, soon renamed Chief Scout Executive, of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), serving from 1911 to 1943. Upon his retirement from the BSA, West was given the title of Chief Scout.
Scouts BSA is the flagship program and membership level of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for boys and girls between the ages of typically 11 and 17. It provides youth training in character, citizenship, and mental and personal fitness. Scouts are expected to develop personal religious values, learn the principles of American heritage and government, and acquire skills to become successful adults.
Scouting in the United States is dominated by the 1.2 million-member Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA and other associations that are recognized by one of the international Scouting organizations. There are also a few smaller, independent groups that are considered to be "Scout-like" or otherwise Scouting related.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was inspired by and modeled on The Boy Scouts Association, established by Robert Baden-Powell in Britain in 1908. In the early 1900s, several youth organizations were active, and many became part of the BSA.
High adventure is a type of outdoor experience. It typically is meant to include activities like backpacking, hiking, kayaking or canoeing. It may also include mountaineering, rock climbing, mountain biking, orienteering, hang gliding, paragliding and hot air ballooning.
Expeditionary education is often associated with adventure education, outdoor education, environmental education or experiential education and refers specifically to learning associated with exploration and journey-based experiences or expeditions within these fields. Usually involving elements of challenge, adventure and leadership, expeditionary education can take place in a variety of settings including wilderness, classrooms and even virtual spaces. Participants in expeditionary education can be directly involved in the expedition, or may be linked to expeditions undertaken by others.
High Adventure Bases of the Boy Scouts of America are outdoor recreation facilities located in several locales in North America operated by the Boy Scouts of America at the organization's national level. Each facility offers wilderness programs and training that could include wilderness canoeing, wilderness backpacking trips, or sailing, and provide opportunities for Scouts to earn the 50-Miler Award. These bases are administered by the High Adventure Division of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America.