By Cynthia Houng
October marks the 40th anniversary of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act.
The text of the Wild & Scenic Rivers act is remarkably simple, yet potent:
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes. (Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, October 2, 1968)
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Act into law on October 2, 1968. The Act promises to conserve rivers in their "free-flowing condition," and lists a litany of resources -- scenic, recreational, geologic, and so on -- that merit protection.
Like so many pieces of legislation that were written by committee, the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act is mutable and open to interpretation. The Act's vagueness remains a source of great power. Who can say what precisely constitutes a "scenic" value? Which cultural values merit conservation? Yet the Act's vagueness is also a strength. Because the Act's language escapes precise definition, it allows environmentalists to pursue a broad conservation strategy.
The Wild & Scenic Rivers Act passed on the heels of the 1964 Wilderness Act. In the 1960s, Americans increasingly began to believe that wild places, as the quality of "wildness" embodied by those places, deserved legal protection. Unlike the Wilderness Act, however, the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act included areas touched by development. For many scholars, the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act marks an important turning point in American environmentalism. The act signals the moment when environmentalists began to consider manmade, or artificial features, an integral part of the landscape and worthy of protection.
The Wild & Scenic Rivers Act marked the first time that a river's recreational, scenic, or cultural values were considered valuable and worthy of government protection. The Act confers 3 different levels of protection. A river may be "wild," "scenic," or "recreational." The river's classification depends, according to Steve Evans, the conservation direction for Friends of the River, on "the level of existing development around the river at the time of the distinction."
Today, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's informational website, the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act protects "more than 11,000 miles of 165 rivers in 38 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico."
Development is generally prohibited around those rivers designated as "wild." The "scenic" designation Intermittent development allows intermittent development on the river banks, so long as that development does not affect the river's values.
The "recreational" designation does allow for the development of roads, bridges, and other permanent structures, but these structures may not compromise the river's values.
Read more about the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act:
- California Case Study: The Union-Democrat, on the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act and the Tuoluomne and Stanislaus Rivers
- A Brief Introduction to the W&S Rivers Act: This US Fish & Wildlire Service website provides comprehensive information about the Act, with maps of protected rivers and technical papers available for download.
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Comments (1)
The Wild & Scenic Rivers Act is truly a cause for celebration. Many of the Wild and Scenic whitewater rivers in California are great places to appreciate nature's beauty via rafting and kayaking.
Posted by Bruce | January 24, 2009 4:29 PM
Posted on January 24, 2009 16:29