U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell celebrated the 50th Anniversary of two landmark conservation laws – The Wilderness Act and The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act – at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Basking Ridge New Jersey yesterday.
Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Dan Ashe, Congressmen Rodney Frelinghuysen, Rush Holt and Leonard Lance, President of The Wilderness Society Jamie Williams, Vice President of the Student Conservation Association Laura Herrin and community leaders were present for the celebration.
Both laws signed on September 3, 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson have transformed conservation and outdoor recreation in America, to date protecting more than 109 million acres of pristine landscapes and enabling federal, state and local agencies to undertake more than 40,000 recreation and conservation projects in communities across the country.
Click HERE to read more about the yesterday’s celebration.