New Gaylord Nelson Wilderness at Apostle Islands
To be Commemorated August 8

Establishment of the Gaylord Nelson Wilderness at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore will be celebrated - along with the legacy of the late Senator Gaylord Nelson - on Monday, August 8, at 1 p.m. at the Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua about 3 miles south of Bayfield, Wisconsin, on Highway 13.

The public is invited to the event, sponsored by the Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and the National Park Service. U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wisconsin, and U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, have agreed to speak at the event. The program will include slides from the Big Top Chautauqua House Band, the showing of the park’s award-winning film “On the Edge of Gichigami: Voices of the Apostle Islands,” and a tribute Senator Nelson. University of Wisconsin professor William Cronon, recognized as one of the nation’s leading scholars on wilderness and public lands will talk briefly about the significance of the Apostle Islands wilderness.

The new wilderness area covers about 80 percent of the national lakeshore (or 33,500 acres). The Gaylord Nelson Wilderness was officially established on Dec. 8, 2004, when President George W. Bush signed the legislation. “Winter is a challenging time here to mark such an important occasion, so we have waited until this summer to commemorate the nation’s newest wilderness area publicly,” according to Bob Krumenaker, superintendent of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

Nelson, who died on July 3, was the founder in 1970 of Earth Day, regarded as the beginning of the modern environmental movement. He’s considered the father of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, since he was responsible for legislation creating the lakeshore.  After serving four years as Wisconsin's governor from 1959 to 1963, Nelson spent 18 years in the U.S. Senate until his defeat in 1980.  Twenty-five years later, Nelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, for that and his lifelong work on behalf of the environment.

The cost of the event on Aug. 8 is being underwritten by the Friends of the Apostle Islands.

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