Smokies celebrates Wilderness Act
Ed Zahniser, son of the man who was widely regarded as the father of the Wilderness Act, will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 as the keynote speaker of a Wilderness Act celebration at Sugarlands Visitor Center in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The celebration will run from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and conclude with a hike the following morning.
Zahnhiser, who retired last year as senior writer and editor with the National Park Service Publications Group in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, will speak about his father Howard’s role in getting the Wilderness Act written and passed, as well as his family’s relationship with one of the founders of the Wilderness Society, Knoxville attorney Harvey Broome. The act, signed 50 years ago, provides for the protection of lands “untrammeled by man” and now protects 109 million acres in 44 states.
The event will begin with a showing of the films Wild by Law and Sanctuary at 9:30 a.m., followed by a panel discussion on how wilderness principles have guided park management through the years. Zahniser will speak at 1 p.m. to conclude the day, but at 8:30 a.m. the next morning, the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club will lead a hike from Clingmans Dome to Silers Bald, a strenuous hike that gains 1,200 feet in elevation.
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