The American College of Physicians Observer profiles Edgar Wayburn, who practiced medicine in the San Francisco Bay Area beginning in the ’30s but developed an obsession to save wild lands from development.

For the next seven decades, Dr. Wayburn devoted his free time to exploring the wilderness of California and Alaska, developing plans to conserve those wilds, and pushing the plans through Congress with persistent lobbying. In total, Dr. Wayburn is responsible for the conservation of more than 100 million acres of American wilderness. As former President Bill Clinton said when awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dr. Wayburn, “He has saved more of our wilderness than any person alive.”

The story includes a picture of him hiking in 2004. The nice thing about continuing to hike after age 90 is people stop asking you about hiking poles.

Dr. Wayburn was president of the Sierra Club during the 1960s and served on the organization’s board of directors between 1957 and 1993. The group grew enormously during that period, changing from a local outdoorsman’s club to a national organization with a powerful political presence. At the same time, Dr. Wayburn worked in private practice and held a teaching position first at Stanford University and then at the University of California Medical School. During his career, he also ran an outpatient clinic, worked part time as an epidemiologist, dabbled in medical research and was active in medical organizations.

Wonder if I could get him to start a hiking blog? Sounds like that’s about the only thing he hasn’t done in his hundred years.