Morris K. Udall was an outstanding individual who made invaluable contributions to environmental and human rights legislation in this country. Perhaps his most visible successes have been in the area of wilderness preservation.

As a student majoring in environmental science, I am particularly interested in the field of conservation biology. From an ecological standpoint, it is clear that we need to protect as much wilderness as we can, particularly in those areas where there are rare species, a great deal of species diversity, or large tracts of relatively undisturbed ecosystems. When you look closely at an ecosystem, it becomes clear that each part needs to be preserved in order to maintain the stability of the whole. As more and more species go extinct, and more and more habitat is destroyed, it becomes even more important to protect what little we have left in order to maintain the global ecosystem's health.

This is at least partly why Morris Udall's introduction and passage of numerous bills and acts involving the preservation of significant wilderness areas is so important. He won the protection of 100 million acres of Alaskan wilderness, although that protection has recently come under attack. And he helped pass the Tongass Timber Reform Act which prevents logging and road building in a one million acre area of Alaska and prohibits federal subsidies to pulp mills in the region. Udall's work on the passage of the Arizona Wilderness Act of 194 and the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990 helped protect over three million acres in Arizona. Each of these acts are vital to preserving our natural heritage.

This protection is also vital to our economic well-being. Every industry depends on materials from nature. If our wilderness areas are completely urbanized or converted entirely to agriculture there will be nothing left for industry to utilize. This can be seen quite clearly in the fishing and timber industries where overharvesting has caused major economic declines in some areas. If these areas were instead preserved and managed in a sustainable way, these difficulties could have been avoided.

In addition to his work on wilderness preservation, Udall has been involved with strip mining legislation which I would certainly consider among his greatest achievements. Several years ago I participated in a summer program in environmental science and the instructors took us to visit a coal spoil which is basically just several big mounds of shale and other stone particles that were dug out of the ground when coal was mined nearby. It was one of the most striking scenes I have ever witnessed. Although the mine had been abandoned nearly 40 years ago, nothing had been able to grow there in all that time. Where there had once been a tremendous expanse of prairie, there was now just this desolate, human-induced wasteland. Udall's work toward legislation that requires the reclamation of this land that has been strip-mined and surface-mined is certainly an ecological necessity and among his most important work.

Although I have only seen pictures of the areas Udall fought so hard to preserve, his work in wilderness preservation means that when I am finally able to visit Alaska and Arizona, there will still be something left for me to see. His work means that students after me will perhaps get to visit a prairie rather than a coal spoil. And, most importantly, it means that our wilderness areas, which are unable to speak for themselves, have been given a voice.