THE WILDERNESS ACT
H A N D B O O K
40th Anniversary Edition
40th Anniversar y Edition
The
Wilderness
Act
H A N D B O O K
1615 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-833-2300
www.wilderness.org
© The Wilderness Act Handbook
Fifth Edition (revised)
April 2004
Editors: Ben Beach, Bart Koehler, Leslie Jones, and Jay Watson
We thank Doug Scott, policy director of the Campaign for America’s Wilderness, for all his guidance.
Design and layout: Studio Grafik
This edition of The Wilderness Act Handbook is dedicated to the late Mardy Murie, a passionate
crusader for wilderness who served on The Wilderness Society’s Governing Council and was often
referred to as the matriarch of the conservation movement.
Cover photo: View into the Mount Sneffles Wilderness Area in Colorado, photo by Marc Muench
Back cover photo: Bob Marshall Wilderness Area in Montana, photo by Seven Lazy P Guest Ranch
The Wilderness Society
1615 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
www.wilderness.org
Printed in the United States of America by ChromaGraphics of Largo, Maryland, on New Leaf Opaque
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The
Wi l d e r n e s s
Act H A N D B
O O K
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. The Wilderness Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
3. Designating New Wilderness Areas . . . . . . .23
4. National Forest Wilderness . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
5. Bureau of Land Management Wilderness . . .31
6. National Park Wilderness . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
7. National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness . . . . . .37
8. Wilderness Management and Stewardship . .41
9. Wilderness Myths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Appendix A: Wilderness Reading List . . . . . . .75
Appendix B: Leave No Trace . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
The Wilderness Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
©Dale Schicketanz
To see a list of the more than 600 wilderness areas
and a national map, visit www.wilderness.net.
1. Introduction
W
ith passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-577; 16
USC 1131-1136), the United States charted a course new in
the history of nations—to preserve some of the country’s last
remaining wild places in order to protect their natural processes and
values from development. Today, thanks to the wisdom, foresight,
and perseverance of many dedicated individuals, current and future
generations will enjoy an enduring wilderness—in reality and in spirit.
The Wilderness Act established the National Wilderness Preservation
System, now comprising more than 105 million acres and containing
wild places from all regions of the country. These include the
hauntingly beautiful vastness of Alaska’s national wildlife refuges and
national parks, the temperate zone “cathedral” forests of the Pacific
Northwest, the Sierra Nevada (California’s “Range of Light”), the
alpine valleys and peaks of the Rocky Mountains, the solitude of the
southwestern Sonoran deserts, the cypress swamps of the South, and
tiny Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge along Florida’s coast, a
sanctuary for migratory birds. Still largely missing are Great Basin,
grassland, coastal, and certain Alaskan ecosystems.
©Dale Schicketanz
Not only did the Wilderness Act establish a system of wilderness, it
also put in place a process for expanding the system. In doing so, the
Act made a fundamental change in how new wilderness areas were
recommended and acted upon. Essentially, the Act shifted much of
this responsibility from the federal land management agencies and
put it into the hands of the American people and the legislative
process. From 1964 on, rather than having to wait for land
management agencies to make recommendations through a timeconsuming administrative process, citizens could develop their own
wilderness proposals and submit them directly to a member of
Congress. This has had a profound impact on the history of
wilderness in the United States.
Our enthusiasm for wilderness is steeped in nearly 70 years of proud
history. The Wilderness Society was founded in 1935 by eight
distinguished conservationists: Bob Marshall, Aldo Leopold, Robert
1
Sterling Yard, Benton MacKaye, Ernest Oberholtzer, Bernard Frank,
Harvey Broome, and Harold Clinton Anderson. Soon to join the
leadership ranks was Olaus Murie; later, Howard Zahniser took over
as executive director. All shared a vision of systematic protection of
this nation’s special wild places, and all strove diligently throughout
their lives to bring this vision to reality.
