The Wilderness Act

The first versions of the Wilderness Act were drafted by Howard Zahniser of the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1956. Zahniser was the former chairman of The Wilderness Society with whom he fought to preserve landmarks and wilderness. From the time Zahniser introduced the act to when it was passed, he authored more than 60 drafts and attended more than 15 congressional hearings.

Howard Zahniser was also the main sponsor of the Wilderness Act. With the Wilderness Society and its supporters behind him, Zahniser worked tirelessly on the act. It paid off when President Johnson signed it into action.

Additional sponsors Senator Hubert Humphrey from Minnesota and Representative John Saylor from Pennsylvania were the first to introduce the bill to Congress. While Humphrey was a democrat, Saylor was a republican. This showed great hope because it illustrated that this bill could have bipartisan support.

Former Chairman of the House Interior Committee, Representative Wayne Aspinall opposed the passing of this act because he considered it to be an "unacceptable act of authority over public domain."

When it entered Congress, the bill faced opposition from any industry that stood to lose if the bill was passed. This included farmers, ranchers, miners and timber companies. These industries stood to lose a significant amount of money if they were no longer allowed to exploit newly protected land. Even the National Forest Service itself opposed the passing of the bill because they claimed the new system would threaten the mission of the Park Service.

There was very little support for the passing of this bill at first, which explains why it took more than eight years for the Wilderness Act to be passed. It was clear that this opposition had to be met eventually by supporters.

As a lifelong environmentalist and conservationist, Zahniser was able to gain immense support from the American people, including many different organizations. He painted the picture that protecting American wilderness is patriotic and a quality Americans should be proud of. In other words, he convinced the American people that no matter where you are from, protecting the wilderness in this country is for the greater good of everyone.

Once it had support, Congress had to compromise on a definition of wilderness. Once they did, they also had to compromise on how new wilderness areas would be added and managed. The process they agreed on begins with federal agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service researching areas within their jurisdiction and reporting back to the President. The President then is able to make recommendations to Congress on areas that need protection according to the federal agencies research. Congress then either accepts and adds these areas as wilderness or rejects these areas as non-wilderness. Congress also has a third option to take no action on the recommendations of the President.

Congress also compromised on how the land would be managed. It was determined that 4 different federal agencies would be tasked with managing and preserving wilderness areas. These agencies are the National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service as well as the Bureau of Land Management. The goal of tasking these agencies to manage wilderness areas was to preserve wilderness in a state as close to natural as possible.

Although he tried, Representative Aspinall found himself struggling to find other Representatives and Senators who opposed the bill. It was clear that there was bipartisan support when the act was passed. On July 30th of 1964, the House of Representatives voted 374 to 1 in favor of the bill. On April 9th of 1963, the Senate voted 73 to 12 in favor of the bill.

During the signing ceremony, President Johnson proclaimed, “This is a very happy and historic occasion for all who love the great American outdoors, and that, needless to say, includes me.” Though Johnson is an important figure and often gets credit, it was the dedication of Zahniser and the Wilderness Society that ultimately pushed the bill through Congress.

At the time the Wilderness Act was signed, Congress agreed to set aside 9.1 million acres of land as protected wilderness. This banned the use of motorized equipment, permanent roads and mechanical transport. Additionally, it outlawed any commercial interests from being exploited within these protected wilderness areas and gave Congress sole authority to add new wilderness areas and manage existing ones.