Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve

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Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Wilderness Act

This year marks 50 years since The Wilderness Act was signed into law. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres of federal land. It was the result of a long effort to protect federal wilderness and guidelines for designating wilderness. After over sixty drafts and eight years of work, the Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964. When Johnson signed the act, he made the following statement: "If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it."

THE WILDERNESS ACT - WELCOME

New York State is where wilderness preservation began in America

Welcome to our Wilderness 50th web pages! We are a grassroots effort in New York State celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The National Wilderness Preservation Act, 1964-2014, and the 120th Anniversary of New York’s Forever Wild Constitution, Adirondacks & Catskills, 1894-2014.

Our Wilderness 50th steering committee (Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation) wishes to:

celebrate our wilderness history, heritage and wild lands in New York State, particularly the publically owned Forest Preserve in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks
increase awareness that it was New York’s Forever Wild Constitution that inspired the National Wilderness Act of 1964, and
encourage today’s college students and college campuses to mark these anniversaries with events and activities meaningful to them.

Please know you are invited to celebrate and renew your inspiration for the wild. Find speakers, events and activities at colleges, universities, and other locations throughout New York by visiting our Wilderness 50th web pages. Visit often to learn who is involved in this year’s anniversaries, what events and activities are underway, where and when.

Also, if you have events to share and want publicizes, please let us know and we will review for posting on this site. Please know, too, that many of New York’s events will also be posted at the National Wilderness website, www.wilderness50th.org.

Thank you.

Dave Gibson, Partner
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve
dgibson@adirondackwild.org
mobile: 518-469-4081
www.adirondackwild.org

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SAFEGUARDING THE WILD | EXTENDING THE WILD | EDUCATING FOR THE WILD

OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW: New York State is where wilderness preservation began in America read more >

Guidelines and Suggestions for NY State Wilderness 50th Anniversary Celebrations read more >

The 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act
read more >

The Adirondack Park: Where Wilderness Preservation Began read more >

Celebration of 50 Years of Wilderness Protection read more >

Archives for Wilderness 50th Celebration

OVERVIEW

NY STATE PROCLAMATION

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The mission of Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is to advance New York’s ‘Forever Wild’ legacy and Forest Preserve policies in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks, and promote public and private land stewardship that is consistent with wild land values through education, advocacy and research.