Sigurd Olson's Speeches

This section lists Olson's published speeches in chronological order. Only full speeches are included, not published excerpts. There aren't many; Sigurd gave many speeches, but few were published, although it is worthwhile mentioning that his book Reflections From the North Country contains speeches that he reworked into essay form.

"Air Space Reservations Over Wilderness." Presented in March 1949, this speech is in Transactions, 14th North American Wildlife Conference. Washington, D.C.: Wildlife Management Institute, 1949.

"Conservation Appeal." Presented in March 1950, this speech is in Transactions, 15th North American Wildlife Conference. Washington, D.C.: Wildlife Management Institute, 1950.

"Summarization of the Sixteenth North American Wildlife Conference." Presented in March 1951, this speech is in Transactions, 16th North American Wildlife Conference. Washington, D.C.: Wildlife Management Institute, 1951.

"Our Public Lands: Shall the Public Abdicate Control?" Presented in March 1958, this speech is in Transactions, 23rd North American Wildlife Conference. Washington, D.C.: Wildlife Management Institute, 1958.

"The Meaning of Wilderness." Presented in May 1958 to the Utah Academy of Sciences, this speech was published in booklet form in 1978 by the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, Northland College, Ashland, Wis. It is now available on this web site. (Olson's speech was recorded, and a cassette copy may be ordered from Brigham Young University, Department of Audio Visual Services, 290 Herald R. Clark Bldg., Provo, UT 84602.)

"The Spiritual Aspects of Wilderness." Olson gave this talk in April 1961 at the 7th Biennial Wilderness Conference, held in San Francisco. It is published in David Brower, ed., Wilderness: America's Living Heritage. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1961.

"The Meaning of Wilderness for Modern Man," The Carleton Miscellany, Vol. 3, Number 3 (Summer 1962). This is a talk (along with a series of questions and answers afterward) that Sigurd gave at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., in the fall of 1961 as part of a 10-week American Studies seminar. Many thanks to Mark Blanchard of Columbus, Ohio for passing along his discovery of this speech.

"A Philosophical Concept." Olson gave this talk in July 1962 during the First World Conference on National Parks, held in Seattle. It is included in Alexander B. Adams, ed., First World Conference on National Parks. Washington, D.C., 1964.

"The Spiritual Need." Olson gave this talk in April 1965 at the 9th Biennial Wilderness Conference, held in San Francisco. It was published in Bruce M. Kilgore, ed., Wilderness in a Changing World. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1966. The book is long out of print, but the speech is now available on this web site.

"From the Friday Afternoon Discussion." Okay, this technically isn't a speech, but there are some interesting comments from Olson in this reprinted discussion that took place during the 10th Wilderness Conference in San Francisco in April 1967. It is published in Maxine E. McCloskey and James P. Gilligan, ed., Wilderness and the Quality of Life. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1969.