Gaylord Nelson
In 1969, Senator Gaylord Anton Nelson, while traveling to speak at a water conference in California, witnessed what he described as the "horrible scene" of a major environmental disaster–the Santa Barbara oil spill. On his next plane, he read a magazine article about teach-ins on college campuses against the Vietnam War, and thought “Why not have a nationwide teach-in on the environment?”
That flash of insight sparked, then ignited into what the American Heritage Magazine called, “one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy.”
Earth Day, 1970, attracted 20 million participants. Today, it is celebrated in 174 countries by over a half billion people, making it the most celebrated secular holiday in the world, a day on which people plant trees, clean up trash, and lobby for the environment.
For most of his 50-year professional career, Nelson unwaveringly advocated for the environment, long before "the environment" became a household term. In his ten years as a state senator, four years as governor of Wisconsin, and 18 years as a U.S. senator, he repeatedly called attention and applied public policy to issues of land protection, wildlife habitat, and environmental quality.
Gaylord Nelson, born on June 4, 1916, grew up in the northern Wisconsin town of Clear Lake. He learned to love the outdoors "by osmosis" and frugality from his father, Anton, a country doctor who conserved paper by writing his patient profiles on the back of drug advertisements. His mother, Mary, was a nurse.
Nelson's introduction to politics came early. He was 10 when his father took him to hear a senatorial campaign speech.
"On the way back home to Clear Lake, my dad asked if I wanted to be a senator," Nelson remembered. "I said I'd love to be a senator, but I'm afraid that Bob La Follette will solve all of our problems before I get a chance to serve."
Thirty-two years passed. His father never mentioned the comment. In 1958, Nelson was about to become the Democratic nominee for governor of Wisconsin, when, at the party's convention in La Crosse, his father suffered a heart attack.
"I went into his hospital room," Nelson said, "and he looked up and smiled and he said, 'Do you think Bob La Follette left enough problems behind for you to solve?'"
Nelson became the second Democrat during the 20th century to be elected Wisconsin’s governor and served until 1962. He used a penny-a-pack tax on cigarettes to pay for the Outdoor Recreation Acquisition Program, and, penny by penny, the state bought hundreds of thousands of acres of Wisconsin parkland, wetlands, and other open spaces.
Nelson was subsequently elected to the U.S. Senate. He authored legislation to preserve the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail corridor and to create a national hiking trails system as well as the Upper Great Lakes Regional Commission and Operation Mainstream/Green Thumb, which employed the elderly in conservation projects. He sponsored or co-sponsored countless conservation bills, including the Wilderness Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and the National Environmental Education Act. In Wisconsin, his legacy includes the St. Croix Wild and Scenic Riverway and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
In 1963, Nelson wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy stating, "There is no domestic issue more important to America in the long run than the conservation and proper use of our natural resources, including fresh water, clean air, tillable soil, forests, wilderness, habitat for wildlife, minerals and recreational assets.”
The movement Nelson started that first Earth Day–April 22, 1970–changed the political perception of the environment forever. Tens of thousands of people filled New York's Fifth Avenue. Congress adjourned so members could speak across the nation, and at least 2,000 colleges marked the occasion. Before that day, Nelson was lucky to get 17 votes in the Senate on an environmental issue. Afterward, he was besieged by requests from senators and representatives who wanted speeches and other background materials.
Though his name became synonymous with environmental protection, Nelson's accomplishments span a range of areas, including Senate ethics, government help for small businesses and dairy farms, safety and availability of prescription drugs, the National Teacher Corps, automobile and tire safety, Head Start, tax and Social Security reform, a ban on DDT, and his prophetic and persistent opposition to the Vietnam War.
After leaving the Senate in 1981, Nelson continued his tireless campaign for environmental stewardship working as counselor for The Wilderness Society for 14 years. When asked why he continued to work, Nelson was succinct: "Our work's not done.”
In public appearances, he advocated for protecting America's national forests, national parks, and other public lands from harmful development. He called for population control and environmentally sustainable development. He served as Chairman of Earth Day XXV, celebrated April 22, 1995, and started the Earth Day Network's Earth Day 2000 Clean Energy Now! campaign.
Nelson's environmental efforts earned widespread admiration, affection, and acclaim. In 1990, he received the Ansel Adams Conservation Award, an honor presented by the Wilderness Society to a “government official who has shown exceptional commitment to the cause of conservation and the fostering of an American land ethic.” In 1992, the United Nations Environment Programme presented Nelson with the Only One World Award, and in 1995, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor.
In the 1995 proclamation awarding Nelson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor, the author said, "As the father of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew out of that event: the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act.”
In 2002, the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was renamed “the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.” In July 2004, Wisconsin’s Gaylord A. Nelson Wilderness was designated. Just one year later, on July 3, 2005, Nelson died of cardiovascular failure at his home in Kensington, Maryland. He was 89 years old.
Timeline
1916 Born in Clear Lake, WI.
1939 Graduates from San Jose State College, CA.
1942 Graduates from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
1942-1946 Serves with the U.S. Army during World War II.
1946 Begins practicing law in Madison, WI.
1947 Marries Carrie Lee Dotson.
1948 Elected to first term as a Wisconsin state senator, serving until 1958.
1958 Elected Wisconsin governor serving two, two-year terms.
1962 Elected to first of three terms as U.S. senator.
1963 Proposes and then accompanies President John F. Kennedy on a national tour to promote conservation and environmental protection.
1970 Founds the first Earth Day on April 22.
1980 Defeated in re-election bid for U.S. Senate.
1981 Begins serving as counselor of The Wilderness Society.
1990: Receives the Ansel Adams Conservation Award.
1992: Receives the Only One World Award through the United Nations.
1995: Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedon; Serves as Chairman of Earth Day XXV.
2002: Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison renamed the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
2004: Designation of the Gaylord A. Nelson National Wilderness.
2005: Dies at age 89 at his Maryland home.
Sources and Resources
For more information about Gaylord Nelson and his views, see his book, Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise and his new biography, The Man from Clear Lake: Earth Day Founder Senator Gaylord Nelson by Bill Christofferson.