III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 244 

Commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2009 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mrs. BOXER, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

GREGG, Mr. BURRIS, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. ALEXANDER, 

Mr. BAYH, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. 

DODD, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. BENNET, and Mr. BYRD) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. 

Whereas September 3, 2009, will mark the 45th anniversary 

of the date of enactment of the Wilderness Act (16 

U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), which gave to the people of the 

United States the National Wilderness Preservation System, an enduring resource of natural heritage; 

Whereas great writers of the United States, including Ralph 

Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Willa Cather, 

George Perkins Marsh, Mary Hunter Austin, and John 

Muir, poets such as William Cullen Bryant, and painters 

such as Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Frederic Remington, Georgia O’Keefe, Albert Bierstadt, and Thomas 


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•SRES 244 ATS 

Moran, have defined the distinct cultural value of wild 

nature and unique concept of wilderness in the United 

States; 

Whereas national leaders, such as former President Theodore 

Roosevelt, reveled in outdoor pursuits and diligently 

sought to preserve opportunities to mold individual character, to shape the destiny of the Nation, to strive for 

balance, and to ensure the wisest use of natural resources, so as to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people as possible; 

Whereas luminaries in the conservation movement, such as 

scientist Aldo Leopold, forester Bob Marshall, writer 

Howard Zahniser, teacher Sigurd Olson, biologists Olaus, 

Adolph, and Mardy Murie, and conservationists David 

Brower and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, believed that the 

people of the United States could protect and preserve 

the wilderness in order for the wilderness to last well into 

the future; 

Whereas Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, a Democrat from 

Minnesota, and Representative John Saylor, a Republican from Pennsylvania, originally introduced the Wilderness Act with strong bipartisan support in both houses 

of Congress; 

Whereas, with the help of colleagues (including cosponsors 

Senators Clinton P. Anderson, Gaylord Nelson, William 

Proxmire, and Henry ‘‘Scoop’’ M. Jackson, and the Senate floor manager, Senator Frank Church) and conservation allies (such as Secretary of Interior Stewart L. Udall 

and Representative Morris K. Udall), Senator Humphrey 

and Representative Saylor worked tirelessly for 8 years to 

secure nearly unanimous passage of the legislation, with 


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a vote of 78 to 12 in the Senate and 373 to 1 in the 

House of Representatives; 

Whereas critical support in the Senate for the Wilderness Act 

came from 3 Senators who still serve in the Senate as of 

2009: Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senator Daniel Inouye, 

and Senator Edward M. Kennedy; 

Whereas President John F. Kennedy, who took office in 1961 

with an agenda that included a plan to enact wilderness 

legislation, was assassinated before he could sign into law 

a bill concerning the wilderness; 

Whereas 4 wilderness champions, Aldo Leopold, Olaus Murie, 

Bob Marshall, and Howard Zahniser also passed away 

before witnessing passage of a wilderness bill; 

Whereas President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the 

Wilderness Act in the Rose Garden on September 3, 

1964, establishing a system of wilderness heritage, as 

President Kennedy and the conservation community had 

envisioned and advocated for ardently; 

Whereas, in 2009, as a consequence of popular support, the 

people of the United States continue to have a system 

that protects wilderness for the permanent good of the 

United States; 

Whereas, over the 45 years since the enactment of the Wilderness Act, various Presidents of both parties, leaders of 

Congress, and experts in the land management agencies 

within the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture 

have expanded the system of wilderness protection; 

Whereas the Wilderness Act instituted an unambiguous national policy to recognize the natural heritage of the 

United States as a valuable resource and to protect the 

wilderness for future generations to use and enjoy; 


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Whereas wilderness offers numerous values for an increasingly diverse populace, allowing youth and adults from 

urban and rural communities to experience nature and 

explore opportunities for healthy recreation; 

Whereas wilderness provides intact, healthy, and biologically 

diverse ecosystems that will better withstand the effects 

of global warming and help communities in the United 

States adapt to a changing climate; 

Whereas wilderness provides billions of dollars of ecosystem 

services in the form of safe drinking water, clean air, and 

recreational opportunities; 

Whereas 44 of the 50 States have protected wilderness areas; 

Whereas the abundance of natural heritage of the United 

States is seen from Alaska to Florida, from Fire Island 

in the Long Island South Shore of New York and West 

Sister Island of Lake Erie in Ohio, to larger areas such 

as the Mojave National Preserve in California and the 

River of No Return in Idaho; and 

Whereas President Gerald R. Ford stated that the National 

Wilderness Preservation System ‘‘serves a basic need of 

all Americans, even those who may never visit a wilderness area—the preservation of a vital element in our heritage’’ and that ‘‘wilderness preservation ensures that a 

central facet of our Nation can still be realized, not just 

remembered’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

(1) commemorates the 45th 2 anniversary of the 

3 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); 

4 (2) recognizes and commends the extraordinary 

5 work of the individuals and organizations involved in 


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1 building the National Wilderness Preservation Sys2 tem; and 

3 (3) is grateful for the wilderness, a tremendous 

4 asset the United States continues to preserve as a 

5 gift to future generations of the United States. 

Æ 


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