Brower, David (Ross) (1912-2000)

US conservationist. A militant environmentalist, he led the conservation group the Sierra Club in 1952, blocking billions of dollars worth of construction projects in wilderness areas. Forced to resign in 1969, he formed the John Muir Institute and Friends of the Earth, who initiated the first Earth Day, April 22, 1969.

He was born in Berkeley, California. He left the University of California without completing his studies and worked in Yosemite National Park before joining the University of California Press as an editor in 1941.