The Father of Earth Day

For a conservationist, Gaylord Nelson didn't follow the cardinal rule protecting the outdoors. He sure left behind a lot more than footprints.

The father of "Earth Day" has died. Gaylord Nelson was a former Democratic Governor of Wisconsin. A long-time conservationist, he pushed through a penny-a-pack cigarette tax in his state that funded the purchase of thousands of acres of parkland.

He was elected to the US Senate from Wisconsin in 1962. There, he was a champion of the Appalachian Trail and helped create a national hiking system.

In 1970, he stole the idea of anti-war "teach-ins" against the Vietnam War and applied them to the environment -- creating the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. That first one attracted 20 million people.

Mr. Nelson left Congress in 1980. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1995 for his environmental efforts. His proclomation read, in part:

"As the father of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew out of that event: the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act."

Gaylord Nelson was 89. (CNN)