1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000
Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

2
00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:13,600
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class,

3
00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,160
Speaker 1: a show that gives a quick look it's something that

4
00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:20,520
Speaker 1: happened a long time ago. Today I'm your new host,

5
00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:24,200
Speaker 1: Gabe Louisier. And not to bite the hand that feeds,

6
00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,960
Speaker 1: but I happen to like the natural world a lot

7
00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,880
Speaker 1: more than the digital one. I don't get out to

8
00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,959
Speaker 1: explore it as much as I should, but it's comforting

9
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,200
Speaker 1: just to know it's there. Plus, if it wasn't there,

10
00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,440
Speaker 1: David Attenborough would be out of a job, and nobody

11
00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,000
Speaker 1: wants that. Lucky for us, we've got laws in place

12
00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,520
Speaker 1: to help protect the natural world from ourselves. And today

13
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,479
Speaker 1: we're going to take a closer look at one of

14
00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:55,440
Speaker 1: those laws. It's called the Wilderness Act of nineteen sixty four.

15
00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:07,759
Speaker 1: The day was Thursday, September three, nineteen sixty four. US

16
00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,040
Speaker 1: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Wilderness Act,

17
00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,759
Speaker 1: establishing a national network of federally designated wilderness areas known

18
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:23,039
Speaker 1: as the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Wilderness Act was

19
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:27,880
Speaker 1: drafted in recognition of the country's increasing population accompanied by

20
00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,920
Speaker 1: expanding settlement and growing mechanization. Its aim was to preserve

21
00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,640
Speaker 1: and protect wilderness areas in their natural condition for the

22
00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,840
Speaker 1: sake of present and future generations. In order for the

23
00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,920
Speaker 1: Act to be effective, it was necessary to create a

24
00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,440
Speaker 1: working definition for what should be considered a wilderness. This

25
00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,640
Speaker 1: proved a difficult task, requiring more than sixty drafts and

26
00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,200
Speaker 1: eight years of negotiations, which were led by the Wilderness Society,

27
00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,000
Speaker 1: a dedicated team of conservationists who have pushed for the

28
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,080
Speaker 1: protection of wild spaces since the group's inception in nineteen

29
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,360
Speaker 1: thirty five. In the end, the following definition was agreed

30
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,160
Speaker 1: upon and incorporated in the Act. A wilderness, in contrast

31
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,560
Speaker 1: with those areas where man and his own works dominate,

32
00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,640
Speaker 1: the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the

33
00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,840
Speaker 1: earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man,

34
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,520
Speaker 1: where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.

35
00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,080
Speaker 1: When the Act became law in nineteen sixty four, it

36
00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:40,320
Speaker 1: designated nine point one million acres in thirteen states as wilderness.

37
00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,160
Speaker 1: The Act also outlined a long term study process by

38
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,600
Speaker 1: which additional areas could be designated as wilderness. The first

39
00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,920
Speaker 1: step of the process is for a federal agency like

40
00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,760
Speaker 1: the National Park Service to study lands already under its

41
00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:02,760
Speaker 1: jurisdiction and identify potential wilderness areas therein. If an agency

42
00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:05,680
Speaker 1: finds such an area, the President can then make a

43
00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:11,080
Speaker 1: recommendation to Congress to designate that land as wilderness. From there,

44
00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,040
Speaker 1: it's up to Congress to decide how to respond to

45
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:19,440
Speaker 1: the recommendation, by designating the identified land as wilderness, by

46
00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,720
Speaker 1: releasing the land from wilderness designation, or by taking no

47
00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,200
Speaker 1: action on the recommendation at all. However, once an area

48
00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,840
Speaker 1: is designated as wilderness, it must be managed in a

49
00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,360
Speaker 1: way that preserves its character, or, as the language of

50
00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,680
Speaker 1: the Act puts it, the land shall be administered for

51
00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,960
Speaker 1: the use and enjoyment of the American people in such

52
00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:46,040
Speaker 1: manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment.

