Fifty years ago, on September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law, establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System and setting aside 9.1 million acres of wild lands for the use and enjoyment of the American people. As a result of America’s support for wilderness, Congress has since added nearly 100 million more acres to this unique land preservation system. The Sierra Club and the Smithsonian Institution have collaborated on a short 8-minute film that is now showing at the entrance to the National Museum of Natural History’s new Wilderness Forever exhibit on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
