When I was 16 years old, I joined the Bridger-Teton National Forest wilderness trail crew, working in the Wind River and Wyoming Ranges. For several summer seasons I returned to the Winds, back bent under high mountain sun, sweat marking my green F.S. uniform, to have the chance to awaken with the cold of 11,000-foot mountain mornings and to run a smooth crosscut blade through a few more downed limber pine.
A circle of close friends developed over these years; our relationships shaped by the rugged mountains themselves -- drawn together after cold, scary thunderstorms when lightning would zap white lines above winding steep passes or to gather for a shared meal of heavy-bellied rainbow trout caught fresh from the icy alpine lakes. It was simply a good life; one marked by the hard work of trails, our tanned skin and rough, calloused hands. The Bridger-Teton Wilderness became my home over those years, and today it is as much a place of heartfelt solace and foundation as my folk's log cabin in the Upper Green River Valley.
Our 10-day hitches brought me along the Divide in the Wind River Mountains, setting stone water-bars and check-dams tightly into narrow trails. Once, when working high on Lester Pass above Little Seneca Lake, a group of Australians passed by. Stepping gingerly over our new rock-stairs, one man said, "You're making it easier to get to heaven, ya know, mate!", sending us all into laughter, but smiling, appreciating the truth of his words. Our seasonal reunions with local guides and packers who used the trails brought up shared memories of our work, and it was always a treat to hike around a corner of a remote trail and run into high school teachers or family friends hunting or fishing.
My explorations of Wyoming's high peaks, rugged valleys, and wide open sagebrush deserts continue to enthrall me. My gratefulness to be able to explore these lands is founded in the work those before me have done to protect the wild legacy of these lands. My wilderness heroes include those incredible folks like Olaus and Mardy Murie, Wallace Stegner and Sigurd Olson, whose work reaches deeply into America's wilderness history, and here in Wyoming, my list encompasses an even broader spectrum of wilderness advocates.
Wyoming's wilderness heroes are born of the grit and truth of this land -- they are the ranchers and outfitters like Jack Horton, Carroll Noble and Ned (Chew) Frost who recognized in the 1960s and 70s that protecting Wyoming's wild lands was as much a personal priority as one of economic sense and community security. Wyoming's wilderness areas and heritage became their dedication, and they worked tirelessly year after year to protect what they loved.
The Wyoming Wilderness Act, signed into law on Oct. 30, 1984, was supported by a resilient base of local lore, inspiration and commitment to the wildlands which gave Wyoming, the state and the people, its hard-fought character. Wilderness leaders followed through with their responsibility to guarantee the wild heritage they envisioned would be enjoyed by future generations like me. This past year, similar voices were raised for the protection of the Wyoming Range, and new leaders for our wild heritage emerged, like guide and outfitter Gary Amerine and rancher JJ Healy. With this local hard work, the Omnibus Bill successfully passed into law, providing for long-term protection of much of the Wyoming Range from future development.
A particularly special area is en route to becoming Wyoming's newest wilderness addition in 25 years. The recommended Rock Creek wilderness area of the Bighorn National Forest is a spectacularly rugged and unique 34,000 acres adjacent to the Cloud Peak Wilderness. Local and statewide endorsements are building for Rock Creek wilderness designation, and the growing base of support from businesses, political leaders, and our statewide paper (Aug. 25) is motivating and encouraging. My heroes are strong at work!
Today, on this 25th anniversary celebration, we as Wyoming residents must renew our responsibility to Wyoming's wilderness. At an increasingly alarming rate, I have witnessed the wildlands of my home state be sold off to the highest bidder and relinquished to provide for our nation's growing energy needs. Along with thousands of other Wyoming residents, I believe these enclaves of calm, beautiful wild country are at the core of why I call Wyoming home.
It is up to us as citizens of this great state to make the choice to protect more of Wyoming's wild places, and like our wilderness heroes of days gone by, we must continue to work hard to ensure that these gifts will live on for future generations. Each of us must become stewards for the protection of the free, wild treasures of Wyoming, and our commitment should begin now by supporting wilderness designation of Rock Creek in the Big Horn Mountains.
In celebration of the Wyoming Wilderness Act, let us honor our Wyoming heroes, past and present, who work diligently to protect what it is we love most about our home because Wyoming's conservation legacy is something every person here should be proud of.
Sara Domek is interning in Sheridan for the Wyoming Wilderness Association. She attributes her strong wilderness roots to her family and growing up in a cabin near Pinedale.
