Celebrating 50 Years of Wilderness - September 27, 2014

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

On September 3, 1964, in a nearly unanimous vote, Congress passed the Wilderness Act, landmark legislation that permanently protects some of the most natural and undisturbed places in America. Our nation’s leaders formally acknowledged the immediate and lasting benefits of wild places to the human spirit and fabric of our nation.

The Wilderness Act reads in part, “...it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For this purpose there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preservation System to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as ‘wilderness areas’, and these shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use as wilderness.” (Read the Wilderness Act on wilderness.net)

On Saturday, September 27, a 50-year anniversary event was held at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, in partnership with the California Wilderness Coalition, Angeles National Forest, the Bureau of Land Management, Joshua Tree National Park, San Bernardino National Forest, and others. The Wilderness Fair included live music, partner booths, food trucks, Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers, and more. Walk for the Wild was a designated route through the botanic garden with interactive stations along the way sponsored by Leave No Trace.

I first enjoyed the booths and music then took the Walk for the Wild. After visiting the interactive stations, I meandered through the rest of the native plant gardens enjoying the hundreds of acres of natural beauty. It was a good day.

Below is a pictorial display of celebrating 50 years of wilderness.

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When the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, 54 areas (9.1 million acres) in 13 states were designated as wilderness. This law established these areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Since 1964, the NWPS has grown almost every year and now includes 758 areas (109.5 million acres) in 44 states and Puerto Rico.

We have five wilderness areas in the Angeles National Forest totaling
more than 130,000 acres:
Cucamonga | Magic Mountain | Pleasant View Ridge
San Gabriel | Sheep Mountain
http://www.fs.usda.gov/attmain/angeles/specialplaces

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Walk for the Wild

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Visit the website for Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

See my blog post for my visit to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden - April 23, 2011, including photos and captions of 18 plants

See Plants and Wildflowers in the San Gabriel Mountains at Dan's Hiking Pages
 

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden - April 23, 2011

See Plants and Wildflowers in the San Gabriel Mountains at Dan's Hiking Pages

For several years I've been hearing that Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is the place for native plants. As a hiker on a continual quest to learn more about my surroundings, I'm always on the lookout for avenues of learning. And now that I've been considering creating a native plant garden at my house, I finally decided it was time check out Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. It was a choice to give up a primetime spring hiking day, but the weather was gloomy and drizzly so I figured it was better suited to wandering around a garden.

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Clermont is less than 20 minutes from my house. I arrived at 9:00 and planned to look around for an hour before joining a garden tour at 10:00. The gardens were founded by Susanna Bixby Bryant in 1927 on her ranch in Orange County and relocated to Claremont in 1951. RSABG is the largest botanical garden dedicated exclusively to California native plants.

This is an amazing place and exceeded my expectations. I had thought that the morning hours would be sufficient to get my fill and then hit the trail for a hike in the afternoon. I was sorely mistaking and ended up spending the entire day there. Closing time came at 5:00 and there was still more to see! But other things helped stretch the day as well.

A good chunk of my time was spent photographing plants. The annual flower show also was an added feature. And I had several engaging conversations with people like Cricket Florance...our knowledgeable docent, Bart O'Brian...author and native plant guru, and Lara Hartley...a professional plant photographer. I can scrawl a lengthy narrative of the day, but I'll let the following pictures do most of the talking.


Tidy tips (Layia platyglossa) / Sunflower family (Asteraceae)


Brittlebush (Encelia farinose) / Sunflower family (Asteraceae)


Common yarrow (Achiliea millefolium) / Sunflower (Asteraceae)


Showy penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis) / Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae)


Owls clover (Orthocarpus purpurascens) / Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae)


Common monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus) / Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae)


California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) / Poppy family (Papaveraceae)


Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) / Poppy family (Papaveraceae)


White sage (Salvia apiana) / Mint family (Lamiaceae)


Black sage (Salvia mellifera) / Mint family (Lamiaceae)


Baby blue eyes (Nempphila menziesii) / Waterleaf family (Hydrophyllaceae)


Coffee fern (Pellaea andromedifolia) / Maidenhair Fern family


Coville's serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis ssp. covillei) / Rose Family (Rosaceae)


Lemonadeberry (Rhus integrifolia) / Sumac family (Anacardiaceae)


Morning glory (Calystegia macrostegia) / Morning-glory family (Convolvulaceae)


Wild cucumber (Marah macrocarpus) / Gourd family (Cucurbitaceae)


Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) / Iris family (Iridaceae)


Yucca (Yucca Whipplei) / Lily family (Liliaceae)

Visit the website for Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

See Plants and Wildflowers in the San Gabriel Mountains at Dan's Hiking Pages