Remarks by Ed Zahniser at the Wilderness Week Rally 2004

What a wild bunch you are. What a crucial role you play for our day, our time, in this our wild and deep tradition.

Let’s have a show of hands: how many of you are here today because you went to the jobs fair at your high school, college, or university, and a nattily dressed recruiter promised you big bucks and great benefits as an entry level wilderness advocate? . . . What, no hands raised? . . . This is a self-selecting calling. …

You and I here today enjoy living contacts clear back to our Transcendentalist roots.

Be consistent. Be persistent. Be actively patient. … This day is as ripe for realization as any day the world has ever known. I adjure you, sons and daughters of our lineage. This is your day. Go forth. Do good. Tell the stories. And keep it wild.