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Newton B. Drury
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Newton B. Drury (1889 - 1978) was the fourth director of the U.S. National Park Service and the executive director of the Save-the-Redwoods League.
on was born in 1889 in San Francisco, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley and graduated in 1912. He served in the U.S. Army Balloon Corps in WWI. The destruction that he witnessed motivated him strongly towards conservation.
919, he and his brother Aubrey formed the Drury Brothers Company.
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Encyclopedia
Newton B. Drury (1889 - 1978) was the fourth director of the U.S. National Park Service and the executive director of the Save-the-Redwoods League.
Early years
Newton was born in 1889 in San Francisco, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley and graduated in 1912. He served in the U.S. Army Balloon Corps in WWI. The destruction that he witnessed motivated him strongly towards conservation.
Early career
In 1919, he and his brother Aubrey formed the Drury Brothers Company. It was an advertising and public relations agency. That same year, the organizers of the Save-the-Redwoods League, many of whom knew Drury from the university, asked Drury Brothers to manage the League. Newton Drury became executive secretary in charge of publicity and fund raising. Drury and the league were able to get a 6 million dollar bond measure passed to buy California redwood groves.
NPS directorship
Drury declined appointment as director in 1933 but accepted the job in 1940. He was the first director without prior national park responsibilities but came with strong conservationist credentials, having served as executive secretary of the Save-the-Redwoods League in California. During World War II he successfully resisted most demands for consumptive uses of park resources. Less eager than his predecessors to expand the park system, he opposed NPS involvement with areas he judged not to meet national park standards. Differences with Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman over Chapman's support for dams in Dinosaur National Monument contributed to Drury's resignation in 1951.
He was the third Californian to lead the NPS.
He received a Pugsley Medal twice, a silver medal in 1940 and a gold medal in 1950.
Later career
He had served 20 years as executive secretary of the Save-the-Redwoods League. He was board chairman of the Save-the-Redwoods League at his death.
Death and Legacy
He died in December 1978.
His official Pugsley Medal biography concludes with: "Newton B. Drury was one of the truly great conservationists of American history. His lifetime leadership with the Save-the-Redwoods League was central to the League’s success in raising over $25 million, preserving of Redwood forest for annexation to thirty state redwood parks in California. Two redwood groves are designated as living memorials to Drury, the Drury Brothers Grove in Prairie State Park and the Newton B. Drury Grove in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. When Newton B. Drury Peak in Mount San Jacinto State Park and State Wilderness was dedicated after his death, William Penn Mott observed, 'It is important that this mountain is a granite peak because it will be there forever.' Drury, through 'diplomacy and cooperative efforts, was instrumented in securing Mount San Jacinto as a wilderness area.' "
The Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway is the long two lane road through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in Humboldt County, California, which was completed in 1993. The Parkway was created to honor Mr. Drury's efforts in the creation of Redwood National and State Parks. As a result of CalTrans move of US Route 101 outside the eastern edge of the park, Old Growth Redwoods within the park will not ever be removed to widen the road. This road, though shorter, is similar in quality to the Avenue of the Giants in Southern Humboldt County.
See also
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