The Wilderness Act protects exceptional undisturbed natural areas and scenery, such as in the Ansel Adams Wilderness

The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the National Wilderness Preservation System. Wilderness areas are managed by four federal land management agencies: the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. The term wilderness is defined as “an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain" and "an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions"^[1]

History[link]

During the 1950s and 1960s, as the American transportation system was on the rise, concern for clean air and water quality began to grow. A conservation movement began to take place with the intent of establishing designated wilderness areas. Howard Zahniser created the first draft of the Wilderness Act in 1956. It took nine years and 65 rewrites before the Wilderness Act was finally passed in 1964.^[2] The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-577), which established the NWPS, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964. The Wilderness Act mandated that the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review all federal lands under their jurisdiction for wilderness areas to include in the NWPS. The Great Swamp in New Jersey became the first formally designated wilderness refuge in the United States. It had been declared a wildlife refuge on November 3, 1960. In 1966 it had been declared a National Natural Landmark and, in 1968, it was given wilderness status. The Bureau of Land Management was not required to review its lands for inclusion in the NWPS, however, until in 1976, when the Federal Land Policy and Management Act was passed by Congress. This resulted in the creation of hundreds of wilderness areas within already protected federally administered lands, consisting of approximately 9.1 million acres (3,700,000 ha).

Acres of Wilderness Added By Year ^[3]

This act clarified the landholdings of the bureau of land management and set up a deadline for review of the lands by November 1980. This deadline corresponds to the dramatic spike of acreage added for that year and also explains why 1980 became the year with the most wilderness acreage added in the United States by far.^{[citation needed]} As of August 2008, a total of 704 separate wilderness areas, encompassing 107,514,938 acres (43,509,752 ha) had been set aside.^[4] With the passage of the Omnibus Public Lands Act in March 2009, there are now 756 wilderness areas. The Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness, which was officially initiated into the system on January 13, 2011, is the newest area protected by the act. This came five years after the 2006 law that designated the area to the system due to restorations on 1,565 acres of land reacquired from the public.^[5]

Recently-designated High Schells Wilderness, Nevada

About the U.S. system[link]

On federal lands in the United States, Congress may designate an area as wilderness under the provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Multiple agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the US forest service, among others are responsible for the submission of new areas that fit the criteria to become wilderness to congress. Congress then reviews these cases on a state by state basis and determines which areas and how much land in each area will become part of the WPS. There have been multiple occasions in which congress designated more federal land then was recommended by the nominating agency.^[6] Whereas the Wilderness Act stipulated that a wilderness area must be "administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness."^[6], the Eastern Wilderness Act, which added 16 National Forest areas to the NWPS, allowed for the inclusion of areas that had been severely modified by human interference.^[1]

The Wilderness Act provides criteria for lands being considered for wilderness designation. Though there are some exceptions, the following conditions must be present for an area to be included in the NWPS: (1) the land is under federal ownership and management, (2) the area consists of at least five thousand acres of land, (3) human influence is “substantially unnoticeable,” (4) there are opportunities for solitude and recreation, and (5) the area possesses “ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.”^[1]

Wilderness areas are subject to specific management restrictions; human activities are limited to non-motorized recreation (such as backpacking, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, etc.), scientific research, and other non-invasive activities. During these activities, patrons are asked to abide by the "Leave No Trace" policy. This policy sets guidelines for using the wilderness responsibly, and leaving the area as it was before usage. These guidelines include: Packing all trash out of the wilderness, using a stove as opposed to a fire, camping at least 200 feet from trails or water sources, staying on marked trails, and keeping group size small. When closely observed, the "Leave No Trace" methos ensures that wilderness areas remain untainted by human interaction.^[7] In general, the law prohibits logging, mining, mechanized vehicles (including bicycles), road-building, and other forms of development in wilderness areas, though pre-existing mining claims and grazing ranges are permitted through grandfather clauses in the Wilderness Act.^[8] Wilderness areas fall in to IUCN protected area management category Ia (Strict Nature Preserves) or Ib (Wilderness areas).

