Designated Wilderness at Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada
Many speakers this week have mentioned Aldo Leopold as one the heroes and giants of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Many reference his role as the father of wildlife management, others for articulating the land ethic. The great film shown Wednesday evening,“Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time,” certainly did a great job of highlighting the development of Aldo’s land ethic.
An important part of his land ethic, of course, was Leopold’s work to protect Wilderness. Among his writings in the early- to mid-1920s are several nationally significant articles propounding the value of and need for the protection of Wilderness.
In addition to writing about wilderness, Leopold also put his ideas into action. These efforts included:
- 1924- Work to establish the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico, the nation’s 1st administratively-designated Wilderness.
- 1935– Founding with 7 others of the Wilderness Society.
- 1949– Publication of A Sand County Almanac, which further explored wilderness values and protection.
I hope that the Fish and Wildlife Service can continue to follow in the steps of Aldo Leopold on Wilderness. I can see at least three things that the agency can do right away to do so.
- Highlight the importance of Wilderness to the NationalWildlife Refuge System in the final Vision document that emerges from this conference.
- As Refuges in Alaska and elsewhere in the country develop new CCPs, to inventory potential Wilderness areas and recommend them for formal Wilderness designation.
- Improve the agency’s Wilderness Stewardship Policy to both recognize the role of Refuge Wilderness in providing secure habitat for species to adapt in the face of climate change, and to improve the policy with recommendations provided by my organization and several others to strengthen the stewardship of this wildly important Refuge resource.
Kevin Proescholdt, Director of Wilderness and Public Lands, Izaak Walton League of America
