[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10104]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         IN HONOR OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WILDERNESS ACT

                                  _____
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 12, 2014

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 50th Anniversary 
of the Wilderness Act. In 1964, our predecessors in the House and 
Senate passed the Wilderness Act by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote 
and President Johnson soon followed with his signature making the Act 
law on September 3, 1964. This action created America's National 
Wilderness Preservation System that reserves lands in a special status 
to be, in the words of the Act's remarkable preamble, ``administered 
for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will 
leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and 
will provide for the protection of these areas and the preservation of 
their wilderness character.''
  50 years later, the wilderness idea is going strong with over 100 
million acres of our nation's most spectacular lands preserved for 
future generations. It is an achievement truly worth celebrating. And 
while I rise today to recognize it, I also rise to celebrate the 
Americans who have kept the wilderness idea alive in our national 
consciousness and who have worked to care for each designated acre and 
to shepherd new additions to the system.
  The people of the Central California Coast region that I am 
privileged to represent exemplify this ethic. There is a deep 
commitment to open space conservation in the communities that border 
the Monterey Bay. From the farmers and ranchers who fuel a dynamic 
agricultural economy to individual citizens who recreate on the public 
lands to rural residents who care deeply about the landscapes that 
surround their homes, the open space ethic runs strong. And when it 
comes to the wilderness lands of the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Big 
Sur Coast, no group of people lives that commitment more strongly than 
the community activists of the Ventana Wilderness Society.
  Founded in 1998, the VWA is dedicated to preserving the wild lands of 
the Northern Santa Lucia Mountains managed by the U.S. Forest Service. 
VWA members partner with the Forest Service to maintain trails and 
clean up the debris from illegal marijuana plantations. VWA members 
lead hikes and education programs. And VWA members advocate. They 
advocate for better management of existing wilderness, and they 
advocate for the inclusion of additional wild lands into the wilderness 
system when those lands warrant such inclusion. I have had the great 
fortune to work with the VWA in all of these capacities, but most 
especially in the several wilderness bills that I myself have had the 
honor of introducing. And while I may claim credit for authoring those 
bills, I know it is the hard work of VWA members like Gordon Johnson, 
Tom Hopkins, Nikki Nedeff, and so many others that made those bills 
possible.
  Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate the Wilderness Act's 50th Anniversary, 
we are not only celebrating the great American landscapes that this 
idea has preserved, but the great Americans who have done the 
preserving.

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