The Wilderness Society: dedicated to the wisemanagement of all the public landsBennett BeachThe Wilderness SocietyIn 1934 none of the nation's conservationgroups was paying much attention towilderness preservation. Eight determinedmen decided that there should be such agroup, and in January 1935, after meetingsnear Knoxville and in Washington,D.C., The Wilderness Society was born.Among the eight were giants likeRobert Marshall; Aldo Leopold, authorof A Sand County Almanac; RobertSterling Yard, and Benton MacKaye, whofirst proposed the Appalachian Trial.Their purpose was spelled out by Yardin the first issue of the Society'smagazine: "The Wilderness Society isborn of an emergency in conservationwhich admits of no delay. The craze is tobuild all the highways possible everywherewhile billions may yet be borrowedfrom the unlucky future. Thefashion is to barber and manicure wildAmerica as smartly as the modern girl.Our duty is clear."In the early days, TWS was militantand exclusive. MacKaye said, "We wantthose who already think as we do; notthose who have to be shown." Fundingwas as meager as membership; after fiveyears the budget was less than $4,000,most of it out of Marshall's pocket.Marshall's sudden death in 1939, whenhe was just 38, robbed The Society of itsspiritual leader. The saving grace was thetrust fund that Marshall's estate establishedfor wilderness preservation. TWSwas able to do more, and membership inevitablygrew, but as late as 1952, after17 years, there were still just 5,000members.Though small, The Society was consideredone of the major groups becauseof the talent it was able to attract.Heading its second generation of leaderswere Olaus Murie, famous for his wildlifefield surveys, and Howard Zahniser, aprime mover in passage of the WildernessAct. 'There is no good reason why ourinfluence should not be out of all proportionto our numbers," said Harold Anderson,one of the founders.In 1947, the Governing Council ofTWS officially decided that the groupshould strive for wilderness legislation.Zahniser dedicated the rest of his life tothe task, and the result was the WildernessAct of 1964, signed four monthsafter his death.Aldo Leopold with young tamaracks, c.1946Robert Marshall in Wiseman, AKSigurd Olson (1) with Harvey Broome4<strong>COURIER</strong>/May 1987
Despite the time and emotional energydemanded by the wilderness crusade,TWS managed to play a part innumerous public lands fights, usuallyworking with its close ally, the SierraClub. Throughout the 1930s and into the1940s, The Society fought battle afterbattle over the preservation of whatultimately became Olympic <strong>National</strong><strong>Park</strong> and helped defeat local stockmenand politicians who opposed addingJackson Hole to Grand Teton <strong>National</strong><strong>Park</strong>.When the first nationwide conservationcoalition was born in 1951 to stopthe damming of the Green River inDinosaur <strong>National</strong> Monument's Echo<strong>Park</strong>, TWS took an active role. In themid-1960s, The Society successfullyfought an NPS plan to lay a blacktophighway across the southern half of GreatSmoky Mountains <strong>National</strong> <strong>Park</strong>. One ofthe organization's new leaders was SigOlson, a well known writer on wildernessand consultant to Interior SecretaryStewart Udall and NPS Director ConradWirth.The nation's great leap of environmentalawareness in the 1960s swelled themembership and budgets of all the importantgroups, including TWS. But beneaththe surface prosperity, problems werebrewing. There was deep disagreementabout the organization's priorities anddisaffection with management. During the1970s the difficulties grew more serious.The annual deficit eventually reached$185,000, and membership plummeted 50percent to just 39,000."It was clear that something major hadto be done," recalled Ted Swem, assistantdirector of NPS from 1964 to 1972 andthe council member heading the searchfor a new executive director. "We knewwe needed an uncommonly strong leader,a good administrator who could also getout and raise money."The choice was Bill Turnage, 38, thebusiness manager for Ansel Adams. Hearrived in November 1978, three weeksafter the last dollars in the Robert MarshallWilderness Fund had been used tomeet the payroll.The turnover, voluntary and otherwise,was so complete that after twoyears, only one staff member remainedfrom the pre-Turnage era. "Professionalism"was Turnage's oft-stated goalas he rebuilt the staff. In 1980 he persuadedU.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, justupset in his re-election bid, to join TWSas a full-time advisor. Nelson was thefounder of Earth Day and a leader of theenvironmental revolution in Congress.Among the others Turnage sought—and hired—were the Sierra Club's ChuckClusen, chairman of the Alaska Coalition;Peter Coppelman, an acclaimedpublic lands litigator for the JusticeWilderness Society OfficersDepartment, and Terry Sopher, directorof BLM's wilderness program. Thegoverning council grew with the additionof distinguished persons from a variety offields.In rebuilding the staff, Turnage gave ittwo new dimensions. He believed that theenvironmental movement needed to makemore of an economic case, so he createda department to do economic analysis onpublic lands issues. It was headed by Dr.Joseph L. Fisher, former president ofResources for the Future and congressmanfrom Virginia. "Second, he made pressrelations a major priority," recalls RonTipton, one of Turnage's first hires andnow Southeast Regional Director.During the Turnage years, the rejuvenatedSociety enjoyed a surge inmembership and played an important rolein passage of the Alaska Lands Act of1980 and the 1984 enactment ofwilderness bills preserving 8.6 millionacres in 20 states.When he took the job, Turnage saidthat he should stay only six years or so.In December 1985, he left. He was succeededby George T. Frampton, Jr., 41,best known as one of the Watergate prosecutors.Chosen in large part because ofhis leadership and advocacy skills,Frampton said, when selected, "Amongthe conservation organizations, the Societyhas been in the forefront on many majorissues—tougher and less compromisingthan some of the other groups. That'sexactly where I want to keep it."Forest planning remains a majorpriority at TWS, as it has been sinceDecember 1984. A growing team offoresters, economists, attorneys, andecologists, directed by Dr. Peter M.Emerson, is critically analyzing andpresenting an alternative to the longrangemanagement plans being issued foreach of the national forests. Last yearThe Society completed a two-year studyof the Tongass <strong>National</strong> Forest in Alaska,the system's largest. The Society is nowleading a major campaign to limit thetimber progam in that rain forest, whichloses 99 cents on each tax dollar spent,according to TWS estimates.To ensure that the TWS investment inforest planning pays the highest dividendspossible, Frampton has created a <strong>National</strong>Forest Action Center. It serves as a clearinghousefor activists across the country,facilitating the sharing of research andanalysis.An outgrowth of the forest work is acampaign to curb the Forest <strong>Service</strong>'stimber-road building program. TWSjudges that roads are perhaps the mostexpensive and environmentally damagingaspect of timbering. TWS leads a coalitionof conservationists and others determinedto cut the roads budget this year.The Society also has been in theforefront on BLM issues and expects toEdward A. Ames, Chairman, Governing CouncilGeorge FramptonGaylord Nelson, CounselorGeorge T. Frampton, Jr., PresidentPeter Coppelman, Vice PresidentPeter M. Emerson, Vice President, Resource Planning & EconomicsMary F. Hanley, Vice President, Public AffairsAllen E. Smith, Vice President, Finance & AdministrationT. H. Watkins, Vice President, & EditorRebecca Wodder, Vice President, Membership & Development<strong>COURIER</strong>/May 1987 5
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