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oc:~ 78[\ hearings throughout the country. Congress finally passed the legislation after 65 separate bills had been introduced. In the end, it was the public interest to be served by a wilder- ness system which overcame the vested interests arrayed against it. Still, it was never sufficiently understood at the time that the bill formed only pari of a larger equation: by designating some lands as wilderness, it followed that more intensive use should be made of other lands, such as our working forests. If any Senator were to be singled out, it is Hubert Humphrey who deserves the credit for being the father of the National Wilderness Preservation System. He introduced the first wilderness bill. However, by the time the legislation reached the Senate floor in 1961, its principal sponsor and advocate was Clinton P. Anderson of New Mexico, then serving as chairman of the Senate Interior Committee. Un- fortunately, Senator Anderson was taken ill and had to be hospitalized just before the bill was called up for debate. At his request, I filled in as floor manager of the legislation. " 1/ , ., Because the bill engendered a heated controversy in Idaho and elsewhere in the West, it was considered a heavy political cross to bear. In 1962, when I ran for re-election, the newspapers in Idaho were filled with references to the "Church Wilderness Bill," which was not intended as a com- pliment and gave me more credit than I deserved. .u '1/ I' It was apparent that my opponents were determined to make wilderness the major issue of the campaign. No other politician in either party stood with me, and, as the election approached, most of them joined in a chorus of calamity over the awful fate in store for Idaho, should the Senate- passed bill become law. " ~~~ Looking back, I still have vivid memories of that bitter campaign. I recall meetings where the mood of the crowd ;' '- " 2 i' f .:i " ,