Ernie Dickerman was a wilderness advocate. In an age when our collective domination of the natural world is all but complete, he spent a lifetime dedicated to seeking out and protecting the scattered fragments of truly wild land that remain. When he died this August at 87, he left a legacy of inestimable value for generations to come.

Ernie’s passing was widely noted. The New York Times and other major newspapers carried his obituary. He was, they observed, the "Grandfather of Eastern Wilderness."

Saturday, October 3rd, had special significance as nearly a hundred friends and conservation leaders from around the nation gathered at Ernie’s farm in Buffalo Gap in Augusta County, Virginia, for a memorial service. The next day there was a smaller service and a hike in Highland County’s Laurel Fork, the wild place that Ernie had declared to be his favorite in Virginia. I was privileged to be among those who, on that Sunday morning, reflected on Ernie’s life and his source of inspiration.

The day began rainy, like many on Laurel Fork. By ten the rain was finished and by mid afternoon the sun was shining, bringing out the full red and yellow of the turning maples. We walked the six mile loop down Buck Run and back up Locust Spring Run. A mile or so into the trip we paused to stand under the red spruce and look out across the beaver ponds while members of the party shared stories of their times with Ernie and tried to express what he had meant to them. A minister among our group offered an eloquent prayer of thanks. It was a moment I’ll not forget.

Ernie is best known to Virginians for his work to secure legal protection for wild land in the Virginia mountains. He was a primary force behind successful campaigns that gained Wilderness status for fifteen areas in Shenandoah National Park and in Virginia’s National Forests. He was tireless in his effort to promote Wilderness status for many other deserving areas, including Laurel Fork.

Ernie’s work as a wilderness advocate began when he lived in east Tennessee, where he was a charter member of the Wilderness Society when it formed in 1935. He later worked in Washington as an organizer and congressional lobbyist for the Wilderness Society. Still later, he was instrumental in forming the Virginia Wilderness Committee. He worked for passage of the original Wilderness Act of 1964 and then for the Eastern Wilderness Act of 1975, a law that allowed Wilderness status for previously disturbed, but recovering, wild areas in the Appalachians. In addition to his work in Virginia, he worked for protection of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and for other wild areas throughout the nation.

Much has been written about Ernie and his gift for inspiring others. His quiet manner and passionate persistence gained him respect, even among wilderness opponents. He knew and understood the reasons why people so often would react against wilderness proposals.

At public hearings and private meetings he would patiently address each concern and misconception. To those who believed that hunting is prohibited in wilderness, he explained that this is not the case and that wilderness designation would preserve diminishing hunting areas. To those who objected to the ban on logging in wilderness areas, he explained that potential wilderness areas are typically in the roughest locations with unproductive timber. As important as wilderness is, he noted, it is rare, representing less than ten percent of federal lands and less than two percent of the Appalachian mountain region.

Stories are told of Ernie speaking for wilderness at public hearings dominated by sometimes angry opponents. In one case, while explaining how you can hunt, fish, and in other ways enjoy national forest wilderness, some in the audience began to heckle and interrupt with rude remarks. After the hearing, the few wilderness proponents were disheartened. Ernie though, in his usual positive way, commented that the meeting had been a success "because we made our points on the benefits of wilderness and we gave those guys something to think about." It was a lesson on perseverance and a lesson on treating the opposition with respect.

So what was it that sustained Ernie Dickerman in his remarkable lifetime of work to save the last of the Earth’s wild places and wild things?

Virginia author, Chris Bolgiano, devotes a section of her book, The Appalachian Forest, to describing Ernie’s life and work. She offers some insight with a quote from Ernie. "If you can’t get beyond yourself, you’re pretty narrow," he said. "There is obviously a greater force beyond our comprehension, and we respect it by preserving the creation in which this force is manifested."