Remembering Environmental Icon Stewart Udall

JFK and Stewart Udall

Over the long haul of life on this planet, it is the ecologists, and not the bookkeepers of business, who are the ultimate accountants…Stewart Udall

 An environmental icon has died. 

Fish Creek Moutains Wilderness, California

Stewart Udall, who was Secretary of the Interior during the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson administrations, passed away in his home yesterday in Sante Fe, New Mexico. 

Stewart Udall was a hero of mine. He helped pass the Wilderness Act, a monumental piece of legislation that states:

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

Idaho is trampling on that act by landing helicopters in  the Frank Church/Wilderness of No Return to harass and collar wolves. 

Stewart Udall was a great American. These are just some of his accomplishments:

From Wiki:

“Udall was largely responsible for the enactment of environmental laws in Johnson’s Great Society, legislative agenda, including the Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and Amendments, The Wilderness Act of 1964,  The Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 ( which was the predecessor of The Endangered Species Act of 1973, The Land and Water Conservation [Fund] Act of 1965, The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, the National Trail System Act of 1968, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.”

The Wave, Coyotte Buttes North, Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona

If only we had leaders like Stewart Udall today. It was because of Udall and other dedicated Americans, that the wolf was able to make a comeback in the Western US, shielded by ESA from the hate and persecution that caused their extermination the first time around. 

Now the gray wolves existence is threatened because the Obama administration has stripped them of their ESA protections.  I wonder what Stewart Udall thought of that decision? I think we know the answer. He could have given our current Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, lessons on protecting our national treasures instead of catering to the livestock industry.

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Conservation Icon Stewart Udall Dies

Posted: 20 Mar 2010 02:01 PM PDT

Glacier National Park

Stewart Udall, a Western political and conservation icon who served as Interior secretary for presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, died Saturday morning at his home at age 90.

Udall was a member of a family of influential Western Democrats. His brother Morris Udall was a congressman and one-time presidential contender. His son Tom is a New Mexico Senator. His nephew Mark is a Colorado Senator. My Uncle Stewart was a great public servant, and a wonderful writer and storyteller, Mark Udall said in a statement. He was passionate about conservation, and he was a champion of Native peoples. All those who care about our national parks and the environment will miss his voice. Read the rest of the article:

Steens Mountain, Oregon

“We Have I Fear, Confused Power With Greatness” 

Steward Udall

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Stewart Udall, Lion of the American West, Dead at 90

http://sfreporter.com/stories/stewart_udall_lion_of_the_american_west_dead_at_90/5446/

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Wilderness Photos: Wikimedia Commons

Wolf photo: www.wallpaper.searchrealm.com

Posted in: Environmental Icons

Tags: Stewart Udall, Iconic Secretary of the Interior, wilderness act, endangered species act, clean air and water, national trail system, wild and scenic rivers