President Lyndon Johnson signs the Wilderness Act
Sept. 3rd, 1964
This series of essays is appearing in the Western News of Libby, Montana, and the Sanders County Ledger of Thompson Falls, as part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, signed by Lyndon Johnson into law on September 3, 1964.
These Western Montana residents each write about their special relationship with wild places, Wilderness and wilderness, designated and not.
By David Neils Growing up in Libby, Montana, I was surrounded by incredibly wild and beautiful country. Our family spent a lot of time in the outdoors. There were trails headed into the Cabinet Mountains [» Read More…]
By Phalyn Fickas The September day started out early, before the sun rose, as most expeditions like this do. I laced up my boots, filled my water bottles, and headed out the door with my [» Read More…]
By Kelly Butts-Spirito Eugenio Montale once wrote, “The most dangerous aspect of present-day life is the dissolution of the feeling of individual responsibility. Mass solitude has done away with any difference between the internal and [» Read More…]
By Brian Baxter After the snowfall, Old Man Winter rests. He is warm now, with his long white hair flowing down his shoulders. After conjuring up infinite patterns of snow flakes, each one unique, and [» Read More…]
By Jacob Arrington When I first applied for the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness Backcountry Ranger position, I knew very little of what I was getting into. I knew that it would be hard, demanding [» Read More…]
By Annie Gassmann We were nearing the end of a mother–daughter backpack trip into the Scapegoat Wilderness. I was in my late teens, eager to explore tall mountains, dark forests and pretend I was the [» Read More…]
Family and Fall in the South Fork of Ross Creek We moved West in the early 1970s because we found it quiet and beautiful, and much less busy than Minneapolis. After some substitute teaching and [» Read More…]
By Riley Egan I am a consumer. I take elk, deer, trout, firewood, mushrooms, grouse, berries, experiences, memories, insight, and perspective. I take all of these things selfishly, albeit reverently, from the Yaak Valley. I [» Read More…]
June 17, 2019
June 17, 2019
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