![]() | The Wilderness Writings of Howard Zahniser Subjects: Wilderness areas -- United States; Nature conservation -- United States; United States. Wilderness Act; Wilderness areas -- Government policy -- United States; Nature conservation -- Government policy -- United States; United States -- Environmental condi; Howard Zahniser (1906-1964), executive secretary of The Wilderness Society and editor of The Living Wilderness from 1945 to 1964, is arguably the person most responsible for drafting and promoting the Wilderness Act in 1964. The act, which created the National Wilderness Preservation System, was the culmination of Zahniser's years of tenacious lobbying and his work with conservationists across the nation. In 1964, fifty-four wilderness areas in thirteen states were part of the system; today the number has grown to 757 areas, protecting more than a hundred million acres in forty-four states and Puerto Rico. Mark Harvey is professor of history at North Dakota State University and the author of Wilderness Forever: Howard Zahniser and the Path to the Wilderness Act and A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement. |
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