SierraScape September 2013 - February 2014
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by Toni Armstrong
Secretary
EMG Chapter
"A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
Join in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act in 2014. Nationwide there are almost 106 million acres protected in 44 states and Puerto Rico. We in Missouri are fortunate to have 8 very diverse wilderness areas, including swamps, glades, Ozark mountains and hardwood forests.
Eastern Missouri Group members, Richard Spener and Toni Armstrong have spent 2 years capturing Missouri's 8 wilderness areas on film. 50 years of Wilderness: Through the Lens of Missouri's 8 Wilderness Areas is a photographic exhibit that celebrates Missouri's beautiful wilderness areas. The exhibit captures the stunning beauty of Missouri landscapes and celebrates the importance of wilderness to all of us. The wilderness areas are home to a diversity of plants, birds, fish, reptiles, insects and mammals. John Karel, former Director of Natural Resources in Missouri, has written an introduction for the exhibit that will explain the value of open space and wilderness to the public. Wilderness areas are open to recreation in the form of hiking, fishing, birding, hunting, paddling and horseback riding. We hope the exhibit will give the people of Missouri a sense of pride about the wild places here at home.
The anniversary celebration starts early with the exhibit opening at the Missouri History Museum on September 1, 2013 and closing on February 2, 2014. The exhibit at the Missouri History Museum is free. The Missouri History Museum is in Forest Park at 5700 Lindell Blvd. The exhibit then moves to the University of Missouri Columbia, Natural Resources building from late February 2014 thru the end of April 2014. The Discovery Center in Kansas City will host the exhibit in May and June 2014. Other venues around the state are being negotiated.