September 2004
Volume 9

Interesting Tidbits & Wilderness Quotes:

Quote: "Wilderness has been characterized as barren and unproductive; little can be grown in its sand and rock. But the crops of wilderness have always been its spiritual values -- silence and solitude, a sense of awe and gratitude -- able to be harvested by any traveler who visits." — David Douglas from Wilderness Sojourn

Contents:
Wilderness News Briefs provide short issue summaries and contact information. Action Alerts are full-length, time-sensitive postings.

Wilderness News Briefs:

1. Memorial project for Geronimo being built Gila Wilderness, NM
2. Power company sets sites on Glacier Bay Wilderness, AK
3. Celebrate Wilderness - 40th Anniversary National Wilderness Conference, NY

*Wilderness News Briefs*

(1) Memorial project for Geronimo being built Gila Wilderness, NM
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

GILA WILDERNESS, N.M. -- Almost 7,000 feet high in the middle of the country's first preserved wilderness, before the cement was mixed and the rocks and mortar were laid, the volunteer project started with an it'edjidile, a blessing, in the language of the Apache…

The memorial to Geronimo was proposed in May by Harlyn Geronimo, 56, at a talk he gave at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, after the screening of a movie on the female Apache warrior Lozen, in which he starred. Geronimo is a sculptor and said he wanted to create a 12-foot bronze of his great-grandfather to be placed at the warrior's birthplace, near the headwaters of the Gila River. Geronimo, who fought U.S. settlements in the West until 1886, was held in captivity with hundreds of tribesmen in Florida until 1894. He died in Fort Sill, Okla., in 1909, having never returned to his homeland in what now is New Mexico…

For More Information:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4997265.html

2. Power company sets sites on Glacier Bay Wilderness, AK
From the Juneau Empire

GUSTAVUS - Too far from Southeast Alaska's existing hydroelectric power plants for an affordable link, a Gustavus power company says it needs a slice of federally protected wilderness to build its own.
Some question the precedent of taking 1,050 of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve's 2.8 million acres of designated wilderness. It would be like trading Yellowstone National Park's geysers for geothermal-powered cities, they said…

For More Information:
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/090504/sta_powercomp.shtml

3. Celebrate Wilderness - 40th Anniversary National Wilderness Conference, NY

September 3, 2004 marks the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, arguably America’s greatest piece of conservation legislation. The 40th Anniversary National Wilderness Conference commemorates this momentous legislation, focusing on the history, present-day realities, and future of our National Wilderness Preservation System. Through an in-depth series of presentations, panel discussions, and breakout learning sessions, attendees will have the opportunity to learn from a diversity of Wilderness professionals, as well as a chance to network and build supportive coalitions with other Wilderness advocates.

The team of conference planners includes the International Journal of Wilderness, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Wilderness Watch, The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, and Friends of the Clearwater.

For More Information:
http://www.wilderness40th.org