By 1955, Zahniser had grown disillusioned with piecemeal attempts
at preservation. “Let us be done with a wilderness preservation
program made up of a sequence of overlapping emergencies, threats,
and defense campaigns,” he said. He sat down and composed the first
draft of what later became the Wilderness Act. Bills based on
Zahniser’s draft were introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of
Representatives in 1956. Eight years later, after 18 hearings and some
66 versions of the bill, the Wilderness Act was passed. Unfortunately,
Zahniser did not live to witness the historic occasion; he died a few
months before the signing.
The Wilderness Society believes that the National Wilderness
Preservation System should continue to grow. Most notably, there are
more than 100 million acres in Alaska’s national forests, parks, wildlife
refuges and tens of millions of acres within the western heritage lands
of the Bureau of Land Management that fully qualify, but have yet to
either be reviewed by the agencies, or acted upon by Congress.
This handbook is designed as a reference for those working to protect
what is left of wild America. It sets forth the relevant laws,
regulations, and policies that govern the creation, expansion, and
management of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The
Wilderness Act is printed in its entirety, along with interpretation
and excerpts from and analysis of subsequent legislation that has
influenced the designation or management of wilderness. This
handbook also addresses important wilderness management issues.
We hope the handbook proves to be a useful manual for those
committed to maintaining the precious values of America’s wildlands.
2
The National Wilderness
Preservation System
As of April 2004, the National Wilderness Preservation
System contained 662 wilderness areas totaling 105.7
million acres, or 4.67 percent of all land in the United
States. There are approximately 43.6 million acres in
national parks, 34.8 million acres in national forests,
20.7 million acres in national wildlife refuges, and 6.5
million acres on the western heritage lands of the
Bureau of Land Management. These figures will change
as Congress designates new wilderness areas. More than
half, or 57.5 million acres, of all designated wilderness is
in the huge national parks, wildlife refuges, and forests
of Alaska; more than one-third is in the 11 westernmost contiguous 48 states.
Less than five percent lies east of the 100th meridian,
and almost half of that is in just two areas—Everglades
National Park in Florida and the Boundary Waters
Canoe Area in Minnesota. In the 11 eastern states from
Maine to Maryland, home to nearly one-quarter of the
nation’s population, there are only 205,000 acres of
wilderness. There is designated wilderness in all but six
states: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland,
and Rhode Island. The nation’s largest wilderness area
covers nine million acres in Wrangell-St. Elias National
Park in Alaska. The smallest wilderness area,
comprising just five acres, is at Pelican Island National
Wildlife Refuge, located in the broad lagoon of the
Indian River on the eastern coast of Florida.
3
2. The Wilderness
Act
Public Law 88-577 (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136)
88th Congress, Second Session
September 3, 1964
MILESTONES
ALONG THE
WILDERNESS TRAIL
1872
Yellowstone is
established as the
world’s first
national park.
1891
Passage of the
Forest Reserve Act
empowers presidents
to establish forest
reserves.
1892
Afognak Island is
reserved to protect
fish, animals, and
birds.
1903
Pelican Island
Wildlife Refuge is
established to
protect nesting
birds.
1907
National Forest
System is
established.
1916
Congress establishes
the National Park
Service.
1919
Arthur Carhart, a
Forest Service
landscape architect,
recommends
Trappers Lake in
Colorado remain a
wild area and asks
the Forest Service
not to build a road
and vacation
settlement.
1920
The Forest Service
accepts Carhart's
recommendation.
1924
The Forest Service
sets aside 574,000
acres on the Gila
National Forest for
wilderness
recreation.
An Act
To establish a National Wilderness
Preservation System for the permanent good
of the whole people, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled,
Short Title
Section 1. (16 U.S.C. 1131)
This Act may be cited as the “Wilderness
Act.”
©Jim Mone
WILDERNESS SYSTEM ESTABLISHED—
STATEMENT OF POLICY
Section 2.
