ABSTRACT
“An Act to Establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the Permanent Good of the Whole People, and for Other Purposes,” also known as the “Wilderness Act,” was passed by Congress in 1964. One year earlier the Leopold and Robbins reports had been issued by the Park Service, both related to scientific management of the parks. These events signaled a new chapter in the story of nature in American culture, reflecting changes at both the official and popular levels in the symbolic power of wilderness, the role of human beings in nature, and, given these understandings, the meaning of preservation and the federal government's role in it. The bill and reports were a culmination of processes that had begun earlier in the century and included as key players those who had been promoting wilderness as something different from the National Park Idea and scientists both within and outside the Park Service who believed science should be used as a tool in park management. Although not always in agreement, together they offered a critique of the National Park Service as the preserver of America's sacred lands.
