Bill Worf grew up on a ranch near Rosebud, MT, then served in the US Marines during World War II before matriculating at the University of Montana. Upon graduating with a BS degree in forestry/range in 1950, he began a 31-year career with the US Forest Service, assuming positions of district ranger on the Ashley NF (Utah), staff officer at the regional office in Ogden, staff officer on the Fishlake NF (Utah), and supervisor of the Bridger NF (Wyoming). In 1965 Mr. Worf was assigned to the agency’s Washington, DC, Office where he headed the development of policy for implementing the 1964 Wilderness Act. Subsequently, he served as director for wilderness, recreation, and lands at the regional office in Missoula, MT.

Finding that no national environmental organization was encouraging the government to better care for existing wilderness, Mr. Worf co-founded Wilderness Watch for that purpose in 1989 and served as the organization’s president until 2003.

Mr. Worf received the Keith Corrigall Wilderness Stewardship Award in 2003 from the International Journal of Wilderness in recognition of a lifetime of achievement in wilderness protection and stewardship.

Bill Worf speaks about social pressure from ranchers and their supporters that he and his wife experienced while he was a Forest Service land manager in Utah during the 1950s.

Recorded in August 2004. This video is an excerpt from Bill Worf’s interview in Western Turf Wars: The Politics of Public Lands Ranching.