Mr. Justice Douglas and the C&O Canal

[WI_DEM]

On January 3, 1954 the Washington Post published an editorial in favor of a highway to be built along the old Chesapeake and Ohio Canal--185 miles of wilderness to be uprooted to make way for the automobile. Justice William O. Douglas, an ardent conservationist saw the editorial and wrote in reply to the paper:

"It is a refuge, a place of retreat, a long strech of uiet and peace at teh capitol's back door--a wilderness area where man can be alone with his thoughts, a sanctuary where he can commune with God and with nature, a place not yet marred by the roar of wheels and the sound of horns. It is a place for boys and girls, men and women. One can hike 15 or 20 miles on a Sunday afternon, or sleep on high dry ground in the quiet of a forest, or just go and sit with no sound except water lapping at one's feet. It is a sancturay for everyone who loves woods--a sanctuary that would be utterly destroyed by a fine two-lane highway."

To further make his point he invited the editor who wrote the editorial and anyone else to join him on making a hike of the 185-mile proposed highway and said that if they did they would come out of the experience with a new opinion. They did make that hike and the paper did change its opinion.

William O. Douglas not only one ofthe great Justices of all time but one of the great conservationists. Just wanted to share this with you.

[mobuto]

1. Justice Douglas

was a very complicated man. I wouldn't put him up as one of the greatest justices, simply because he was a lazy and incompetent jurist. But he was a great liberal, a great political force, and, yes, also a great conservationist.