Wilderness areas are parts of national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests, and the public domain and may include land in several different units managed by different agencies. Initially, the NWPS included 34 areas protecting 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) in the national forests. As of August 2008, there were 704 wilderness areas in the NWPS, preserving 107,514,938 acres (435,097.52 km²). This is approximately 5% of the entire United States, though only about 2.5% of the 48 contiguous states. The states with the highest number of wildernesses are California, Arizona, Nevada, Alaska, and Oregon, however, when measured in wilderness acres the list changes dramatically as Alaska contains many of the largest areas protected under the act. In terms of total acres, Alaska, California, Arizona, Idaho, and Washington compose the list of the five states with the most wilderness.^[5] Wilderness areas exist in every state except Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, and Rhode Island.^[4]

Some state and tribal governments also designate wilderness areas under their own authority and local laws. These are not federal areas and the exact nature of protection may differ from federal laws.

Most U.S. wilderness areas are in National Forests but the largest amount of wilderness land is administered by the National Park Service. The largest contiguous wilderness complex in the United States is the Noatak and Gates of the Arctic Wildernesses in Alaska at 12,743,329 acres (5,157,042 ha); the largest wilderness area outside Alaska is the Death Valley Wilderness in southeastern California. The smallest area protected by the WPS is the Pelican Island Wilderness in northern florida, which measures just six acres total. The smallest area preserved in the system was formerly the Rocks and Islands Wilderness in Northern California at five acres, but after a reassessment by the Bureau of Land Management in 2006 it was officially expanded to 19 acres.^[5]

A special exemption to the "no mechanized equipment" rule is made for wilderness areas in Alaska: limited use of motorized vehicles and construction of cabins and aquaculture are permitted.^[1] These exemptions were allowed due to the large amount of wilderness in Alaska and the concerns of subsistence users, including Alaska Natives.

Recently-designated Red Mountain Wilderness, Nevada

On March 30, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. The legislation designated an additional 2 million acres (810,000 ha) in nine states as wilderness, representing the largest expansion of wilderness lands in over 25 years.^[9]

International Efforts[link]

On November 7th 2009, an agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico entitled the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation" was made. This agreement created a new entity, the North American Intergovernmental Committee on Cooperation for Wilderness and Protected Areas Cooperation, that would streamline the process for open communication between international agencies for the purpose of wilderness preservation.^[10] This committee was formed to gain insight on the benefits of wilderness preservation, establish open channels of communication between international agencies, and examine the cultural differences and similarities behind preservation efforts in each country.^[11] Within the US system, all of the agencies responsible for wilderness preservation will work in cooperation with their international counterparts to determine the future of both the US system and North American preservation efforts as a whole.

Wildlife Preservation[link]

Amphibians are one of the many types of fauna protected by the Wilderness Preservation System, like this Salamander in the Cohutta Wilderness of North Georgia

One of the major goals of the Wilderness Preservation System is to provide undeveloped habitats for threatened or endangered species.^[6] Many of the species found in the United States are represented in wilderness areas. There are 261 basic ecosystems in the US, and 157 of them are represented in the system. With 60% of all ecosystems somewhat protected by the NWPS much of the wildlife in the US also has an area to exist without the fear of human interaction.^[6]

In late 2011, a full wilderness review was requested of the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plane in Alaska. One of the major qualifications for this area to be considered as a possible wilderness area was its diverse wildlife population, many of which are on the endangered species list.^[6] In this potential wilderness area alone, Whales, Seals, Wolves, Polar Bears, Grizzly Bears, Muskoxen, Caribou, and over 200 species of migratory birds call this one area home for at least part of the year, this vast assortment of flora and fauna is a major consideration for addition into the wilderness preservation system.^[12]

Laws and Policies[link]

Thousands of laws and policies have helped shape and manage the National Wilderness Preservation System in the United States. The following Acts of Congress either directly affect the wilderness system or help influence wilderness management. ^[13]

