Wilderness for backpackers, hikers and all society

The United States is the first nation to designate wilderness by law. We who love hiking and backpacking have, therefore, lawmakers to thank for much the beauty, serenity and physical challenges of trekking in wilderness areas.

: Image via Wikipedia

Last year, on March 3, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Land Management Act. This law, Public law 111-11, added 52 new wilderness areas and 2 million acres to the existing 26 wilderness areas in the United States. The resulting 78 areas are a legacy that we must preserve for our children and grandchildren to enjoy as we do.

Here is a link to a page that lists all the areas affected by Public Law 111-11. This page also provides additional links to more information about these wilderness areas.

Barack Obama was not the first president to sign a wilderness act. Lyndon Johnson, on September 3, 1964 signed the original Wilderness Act that defined wilderness as “…an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man…” Section 2(c).

Inspiration for this act originated with environmental activist Howard Zahniser, who redacted, after 18 public hearings and 65 rewrites, the 1964 Wilderness Act.

Zahniser, who grew up in Tionesta, Pennsylvania near the Allegheny National Forest learned to love wilderness at an early age. He cut his teeth on wilderness issues in his first job with the Bureau of Biological Survey and later became the executive secretary of The Wilderness Society. He also edited The Living Wilderness from 1945 to 1964, the year his brainchild, the Wilderness Act, was signed into law.

Wilderness benefits all of us, not only those who love hiking and backpacking. Wildlife and overall ecology benefit from these protected areas as do science and education.

California enjoys five wilderness areas in the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains: John Muir, Dinkey Lakes, Monarch, Ansel Adams and Kaiser. But, U.S. wilderness areas are not limited to the Sierras or even the Rocky Mountains. They may be found and enjoyed in forty-four states and Puerto Rico. They are not limited to mountainous areas but also include other ecosystems such as deserts, hardwood forests and swamps.

In our history, we have spent decades and centuries “civilizing” our land. Now, let’s expend more effort preserving the wilderness areas that we have failed to civilize. Future generations will thanks us for it.