The Aldo Leopold Society

To paraphrase Woody Allen, it was only a notion at first, but then it became an idea that ultimately led to a concept: a reunion of wilderness rangers and backcountry aficionados who worked as seasonal employees for the Wenatchee National Forest.

It appears the concept will become a reality. A group of us -- all former employees of the U.S. Forest Service -- will convene from August 16-24 in Spider Meadows (below) along Phelps Creek in the Glacier Peak Wilderness in Washington. We will come from near and far to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Wilderness Act of 1964.

We will celebrate that milestone and the occasion of spending time together in the wild. The Wilderness Act of 1964 defines wilderness as an area “where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain, an area retaining its primeval character and influence.”

Aldo Leopold, one of the champions of the wilderness movement in America and author of that classic tome, A Sand County Almanac, probably summed it up best: “there are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”