Murie, Olaus Johan, 1889-1963

Biologist and field naturalist Olaus Johan Murie (1889-1963), the son of Norwegian immigrants, was born and raised in Moorhead, Minnesota. On completing his studies in zoology and wildlife biology at Oregon's Pacific University in 1912, he became an Oregon state conservation officer. In 1914-1917 he participated in scientific explorations of Hudson Bay and Labrador for the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh. He subsequently joined the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey as a wildlife biologist. He spent the years 1920-1926 in Alaska studying caribou populations and their migration routes. In 1927 the Biological Survey transferred him to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to study elk. Except for a two-year stint studying the Aleutian Islands in the Territory of Alaska (1936-1937), Murie spent the remainder of his Biological Survey career in the western United States. Upon resigning from the Biological Survey in 1945, he became director of the Wilderness Society. In that capacity, he championed national parks and the idea of perserving entire ecological systems, particularly the 8.9-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Range, which was established in 1960.

From the description of Olaus J. Murie papers, 1910-1961. (University of Alaska, Fairbanks). WorldCat record id: 144513610

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