11 Facts About Margaret Murie

Margaret Elizabeth Thomas "Mardy" Murie was a naturalist, writer, adventurer, and conservationist.

Margaret Murie attended Reed College in Oregon for two years before transferring to Simmons College in Massachusetts for a year, then transferred to and became the first woman to graduate from the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines ; she graduated in 1924 with a degree in business administration.

Margaret Murie met Olaus Murie in Fairbanks, and they married in 1924 at sunrise in Anvik, Alaska.

The Margaret Murie Ranch became a hub for conversations and problem solving to protect the wild.

Margaret Murie wrote Island Between, published in 1977, and Wapiti Wilderness, published in 1966 with her husband.

In 1956, Margaret Murie began a campaign with her husband to protect what is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Margaret Murie served as a consultant to the Wilderness Society, the National Park Service and the Sierra Club, among many other organizations.

Margaret Murie returned to Alaska to survey potential wilderness areas for the National Park Service and worked on the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, testifying before congress in favor of the act, which was signed by President Carter in 1980.

Margaret Murie received the Audubon Medal in 1980, the John Muir Award in 1983, and the Robert Marshall Conservation Award in 1986.

Margaret Murie was made an honorary park ranger by the National Park Service and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Alaska.

Margaret Murie died in Moose, Wyoming, on October 19,2003, at the age of 101.