(a) In order to assure that an increasing
population, accompanied by expanding
settlement and growing mechanization, does
not occupy and modify all areas within the
United States and its possessions, leaving no
lands designated for preservation and
protection in their natural condition, it is
hereby declared to be the policy of the
Congress to secure for the American people of
present and future generations the benefits of
5
Aldo Leopold
Bob Marshall
an enduring resource of wilderness. For this purpose
there is hereby established a National Wilderness
Preservation System to be composed of federally
owned areas designated by Congress as “wilderness
areas,” and these shall be administered for the use
and enjoyment of the American people in such
manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use
and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide
for the protection of these areas, the preservation of
their wilderness character, and for the gathering and
dissemination of information regarding their use
and enjoyment as wilderness; and no Federal lands
shall be designated as “wilderness areas” except as
provided for in this Act or by a subsequent Act.
(b) The inclusion of an area in the National
Wilderness Preservation System notwithstanding,
the area shall continue to be managed by the
Department and agency having jurisdiction
thereover immediately before its inclusion in the
National Wilderness Preservation System unless
otherwise provided by Act of Congress. No
appropriation shall be available for payment of
expenses or salaries for the administration of the
National Wilderness Preservation System as a
separate unit nor shall any appropriations be
available for additional personnel stated as being
6
required solely for the purpose of managing or
administering areas solely because they are
included within the National Wilderness
Preservation System.
MILESTONES
ALONG THE
WILDERNESS TRAIL
1930
Passing the first
federal law to
protect wilderness,
Congress designates
more than one
million acres in
northern Minnesota
as the Superior
Primitive Area.
1935
Bob Marshall, Aldo
Leopold, Benton
MacKaye, Harvey
Broome, Bernard
Frank, Harold
Anderson, Ernest
Oberholtzer, and
Robert Sterling Yard
launch The
Wilderness Society on
January 21, starting
the fledgling group
down the path toward
nationwide wilderness
preservation.
1939
At the urging of Bob
Marshall, the Forest
Service adopts its U
Regulations, which
direct that primitive
areas on the national
forests be reviewed
and reclassified as
“wilderness,” “wild,”
or “roadless”
depending on their
size.
1950
-56
Conservationists
wage a long fight
against Echo Park
Dam in Dinosaur
National Monument.
Howard Zahniser,
executive director of
The Wilderness
Society, calls for
statutory protection
of wilderness.
Definition of Wilderness
(c) A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where
man and his works dominate the landscape, is
hereby recognized as an area where the earth and
its community of life are untrammeled by man,
where man himself is a visitor who does not
remain. An area of wilderness is further defined
to mean in this Act an area of undeveloped
Federal land retaining its primeval character and
influence, without permanent improvements or
human habitation, which is protected and
managed so as to preserve its natural conditions
and which (1) generally appears to have been
affected primarily by the forces of nature, with
the imprint of man’s work substantially
unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities
for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type
of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres
of land or is of sufficient size as to make
practicable its preservation and use in an
unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain
ecological, geological, or other features of
scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.
Note from the editors: Freedom, an essential
ingredient and quality of wilderness, was
beautifully captured by the crafters of the
Wilderness Act in the use of the relatively obscure
word “untrammeled.” While this word is often
confused with “untrampled,” Webster’s Third New
International Dictionary defines “untrammeled” as
unhindered. The American Heritage Dictionary
defines “untrammeled” as unshackled, allowed to
run free. For purposes of the Act, wilderness areas
7
President Lyndon
Johnson signs the
Wilderness Act.
“In wildness is
the preservation
of the world.”
— Henry David
Thoreau
are undeveloped federal lands largely retaining their
primeval character and influence without permanent
improvements or human habitation. They are to be
managed so as to preserve natural conditions.
