[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 105 (Wednesday, September 8, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1534-E1535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   40TH ANNIVERSARY OF WILDERNESS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 7, 2004

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, September 3rd marked the 40th 
anniversary of the Wilderness Act, which protects the Nation's enduring 
natural heritage as part of the National Wilderness Preservation 
System. Revered by scores of Americans and visitors

[[Page E1535]]

each year and spanning two generations, the wilderness areas that can 
be found from the West to East Coasts are a tangible source of pride, 
progress, and potential for our Nation.
  In 1924, at the insistence of forester and future ``A Sand County 
Almanac'' author Aldo Leopold, the Forest Service created the very 
first federally designated wilderness--the Gila Primitive Area. Located 
north of Silver City, the Gila Wilderness is a gigantic reserve whose 
boundaries were eventually made into the 558,000-acre wilderness it is 
today. Senator Clinton Anderson of New Mexico, chairman of what was 
then called the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, stated that 
his support of the wilderness system was the direct result of 
discussions he had held almost 40 years before with Mr. Leopold. The 
Wilderness Act made the Gila Primitive Area official 40 years later.
  After passing Congress with bipartisan support, President Lyndon 
Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law on September 3, 1964. By the 
stroke of President Johnson's pen, the Act created 9.2 million acres of 
wilderness across the country. Today the system includes 662 areas 
covering about 105.7 million acres in 44 states, about 4 percent of the 
United States.
  For the first time in American history, the Federal Government 
protected land as it is and defined wilderness as a place that ``in 
contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the 
landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its 
community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a member 
of the natural community who visits but does not remain and whose 
travels leave only trails.''
  The Wilderness Act is a deeply personal law to me. The legislation 
that President Johnson signed was sponsored by Senator Anderson and was 
guided through Congress at the urging of my father, then Secretary of 
the Interior Stewart Udall. Serving as Interior Secretary for 
Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, Stewart Udall's 
accomplishments during his tenure are numerous: he created new national 
programs such as the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the Wilderness Act, 
which pushed the nation toward a deeper appreciation and protection of 
its remaining wild spaces. He helped create many new national parks and 
forests and the first national seashores. Perhaps most importantly, he 
established a bipartisan consensus on conservation issues that would 
endure for 20 years.
  I visited with my father recently in Santa Fe about the Wilderness 
Act. He recalled that President Johnson awarded him 62 ceremonial bill 
signing pens throughout his service to the White House. As he signed 
the Wilderness Act into law, President Johnson spoke of Secretary Udall 
and his staff ``going all over the country, looking for places to 
save.'' My father recalls the remark as one of the highest compliments 
he has ever received; this in a lifetime of distinguished service to 
his country.

  With 2.1 percent of its land area protected as wilderness, New Mexico 
harbors 23 wilderness areas. I have introduced legislation which would 
designate the first wilderness approved in New Mexico since 1987--the 
10,794-acre Ojito Wilderness Study Area. The Bureau of Land Management 
recommended wilderness status for the Ojito area in 1992. We have had 
hearings in both the House and Senate on this bipartisan proposal. The 
bill is strongly supported in New Mexico by a diverse coalition. It is 
my sincere hope we can pass this legislation before the 108th Congress 
adjourns. Ojito would remain a natural place, perfect for recreation 
and quiet contemplation.
  My legislation would also provide for the sale of about 13,000 acres 
of adjacent Bureau of Land Management holdings to Zia Pueblo, land that 
holds much historic and religious significance to the pueblo. All of it 
would remain open to the public. As such, the pueblo would be able to 
unite two separate pieces of its reservation, and in total, 24,000 
acres would be preserved and protected. Not only is this place 
incredibly beautiful, it also contains rich cultural and archeological 
values. Designating the Ojito as wilderness will ensure that this vast 
landscape remains as it is, in all its natural glory, for future 
generations to treasure.
  Mr. Speaker, the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act is an 
opportunity to rekindle the public interest in safeguarding our 
Nation's unique natural heritage for future generations to enjoy. I 
urge my colleagues to join with me to ensure we leave a rich legacy of 
unspoiled wildlands for our families, for our future.

                          ____________________