"Americans from all parts of our country will respond with enthusiasm to President Barack Obama's proclamation recognizing this September as National Wilderness Month," said Mike Matz, executive director of Campaign for America's Wilderness.

"Over the past 45 years, the Congress has enacted numerous laws extending wilderness protection to vast swaths of public lands," President Obama notes in his proclamation.  "These laws have enjoyed bipartisan support. Ranchers and anglers, small-business owners and conservationists, and Americans of diverse backgrounds have come together to preserve many of our Nation's most cherished public spaces."

President Obama quickly demonstrated his commitment to protecting these lands, signing the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which designated over two million acres of wilderness from coast to coast.  The Presidential proclamation was issued 45 years to the day that the Wilderness Act was signed into law.

In August, the Senate adopted a resolution commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Offered by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and cosponsored by Democrats, Republicans and Independents, the resolution honored the role played by conservation champions of all backgrounds and political stripes, including the critical support for passage of the landmark legislation by three Senators serving in the 111th Congress, Robert Byrd, (D-WV), Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and the late Ted Kennedy (D-MA).

"The Wilderness Act is democracy at its best because it enables people from all walks of life, as the President says, to participate in the process by which special places can be protected," Matz said.  "Because they've made our government work for them, America now has a heritage of wilderness areas that are forever our common ground.  I hope Americans will take advantage of National Wilderness Month to get acquainted with the world of nature preserved in wilderness near their homes."

The text of President Obama's proclamation of September 2009 as National Wilderness Month is available on our website at http://www.leaveitwild.org/about/2042 [1].