• General Mining Act of 1872 This Act declares public lands free and open for mineral exploration and occupancy. Procedures for mining claims and operations are established in this act as well as management of wilderness areas that contain minerals and other natural resources.
• Antiquities Act of 1906, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 These Acts help protect and manage heritage resources on federal lands. They also aid in conserving valuable public and natural areas in order to protect objects of historic and scientific interests.
• National Park Service Organic Act This Act was established in 1916 by the National Park Service and was enacted to conserve the scenery, wildlife, and both natural and and historic objects for the enjoyment of the American Public.
• Wilderness Act This Act, which was passed in 1964, classified and protected 54 wilderness areas (about 9.1 million acres) and established a system of adding new lands to the National Wilderness Preservation System. It also allowed jurisdiction over these wilderness areas by the Forest Service, National Park Service, or Fish and Wildlife Service. The Act also set up prohibitions on motorized and mechanized vehicles, timber harvest, and other means of development in these areas.
• National Environmental Policy Act (1970,1975,1982) This Act required federal agencies to consider and evaluate the environmental impacts of proposed actions. It also requires agencies to identify environmental impacts that are unavoidable and to evaluate all resources in the area before committing to a proposed action. This Act directs federal agencies to prepare and submit Environmental Impact Statements before development on public lands.
• Clean Air Act (1963,1966,1973,1977,1990) This Act established human health and welfare standards. It established Class I areas to be wilderness land greater than 5000 acres and national parks that are greater than 6000 acres that existed in 1977. This designation gives these areas special protection from the degradation of air quality by human-caused air pollution. This Act also requires states to develop and implement plans to reduce haze to natural levels by the year 2064 and calls for extensive monitoring of air quality related values (visibility, flora, fauna, soil, and water) across the nation.
• Clean Water Act (1948, 1972, 1977, 1987) This Act aims at protecting healthy waters and restoring unhealthy ones. It establishes the structure of regulating pollutants that are discharged into water and for regulating quality standards of waters in the United States. It set up pollution control standards handmade it illegal to dump pollutants into waters around the U.S. without a permit. ^[14]
• Endangered Species Act (1973,1978,1982) Establishes a program to protect plants and animals that are being threatened with extinction. The Act recognizes certain plants and animals and establishes specific procedures for adding a species to the endangered list under a protective status. It also sets up programs with states across the U.S. as well as civil penalties for violation of this Act.
• Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (1980) This Act specifically provided for the designation and conservation of public lands in Alaska. This added about 27 million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System along with several wild and scenic rivers. With this Act, Congress hoped to preserve the unaltered arctic areas as well as the tundra, boreal forests, and coastal rain forest ecosystems. It also helped to protect wildlife habitats for species who were dependent upon large undeveloped areas of land.

Management Agencies[link]

Acres managed by Each Agency

• National Park Service

Established in 1916, this agency helps protect nearly 400 national parks. They also aid local tribes and governments, as well as non-profit organizations and businesses, by preserving local history and revitalizing communities.

• U.S. Forest Service

Established in 1905, this agency manages public lands in national forests or grasslands, which encompasses about 193 million acres of land.^[15]

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Established in 1940, this agency manages 150 million acres of the National Wildlife Refugee System as well as thousands of small wetlands and other special land areas. Some of their contributions include: protecting and conserving endangered species and their wildlife habitats and enforcing federal wildlife laws.

• Bureau of Land Management

This agency's National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) includes over 886 federally recognized areas and more than 27 million acres of land in the U.S. They aim to protect wilderness areas, as well as wild and scenic rivers, national monuments, and historic trails. It safeguards cultural sites and many Indian preserves of the western states. The mission of the NLCS is to "conserve, protect, and restore these nationally significant landscapes that are recognized for their outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values." ^[16]

State-level counterparts[link]

Some U.S. states have created wilderness preservation programs modeled on the NWPS.

• Maryland Wildlands Preservation System
• California Wilderness Preservation System
• Mission Mountains Wilderness

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wilderness Areas of the United States

• "The National Wilderness Preservation System". Wilderness.net. http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS. Retrieved 2006-06-11. 

A wilderness area is a region where the land is in a natural state; where impacts from human activities are minimal—that is, as a wilderness. It might also be called a wild or natural area. Especially in wealthier, industrialized nations, it has a specific legal meaning as well: as land where development is prohibited by law. Many nations have designated Wilderness Areas, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.

The WILD Foundation states that wilderness areas have two dimensions: they must be biologically intact and legally protected. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) classifies wilderness at two levels, Ia (Strict Nature Preserves) and Ib (Wilderness areas).

Most scientists and conservationists agree that no place on earth is completely untouched by humanity, either due to past occupation by indigenous people, or through global processes such as climate change. Activities on the margins of specific wilderness areas, such as fire suppression and the interruption of animal migration also affect the interior of wildernesses.

Wilderness areas by country[link]

New Zealand[link]

There are seven wilderness areas in New Zealand as defined by the National Parks Act 1980 and the Conservation Act 1987 that fall well within the IUCN definition. Wilderness areas cannot have any human intervention and can only have indigenous species re-introduced into the area if it is compatible with conservation management strategies.

United States[link]

In the United States, a Wilderness Area is an area of federal land set aside by an act of Congress. Human activities in wilderness areas are restricted to scientific study and non-mechanized recreation; horses are permitted but motorized vehicles and equipment are not.

