Letter from the President
William H. Meadows
Norman Anderson is an Aleut from Naknek on the Alaska Peninsula. He is program coordinator for the Friends of Bristol Bay, created two years ago to prevent the federal government from leasing the bay to the oil industry. Those waters feature the world’s largest red salmon run and sensitive habitat for king crab, halibut, cod, and other species. Native communities depend on the ecological well-being of Bristol Bay to ensure a healthy harvest of fish. I met Norm—and many other dedicated Alaskans—in August at an Anchorage gathering of Natives and conservationists.
Whenever I encounter people like Norm Anderson, pouring their hearts into efforts to protect a part of America’s stirring landscape, I return to my office with new energy and faith. I have drawn similar sustenance over the past few months from Queen Quet of the Gullah/Geechee Nation and Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden, to name just two of many.
These dedicated Americans, whose love of country is clear from what they do to protect it, are invaluable partners for The Wilderness Society in the three ways we pursue our 70-year-old wilderness mission: adding special places to the National Wilderness Preservation System, championing careful management of all the lands that belong to the American people, and promoting restoration of damaged areas.
- This fall, for example, we are urging Congress to approve legislation that would create wilderness areas in the national forests of California and Washington, in Rocky Mountain National Park, and elsewhere. Doing so would give these places an added measure of protection, freeing them forever from the threat of road building and other development.
- Every American inherits 623 million acres, including the Grand Canyon, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and other gems. Federal agencies are supposed to manage this natural legacy wisely. In the face of growing pressure from special interests, we try to make certain that these agencies and Congress provide sensible limitations on off-road vehicle use, logging, and other activities. As Theodore Roosevelt put it: “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not reduced, in value.”
- Restoring damaged places is the third part of our mission because in the past, management of the public lands often has failed the Roosevelt test. For example, our national forests are crisscrossed by nearly 400,000 miles of roads, created mostly for logging trucks. That’s enough mileage to circle the globe 15 times. Those roads have led to erosion, water pollution, and loss of wildlife. Closing a percentage of them would make our national forests healthier and more pleasant to visit.
Making progress on these three fronts requires many hands. We count on other conservation groups—large and small, national and local. We depend on ranchers, unions, hunters, teachers, federal employees, religious leaders, and anyone else who believes in protecting the natural world. That includes every member of The Wilderness Society. Thanks to your support, we are able to fight for this cause.
Sadly, we recently lost one of nature’s greatest champions: Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson. In his 89 years, including 24 with The Wilderness Society, he did so much to make this a better world. (To learn more about this extraordinary man, see page 59.) With Gaylord as our inspiration, we are more determined than ever to fend off today’s serious threats to roadless forests, stunning landscapes up and down the Rockies, and, of course, the Arctic Refuge. We must prevail.
-- William H. Meadows
Photo of Bill Meadows courtesy Tom Barron.
