Wilderness is the America that was - wild land beyond
the frontier that shaped the growth of the nation and
the character of its people. After 200 years, the American
frontier (except Alaska) had virtually disappeared.
Railroads crisscrossed the continent, inviting settlement
and industry. The rush for lands and resources led to
almost unchecked development.
The late 1800's marked a turning point in the management
of America's natural resources. Selected public lands
were protected from uncontrolled development and reserved
to benefit the nation as a whole. Lands in downtown
Hot Springs, Arkansas, were set aside as a Federal Reserve
as early as 1836, in an effort to protect the natural
thermal springs that flowed from Hot Springs Mountain.
Later, the world's first National Park at Yellowstone
in 1872, exemplified this move toward conservation and
protection of natural areas. The first allocation of
public land specifically for protecting wilderness values
was made in the Gila National Forest of New Mexico in
1924. Forty years later, the desire to protect the nation's
wilderness resource was formalized with passage of the
Wilderness Act in 1964
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