Wilderness Conservation

Entering the 20th century, America was evolving into a developed, industrialized nation. With this influx of industrialization, more land was being converted to be used consumptively. The American population was rising which required the conversion of lands for settlement, along with the resources to build settlements. An issue associated with an increasing population is the requirement of additional food sources. In America between 1850 and 1910, 190 million acres of forest land was converted into agriculture (MacCleery 2011). The accumulation of these expansions over time drastically reduced the amount of wilderness in the United States. Without regulations and guidelines to protect the natural resources, the American public and conservationists
This was an initial step in the right direction but lacked clear objectives. Another issue with forest lands was in the increasing amount of private lands to which could not be protected under the president’s authority. It wouldn’t be until the 1930’s that we actually see policy emerge with emphasis on the management of forests. In the 1920’s Aldo Leopold began pushing for wilderness conservation. As a member of the U.S. Forest service Leopold successful designated the first wilderness area, the Gila National Forest (aldoleopold.org 2000). This would set precedent for future acts involving forest lands through means of passing policy through legislation. Howard Zahniser was a new conservationist who worked with the Wilderness Society. In 1956, Zahniser successfully thwarted the government’s plan of constructing a dam on Echo Park, a National Park (Harvey 2005). The defense of this National Park had united conversationalists and given them a sense of triumph. It was this victory that inspired Zahniser to begin working on a major campaign that would turn into the Wilderness Act of 1964 (Harvey 2005). He would be the force behind the
The goals of this act are simple, to protect our nation’s undeveloped forest land. The agenda setting process was initiated by Howard Zahniser and others who were triggered by the gross negligence of America’s wilderness. The actions that took place during the agenda setting phase would pave the path towards the legitimization and implementation of this bill that would protect the countries