Russ Feingold: “I rise to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which was signed into law on September 3, 1964…”

“I rise to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which was signed into law on September 3, 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and to announce the formation of a Senate Wilderness and Public Lands Caucus. The Wilderness Act became law seven years after the first wilderness bill was introduced by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. The final bill, sponsored by Senator Clinton Anderson of New Mexico, passed the Senate by a vote of 73-12 on April 9, 1963, and passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 373-1 on July 30, 1964. The Wilderness Act of 1964 established a National Wilderness Preservation System "to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness." The law reserves to Congress the authority to designate wilderness areas, and directs the federal land management agencies to review the lands under their responsibility for their wilderness potential. The original Wilderness Act established 9.1 million acres of Forest Service land in 54 wilderness areas. Now, after passage of 102 pieces of legislation the wilderness system is comprised of over 104 million acres in 625 wilderness areas, across 44 States, and administered by four federal agencies: the Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior.”