wilderness act

Howard Zahniser (1906-1964), a Washington, D.C.–based leader of The Wilderness Society, was the chief author of and lobbyist for the 1964 Wilderness Act. Much of his inspiration, and one of his earliest preservation victories, came at Lake Solitude in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains.

From their modest upbringings, Mardy and Olaus Murie became diligent, adventurous and charismatic leaders of the American conservation movement. With their siblings, Louise and Adolph Murie, they shaped conservation biology and ecology and are credited with some of our country’s most historic efforts to protect wild lands. The two couples split their time between remote Alaska and a ranch at the feet of the Tetons, where the Murie Center carries on their efforts today.