Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area

In 1964 Senator Frank Church of Idaho carried the Wilderness Act on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The Act passed and created a new classification for the protection of federal lands. The goal was to preserve wild lands from development, road construction, and motorized traffic. The Wilderness Act identified several areas to come under this classification, but the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness wasn't one of them. That took considerably more doing...

An Idahoan named Ernie Day went on his honeymoon in the Sawtooth Valley of the central Idaho mountains, hiking in what was known at the time as the Sawtooth Primitive Area. The land was, he said, "as ragged and rugged as you can find, but it is also the most tender area you can imagine. Erodible granite won't stand any abuse. It is exceptionally fragile."

Then he saw a certain aerial map showing a vast network of roads proposed to be built up the canyons of the Primitive Area. The picture horrified him--and others. They realized that "primitive area" designations, which were administrative decisions, could easily be undone. Legislation would be a more secure and permanent way to protect the area from destruction.

Day and others banded together to promote the area as a permanently protected wilderness. Day explained their motivation, "Some of our best advocates from the inception were folks who had lost something someplace else." They didn't want to lose any more. Most of the people promoting the River of No Return area for wilderness were self-employed. It was fortunate because, "The issue didn't play too well with the corporations even then."

A "group of four," including Day, Bruce Bowler, Frank Jones, and Mort Brigham, initiated a network of support. Ted Trueblood, a nationally known outdoors writer, joined them. The group was the beacon attracting attention, money, and resources from people all over the country who knew what there was to lose in the country around the River of No Return. Ernie Day's stunning photographs of the region's natural beauty helped illustrate just what there was to lose. They played a significant role in the preservation campaign.

The group had meetings, did slide shows, stuffed envelopes. At last, they caught the attention of Senator Frank Church. He had been one of the early advocates of wilderness, despite advice from close friends that it was political suicide to do so. But Church ignored that advice. The Wilderness Act of 1964 had passed, and now he supported the River of No Return for wilderness designation.

The campaign concluded with a victory in 1980, when Congress designated 2.3 million acres as the River of No Return Wilderness. In 1984 Congress improved the name by calling it the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.