1961 - Environment

Environment

Haleakala National Park is established by act of Congress in the new state of Hawaii. Its 26,403 acres include the dormant 10,023-foot Haleakala Volcano.

Hawaii's legislature enacts the first statewide land-use zoning plan, setting aside some land for agriculture, some for conservation, and some for urban development.

A study by the California Wildland Research Center reveals that only 17 million acres of U.S. wilderness remain, down from 55 million in 1926. Virgin forests have been disappearing for 35 years at the rate of a million acres per year; the largest single unit of wilderness remaining embraces 2 million acres (see 1964).

A conference aimed at preserving Africa's wildlife convenes in Tanganyika in September.