And Many More

“If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, then we must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.”

— President Lyndon Baines Johnson

Fifty years ago today, Congress passed the Wilderness Act and President Lyndon Baines Johnson, an outdoorsman from Texas, signed it into law.

Under this new law, Congress was given the authority to designate special places in our national parks and federal lands as Wilderness, and include in their designation greater levels of protection.

Wilderness was defined 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.”

Essentially, footpaths only. No roads, bikes, motorized vehicles, or permanent structures are allowed in Wilderness.

Since the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, Congress has designated (point pinky to mouth while you read this) 20.6 million acres of wilderness. To put that in perspective, that is, in total, larger than the entire state of California.

“Members of the Cabinet and the Congress, ladies and gentlemen:

This is a very happy and historic occasion for all who love the great American outdoors, and that, needless to say, includes me.”

— President Lyndon Baines Johnson, September 3rd, 1964

President Johnson’s wife, Lady Bird, shared in her husband’s love of nature. She started a movement in Texas to protect wildflowers and open spaces, and now we have a state of the art research and education institute at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, thanks to her legacy.

It’s been said that she influenced LBJ’s support of the Wilderness Act.

What a neat legacy.

Happy 50th Birthday, wilderness. You just get better with age.