by Eileen McManus
(editor’s note: I asked Eileen to describe her background in the Sierra Club and how she became inspired to work on Wilderness in MO. This is her response.)
I joined the Sierra Club after a visit to Yosemite in 1989. I was 32 years old and had not done much hiking and had never backpacked. After several easy hikes through the valley and to waterfalls, I was hooked. I went to the park bookstore and joined the Sierra Club. Back home in Kansas City, I went to my local Sierra Club group meetings and became involved in the campaign for curbside recycling.
For fun, I went on outings including my first backpack to Hemmed-In Hollow in Arkansas. I borrowed an outer frame Boy Scout pack that was a poor fit. I had to prop it up with my hands most of the hike. Even though the hike was steep and long, I still absolutely loved the experience.
My first Sierra Club national outing was to the Olympic National Park in Washington. I had never seen a temperate rain forest before. The giant ferns, draping moss and huge trees in the Quinalt Valley were magical and we had the luck of seeing a spotted owl. This is where I began to understand the difference among National Parks, National Forests and Wilderness, as far as federal protection goes.
Our leader talked about several issues, especially clearcutting in the National Forests surrounding park. Driving in the area you could see the many dramatic clearcuts right up to the Olympic National Park boundary.
This is when I became interested in the protection of public lands. Over the years, I have been to several federally designated Wilderness areas in Missouri where the dogwoods, redbuds, oaks, limestone, granite, streams, springs and wildflowers reward and inspire me.
Although most of my volunteer time is spent at the local level keeping our group organized and active, I am involved in a new campaign to get seven more areas in Missouri protected as wilderness. With that in mind, I attended a Sierra Club Wilderness Advisory Training in Phoenix with about twenty other participants from around the country.
I came away realizing that much of the hard work other groups had done in their states had already been done in Missouri by the Missouri Wilderness Coalition (MWC) along with participation from local Sierrans.
MWC laid the foundation thirty years ago when seven areas were identified and designated as “sensitive areas” with a relatively high level of protection. When the recent revision of the Mark Twain Forest Plan lessened these protections, the MWC reactivated to see that these seven areas become federally designated as wilderness.
Since outings to our public lands is what inspires me the most, I am glad to be a part of the campaign to protect more public lands in Missouri as wilderness.
I hope you too will get inspired and join with the Missouri Wilderness Coalition in making this happen. I would also like to recommend the many local and national Sierra Club outings that are led by dedicated volunteers throughout this beautiful country that we are so lucky to live in.