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The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88–577) is a federal land management statute meant to protect federal wilderness and to create a formal mechanism for designating wilderness. It was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society.
Wilderness Act, U.S. environmental protection legislation (1964) that created the National Wilderness Preservation System, setting 9 million acres (3.6 billion hectares) aside from development and providing a mechanism for additional acreage to be preserved. The Wilderness Act was a landmark
- Gregory Dehler
- What Did The Wilderness Act Achieve?
- A Quick History of The Wilderness Act
- Instrumental Figures in Creating The Wilderness Act
- Why Wilderness Designations Matter
- Why The Wilderness Act Is Still Relevant
The Wilderness Act is considered one of America’s greatest conservation achievements. The act created our National Wilderness Preservation System and provided the means for ordinary people to protect ecologically and communally important natural areas through their elected representatives in Congress. The Wilderness Society played an instrumental r...
Former Wilderness Society Executive Director Howard Zahniserdrafted the bill in 1956 to protect some of the nation's last remaining wilderness. By 1955, Zahniser had grown disillusioned with piecemeal attempts at preservation. “Let us be done with a wilderness preservation program made up of a sequence of overlapping emergencies, threats, and defen...
Howard Zahniser
Howard Zahniser was the legendary leader of The Wilderness Society who authored the original Wilderness Act. Zahniser led The Wilderness Society through two decades of wilderness battles and landmark accomplishments. Zahniser wrote 66 drafts of the Wilderness Act between 1956 and 1964 and steered it through 18 hearings. Its passage in 1964 stands in testament to the dedication and perseverance of this man who deeply felt the worth of wilderness.
Bob Marshall
Robert (Bob) Marshall, principal founder of The Wilderness Society, set an unprecedented course for wilderness preservation in the United States that few have surpassed. Marshall shaped the U.S. Forest Service's policy on wilderness designation and management. He wrote passionately on all aspects of conservation and preservation and was among the first to suggest that large tracts of Alaska be preserved. One of the first wilderness areas protected as a result of the Wilderness Act was the Bob...
Harvey Broome
Harvey Broome, revered for his conservation work in the Smoky Mountains, was president of The Wilderness Society for nine years. Broome worked closely with Executive Director Howard Zahniser to persuade Congress to create the National Wilderness Preservation System. That finally happened in 1964 when Congress passed the Wilderness Act. Broome stood proudly with other conservationists to watch President Lyndon Johnson sign this important bill into law.
The Wilderness Act has ultimately allowed Americans to preserve more than 800 wilderness areas in states from Alaska to Florida. The benefits of this land conservation are profound: Wilderness areas: 1. Provide habitat for wildlife and havens for threatened species 2. Filter and clean the air we breathe 3. Protect watershed and provide clean drinki...
The Wilderness Act has enabled the protection of nearly 112 million acres of wilderness areas across the U.S. and has transformed conservation today—safeguarding critical habitat, clean air and water, invaluable cultural sites and spaces for outdoor recreation. Even as successful as the Wilderness Act has been at protecting extraordinary places, th...
Oct 2, 2024 · Sixty years ago this fall, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law what would become one of the most important pieces of conservation legislation in U.S. history.
On September 3, 1964, just six weeks after Senator Barry Goldwater (one of the no votes) accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency in a speech brimming with hostility toward government, Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law.
The Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 3, 1964. But to understand the genesis of the act, you have to go back another three decades, to the 1930s.
Jan 17, 2018 · Summary. The Wilderness Act of 1964 established the National Wilderness Preservation System and, in it, Congress reserved for itself the authority to designate federal lands as part of the system. The act initially designated 54 wilderness areas containing 9.1 million acres of national forest lands.