Sometimes it"s nice to get away. Thanks to environmentalist Howard Zahniser, Americans can do that in one of the country"s many wildernesses—areas sheltered from human activities. While conservation efforts like the creation of national forests and parks began in the late 1800s, untamed wilderness had dwindled to only 2.5% of the nation"s land by the 1960s. To reverse this trend, Zahniser wrote most of what became the Wilderness Act. Signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 3, 1964, it today protects more than 109 million acres—5% of the land in the US.
Wilderness Act anniversary
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Easter
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Dunes at White Sands National Park, New Mexico
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Iceland for International Rock Day
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50 years of Earth Day
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Party like it’s 5779
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Night view of the RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California
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Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada
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Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand
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Talk like a pirate—or walk the plank
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Glendurgan Garden hedge maze is 186 years old
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African bush elephants in Namibia
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Is that a face in the sand?
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Peggys Point Lighthouse, Atlantic Coast, Nova Scotia, Canada
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The puffin-rabbit connection
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Sounds of Bach come to Bath
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Great on so many levels
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Leopard at Etosha National Park, Namibia
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A holiday beacon of light
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Darwin Day
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Winter solstice
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International Womens Day
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The monsoon arrives in the desert
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Visiting Ahch-To on Star Wars Day
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Celebrating Flag Day: ‘O long may it wave’
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Make your way up a picturesque passageway of Chefchaouen
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The ‘Night of Nights’
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Riding the bore tide at Turnagain Arm, Cook Inlet, Alaska
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Papa was a flightless bird
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A temple, preserved
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National Bison Day
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

