Wilderness Heroes

Wilderness heroes, starting 3rd from left: Connie Harvey,
Dan Yetter, Lynn Ryan, Fred Lavigne, Evelyn McKinnon

Over the past month, millions of PBS viewers have had the opportunity to see Forever Wild: Celebrating America’s Wilderness, a new film that emphasizes the vital role grassroots volunteers and organizations play in protecting America’s wilderness heritage.

On September 29, the Campaign for America’s Wilderness held a special Washington, D.C. premiere screening, which five of these wilderness heroes attended as honored guests.

Governing Council and staff of The Wilderness Society, meeting
near "Old Rag" in Shenandoah National Park in 1956

The death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy reminds us of the important roles that he and President John F. Kennedy played in the enactment of the Wilderness Act of 1964 — and reminds us, too, of so many other wilderness heroes whose memory lives on through their achievements in wilderness conservation.

Smoke Elser

Legendary outfitter Smoke Elser is being honored this month for his lifetime of work to protect Montana's amazing wild places. 

Linda and her daughter on a wilderness trail in Alaska

Today, as she looks at the map of Arizona, Linda McNulty takes real satisfaction in the numerous wilderness areas already protected across the state, for her fingerprints are on many of these wild places.

Growing up in Massachusetts, Linda’s grandparents told her stories about the wide open spaces they’d visited in the West. With a nursing degree in hand, she set off, driving across the country with her parakeet protected with wet towels over its cage. Nearing Tucson, she saw the saguaro cactus and knew she’d found her new home.

Wilderness Hero George Duffy

Ask any of the staff at the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (NMWA) about George Duffy, and the response is always full of enthusiasm. George, a retired U.S. Forest Service employee, walked into the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance office in Albuquerque one day, and asked to be put to work. Bringing with him decades of experience, he was soon advising staff, sharing his broad knowledge of wilderness issues, and providing inspiration.

Fifteen miles east of Bend, Oregon, lies an area of rugged beauty, its harsh desert terrain filled with natural rock formations, Native American pictographs from a bygone age, lava flows, desert flowers, and hardy juniper trees twisted by the winds that sweep across the land.