Wilderness is further defined as an area that has
primarily been affected by the forces of nature with the
imprint of humans substantially unnoticeable, that offers
outstanding opportunity for solitude or a primitive or
unconfined type of recreation, and that may contain
ecological, geological, or other features of scientific,
educational, scenic, or historical values. However, the
Eastern Wilderness Areas Act made it clear that places
that had been cut over, grazed, or otherwise altered could
become wilderness areas if substantially restored or on
their way to recovery. A wilderness area must include at
least 5,000 acres or be of sufficient size to make
preservation practicable. The latter qualification
authorizes wilderness designation for areas less than
5,000 acres in size, such as islands or other enclaves that
can be adequately protected as wilderness in an
unimpaired condition. In fact, there are about 100
wilderness areas smaller than 5,000 acres.
8
NATIONAL WILDERNESS
PRESERVATION SYSTEM—
EXTENT OF SYSTEM
Section 3. (16 U.S.C. 1132)
(a) All areas within the national forests
classified at least 30 days before the effective
date of this Act by the Secretary of Agriculture
or the Chief of the Forest Service as
“wilderness,” “wild,” or “canoe” are hereby
designated as wilderness areas. The Secretary of
Agriculture shall—
(1) Within one year after the effective date of
this Act, file a map and legal description
of each wilderness area with the Interior
and Insular Affairs Committees of the
United States Senate and the House of
Representatives, and such descriptions
shall have the same force and effect as if
included in this Act: Provided, however,
That correction of clerical and
typographical errors in such legal
descriptions and maps may be made.
(2) Maintain, available to the public, records
pertaining to said wilderness areas,
including maps and legal descriptions,
copies of regulations governing them,
copies of public notices of, and reports
submitted to Congress regarding
pending additions, eliminations, or
modifications. Maps, legal descriptions,
and regulations pertaining to wilderness
areas within their respective jurisdictions
also shall be available to the public in the
offices of regional foresters, national forest
supervisors, and forest rangers.
9
MILESTONES
ALONG THE
WILDERNESS TRAIL
1956
Zahniser writes the
first draft of what
eventually becomes
the Wilderness Act.
1956
Senator Hubert
Humphrey (D-MN)
and Representative
John Saylor (R-PA)
introduce the first
wilderness bills in
Congress.
1964
President Lyndon
Johnson signs the
Wilderness Act on
September 3.
1968
The Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act is
enacted into law,
protecting rivers
with outstanding
wild, scenic, and
recreational values.
1969
The first national
wildlife refuge
wilderness area is
established inside
Great Swamp NWR
in New Jersey.
1971
The Forest Service
studies national
forest roadless areas
for wilderness
suitability and
decides that roadless
areas must be
totally pristine and
removed from the
“sights and sound”
of civilization to
qualify. No roadless
areas in the East are
found eligible;
national forests
there had earlier
been heavily roaded
Classification
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall, within ten
years after the enactment of this Act, review, as to its
suitability or nonsuitability for preservation as
wilderness, each area in the national forests classified
on the effective date of this Act by the Secretary of
Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Service as
“primitive” and report his findings to the President.
Howard Zahniser
“A wilderness...
is hereby recognized
as an area where
the earth and its
community of life
are untrammeled
by man, where
man himself is a
visitor who does
not remain.”
—The Wilderness
Act of 1964
Presidential recommendation to Congress
The President shall advise the United States
Senate and House of Representatives of his
recommendations with respect to the designation as
‘wilderness’ or other reclassification of each area on
which review has been completed, together with
maps and a definition of boundaries. Such advice
shall be given with respect to not less than onethird of all the areas now classified as “primitive”
within three years after the enactment of this
Act, and the remaining areas within ten years
after the enactment of this Act.
Note from the editors: There were 34 “primitive” areas
in the national forests, totaling 5.4 million acres. Of
those, all but parts of one area comprising 174,000
acres have been dealt with by Congress, with
most of the acreage designated as wilderness,
often with substantial further expansions.