53
00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,040
Speaker 1: As wilderness. This means that although the lands can be

54
00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:55,320
Speaker 1: used in multiple different ways, including for noninvasive recreation and

55
00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:00,960
Speaker 1: scientific research, some uses are strictly off limits. For example,

56
00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,360
Speaker 1: an area that provides clean water to downstream communities cannot

57
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,960
Speaker 1: be used for commercial logging or oil drilling. The management

58
00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,280
Speaker 1: of wilderness areas is handled by the federal agencies in

59
00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,279
Speaker 1: which the lands reside, including the National Park Service, the

60
00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,200
Speaker 1: Bureau of Land Management, the US Fish and Wildlife Service,

61
00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,560
Speaker 1: and the U. S. Forest Service. Since nineteen sixty four,

62
00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:30,760
Speaker 1: the National Wilderness Preservation System has grown almost every year.

63
00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,960
Speaker 1: As of one, it includes eight hundred and three distinct

64
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,400
Speaker 1: areas spanning over one hundred and eleven million acres in

65
00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:45,039
Speaker 1: forty four states and Puerto Rico. While that sounds like

66
00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,159
Speaker 1: a lot of land, and it is, it's important to

67
00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,479
Speaker 1: note that all of the area is currently designated as wilderness,

68
00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,919
Speaker 1: encompass only about five percent of the land in the

69
00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,440
Speaker 1: United States. That's an area just slightly larger than California.

70
00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,080
Speaker 1: As you might expect, this territory includes a wide range

71
00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:11,800
Speaker 1: of environments, including forests, deserts, swamps, mountains, and beaches. The

72
00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:16,720
Speaker 1: largest wilderness area today is the Wrangell Saint Elias Wilderness,

73
00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,479
Speaker 1: which consists of nine million acres of Alaskan tundra and

74
00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,640
Speaker 1: boreal forest. It's home to a variety of wildlife such

75
00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:30,599
Speaker 1: as sheep, caribou, grizzly bears, wolves, and wolverines. At the

76
00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,920
Speaker 1: opposite end of the spectrum is the Rocks and Island

77
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,800
Speaker 1: Wilderness in northern California. It's the smallest designated wilderness to

78
00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,279
Speaker 1: date at just five acres, yet it supports a rich

79
00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:47,200
Speaker 1: ecosystem of seabirds, elephant, seals, and sea lions, as well

80
00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:52,280
Speaker 1: as several exposed coral reefs. The Wilderness Act of nineteen

81
00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,080
Speaker 1: sixty four was the work of many advocates, authors, and

82
00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,919
Speaker 1: public servants who believed that access to unspoiled wild spaces

83
00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,320
Speaker 1: is as vital to human life as clean air and water.

84
00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,279
Speaker 1: Although the Act has been threatened by various social and

85
00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,240
Speaker 1: political forces over the years, many Americans who share that

86
00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,120
Speaker 1: same conviction have taken up the fight to defend the

87
00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,640
Speaker 1: Act and the wilderness it protects. In the words of

88
00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:23,039
Speaker 1: photographer and filmmaker Paul Strand, the essence of what we

89
00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:27,800
Speaker 1: call America lies not so much in political institutions as

90
00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:33,160
Speaker 1: in its rocks and skies and seas. I'm Gabe Louzier

91
00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,320
Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history

92
00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,360
Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you'd like, you can

93
00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,120
Speaker 1: learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook,

94
00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:48,720
Speaker 1: and Instagram at T D I HC podcast, and if

95
00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,880
Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can send them

96
00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:56,360
Speaker 1: my way. At this day, at i heart media dot com.

97
00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,320
Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler May's for producing the show, and thank

98
00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,680
Speaker 1: you for listen now. I'll see you back here again

99
00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:14,960
Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History class. For more podcasts

100
00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,040
Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,

101
00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,640
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.