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1963: Forest Service Chief Edward P. Cliff Speech
In a speech for a Wilderness Conference in 1963, Forest Service Chief
Edward Cliff described his agency's support for wilderness, his views on
"purity" and which areas should be deemed wild enough to qualify for protection,
and identified possible management directions for the future. Cliff also noted the
recent Senate passage of a wilderness bill, though it would be more than a year
before the full Congress would agree on a bill that President Johnson could sign
into law.
At the conference Cliff remarked, "There has been substantial progress in the
designation of Wilderness areas in the past 6 years. But there is still much to
do in the study and reclassification of primitive areas, in studying and classifying
new areas, and in the overall management of wilderness of all kinds...
I have a strong conviction that it is extremely important to maintain high standards
of quality in the selection of Wilderness areas. To me this is more important than
quantity or total size...
I am personally convinced that the wilderness of the future must be skillfully managed
if it is to survive the large increase in use that can be expected. We must not
permit the unique values of these areas to be lost or diluted because of the lack
of management. I can't enjoy wilderness when it is crowded or abused. I'd rather
see the use limited to the capacity of the area. I suspect most of you feel the
same way...
I am sure that in the future we will have to engage much more actively in such management
practices as distribution of users in time and place; limitation or rationing of
use and scheduling of trips to reduce overuse at certain locations; development
of carefully planned main trail and spur trail systems to encourage dispersal of
users; temporary closing of some areas to permit rest and rehabilitation...
It may become necessary to recognize several different kinds of wilderness users
and the impossibility of managing all areas for all of them. It is already plain
that we must become more restrictive in the use of horses in many areas... It is
not unlikely that some areas will be reserved for foot-travelers only.
The Forest Service recognizes the need for wilderness. It also recognizes that wilderness
is a relatively scarce resource, and one that is getting more scarce... The 83 areas
already designated, totaling almost 14.7 million acres, bear witness to our interest
and our intent."
Sources:
"Wilderness Plans of the Forest Service"
speech by Edward P. Cliff, Chief, U.S. Forest Service, at Eighth Biennial
Wilderness Conference, San Francisco, CA, March 9, 1963.
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