Congressional approval
Each recommendation of the President for
designation as “wilderness” shall become effective
only if so provided by an Act of Congress. Areas
classified as “primitive” on the effective date of
this Act shall continue to be administered under
the rules and regulations affecting such areas on
the effective date of this Act until Congress has
determined otherwise. Any such area may be
increased in size by the President at the time he
submits his recommendations to the Congress by
10
not more than five thousand acres with no
more than one thousand two hundred acres
in any one compact unit; if it is proposed to
increase the size of any such area by more
than five thousand acres or by more than one
thousand two hundred and eighty acres in
any one compact unit the increase in size
shall not become effective until acted upon
by Congress. Nothing herein contained shall
limit the President in proposing, as part of
his recommendations to Congress, the
alteration of existing boundaries of primitive
areas or recommending the addition of any
contiguous area of national forest lands
predominantly of wilderness value.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
Act, the Secretary of Agriculture may
complete his review and delete such areas as
may be necessary, but not to exceed seven
thousand acres, from the southern tip of the
Gore Range-Eagles Nest Primitive Area,
Colorado, if the Secretary determines that
such action is in the public interest.
Report to President
(c) Within ten years after the effective date of
this Act the Secretary of the Interior shall
review every roadless area of five thousand
contiguous acres or more in the national
parks, monuments, and other units of the
national park system and every such area of,
and every roadless island within, the
national wildlife refuges and game ranges,
under his jurisdiction on the effective date of
this Act and shall report to the President his
recommendation as to the suitability or
nonsuitability of each such area or island for
preservation as wilderness.
11
MILESTONES
ALONG THE
WILDERNESS TRAIL
1975
and logged.
Congress, rejecting
arguments against
eastern wilderness,
designates 16
national forest
wilderness areas in
13 states in the
Eastern Wilderness
Areas Act.
1976
Section 603 of the
Federal Land Policy
and Management
Act (FLPMA) directs
the Bureau of Land
Management to
evaluate its roadless
land and determine
which areas should
be recommended for
wilderness.
1978
In the Endangered
American
Wilderness Act,
Congress designates
significant
wilderness acreage
in the West and
makes it clear that
wild areas cannot be
disqualified as
wilderness simply
because cities or
towns can be seen
or heard from them.
1978
Congress designates
the first Bureau of
Land Management
wilderness areas: the
Rogue River in
Oregon and the
Santa Lucia in
California.
Presidential recommendation to Congress
The President shall advise the President of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives of his recommendation with
respect to the designation as wilderness of each
such area or island on which review has been
completed, together with a map thereof and a
definition of its boundaries. Such advice shall
be given with respect to not less than one-third
of the areas and islands to be reviewed under
this subsection within three years after
enactment of this Act, not less than two-thirds
within seven years of enactment of this Act,
and the remainder within ten years of
enactment of this Act.
Congressional approval
A recommendation of the President for
designation as wilderness shall become effective
only if so provided by an Act of Congress.
Nothing contained herein shall, by implication or
otherwise, be construed to lessen the present
statutory authority of the Secretary of the Interior
with respect to the maintenance of roadless
areas within units of the national park system.
©Frank S. Balthis
Gila National Forest,
New Mexico
Suitability
(d)(1) The Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior shall, prior to
submitting any recommendations to the
President with respect to the suitability of any
area for preservation as wilderness—
Publication in Federal Register.
(A) give such public notice of the proposed
action as they deem appropriate, including
publication in the Federal Register and in a
newspaper having general circulation in the
area or areas in the vicinity of the affected land;
12
Hearings
(B) hold a public hearing or hearings at a
location or locations convenient to the area
affected. The hearings shall be announced
through such means as the respective
Secretaries involved deem appropriate,
including notices in the Federal Register and
in newspapers of general circulation in the
area: Provided. That if the lands involved are
located in more than one State, at least one
hearing shall be held in each State in which
a portion of the land lies;
(C) at least thirty days before the date of a
hearing advise the Governor of each State
and the governing board of each county, or
in Alaska the borough, in which the lands
are located, and Federal departments and
agencies concerned, and invite such officials
and Federal agencies to submit their views
on the proposed action at the hearing or by
no later than thirty days following the date
of the hearing.