International[link]

For a comprehensive review of wilderness areas by country, reference A Handbook on International Wilderness Law and Policy (Cyril F. Kormos, ed).

See also[link]

• Land use
• National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) — A U.S.-based wilderness education program
• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
• Wilderness Act

External links[link]

• Wilderness Information Network
• The WILD Foundation - dedicated to protecting wilderness internationally

Frank Church
United States Senator from Idaho
In office January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Herman Welker
Succeeded by	Steve Symms
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	John J. Sparkman
Succeeded by	Charles H. Percy
Personal details
Born	Frank Forrester Church III (1924-07-25)July 25, 1924 Boise, Idaho
Died	April 7, 1984(1984-04-07) (aged 59) Bethesda, Maryland
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Bethine Clark Church
Children	Frank Forrester Church IV Chase Clark Church
Residence	Boise
Alma mater	Stanford Law School (J.D.) Stanford University (B.A.)
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Presbyterian
Military service
Service/branch	U.S. Army
Years of service	1943-46
Battles/wars	World War II

Frank Forrester Church III (July 25, 1924 – April 7, 1984) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981.

Church was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1976 presidential election, losing to Jimmy Carter. He is known for heading the Church Committee, which investigated abuses in the U.S. intelligence agencies.

Early life[link]

Frank Church was raised in Boise, Idaho. In his youth, Church admired William E. Borah, who then represented Idaho in the United States Senate. Church graduated from Boise High School in 1942, where he served as student body president. As a junior in 1941, he won the American Legion National Oratorical Contest. The prize was sufficient to provide for four years at the college of the winner's choice. Church chose Stanford University, enrolling in 1942.

In 1943, Church enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a military intelligence officer^{[citation needed]} in the China-Burma-India theater. Following his discharge in 1946, he returned to Stanford to complete his education, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1947.

Also in 1947, he married Bethine Clark, daughter of Chase A. Clark, a former Democratic governor of Idaho, and entered Harvard Law School. After one year at Harvard, Church transferred to Stanford Law School, when he thought the cold Massachusetts winter was the cause of a pain in his lower back. The pain did not go away and the problem was soon diagnosed as testicular cancer.^[1] After one of his testicles and glands in his lower abdomen were removed, Church was given only a few months to live. However, he rebounded from the illness after another doctor started X-ray treatments. This second chance led him to later reflect that "life itself is such a chancy proposition that the only way to live is by taking great chances." In 1950, Church graduated from Stanford Law School and returned to Boise to practice law.

Frank and Bethine had two sons, Frank Forrester Church IV, who died in 2009, and Chase Clark Church, who lives in Boise.

Political career[link]

Church became an active Democrat in Idaho and after an unsuccessful try for the State Legislature in 1952, he ran for the United States Senate in 1956. After a closely contested primary election against former Senator Glen H. Taylor, Church handily defeated Republican incumbent Herman Welker in the general election. At the age of 32, Church became the fifth youngest member ever to sit in the U.S. Senate. Church was reelected three times (1962, 1968 and 1974), the only Democrat ever to win reelection to the U.S. Senate from Idaho.

Upon entering the Senate in January 1957, Church made the mistake of voting on a measure against the wishes of Democratic Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson, and Johnson punished Church by all but ignoring him for the next six months. Church found solace from Republican Minority Leader, William Knowland. However, Church managed to find his way into Johnson's good graces by providing key assistance in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed. LBJ was so grateful he made the young Idahoan a veritable protégé, rewarding him with plum assignments, such as a seat on the prestigious Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position which allowed Church to follow in the footsteps of his idol, William Borah. Recently declassified documents show that the young veteran also challenged his mentor, behind closed doors, after the 1964 incident in the Gulf of Tonkin,^[2] making this prescient warning: “In a democracy you cannot expect the people, whose sons are being killed and who will be killed, to exercise their judgment if the truth is concealed from them."

In 1967, a recall campaign was waged against Church by Ron Rankin, a Republican county commissioner in Kootenai County in northern Idaho. Rankin unsuccessfully sued Idaho's secretary of state to accept recall petitions. The U.S. District Court for Idaho ruled that the state's recall laws did not apply to U.S. senators and that such a recall would violate the U.S. Constitution. Allan Shepard, Idaho's attorney general at the time, agreed with the court's decision.

"It must be pointed out that a United States senator is not a state officer but a federal officer whose position is created by Article I, Section I of the United States Constitution," Shepard wrote in a June 17, 1967, opinion for the secretary of state. "There seems to be no provision for canvassing the votes of a recall election of a United States senator." Most commentators at the time believed that the recall attempt strengthened Church politically by allowing him to play the role of political martyr and he was reelected in the next year's election over Republican Congressman George V. Hansen 60% to 40%.

