The Wilderness Ethic of Justice William O. Douglas
![handle is hein.journals/unilllr1986 and id is 655 raw text is: THE WILDERNESS ETHIC OF JUSTICE WILLIAM 0.
DOUGLAS
I. INTRODUCTION
The wilderness profoundly affected William 0. Douglas.' Through
childhood experiences and adult reflection, Douglas developed an abid-
ing sense that individuals could derive many benefits from interacting
with nature.2 Douglas saw the interplay of the individual and the wilder-
ness as beneficial to an individual's personal development.' He also
viewed the wilderness as beneficial to society both derivatively because it
assisted individual development,4 and independently as part of the his-
tory and fabric of American life.'
Based on his belief that individuals and society benefit from wilder-
ness interaction, Douglas evolved a deeply felt wilderness ethic.6 The
theme of this ethic was that, in order to maintain the benefits that such
interacting provides, society must preserve the wilderness.7 Douglas did
not consider his wilderness ethic as solely a personal philosophy;' rather,
Douglas believed that society should adopt the wilderness ethic as a col-
lective philosophy.9 Moreover, Douglas believed society should adopt
the wilderness ethic's goal of preserving the wilderness as one of the goals
society collectively seeks. Society could reach this goal, Douglas be-
lieved, by institutionalizing the wilderness ethic: inserting programs and
policies designed to preserve the wilderness into the formal structure of
American law and government.' Douglas himself attempted to institu-
tionalize the wilderness ethic. In his unique position as Supreme Court
1. This note defines wilderness as Douglas defined it in his book A Wilderness Bill of
Rights.
Wilderness is a roadless area where only a trail marks passage through a forest or over a range.
Wilderness is prairie and foothills untouched by plows or pesticides. Wilderness is the rolling
tundra of Alaska and the seashore not marred by man-made passages nor invaded by structures
or other marks of civilization. Wilderness is the unpolluted river and lake and the unbroken
bowl. Wilderness is the vista that faced those who first topped the Appalachia going west. It is
nature's labyrinth of down logs, primeval stands, meadows, and swamps whose creation pre-
ceded man. Wilderness is the earth before any of its wildness has been reduced or subtracted.
W. DOUGLAS, A WILDERNESS BILL OF RIGHTS 29 (1965) [hereinafter cited as A WILDERNESS BILL
OF RIGHTS].
2. See infra text accompanying notes 12-42.
3. W. DOUGLAS, OF MEN AND MOUNTAINS x (1950) [hereinafter cited as OF MEN AND
MOUNTAINS].
4. Id.
5. See infra note 42.
6. This note uses wilderness ethic to describe the moral value which has as its central
theme preserving the wilderness.
7. See J. DURAM, JUSTICE WILLIAM 0. DOUGI.AS 57 (1981).
8. Id. at64.
9. See A WIILDERNESS BILL OF RIGHTS, supra note 1, at 28-38.
10. See infra at section 1II.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/unilllr1986&div=30&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Wilderness Ethic of Justice William O. Douglas
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