Thursday, October 16, 2014

Wilderness50 Day 2

Morning and evening keynotes here at #Wilderness50, and a lunch session followed by way too many concurrent sessions that all looked good - wish I could have attended all of them.

Sally Jewell delivered an upbeat morning keynote with stories of recent success like Organ Mountain Natl Monument.

The house was packed for Ken Brower as he recalled Cascade Pass trips as a child with his famous father, then issued a rousing call to action for the new generation of activists. 

I made sure Ken got copies of our most recent issues of The Wild Cascades and invited him to get in touch next time he's in Seattle and come see the Goldsworthy collection. 

The economic benefits of Wilderness were discussed during lunch by business leaders in the outdoor industry. Tourism has supplanted extractive industries just as the Wilderness pioneers said it would. The coming baby boom retirement surge will bring that many more outdoor enthusiasts to the equipment suppliers and gateway communities. 

Brock Evans and Doug Scott hosted a history session and shared their personal stories of how the Wilderness Act came to be, including the compromises and complications of politics.


The late afternoon Science and Law sessions I attended were SRO, packed with interesting research results and challenging dialog.


After dinner the evening keynote featured author Terry Tempest Williams in a lyrical call for renewed direct action. "We can do this!" 




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