Zahniser, Howard Clinton

Zahniser, Howard Clinton

(1906–64) conservationist, editor; born in Franklin, Pa. A clergyman's son, he graduated from Greenville (Ill.) College (1928), taught high school English, and joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1931), where he was an editor, writer, and broadcaster on wildlife research and conservation. In 1945 he became secretary (later executive director) of the Wilderness Society and editor of its magazine, positions he held until his death. He was also the book editor of Nature magazine (1935–59). In the 1950s he led a successful campaign to defeat the proposed Green River Dam, which would have flooded wilderness areas in Dinosaur National Monument on the Colorado-Utah line.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.