Published: Thursday, 19th November, 2009 6:00am

John Muir's Scot the lot, viewers!

WORLD-renowned Dunbar-born conservationist John Muir has been shortlisted for the title of The Greatest Scot in a major television series.

Muir (pictured) featured in an episode on Scotland's greatest leaders and thinkers last Friday on STV. His advocate on the programme was writer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish - a former trustee of the John Muir Trust.

Craig Collinson, producer of The Greatest Scot, said: "Muir seemed an obscure choice at first, but the more I read about him the more I was drawn to him. His writings have become increasingly significant over time and his message is more important today than ever."

Muir was born in Dunbar in 1838. A childhood spent exploring the land surrounding the town sparked a lifelong passion for the wild. In the course of his life, he founded the Sierra Club, the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States, where he moved to as a boy.

Muir is widely regarded as a pioneer of the modern conservation movement. In 1903, he inspired President Theodore Roosevelt to designate the Yosemite Valley in California as a National Park.

Inspired by his legacy, the John Muir Trust was set up in 1983 and has gone on to become the UK's leading wild land conservation charity.

Stuart Brooks, chief executive of the John Muir Trust said: "We are extremely proud that John Muir has been included as one of the Greatest Scots. The Trust could not have chosen a more appropriate inspiration than Muir, in his lifetime he was a great advocate for wild land. He was far ahead of his time and he has left a tremendous legacy for us and everybody who cares about the wild."

Dunbar is home to John Muir's Birthplace museum.

Manager Jo Moulin said: "John Muir was a pioneer who gained international recognition for his conservation work, which was ahead of its time and is still very relevant today. We believe he's a very worthy candidate for the Greatest Scot."

Muir is up against 35 nominees, including Robert Burns, Sir Alex Ferguson, Alexander Graham Bell, Robert the Bruce, John Logie Baird, Sir William Wallace and Sir Sean Connery.

The voting deadline is this Sunday. Log on to http://scotland.stv.tv/greatest-scot/vote/#john-muir.

The Greatest Scot will be named on St Andrews Day.