''Wild by Law: The Rise of Environmentalism and the Creation of the Wilderness Act'' is a 1991

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

produced by

Lawrence Hott Lawrence "Larry" Hott is an American academic and documentary filmmaker. Hott is a co-founding partner of Florentine Films, joining Ken Burns, Roger Sherman and Buddy Squires in documentary production in 1978. He has produced and directed docu ...

and Diane Garey. It also aired as an episode of

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

' ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

''. It was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Documentary Feature. The film is about the work of

Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his ...

, Bob Marshall, founder of The Wilderness Society and

Howard Zahniser Howard Clinton Zahniser (February 25, 1906 – May 5, 1964) was an American environmental activist. For nearly 20 years, he helped lead The Wilderness Society as executive secretary, executive director, and editor of ''The Living Wilderness'', fr ...

. The film gives the philosophical and political underpinnings of the

Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...

of 1964. It was narrated by

Linda Hunt Lydia Susanna "Linda" Hunt (born April 2, 1945) is an American actress of stage and screen. She made her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in ''Popeye'' (1980). Hunt portrayed the male character Billy Kwan in '' The Year of Living Dangerously'' ...

References

External links

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''Wild by Law: The Rise of Environmentalism and the Creation of the Wilderness Act''
at Direct Cinema 1991 films 1991 documentary films American Experience American documentary films 1990s English-language films Documentary films about environmental issues 1990s American films {{environment-documentary-film-stub