Wilderness Society

The wilderness society is a nonprofit environmental organization based in Washington, D.C., with 10 U.S. regional offices. Through science, economic analysis, advocacy, and education, it works to achieve wilderness designation on federal lands. Since its founding in 1935, it has helped add 105 million acres (42.4 million hectares) to the National Wilderness Preservation System.

The Wilderness Act of 1964 was written by former society president Howard Zahniser and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The act defined wilderness as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” The act enables Congress to set aside select units in national forests, parks, wildlife refuges, and other federal lands as areas ...