NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: Oct. 8, 2014
Contact: Lisa Ronald
Wilderness50Communications Coordinator
406-396-3607
Wilderness Greats Chart Future of America’s Wildlands
National Wilderness Conference celebrates 50th anniversary of Wilderness Act
(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Oct. 8, 2014) Wilderness areas provide clean air and water for nearby cities, recreational escapes, and havens for endangered wildlife. The environmental benefits of wilderness and the future of America’s wildlands are the focus of the National Wilderness Conference, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. The conference will be held Oct. 15-19 at the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque and hosted by Wilderness50.
“The 50th anniversary of our wilderness areas is an essential time to raise awareness of these special places in an increasingly ethnically diverse America,” said Outdoor Afro founder and conference keynote speaker Rue Mapp. “New Mexico is a place of cultural and environmental intersections and provides the perfect venue for a national gathering of wilderness leaders.”
More than 20 diverse plenary speakers including U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, astronaut Joseph Acaba, author Terry Tempest Williams, and longtime wilderness activist Dave Foreman will join outdoor business leaders, renowned wilderness researchers, environmental historians, educators, and land managers to discuss current topics in wilderness stewardship.Eighty-fourworkshops,including more than 200 speakers, will focus on civic engagement, stewardship, history, science, education and experience and include the debut of plans for the future of the wilderness system.
“Not since early wilderness thinkers like Aldo Leopold and Bob Marshall were first working to preserve our precious wildlands have so many wilderness advocates and supporters gathered to chart the course of our wilderness future,” said Doug Scott, long-time wilderness historian and author.
The National Wilderness Conference is the first national gathering of wilderness advocates, stewards, educators, students and researchers in 25 years. This five-day event also includes more than 20 field trips to New Mexico wilderness areas and cultural sites; a sponsor and partner exhibit hall featuring photographs from the recent “Wilderness Forever” photography exhibition that opened in September in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.; K-12 teacher workshops deploying the Wilderness Investigations curriculum; the Wilderness Awareness Trail, a station-based, experiential learning area that will be visited by private, public, and tribal grade- and middle-school students as part of official school field trips; the two-night People's Wilderness Film Gala; and the free, public, outdoor, family-friendly 'Get Wild' Festival on Saturday, Oct. 18.
For a complete listing of National Wilderness Conference and Festival events, visit
For more information about the Wilderness Act or Wilderness50, visit
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About the Wilderness Act
Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on Sept. 3, 1964, the historic Wilderness Act established the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) and set aside an initial 9.1 million acres of wildlands for the use and benefit of the American people. Over the past 50 years, and as a result of America's support for wilderness, Congress has added more than 100 million acres to this unique land preservation system. The 1964 Wilderness Act defines "Wilderness" as areas where the earth and its communities of life are left unchanged by people, where the primary forces of nature are in control, and where people themselves are visitors who do not remain.
The NWPS was established for the use and enjoyment of the American people and provides many direct and in-direct benefits relating to ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic, spiritual, economic, recreational, historical, and cultural uses and activities. The 758 wilderness areas within the NWPS are managed by all four federal land managing agencies—the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and National Park Service. To learn more about the Wilderness Act and the NWPS, visit the official wilderness information website providing both general information about wilderness and specific information about each of the wilderness areas.
About Wilderness50
Wilderness50 is a coalition of more than 30 non-profit organizations, academic institutions, companies, government agencies, and concerned citizens that is planning and implementing local, regional, and national events and projects to raise public awareness of wilderness and engage youth during 2014, the 50th anniversary year. For more information about Wilderness50, visit
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