Wilbur Vaughan, a California native and lifelong skier who was recognized as the father of Bucks Lake Wilderness, died Tuesday of old age, his family said. He was 87.
Mr. Vaughan was introduced to skiing at age 10, when his parents bought land at Bucks Lake in Plumas County.
Exploring the Sierra Nevada with a backpack and skis became central to his life, a love that he passed on to his children and grandchildren, said Gordon Vaughan, his son.
"As a family, there was always backpacking, always skiing throughout the Sierra. But Bucks Lake was definitely No. 1," Vaughan said.
It was skiing that prompted Mr. Vaughan to join the Army's 10th Mountain Division, which trained its soldiers to ski across mountains and bivouac in snow at night. He was part of an infantry regiment that liberated northern Italy during World War II using skiing among its tactical advantages.
When Mr. Vaughan returned to California and enrolled at California State University, Sacramento, he worked part time for the California Department of Water Resources as a snow surveyor, trekking up and down the Sierra measuring the snowpack for annual runoff estimates. He founded and became president of the university's ski club before completing his studies in 1951 in Sacramento State's first graduating class.
The ski club introduced Mr. Vaughan to his future wife, Joyce Brundige, who served as the group's secretary.
They were married for 23 years until her death from cancer in 1976.
Mr. Vaughan spent a 32-year career with Moore Business Forms, which helped companies formalize their business information and communications. After starting as a salesman in Yuba City, he rose to the position of district manager.
After his wife's death, Mr. Vaughan retired early so he could spend more time at Bucks Lake, said Gordon Vaughan. He was vital to the creation of Bucks Lake Wilderness area, which protects 21,000 acres of the Plumas National Forest in the Sierra Nevada between Spanish Peak and the Feather River Canyon.
The 33-year effort began with a visit to Mr. Vaughan's Bucks Lake cabin by David Brower, a fellow 10th Mountain Division infantryman and then president of the Sierra Club.
In 1970, when a logger inadvertently dropped a tree onto an occupied vehicle, Mr. Vaughan sounded the alarm that halted a timber sale and mobilized Friends of Plumas Wilderness. He was a critical part of the process that eventually persuaded U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston to carry the 1984 federal legislation creating the wilderness area, said Michael B. Jackson, a Quincy environmental attorney who worked on the wilderness designation.
"His personal dedication to that piece of land is what stimulated and renewed everyone else around him when it became hard to be an environmentalist in a logging community," said Jackson.
Mr. Vaughan was a longtime member of the Sacramento Rotary Club, an enthusiastic fan of the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, and a member of the Bucks Lake Homeowners Association.
In retirement, he shared his passion for the Bucks Lake area by leading weekly hikes and making his cabin a place where family and friends could come together to enjoy his geniality and humor.
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