March 1958 (age 58)

When Sigurd wasn't in Washington, D.C. this month, he was scouting out two areas that the Old Dominion Trust of New York was considering purchasing and donating to the National Park Service. Because of the recommendation made by Sig and the other team members, these lands are known today as Cape Cod National Seashore (shown above), and Cumberland Island National Seashore (below). As Sigurd worked on his report for Cumberland Island, Georgia, he reflected on the changing times and the need to consider new types of lands for inclusion in the national park system:

Potential National Park Service areas must not be considered in the light of the present but over a long period of time. In surveying new possibilities we can no longer afford to think in terms of Yellowstones, Yosemites, or Glaciers. With very few exceptions, such primeval opportunities are gone. We must acquire now what we can of the remnants, making allowances for changes that have taken place, looking to the future to heal the scars of exploitation and neglect, hoping that eventually the ideal may be reached. Unless we do this, we must abandon any thought of including many still important areas which in time could justify acquisition.

March 1973 (age 73)

Sigurd hasn't had an entirely new book out in four years (Wilderness Days, published in 1972, was mostly a compilation of essays from his previous books), and Sigurd's editor at Alfred Knopf, Inc., Angus Cameron, is urging him to begin a new project. The quote below, from a journal entry, indicates Sigurd is returning to an old idea of his, to write a book that is more about his philosophy than it is pure nature writing. The end result, published in 1976, was Reflections from the North Country:

Angus is anxious will welcome anything but it must be different this time from all the rest. Gleanings--why not explore the old ideas for the "Echo Trail," the enormous amount of philosophical crystallizations you once compiled....Where are the compilations, possibly in one of the boxes or the files.