[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 573 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 573

      Commemorating the 50\th\ anniversary of the Wilderness Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 18, 2014

   Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. 
Alexander, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Portman, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Burr, 
Mr. Harkin, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Markey, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Levin, Ms. Stabenow, 
Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Reid, Mr. 
  Walsh, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. 
Klobuchar, Mrs. Murray, Mr. King, Mr. Coons, Mr. Casey, Mr. Schatz, Ms. 
    Hirono, Mr. Tester, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Franken, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
    Merkley, Mr. Warner, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Cardin, Mr. 
  Rockefeller, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Hagan, and Ms. Warren) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
      Commemorating the 50\th\ anniversary of the Wilderness Act.

Whereas September 3, 2014, marks the 50\th\ 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, 
        David James Duncan, 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 Moran, helped define the 
        distinct cultural value of wild nature and concept of wilderness in the 
        United States;
Whereas national leaders, such as President Theodore Roosevelt, who reveled in 
        outdoor pursuits, have sought 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, 
        writer Howard Zahniser, teacher Sigurd Olson, biologists Olaus, Adolph, 
        and Margaret ``Mardy'' Murie, and conservationists David Brower and 
        Marjory Stoneman Douglas, envisioned and ardently advocated for a 
        national system of protected wilderness areas and believed that the 
        people of the United States could and should protect and preserve 
        wilderness so that wilderness lasts well into the future;
Whereas legislators such as Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, a Democrat from 
        Minnesota, Senator Clinton P. Anderson, a Democrat from New Mexico, and 
        Representative John Saylor, a Republican from Pennsylvania, introduced 
        versions of the Wilderness Act in each House of Congress and worked 
        tirelessly along with colleagues for 8 years to secure its passage with 
        bipartisan votes of 78 to 12 in the Senate and 373 to 1 in the House of 
        Representatives;
Whereas President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law in the 
        Rose Garden on September 3, 1964;
Whereas, over the 50 years since the enactment of the Wilderness Act, various 
        Presidents from both parties, leaders of Congress, and experts in the 
        land management agencies within the Departments of the Interior and 
        Agriculture have expanded and improved the system of wilderness 
        protection created by the Wilderness Act;
Whereas the Wilderness Act instituted an unambiguous national policy to 
        recognize the natural heritage of the United States as a valuable 
        resource and protect wilderness for the good of future generations;
Whereas wilderness provides billions of dollars of ecosystem services in the 
        form of safe drinking water, clean air, and recreational opportunities;
Whereas 44 States have protected wilderness areas; 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
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commemorates the 50\th\ anniversary of the Wilderness 
        Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.);
            (2) recognizes and commends the extraordinary work of the 
        individuals and organizations involved in building and 
        maintaining the National Wilderness Preservation System; and
            (3) is grateful for wilderness, a tremendous asset the 
        United States continues to preserve as a gift to future 
        generations.
                                 <all>