The Wilderness Society is an American non-profit land conservation organization that is dedicated to protecting natural areas and federal public lands in the United States. They advocate for the designation of federal wilderness areas and other protective designations, such as for national monuments. They support balanced uses of public lands, and advocate for federal politicians to enact various land conservation and balanced land use proposals. The Wilderness Society also engages in a number of ancillary activities, including education and outreach, and hosts one of the most valuable collections of Ansel Adams photographs at their headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Wilderness Society specializes in issues involving lands under the management of federal agencies; such lands include national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and areas overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. In the early 21st century, the society has been active in fighting recent political efforts to reduce protection for America's roadless and undeveloped lands and wildlife.
The organization was instrumental in the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act. The Wilderness Act led to the creation of the National Wilderness Preservation System, which protects 109 million acres of U.S. public wildlands.
Founding
The Wilderness Society was incorporated on April 30, 1937, by a group of eight men who would later become some of the 20th century's most prominent conservationists.
Founders of The Wilderness Society
Bob Marshall: chief of recreation and lands for the United States Forest Service; Aldo Leopold: noted wildlife ecologist and later author of A Sand County Almanac; Robert Sterling Yard: publicist for the National Park Service; Benton MacKaye: the "Father of the Appalachian Trail"; Ernest Oberholtzer: proponent of the Quetico-Superior wilderness area; Harvey Broome: a key player in the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Bernard Frank: a leader in creating the Rock Creek Watershed Association in Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland; and Harold C. Anderson: a leading member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail club.
Yard became the Society's first secretary and the editor of its magazine, The Living Wilderness. Marshall, who was independently wealthy, made donations to finance the new organization. In addition, he set up a trust through his estate to provide future revenues to the Society. After he died in 1939 at age 38, The Wilderness Society began to receive such revenues.
Notable associates of The Wilderness Society
Olaus Murie — biologist who joined the organization's governing council in 1937, and became president of the Society in 1950. Under Murie's leadership, the Society lobbied successfully for the prevention of large federal dam projects near Glacier National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. During his presidency, the Muries' ranch in Moose, Wyoming, became an unofficial headquarters for The Wilderness Society. Sigurd Olson — author and former president and governing council member Celia Hunter — founder of the Alaska Conservation Society and the first woman elected as president of the Society in 1976; previously served on the governing council Howard Zahniser — author of The Wilderness Act of 1964 — joined The Wilderness Society in 1945, serving for two decades, first as executive secretary and editor of the organization's magazine The Living Wilderness; later he served as the organization's executive director.