Wilderness Commentary

Roaring Plains Wilderness; © Jonathan Jessup

On Sept. 3, 1964, a group of conservation champions and elected representatives converged on the White House lawn as President Lyndon Johnson signed into law one of the most popular pieces of legislation in American history creating the National Wilderness Preservation System.

I urge you to support the Hidden Gems Wilderness proposal to protect portions of our as-yet-untouched Bureau of Land Management lands. The greatest single reason my family and I chose to come to the Eagle County area was, and remains, the beauty of our local federal lands, most importantly those designated, or potentially so, as wilderness areas.

Wilderness-designated areas of U.S. Forest Service and BLM land are of critical importance both to wildlife habitat and for intelligent human usage of our environment.

There seemingly are few exceptions to the paroxysms of partisanship that have paralyzed the nation's capital lately, but there is at least one issue of vital importance where widespread agreement provides immeasurable benefit to the nation. Even in the current political climate, usually antagonistic members of Congress continue to provide broad support for the federal wilderness program. Good for them.

The United States Forest Service (USFS) is currently considering proposals to add approximately 18,000 acres of designated wilderness to the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. These areas include additions to the existing Big Frog Wilderness and Little Frog Wilderness as well as the entire upper Bald River watershed near Tellico Plains. The protection of watersheds was one of the primary objectives in the establishment of the USFS.

Senator Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is truly a unique piece of legislation that recognizes the diverse demands and expectations placed on our national forests.  Historically, public land legislation has promoted a single use out of context thus not seeing the forest for the trees.  Rather than propose a stand-alone logging bill to promote jobs or a wilderness bill to preserve pristine areas or a recreation bill to ensure access, Tester utilizes collaboration and compromise as the cornerstones of this comprehensive forest stewardship legislation. 

From an overview the Río Grande neatly splits Taos County in two from north to south.

Yet, this "River of Destiny" for three states and two countries, draws New Mexicans together in our unique richness of life as it flows through our communities.

This river of life enters New Mexico in the most dramatic and unique manners in the lower San Luís Valley at the Colorado border near Ute Mountain. The Taos Plateau is as dramatic a landscape as exists on the planet.

With suburban sprawl encroaching on many parts of America and the pressure for oil drilling threatening others, it is worth pausing to appreciate the nation's wild places where nature has not succumbed to development -- and to praise those who protected them. The great stretches of wilderness that sit as jewels on the American landscape were not saved by accident.

"A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

Sept. 3 marked the 45th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, enacted by the 88th Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. The purpose of the act is simple: "To establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent good of the whole people, and for other purposes."

On this day 45 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, which immediately added protections to 9.1 million acres of pristine national forest land.

The act permanently saved most of those acres from being marred by construction, mountain bikes and motorized vehicles. Only existing private property and certain existing rights within the affected national forest land, including for water, grazing, and oil and gas exploration, were exempted from many of the restrictions.

Johnson explained at the signing ceremony why he considered the act important.

There are many symbols of America. The bald eagle. Uncle Sam. But none is more inspiring than the vast tracts of wilderness that symbolize the wide openness of our democracy and the rugged individuality of our national character.

Forty-five years ago today The Wilderness Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. What a great day that was for Americans. With the stroke of a pen millions of acres of wild and free country were preserved for generation after generation of Americans to explore and treasure.