The Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act is a United States federal law that was enacted on September 3, 1964. The act established a National Wilderness Preservation System to protect areas of land that are "untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." The Wilderness Act has been credited with helping to protect some of the most beautiful and remote areas of the United States, and it has been an inspiration for wilderness protection efforts around the world.
The Wilderness Act was the culmination of decades of work by wilderness advocates. In the early 1900s, a group of writers and philosophers began to argue that wilderness was essential to human well-being. They argued that wilderness provided a place for people to escape the noise and pollution of modern life, and that it offered a unique opportunity to experience the beauty and power of nature.
In the 1950s, wilderness advocates began to lobby for the creation of a national wilderness system. In 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Wilderness Act of 1960, which authorized the Secretary of the Interior to designate areas of land as wilderness. However, the Wilderness Act of 1960 did not provide any funding for wilderness protection, and it did not establish a comprehensive system of wilderness areas.
The Wilderness Act of 1964 was a major step forward in the protection of wilderness. The act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to designate up to 9 million acres of land as wilderness, and it established a National Wilderness Preservation System. The act also provided funding for wilderness protection, and it required the Secretary of the Interior to develop a comprehensive plan for wilderness management.
The Wilderness Act has been credited with helping to protect some of the most beautiful and remote areas of the United States. The act has also been an inspiration for wilderness protection efforts around the world. Today, there are over 770 million acres of wilderness protected in the United States, and the Wilderness Act continues to be a powerful force in the fight to protect our wild places.
Here are some of the key provisions of the Wilderness Act:
The act established a National Wilderness Preservation System to protect areas of land that are "untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
The act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to designate up to 9 million acres of land as wilderness.
The act provided funding for wilderness protection.
The act required the Secretary of the Interior to develop a comprehensive plan for wilderness management.
The Wilderness Act has been a landmark piece of legislation that has helped to protect some of the most beautiful and remote areas of the United States. The act has also been an inspiration for wilderness protection efforts around the world.
Comments