[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 121 (Wednesday, August 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S8873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 244--COMMEMORATING THE 45TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                             WILDERNESS ACT

  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:

                              S. Res. 244

       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 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 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;
       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
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates the 45th 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 the 
     National Wilderness Preservation System; and
       (3) is grateful for the wilderness, a tremendous asset the 
     United States continues to preserve as a gift to future 
     generations of the United States.

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