Conservation pioneer John Kauffmann dies at 91

Longtime Somesville resident John Kauffman, who was one of the country’s conservation pioneers, died peacefully at his home in Yarmouth on Nov. 16. He was 91.

Kauffman was born in Champaign IL, but grew up in Washington D.C., and Stark, NH.

After a career in the diplomatic service he worked as a reporter at the Washington Star newspaper where his family was part owner. He later worked as a National Park Service planner assisting in the establishment of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the Cape Cod National Seashore.

In 1972 he was assigned to Alaska and helped study which areas of that state would become national parks, monuments and preserves. His efforts helped preserve more than 100 million acres.

In his book “Coming into the Country,” author John McPhee, who credits Kauffmann with inspiring many of his works, recounts accompanying Kauffmann on one of his field explorations in Alaska. McPhee writes, obviously tongue in cheek that any bear that would bite Kauffmann, would be “most unlikely to complete the meal.”

Full story: John Kauffmann
Attribution: Mount Desert Islander, mdislander.com