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Howard Clinton Zahniser (February 25, 1906 – May 5, 1964) was an American environmental activist. From 1945 until his death he led The Wilderness Society as executive secretary, executive director, and editor of The Living Wilderness. Zahniser was the primary author of the Wilderness Act passed by Congress in 1964.
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.
Jul 12, 2024 · Howard Zahniser (1906-1964), a Washington, D.C.–based leader of The Wilderness Society, was the chief author of and lobbyist for the 1964 Wilderness Act. Much of his inspiration, and one of his earliest preservation victories, came at Lake Solitude in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains.
Zahniser became the primary leader in a movement to have Congress designate wilderness areas, rather than the federal agencies. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he led conservationists of the era to successfully fight the Echo Park Dam.
The 1960s Great Society program—which included the 1964 Wilderness Act—is credited to President Lyndon B. Johnson and was brought to fruition as law in Humphrey’s 1950s legislative package. Zahnie learned a great deal about both writing and wildness from Thoreau (1817-1862).
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.
Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964, the Wilderness Act designated all previously existing Wild Areas, Canoe Areas, and Wilderness Areas as Wilderness. At the time, these areas on national forests totaled 9.1 million acres and represented the entire National Wilderness Preservation System.
