[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 22035]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 22035]]

                           THE WILDERNESS ACT

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the 35th 
anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Specifically, I would like to speak 
about the invaluable contribution of New Mexico Senator Clinton P. 
Anderson in steering the wilderness legislation through Congress and 
securing final passage. I also will describe how the Gila Wilderness in 
New Mexico came to be created, the first such designation in the world, 
forty years prior to enactment of the Wilderness Act. Finally, in my 
remarks today, I will mention a related bill that I recently 
introduced, S. 864, the ``Earth Day'' Act.
  On September 3, 1964, President Johnson signed the Wilderness Act 
into law creating the national wilderness preservation system. In order 
to assure that some lands will be protected in their natural condition, 
Congress declared a policy of securing for present and future 
generations of Americans ``the benefits of an enduring resource of 
wilderness.'' Certain provisions of the Wilderness Act are unique among 
the U.S. Code because they read more like poetry than the fodder of 
legislators and lawyers. For example, the Act defines wilderness as 
``an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by 
man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.''
  Why celebrate the anniversary of the Wilderness Act? Since its 
enactment, the national wilderness preservation system has grown from 9 
million acres to 104 million acres--I believe these figures reflect the 
popularity of and support for wilderness. There are many compelling 
reasons for preserving wilderness. Wilderness areas protect watersheds 
and soils, serve as wildlife and plant habitat, and give humans the 
opportunity to experience solitude in nature. I think Clinton Anderson 
best described the meaning of wilderness in this eloquent statement:

       Conservation is to a democratic government by free men as 
     the roots of a tree are to its leaves. We must be willing 
     wisely to nurture and use our resources if we are going to 
     keep visible the inner strengths of democracy.
       For as we have and hold dear our practices of conservation, 
     we say to the other peoples of the world that ours is not an 
     exploitative society--solely materialistic in outlook. We 
     take a positive position--conservation means that we have 
     faith that our way of life will go on and we are surely 
     building for those who we know will follow  . . .
       There is a spiritual value to conservation and wilderness 
     typifies this. Wilderness is a demonstration by our people 
     that we can put aside a portion of this which we have as a 
     tribute to the Maker and say--this we will leave as we found 
     it.
       Wilderness is an anchor to windward. Knowing it is there, 
     we can also know that we are still a rich nation, tending to 
     our resources as we should--not a people in despair 
     scratching every last nook and cranny of our land for a board 
     of lumber, a barrel of oil, or a tank of water.

  Senator Anderson's words are particularly meaningful because of his 
role as the tenacious and determined leader in Congress who secured 
passage of the Wilderness Act as many years ago. In fact, former Forest 
Service Chief Richard McArdle stated that, ``Without Clinton Anderson 
there would have been no Wilderness Law.''
  In his first substantive act as the new Chairman of the Committee on 
Interior and Insular Affairs, on January 5, 1961, Clinton Anderson 
introduced a bill to establish and maintain a national wilderness 
system. Although similar wilderness bills had been introduced in 
previous Congresses, it was Senator Anderson's bill that was first 
reported by the Committee and, later that year, the first to pass the 
Senate. The vote on his bill was decisive, 78 to 8. Senator Frank 
Church wrote to Senator Anderson that:

       The fact that you were chief sponsor of the bill was in 
     large measure responsible for the big endorsement it received 
     on final passage.

  Unfortunately, the House was not yet ready to seriously consider a 
wilderness bill and the 87th Congress adjourned without enactment of 
the Wilderness Act.
  In 1963, Senator Anderson introduced the Wilderness bill once again. 
Successfully steering the bill through Committee consideration, the 
full Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill three months into the term 
of the 88th Congress. He then crafted the legislative trade that 
ultimately resulted in House passage of the wilderness bill--key House 
members wanted legislation creating the Public Land Law Review 
Commission. Both pieces of legislation were signed in 1964.
  Upon signing the Wilderness Act into law, President Johnson gave 
Senator Anderson special commendation by stating that he had been ``in 
the forefront of conservation legislation since he first came to the 
House in 1941.''
  In recalling the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Wilderness 
Act, it is fitting to observe that this year is also the 75th 
anniversary of Federal wilderness protection.
  On June 3, 1924, the Forest Service designated 755,000 acres of 
national forest land in New Mexico as the Gila Wilderness. This 
unprecedented act took place forty years prior to passage of the 
Wilderness Act and was the first such designation in the world. It all 
began through the foresight and leadership of a young Forest Service 
manager in New Mexico named Aldo Leopold. He had worked for the Forest 
Service in the Southwest in a variety of different positions, including 
as a Ranger on the Gila National Forest.
  Leopold felt that preservation had been neglected on the national 
forests. He foresaw the importance of preserving the biological 
diversity and natural systems giving way to development.
  Leopold once wrote that ``a thing is right when it tends to preserve 
the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community.''
  He argued against the proposed expansion of a road system into the 
back country of the Gila National Forest and proposed instead that a 
large area be left roadless and preserved for wilderness recreation.
  Today the Gila Wilderness is inhabited by bear, deer, elk, beaver, 
bobcat, mountain lion, antelope, and wild turkey. It is a favorite 
destination for hikers, backpackers, and anglers who enjoy its 19 miles 
of fishing streams.
  The Gila Wilderness contains the cliff dwellings of the ancient 
Mogollon civilization as well as the campsites and battlegrounds of the 
Apache and the U.S. Cavalry. In fact, John Murray wrote in his book, 
``The Gila Wilderness: A Hiking Guide,'' that ``no other wilderness 
area in the Southwest so much embodies and reflects this national 
history and natural philosophy as does the Gila.'' He went on to note 
that ``many of the important events in the development of the region, 
from the first expedition of Coronado in 1541 to the more recent raids 
of Geronimo, occurred either directly in the Gila Wilderness Area or in 
the immediate vicinity.''
  Leopold would go on to become one of America's greatest naturalists. 
His accomplishments include publication of ``A Sand County Almanac,'' 
one of the most influential books ever written about the relationship 
of people to their lands and waters.
  Our nation continues to need opportunities to reflect on the 
importance of preserving our national world. The celebration of Earth 
Day each year on April 22nd is an effective way to remind us of the 
significance of the environment and of accomplishments such as the 
Wilderness Act. S. 864, the ``Earth Day Act'', is a bill that I 
introduced last April along with Senator Chafee. It has since gained 
nine additional bipartisan cosponsors. The purpose of S. 864 is to 
officially and permanently designate April 22nd as Earth Day.
  The first Earth Day was 29 years ago, in 1970, and was first 
conceived of by our former colleague, Senator Gaylord Nelson. That 
first Earth Day involved some 20 million Americans. Since then, Earth 
Day has focused the attention of the country and the world on the 
importance of preserving and maintaining our environment. I believe the 
nation owes a great debt of gratitude to Senator Neslon for his 
leadership in creating Earth Day, and that we should recognize the 
importance it has assumed in our nation's life.
  It is my sincere hope the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold 
hearings on S. 864, and that the Senate will pass the bill by the end 
of this year. It is my goal to have the President sign S. 864 into law 
by the time Earth Day 2000 arrives. I invite all of my colleagues to 
cosponsor this bill.




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