Daily Wilderness News Clips

Efforts to protect delicate and irreplaceable ecosystems, wildlife and landscape were being carried out long ago, with one milestone's birthday today.

Forty-five years ago today, on Sept. 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act. His signature on the legislative piece in turn, according to the National Park Service Web site, spawned the National Wilderness Prevention System, recognizing wilderness as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

It was 45 years ago this week, on September 3, 1964, that President Lyndon Johnson signed ground-breaking legislation that guaranteed future generations would be able to use and enjoy the nation's wilderness areas.

A warm, late-summer breeze wafting across Memaloose Lake greeted Tom Wiese, his son and grandson as they completed the short, uphill hike through old-growth forest drenched in every conceivable shade of green.

Although the three found no signs of the chanterelle mushrooms they'd ventured out from their homes in nearby Estacada to hunt, they seemed more than consoled by the rugged, sweeping beauty that defines one of the nation's newest formally designated wilderness areas.

Some odds and ends and assorted tidbits to consider on this last weekend in August:

Most foothill residents support more protection for the San Gabriel Mountains and its rivers and streams, according to a new poll funded by the environmental group San Gabriel Mountains Forever.

The group is lobbying Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, to push legislation that would designate more of the San Gabriels as protected wilderness and provide additional protection for mountain rivers and creeks.

Sen. Jon Tester looked out the window of a downtown office building Friday and noted the red, dead trees coloring the slopes of Mount Helena.

The phenomenon isn't specific to Montana, he said. Beetle-killed trees pepper the Rocky Mountains, demonstrating just how the environment has transformed the West's forests.

"We've got a choice with trees," Tester, D-Mont., told members of the IR editorial board Friday. "We can either cut them and store that carbon in two-by-fours and plywood and such, or let them burn and allow that carbon to go up in the atmosphere.

This Labor Day weekend, enjoy a conference "In the Footsteps of Leopold," which will commemorate the 100th anniversary of beloved conservationist Aldo Leopold's arrival in the southwest, where he began his career with the U.S. Forest Service.

The event is scheduled for Sept. 5-7 in Nutrioso at the Old Schoolhouse, Highway 2180. A special free public event will be held Thursday, Sept. 3, in Eagar. Conference programs begin promptly at 8:45 a.m. each day.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last week laid out a comprehensive policy for the country's public and private forests that includes increasing protections for roadless areas, addressing climate change and preventing forest loss to development.

Giving his first major speech on the issue in Seattle, Vilsack outlined broad conservation goals that will guide the Obama administration's forest policies.

A local conservation group is campaigning to federally protect more areas in the San Gabriel Mountains while pointing to survey results that suggest broad public support for the effort.

San Gabriel Mountains Forever (SGMF), a partnership of local business owners, community groups and social service organizations, is rallying support for a plan to designate more portions of the San Gabriel Mountains as protected areas.

VAIL VALLEY, Colorado - This Saturday the Hidden Gems Wilderness campaign will lead the final Vail Valley hike of its summer series to Ragged Lake and Lost Lake on Red Table Mountain.

This is a moderate, seven-mile roundtrip hike with 1500 feet of elevation gain, and is mostly off-trail. These remote lakes rest under the rugged cirques on the north side of Red Table Mountain.