Wilderness: A Forest Service Legacy

The Forest Service, through efforts of Arthur Carhart, Aldo Leopold and Bob Marshall, produced the first allocation of public land specifically for wilderness values in America, and, indeed, in the world. We take great pride of authorship and leadership stemming from these early efforts. As we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, we reflect on the wilderness legacy of these conservation giants and, in keeping with our proud tradition and benefiting our role as world leaders in wilderness stewardship, embrace our responsibility to the American people to ensure an enduring resource of wilderness.

Arthur Carhart Aldo Leopold Bob Marshall

In 1919, Arthur Carhart, the first In 1922, Aldo Leopold, assistant In 1939, Bob Marshall, FS director of landscape architect in the Forest district forester, made an inspection recreation and lands, drafted Service, surveyed Trappers Lake on the trip into the headwaters of the Gila regulations designating administrative White River National Forest in CO for River. Upon his return, he wrote a wilderness, wild areas and roadless road access and several hundred wilderness plan for the area to preserve areas. Marshall, a forester and plant vacation homes. Upon completion of its ecological values. Only trails and pathologist by training, was a the project he recommended that the telephone lines, to be used in case of prodigious hiker penetrating the area be preserved in its natural forest fires, were to be permitted. He nation’s wildest remaining corners condition for its aesthetic and felt wilderness was an ideal laboratory including the Brooks Range in AK. He recreational benefits. He shared this for the study of natural processes and valued wilderness for its experiential thinking with another FS employee that wilderness was the forge upon and social values and was concerned who had become apprehensive about which the American national character that roads threatened to divide and the expansion of road systems into wild had been created. Leopold spent conquer the last large wildernesses in country, Aldo Leopold. Carhart nearly 20 years with the FS, helped the West. The U Regulations followed this recommendation with a train a generation of conservation and Marshall authored prevented road similar one for the Superior National wildlife leaders, and produced A Sand construction, timber harvest, hotels, Forest in MN. Trappers Lake remains County Almanac a classic in American lodges, or permanent camps on more without roads or summer homes within conservation literature. In 1924, than 14 million acres of national forest the Flattops Wilderness and the 574,000 acres of the Gila were lands. Along with Leopold, Marshall Boundary Waters Canoe Area designated as the first wilderness was instrumental in establishing The Wilderness is a keystone of the NWPS. reserve in the world. Wilderness Society in 1935.