Despite an outdoor temperature hovering near 100 degrees, more than 300 people braved the heat under the tent at Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua near Bayfield, Wisconsin, on August 8th to celebrate the designation of the nation's newest wilderness area – the 33,500-acre Gaylord Nelson Wilderness in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Speakers at the event included Congressman David Obey, Senator Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Deputy Director Don Murphy, and the daughter of the late Senator Gaylord Nelson, Tia Nelson. "I rarely saw Papa cry," Nelson told the crowd at a particularly touching moment. "The last time was when I told him that the wilderness bill had passed." Senator Gaylord Nelson – founder of Earth Day and considered by many to be the father of the modern environmental movement – fought tirelessly to protect the Apostle Islands throughout the 1950's and 1960's during his term as Wisconsin governor and later as a U.S. Senator. His passing in early July of this year made the celebration especially poignant. For a news account of the event, click on “More Information” below.