(2) Any views submitted to the
appropriate Secretary under the provisions
of (1) of this subsection with respect to
any area shall be included with any
recommendations to the President and to
Congress with respect to such area.
Proposed modification
(e) Any modification or adjustment of
boundaries of any wilderness area shall be
recommended by the appropriate Secretary
after public notice of such proposal and public
hearing or hearings as provided in subsection
(d) of this section. The proposed modification
or adjustment shall then be recommended
with map and description thereof to the
President. The President shall advise the
13
MILESTONES
ALONG THE
WILDERNESS TRAIL
1979
The Forest Service
completes its second
system-wide study of
roadless lands, which
serves as the starting
point for Congress in
designating national
forest wilderness
areas on a state-bystate basis during
the 1980s.
1980
The Alaska National
Interest Lands
Conservation Act
triples the size of the
Wilderness System.
1984
Congress designates
8.3 million acres of
national forest
wilderness in 20
statewide bills.
1989
Congress adds
733,400 acres of
Nevada national
forest lands to the
Wilderness System.
1990
The first statewide
Bureau of Land
Management
wilderness legislation
is enacted (Arizona),
designating more
than one million
acres of BLM land
and 1.3 million acres
on national wildlife
refuges. Congress
also adds 300,000
acres of Alaska’s
Tongass National
Forest to the
Wilderness System
and provides strong
permanent
protection for
another 700,000
acres of ancient forest
in the Tongass.
United States Senate and the House of Representatives of his
recommendations with respect to such modification or adjustment and
such recommendations shall become effective only in the same manner
as provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
USE OF WILDERNESS AREAS
Section 4. (16 U.S.C. 1133)
(a) The purposes of this Act are hereby declared to be within and
supplemental to the purposes for which national forests and units
of the national park and wildlife refuge systems are established and
administered and—
(1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to be in interference with
the purpose for which national forests are established as set forth
in the Act of June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 11), and the Multiple-Use
Sustained-Yield Act of June 12, 1960 (74 Stat. 215).
(2) Nothing in this Act shall modify the restrictions and provisions
of the Shipstead-Nolan Act (Public Law 539, Seventy-first
Congress, July 10, 1930; 46 Stat. 1020), the Thye-Blatnik Act
(Public Law 733, Eightieth Congress, June 2, 1948; 62 Stat.
568), and the Humphrey-Thye-Blatnik-Andresen Act (Public Law
607, Eighty-fourth Congress, June 22, 1956; 70 Stat. 326), as
applying to the Superior National Forest or the regulations of the
Secretary of Agriculture.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall modify the statutory authority under which
units of the national park system are created. Further, the designation
of any area of any park, monument, or other unit of the national park
system as a wilderness area pursuant to this Act shall in no manner
lower the standards evolved for the use and preservation of such park,
monument, or other unit of the national park system in accordance
with the Act of August 25, 1916, the statutory authority under
which the area was created, or any other Act of Congress which
might pertain to or affect such area, including, but not limited to,
the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225; 16 U.S.C. 432 et seq.); section
3(2) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796 (2); and the Act of
August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).
14
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this Act,
each agency administering any area designated
as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving
the wilderness character of the area and shall so
administer such area for such other purposes for
which it may have been established as also to
preserve its wilderness character. Except as
otherwise provided in this Act, wilderness areas
shall be devoted to the public purposes of
recreational, scenic, scientific, educational,
conservation, and historical use.
