Happy 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act!

September 2014
On September 3, 1964, President Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law, protecting the country's wildest places for generations to come. The United States was the first country in the world to define and designate wilderness through law. The law has not been substantially amended since it was passed 50 years ago.

The National Wildlife Refuge System has more than 20 million acres of designated wilderness. It has 75 wilderness areas — about one-fifth of the designated wilderness acres in the United States — on 63 refuges in 26 states.  Join in the celebration!  Visit www.fws.gov for more information.