Point Reyes Light - May 13, 2004

Former Interior Secretary visits park he helped create

By Victoria Schlesinger

Hiking up a steep bluff overlooking Drake’s Bay, Stewart Udall stopped to take a breath and enjoy a spectacular view of the Point Reyes National Seashore’s shoreline.

At that same moment, Udall and the small party of hikers at his side, spotted a whale breaching just offshore. Repeatedly the whale hopped to look around and then splashed back into the Pacific.

"There was a slogan in the 1960s that said, ‘What we save now, is all that will be saved,’" Udall told his fellow hikers. Then the 84-year-old – still hardy as an ox, though a bit nearsighted – turned and linked arms with this reporter and continued to trudge up the hillside.

Udall, Secretary of the Interior from 1961 to 1969 during President Kennedy’s and Johnson’s administrations, was on a trek to pay tribute to his friend and colleague, the late Congressman Clem Miller, who is buried there.

Why the park was created

Key players in the race to save Point Reyes from private development in the early 1960s, Miller and Udall worked to prevent real estate developers from subdividing Point Reyes and financially strapped ranchers allowing logging and oil exploration on their land.

In just four years, the men – with the support of Marin County residents and state legislators – rushed a bill through Congress and onto Kennedy’s desk in order to turn Point Reyes into a National Seashore.

In September 1962, Kennedy signed the bill into law while Miller and Udall looked on. Only three weeks later, however, Miller, who was still a relatively young politician, died when his small plane crashed in Crescent City while he was campaigning for reelection.

Miller was buried at a site overlooking Drake’s Bay on a eighth of an acre of land donated to the government by the owners of Bear Valley Ranch. On seeing Miller’s grave for the first time Friday, Udall turned to National Seashore Supt. Don Neubacher and quietly said, "It’s so simple – just as Clem would have wanted it." A small pile of bleached white stones and a plaque inscribed with "Clem Miller. 1916-1962" marked the gravesite.

A eulogy for Miller

Udall motioned for two of the other hikers to stand beside him – Bill Duddleson, Miller’s chief of staff, and journalist Harold Gilliam, who covered the battle to save Point Reyes for the San Francisco Chronicle and then summarized the battle in his book An Island in Time.

The three men stood with their backs to the ocean and Udall offered a eulogy to the late congressman. "We’re here to celebrate your life Clem and give it meaning," Udall said, as a handful of people listened.

"If you’re part of conservation – because it always takes people working together – when you’re gone there are visible signs you can point to." Thanking Miller for his dedication to creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore, Udall wiped away a tear and said, "Some of us live too long, and some not long enough."

Reviving memories

When asked why he was visiting Miller’s grave after so many years Udall replied, "To revive his memory so that young people know the tenacity and passion he brought to saving Point Reyes...

"I’m glad I made one last trip. It has heightened for me what was accomplished – the diversity, wildlife, and ocean. None of the rest of the 14 national seashores – and I’ve been to them all – has this beauty and diversity and expanse."

Under Udall’s guidance, the Park Service developed a system of national seashores, of which Point Reyes was one of the first. The former secretary of the Interior Department was also instrumental in creating a national wilderness system, which ultimately led to the 33,000 acres of wilderness in Point Reyes National Seashore. Today, an average of 2.4 million visitors hike, camp, and enjoy the National Seashore’s trails and beaches annually.

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