A WILDERNESS BILL OF RIGHTS

Justice Douglas, an active conservationist and connoisseur of the wilderness the world over, writes here from a determination to secure wilderness areas in the United States for the coming generations. ""Our responsibility as life tenant is to make certain that there are wilderness values to honor after we have gone,"" he says, and addresses his knowledge and concern to the means of such preservation. He surveys the situation at the present time (as of the passing of the Wilderness Act in 1964, there were 88 wilderness areas, 54 actual, 34 administrative); considers the most beneficial use (multiple use is possible but precludes timbering; grazing is sometimes acceptable) of the lands, the best administration (not by either conservationists, or private commercially minded parties, but by the government with its access to experts). Present power rests mainly with the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Public Roads; Justice Douglas envisions an office of Conservation (an idea already broached) to advise the President on matters within its domain. He believes in public action and makes a series of proposals in this area, the rights of the title.... An authoritative advocacy directed to a responsive, responsible citizenry.