Fifty years ago, following near-unanimous Congressional support, President Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law. The landmark bill designated more than 9 million acres as wilderness areas, defined as lands “untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” Today’s wilderness system encompasses nearly 106 million acres throughout the country’s national parks, forests and wildlife refuges. We discuss the legacy of the Wilderness Act, and the future of the American wilderness.
Celebrating 50 Years of the Wilderness Act
(Wikimedia Commons)
Guests:
Steve Dunsky, filmmaker with the U.S. Forest Service and organizer of Vallejo's festival celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act: "Visions of the Wild: Connecting Nature, Culture, and Community"
Nancy Unger, professor of history at Santa Clara University, environmental historian and author of "Beyond Nature's Housekeepers: American Women in Environmental History"
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