Note from the editors: Section 4(a) declares that
the Act shall be supplemental to the purposes
for which the national forests, parks, and
refuges have been established. The primary
management goal for wilderness, then, is the
preservation of the wilderness character. Other
permitted uses of the federal land from which
the wilderness area was withdrawn may
continue if they do not interfere with the
preservation of wilderness character. For
example, road building and timber cutting that
may be allowed in national forests are not
permitted in a national forest wilderness;
hunting, fishing, and other types of nonmotorized and non-mechanized recreation,
however, may continue as in other portions of
the national forest.
PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES
(c) Except as specifically provided for in this Act,
and subject to existing private rights, there shall
be no commercial enterprise and no permanent
road within any wilderness area designated by
this Act and except as necessary to meet
minimum requirements for the administration of
the area for the purpose of this Act (including
measures required in emergencies involving the
15
MILESTONES
ALONG THE
WILDERNESS TRAIL
1993
Nineteen Colorado
wilderness areas are
designated or
expanded, adding
427,000 acres to the
Wilderness System.
1994
President Clinton
signs the California
Desert Protection
Act, designating
7.58 million acres
of wilderness.
2000
The Wilderness
System grows by
more than a million
acres, with additions
in Virginia,
Colorado, Nevada,
and Oregon.
2002
Congress designates a
total of more than a
half million acres,
protecting lands in
California, Colorado,
Nevada, and South
Dakota.
health and safety of persons within the area), there shall be no
temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or
motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical
transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS
(d) The following special provisions are hereby made:
(1) Within wilderness areas designated by this Act the use of
aircraft or motorboats, where these uses have already become
established, may be permitted to continue subject to such
restrictions as the Secretary of Agriculture deems desirable. In
addition, such measure may be taken as may be necessary in
the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such
conditions as the Secretary deems desirable.
(2) Nothing in this Act shall prevent within national forest
wilderness areas any activity, including prospecting, for the
purpose of gathering information about mineral or other
resources, if such activity is carried on in a manner
compatible with the preservation of the wilderness
environment. Furthermore, in accordance with such
program as the Secretary of the Interior shall develop and
conduct in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture,
such areas shall be surveyed on a planned, recurring basis
consistent with the concept of wilderness preservation by
the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines to determine
the mineral values, if any, that may be present; and the
results of such surveys shall be made available to the public
and submitted to the President and Congress.
Mineral leases, claims, etc.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, until
midnight December 31, 1983, the United States mining laws
and all laws pertaining to mineral leasing shall, to the same
extent as applicable prior to the effective date of this Act, extend
to those national forest lands designated by this Act as
‘wilderness areas’; subject, however, to such reasonable
regulations governing ingress and egress as may be prescribed
16
by the Secretary of Agriculture consistent with the use of the
land for mineral location and development and exploration,
drilling, and production, and use of land for transmission lines,
waterlines, telephone lines, or facilities necessary in exploring,
drilling, production, mining, and processing operations,
including where essential the use of mechanized ground or air
equipment and restoration as near as practicable of the surface of
the land disturbed in performing prospecting, location, and, in
oil and gas leasing, discovery work, exploration, drilling, and
production, as soon as they have served their purpose. Mining
locations lying within the boundaries of said wilderness areas
shall be held and used solely for mining or processing operations
and uses reasonably incident thereto; and hereafter, subject to valid
existing rights, all patents issued under the mining laws of the
United States affecting national forest lands designated by this Act
as wilderness areas shall convey title to the mineral deposits within
the claim, together with the right to cut and use so much of the
mature timber there from as may be needed in the extraction,
removal, and beneficiation of the mineral deposits, if the timber is
not otherwise reasonably available, and if the timber is cut under
sound principles of forest management as defined by the national
forest rules and regulations, but each such patent shall reserve to
the United States all title in or to the surface of the lands and
products thereof, and no use of the surface of the claim or the
resources there from not reasonably required for carrying on mining
or prospecting shall be allowed except as otherwise expressly
provided in this Act: Provided, That, unless hereafter specifically
authorized, no patent within wilderness areas designated by this
Act shall issue after December 31, 1983, except for the valid claims
existing on or before December 31, 1983. Mining claims located
after the effective date of this Act within the boundaries of
wilderness areas designated by this Act shall create no rights in
excess of those rights which may be patented under the provisions
of this subsection. Mineral leases, permits, and licenses covering
lands within national forest wilderness areas designated by this Act
shall contain such reasonable stipulations as may be prescribed by
the Secretary of Agriculture for the protection of the wilderness
character of the land consistent with the use of the land for the
purposes for which they are leased, permitted, or licensed. Subject
to valid rights then existing, effective January 1, 1984, the
17
minerals in lands designated by this Act as wilderness areas are
withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the mining laws
and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing
and all amendments thereto.
