1974: Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz Speech

As of the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Gila as the nation's first Wilderness, nearly all the lands in the United States protected as wilderness were managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture.

At a 1974 50th anniversary event for the Gila, Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz spoke proudly of the Forest Service's role in protecting wilderness and pointed toward an expanded wilderness system. Butz also noted the "hampering" effect of wilderness on other national forest activities such as timber production. Although Butz described the recent completion of the Forest Service Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE I) as a "comprehensive program," apparently not anticipating a court ruling that would find the assessment inadequate, his closing comments were on the mark as he expressed confidence that wilderness preservation in the next fifty years would feature many more accomplishments.

With roughly twenty million more acres now protected as wilderness on national forests than when Butz spoke, the Wilderness Preservation System has demonstrated steady growth in both size and popularity. The following excerpts come from the Secretary's wilderness commemoration speech.

"Wilderness is often described as a state of mind. If it is only that, we are proud that the Department of Agriculture was instrumental in turning that 'state of mind' into a tangible national resource.

Wilderness is also described as a resource of great scientific significance, against which we can compare the effects on the land of a growing civilization. If that is true--the Department of Agriculture and its Forest Service can also take some considerable credit for having turned an idea into fact.

Wilderness is certainly one of the nation's irreplaceable resources--equal in significance to timber-producing lands, rangelands, and mass recreation sites. Again, we modestly accept credit as being involved in the sound management of that resource from the beginning...

The Forest Service has just conducted a massive review of almost 56 million acres of roadless areas in the National Forest System. From this area, we have selected for study 274 areas with the highest apparent wilderness potential, encompassing 12.3 million acres...

The process of selecting the 274 wilderness candidates in the roadless area review was one of the most comprehensive programs of public information and involvement ever conducted by any agency...

These actions in the direction of rounding-out our wilderness system are positive. Yet, we also know that we simply do not have unlimited acreage and natural resources, particularly on public lands, to allow everyone to have everything he or she wants.

The demands from all types of interests are strong and persuasive. For example, during the period of conducting our roadless area review, we received some 10,000 letters and documents--unrelated to the review--urging us to increase our sale of timber because of high prices and the low supply of wood products available to meet the demand.

Because the demand for wilderness and the demand for other uses are often basically in conflict, the job of public land management is, at best, difficult...

Until decisions are reached which will allow our managers to plan for the best balance of uses, our management efficiency will be hampered. The extent and scope of wilderness is one of those vital decisions. Because there are so often conflicts about uses among our many 'publics,' we are seeking every way possible to assure the citizenry an opportunity to help us make the kinds of decisions that will provide the most goods and services to the greatest number of people in the long run...

May the Centennial Anniversary of Wilderness, in 2024, reflect accomplishments in wilderness preservation in the next 50 years as significant as those in the first half century. I am confident that it will."

Source:

"The Golden Anniversary of a Priceless Concept ,"address by Secretary of Agriculture Earl L. Butz, at the Commemorative Ceremony for the 50th Anniversary of Wilderness, Gila National Forest, New Mexico, June 2, 1974.