Vietnam War and Church Committee[link]

From left: Senator Joe Biden, Senator Frank Church and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat after signing Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, 1979

Church was a key figure in American foreign policy during the 1970s, and served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1979 to 1981. Following the instinct that led him to ask questions early on (see above), Church was one of the first senators to publicly oppose the Vietnam War in the 1960s, although he had supported the conflict earlier. He was the co-author of two legislative efforts to curtail the war: the Cooper-Church Amendment of 1970, and the Case-Church Amendment of 1973.

In September 1970, Church announced on television and in speeches across the country that "the doves had won." Author David F. Schmitz states that Church based his assertion on the fact that two key propositions of the anti-war movement, "A negotiated peace and the withdrawal of American troops," were now official policy. The only debate that remained would be over when to withdraw, not whether to withdraw, and over the meaning of the war. Church concluded:

Church argued that the opponents of the Vietnam War needed to prevent the corruption of the nation and its institutions. To Church, the anti-war opposition was the "highest concept of patriotism — which is not the patriotism of conformity — but the patriotism of Senator Carl Schurz, a dissenter from an earlier period, who proclaimed: 'Our country right or wrong. When right, to be kept right: when wrong, to be put right."^[3]

Church gained national prominence during his service in the Senate through his chairmanship of the Church Committees, which conducted extensive hearings investigating extra-legal FBI and CIA intelligence-gathering and covert operations. Together with Senator Sam Ervin's committee inquiries, the Church Committee hearings laid the groundwork for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The committee also investigated CIA drug smuggling activities in the Golden Triangle and secret U.S.-backed wars in Third World countries.^[4][5][6][7]

Environmental record and other issues[link]

Church is also remembered for his voting record as a strong progressive and environmental legislator, and he played a major role in the creation of the nation's system of protected wilderness areas in the 1960s. In 1964, Church was the floor sponsor of the national Wilderness Act. In 1968, he sponsored the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and gained passage of a ten year moratorium on federal plans to transfer water from the Pacific Northwest to California. Working with other members of Congress from northwestern states, Church helped establish the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area along the Oregon-Idaho border, which protected the gorge from dam building. He was also the primary proponent in the establishment of the Sawtooth Wilderness & National Recreation Area in central Idaho in 1972.

Church also was instrumental in the creation of Idaho's River of No Return Wilderness in 1980, his final year in the Senate. This wilderness comprised the old Idaho Primitive Area, the Salmon River Breaks Primitive Area, plus additional lands. At 2.36 million acres (9,550 km²), over 3,600 square miles (9,300 km²), it is the largest wilderness area in the nation outside of Alaska. It was renamed the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in March 1984, weeks before his death.

Frank Church was considered a progressive (remarkable considering that he represented one of the most conservative states in the nation); however, not all of his positions were center-left. Throughout his tenure in the Senate, Church was an opponent of gun control legislation. He also, in 1979, was the first in Congress to disclose and protest the presence of Soviet combat troops in Cuba. According to the Christian Science Monitor, this stance somewhat disarmed his opponent's charge in the 1980 campaign that Church's performance on the Foreign Relations Committee had helped to weaken the US militarily.^[8] In 1974, Church joined Senator Frank Moss, D-Utah, to sponsor the first legislation to provide federal funding for hospice care programs. The bill did not have widespread support and was not brought to a vote. Congress finally included a hospice benefit in Medicare in 1982.^[9]

In late 1975 and early 1976, a sub-committee of the U.S. Senate led by Church concluded that members of the Lockheed board had paid members of friendly governments to guarantee contracts for military aircraft^[10] in a series of illegal bribes and contributions made by Lockheed officials from the late 1950s to the 1970s. In 1976, it was publicly revealed that Lockheed had paid $22 million in bribes to foreign officials^[11] in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft including the F-104 Starfighter, the so-called "Deal of the Century".

Late political career[link]

In 1976, Church sought the Democratic nomination for president. Although he won primaries in Nebraska, Idaho, Oregon and Montana, he withdrew in favor of the eventual nominee, former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter. Church remains the only Idahoan to win a major-party presidential primary election.

