1961-1980

1961

October, The Anaconda Company, Lumber Department changes its name to Anaconda Forest Products, a division of The Anaconda Company.

1962

October 10, Forest Research, State Plans. Assistance Act. McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act. Authorized federal support for forestry research at land-grant colleges.

October 24, Golden Eagle protected.

 Rachel Carson writes Silent Spring, a book that many historians believe ushered in the modern environmental movement, though it was 98 years after March wrote Man and Nature.

1963

December 17, Clean Air Act. Provide for the encouragement of uniform laws among states and local government, research, enforcement, automobile emission control, and cooperation among federal agencies to control air pollution from federal facilities.

1964

September 3, Wilderness Act. Provided for a ten-year congressional review program for wilderness designation: set up the National Wilderness Preservation System. Classified 9.1 million acres of National Forests as Wilderness and 5.5 million acres as Primitive Areas.

September 19, Classification and Multiple-Use Act. Classification of public land for purpose of disposal or interim management. First BLM authorization to inventory its lands.

September 19, Public Land Sales Act. Companion to the classification and Multiple-Use Act: gave the BLM interim authority to sell lands classified for disposal.

1965

July 9, Federal Water Project Recreation Act. Provided fund for recreation facilities at existing federal dams.

October 22, Highway Beautification Act. Included measures for control of outdoor advertising and junkyards adjacent to highways: provided for scenic development.

1966

October 15, National Historic Preservation Act. National Historic Policy. National Historic Properties Act.  Established a program for preservation of historic properties.

October 15, Endangered Species Preservation Act. First act to protect endangered species. Directed the secretary of the interior to carry out a program of conserving, protecting, restoring and propagating selected species of native fish and wildlife.

4Funds from Land and Water Conservation Fund could be used to acquire habitat.

 1967

November 21, Air Quality Act: Added enforcement provisions for abatement of stationary sources of pollution and motor vehicle pollution.

As of July 1, there were 154 National Forests, with an area of 182,700,000 acres.

1968

January 1, Northern Pacific Railway Company buys Plum Creek Lumber Company for $5,917,410.

October 2, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Provided for the preservation of selected rivers in their natural state.

October 2, National Trails System Act. Established systems of recreation and scenic trails.

1969

December 5, Endangered Species Conservation Act. Authorized the secretary of the interior to promulgate a list of wildlife threatened with worldwide extinction and to prohibit their importation. 4Expanded definition of fish or wildlife to include any wild mammal, fish, wild bird, amphibian, reptile, mollusk, or crustacean.

1970

January 1, National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Established Council on Environmental Quality and requires evaluation of potential environmental impact of federal legislation and agency programs.

June 1970, Northern Pacific Railroad Company merges with Great Northern Railroad Company, Pacific Coast Railroad Company, Great Northern Pacific and Burlington Lines, Inc.  The new company is known as Burlington Northern Inc. Total of 800,000 acres in Montana.

December 29, Occupational Safety and Health Act. Mandated that employers provide a work environment free from recognized hazards to employees; provided for federal establishment and enforcement of safety and health standards for workers.

December 31, Clean Air Act. Established a three-year comprehensive air pollution control program.

April 22, first Earth Day is celebrated.

November 18, the University (of Montana) View of the Forest Service, aka Bolle Report was submitted to the US Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The committee reported that though under Multiple-Use guidelines the Bitterroot National Forest was merely concerned about “Productivity of sawlogs.”

1972

June 26, Champion International Corporation (parent company of US Plywood) purchases almost all of the lands of Anaconda Forest Products, about 650,000 acres for $1,170,000.

August 30, Rural Development Act. Rural Community Fire Protection. Directed the secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to state foresters and other appropriate local officials for the prevention, control and suppression of fires.

October 18, Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Limited effluent discharges and set water quality standards.

October 21, Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act. Expanded federal authority over pesticides and their use.

4EPA bans DDT except for emergencies.

1973

August 10, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act. Directed secretary of agriculture to develop and execute forestry incentive programs to encourage the development, management and protection of non-industrial private forestlands.

December 28, Endangered Species Act. Provided for the protection of ecosystems of endangered species, expanded definition of wildlife, established distinction of endangered and threatened species and the concept of critical habitat.

US District Court for the Northern Division of West Virginia in Izaak Walton v. Butz decides that clearcutting on the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia is contrary to the Organic Act of 1897.

1975

SAF moves its headquarters to Wildacres, a thirty-five acre campus in Bethesda, Maryland.

January 3, Eastern Wilderness Act. Lands east of the 100th meridian to be identified, studied and designated for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Lengthy debate over that these lands were once logged, so how can they be “Wilderness”?

August 21. US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upholds the 1973 Izaak Walton v. Butz decision of the US District Court, which results in a ban on clearcutting on National Forests on West Virginia and other states subject to the District Court.

1976

September 28, National Park System-Mining Activity Act. Provided for regulation of mining within, and repealed the application of mining laws to, the National Park System.

October 20, Payments in Lieu of Taxes. Secretary of Agriculture directed to pay local governments annually for public lands in their jurisdiction on the basis of a formula.

October 21, Federal Land Policy and Management Act. FLPMA. BLM Organic Act. Authorized multiple-use management of public lands administered by BLM and declared the government policy of retaining federal ownership of public lands.

October 22, National Forest Management Act. Amended RPA planning process, repealed litigated provisions in 1897 Forest Management Act, mandated greater public involvement in Forest Service decision making.

1977

February, Champion International Corporation merges with Hoerner-Waldorf Corporation.

August 3, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Created Office of Strip Mining in Department of Interior to oversee planning and review requirements.

December 27, Clean Water Act. Amended the BLM Organic Act relating to some forestry practices and provided for cost-sharing programs with rural landowners to control nonpoint sources of pollution.

1978

February 24, Endangered American Wilderness Act. Designated 1.3 million acres of wilderness in ten western states.

July 1, Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act. Brought together programs in cooperative forestry under one statutory authority, also provided grants to states for programs in management and planning assistance.

November 10, National Parks and Recreation Act. Omnibus Parks Act. Tripled park wilderness acreage, tripled size of National Trail System, enlarged the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and authorized funds for an Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program.

1979

October 31, Archaeological Resources Protection Act. Prohibited organized destruction of archaeological sites and resources on federal system and Indian lands. Covered resources 100 years or older and set up a permit system for excavation and study.

1980

December 2, Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, D-2 Lands Act. Placed 97 Million Acres into new or expanded parks and refuges, also protected twenty-five free-flowing rivers, and classified 56 million acres as wilderness.

May 18, Mount St Helens erupts. The portion blown off the top is actually owned by Burlington Northern Timberlands. (Plum Creek)