This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, which was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 3, 1964. In a recent article, the Boston Globe examines how New Englanders have shaped our national view of wilderness, from the earliest settlers to President John F. Kennedy to environmentalist Rachel Carson.
From the article: “New Englanders had done much over the centuries to sharpen the definition of the wilderness, beginning with their earliest encounters with a “New England” that was neither new nor English. Along the way, they completely revised their outlook. Their willingness to adapt and think anew may guide us as we enter what many scientists consider a new geological epoch—the Anthropocene—and confront an environment that is changing more quickly than we are.”