By Mariska Kecskés, Advocacy Director for Sierra Club Washington State
On July 12th, I found myself in a rare moment these days as someone who advocates for our public lands—a moment of celebration. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness—over 400,000 acres of wild and invaluable nature that has been easy to take for granted, both in its existence, and the people power it took to make happen. And so, with my one year old son in tow, we celebrated with about 25 other public lands advocates, most of whom had been a part of those original battles for the wilderness in 1976.
Throughout the celebration, we heard stories from several advocates about their experiences in those battles—the scrappy community meetings and public rallies; the map drawing and ground truthing in the woods; the DC fly-ins and lobbying electeds against immense industry pressures. What I loved most though, in hearing these stories, was being reminded that all these advocates were just normal people who were fighting for a place they loved and knew needed protecting. These were people who were learning some of these organizing skills for the first time, and who relied on the power of in-person community building and strategic coalitions to accomplish something amazing. It took time; it took compromise; and in the end they not only established a wilderness in our backyard, but set the precedent for the many wilderness areas that were established across the country thereafter.
