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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

New Mexico Conservation Project Marks Wilderness Act 50th Anniversary

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Thursday, September 4, 2014   

TAOS, N.M. – A conservation project at Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico is under way in recognition of this week's 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.

Ben Thomas, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, says the young work crews are thinning about 160 acres of dense forestland to reduce the thick vegetation that can fuel the spread of forest fires.

He adds the Wilderness Act has been critical to preserving some of outdoor treasures of New Mexico and nation.

"It provides federal designation, which is crucial for the level of protection that wilderness areas deserve," Thomas explains.

The Carson National Forest project is part of the Fifty for the 50th campaign, commemorating passage of the Wilderness Act by Congress in 1964.

When completed, the 50 projects will have improved or restored more than 40,000 acres, built 887 miles of trails, and planted 325 acres of trees on public lands.

The campaign is a joint effort of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps and The Wilderness Society.

Jamie Williams, the society's president, says wilderness has a special place in American history and the nation's consciousness.

"What America really had that defined it was a continent of wilderness,” he points out. “It was that wilderness that really shaped our character – our rugged individualism that we're still so proud of today, our sense of freedom and possibility."

As America grows and urbanizes more, Williams says he believes there will be even greater need to find peaceful places, such as wilderness areas, where people can reconnect with nature.





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