September has always been a critical month for America’s wild lands. The Wilderness Act was signed into law on September 3, 1964 and National Public Lands Day falls at the end of September.
The Wilderness Society was instrumental in passing the Wilderness Act of 1964. The act defines wilderness and provides for its legislative protection in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Several bills in Congress aim to strip wilderness protections and undermine the Wilderness Act and Antiquities Acts, which are important wilderness designation tools.
Since the Wilderness Act passed in 1964, Congress has designated nearly 110 million acres of federal wildlands as official wilderness. Official wilderness has the highest form of protection of any federal wildland.
Wilderness protection comes in many shapes and sizes — from designating new wilderness and national monuments to making sure our national forests are well managed and there are adequate trails for recreation.
With passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-577; 16 USC 1131-1136), the United States charted a course new in the history of nations — to preserve some of the country's last remaining wild places in order to protect their natural processes and values from development. Today, thanks to the wisdom, foresight, and perseverance of many dedicated individuals, current and future generations will enjoy an enduring wilderness — in reality and in spirit.
The Senate has plenty of high-profile issues to keep it busy in its lame duck session. But lawmakers should take time to pass a proposal that would protect more than 2 million acres of federal lands as wilderness, including 30,000 acres in the Oregon Coast Range known as the Devil’s Staircase.