By June, Carter had the nomination sufficiently locked up and could take time to interview potential vice-presidential candidates. The pundits predicted that Church would be tapped to provide balance as an experienced senator with strong liberal credentials. Church promoted himself, persuading friends to intervene with Carter in his behalf. If a quick choice had been required as in past conventions, Carter later recalled, he would probably have chosen Church. But the longer period for deliberation gave Carter time to worry about his compatibility with the publicity-seeking Church, who had a tendency to be long-winded. Instead, Carter invited Senators Edmund Muskie, John Glenn, and Walter Mondale to visit his home in Plains, Georgia, for personal interviews, while Church, Henry M. Jackson, and Adlai Stevenson III would be interviewed at the convention in New York. Of all the potential candidates, Carter found Mondale the most compatible. As a result, Carter selected Mondale as his running mate.

In the late 1970s Church was a main congressional supporter of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which proposed to return the Panama Canal to Panama. The latter position proved to be widely unpopular in Idaho and led to the formation of the "Anybody But Church Committee" (ABC), committee created by the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), based in Washington, D.C. ABC and NCPAC had no formal connection with the 1980 Senate campaign of conservative Republican congressman Steve Symms, which permitted them, under former Federal election law, to spend as much as they could raise to defeat Church.^[12]

Church lost in his attempt for a fifth term to Symms by less than one percent of the vote. His defeat was blamed on the activities of the Anybody But Church Committee and the national media's early announcement of Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan's overwhelming win in Idaho. These predictions were broadcast before polls closed statewide, specifically in the Pacific Time Zone. Many believed that this caused many Democrats in the more politically moderate Idaho Panhandle to not vote at all. As of 2010^[update], Church is the last Democrat to represent Idaho in the U.S. Senate.

Following his 24 years in the Senate, Church practiced international law with the Washington, D.C., firm of Whitman and Ransom, specializing in Asian issues.

Death and legacy[link]

Three years after leaving the Senate, Church was hospitalized for a pancreatic tumor on January 12, 1984. Less than three months later, he died at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, on April 7, 1984, at the age of 59. His funeral was held in Boise and televised throughout Idaho. Church was buried at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.^[13]

Church received an honorary doctorate from Pennsylvania's Elizabethtown College in 1983 to honor his work for the American people during his career in public office. His papers, originally given to Stanford University in 1981, were transferred to Boise State University at his request in 1984.

Church is widely quoted in regard to the National Security Agency: "I don't want to see this country ever go across the bridge... I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return."

See also[link]

World War II portal

• Cooper-Church Amendment
• Case-Church Amendment
• Frank Church High School - an alternative high school in Boise

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Ashby, LeRoy. “Frank Church Goes to the Senate: The Idaho Election of 1956.” Pacific Northwest Quarterly 78 (January–April 1987): 17-31.
• Ashby, LeRoy, and Rod Gramer. Fighting the Odds: The Life of Senator Frank Church. Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1994.
• Church, F. Forrester. Father and Son: A Personal Biography of Senator Frank Church of Idaho by His Son'
• Dant, Sara. “Making Wilderness Work: Frank Church and the American Wilderness Movement.” Pacific Historical Review 77 (May 2008): 237-272.

• Ewert, Sara E. Dant. “The Conversion of Senator Frank Church: Evolution of an Environmentalist.” Ph.D. dissertation, Washington State University, 2000.

• Ewert, Sara E. Dant. “Evolution of an Environmentalist: Senator Frank Church and the Hells Canyon Controversy.” Montana: The Magazine of Western History 51 (Spring 2001): 36-51.

• Ewert, Sara E. Dant. “Peak Park Politics: The Struggle over the Sawtooths, from Borah to Church.” Pacific Northwest Quarterly (Summer 2000): 138-149.
• Hall, Bill. Frank Church, D.C., and Me. Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0-87422-119-0

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Frank Church

• Frank Church at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Freedom From Covert Harassment and Surveillance - Victims of FISA Surevillance abuse and criminal torture
• Boise State University -The Frank Church Institute
• BSU Library: Special Collections - The Frank Church Papers
• Frank Church Wilderness - user's guide
• Boise High School's Hall of Fame - Frank Church
• Boise School.org - Frank Church High School - about Frank Church
• Morris Hill Cemetery - Boise, ID - grave of Frank Church

v t e United States Senators from Idaho Class 2 Shoup Dubois Borah Thomas Gossett Dworshak Miller Dworshak Jordan McClure Craig Risch Class 3 McConnell Dubois Heitfeld Heyburn Perky Brady Nugent Gooding Thomas Pope Clark Taylor Welker Church Symms Kempthorne Crapo