2010 Lyceum Series “Wilderness: Of What Avail Are Forty Freedoms Without A Blank Spot On The Map?"
Kicking off this year’s Lyceum Series on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 7:00 p.m. is Dr. Roderick Frazier Nash presenting "The American Wilderness: Past, Present and Future." Roderick Nash is considered America's foremost wilderness historian. He is regarded as a national leader in the field of environmental history and management and environmental education. Among his numerous books and over 150 essays, Professor Roderick Nash is best known for “Wilderness and the American Mind," which has received many reprintings, revised editions, and foreign translations. Nash, a past Lindbergh Fellow, has served on the board of directors of the Yosemite Institute and as a member of the advisory committee to the National Park Service. He has recently retired to Crested Butte, Colorado, where he continues to work on the behalf of wilderness and ski 75 days a year. He iscurrently Professor Emeritus, Environmental Studies and History Department, Environmental Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara. The latest printing of his classic wilderness book will be for sale and available for autograph the night of the program.
In March, 2009, President Obama signed legislation providing additional protection to Rocky Mountain National Park by designating most of the park’s backcountry as wilderness, which encompasses roughly 95 percent of the park. Park staff joined the gateway communities of Grand Lake and Estes Park in welcoming the passage by the Congress of the wilderness designation for the park’s backcountry. This was the culmination of an effort that began in 1974 by President Richard Nixon and was jump started in recent years through the efforts of many.
The theme of the 2010 Lyceum Series is “Wilderness: Of What Avail Are Forty Freedoms Without A Blank Spot On The Map?" the famous quote from Aldo Leopold from his essay entitled Wilderness. This year’s series will focus on how wilderness influences what we do as stewards of this incredible national park. Speakers will highlight what wilderness means spiritually, physically, as part of naturally functioning systems, as part of our psyche as a nation, and how it guides our decisions on management decisions at Rocky Mountain National Park.
The Lyceum schedule runs from January 30 through May. Financial support for the lyceum series is provided by the park’s nonprofit partner, the Rocky Mountain Nature Association. Programs are free and open to the public. They are held at 7:00 p.m. at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center auditorium in Rocky Mountain National Park.
For more information about Rocky Mountain National Park please call (970) 586-1206.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