Note from the editors: Section 4(d)(3) sanctioned the staking of mining
claims and the operation of mineral laws in national forest wilderness
areas until January 1, 1984, although Congress later blocked leasing
of minerals in wilderness areas during 1982 and 1983. Wilderness
areas are now closed to all new mineral leasing and mining claims.
Only valid claims to hardrock minerals may be worked after January
1, 1984. For a claim to be considered valid, it must have been properly
located, recorded, and maintained and must have contained a
discovery of a valuable, locatable mineral deposit within its
boundaries prior to midnight, December 31, 1983. The Forest Service
and the BLM have no authority to approve mining operation plans
unless a valuable deposit was discovered before that deadline. Mineral
development frequently defaces the landscape; requires destructive
access methods; causes air, water, and noise pollution; and damages fish,
wildlife, recreation, and watershed resources. Congress and the courts
have recognized that activities associated with mineral development are
incompatible with the concept of wilderness.
Water resources and grazing
(4) Within wilderness areas in the national forests designated by this Act,
(1) the President may, within a specific area and in accordance with such
regulations as he may deem desirable, authorize prospecting for water
resources, the establishment and maintenance of reservoirs, waterconservation works, power projects, transmission lines, and other facilities
needed in the public interest, including the road construction and
maintenance essential to development and use thereof, upon his
determination that such use or uses in the specific area will better serve the
interests of the United States and the people thereof than will its denial;
and (2) the grazing of livestock, where established prior to the effective
date of this Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable
regulations as are deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture.
(5) Commercial services may be performed within the wilderness areas
designated by this Act to the extent necessary for activities which are proper
for realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes of the areas.
18
(6) Nothing in this Act shall constitute an express
or implied claim or denial on the part of the Federal
Government as to exemption from State water laws.
(7) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as
affecting the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the
several States with respect to wildlife and fish in
the national forests.
Note from the editors: When signed, the Wilderness
Act contained a provision dealing with
management of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
in Minnesota. It was the original subsection (d)(5),
but it was repealed in 1978 by P.L. 95-495, which
expanded and strengthened protection of this
wilderness area. That led to the renumbering of
three other subsections.
STATE AND PRIVATE LANDS WITHIN
WILDERNESS AREAS
Section 5. (16 U.S.C. 1134)
(a) In any case where State-owned or privately
owned land is completely surrounded by national
forest lands within areas designated by this Act as
wilderness, such State or private owner shall be
given such rights as may be necessary to assure
adequate access to such State-owned or privately
owned land by such State or private owner and
their successors in interest, or the State-owned
land or privately owned land shall be exchanged
for federally owned land in the same State of
approximately equal value under authorities
available to the Secretary of Agriculture:
Transfers, restriction
(a) Provided, however, That the United States
shall not transfer to a State or private owner any
mineral interests unless the State or private
owner relinquishes or causes to be relinquished
19
“I hope that the
United States of
America is not so
rich that she
cannot afford to let
these wildernesses
pass by. Or so
poor that she
cannot afford
to keep them.”
— Margaret Murie
to the United States the mineral interest in the surrounded land.
(b) In any case where valid mining claims or other valid occupancies
are wholly within a designated national forest wilderness area, the
Secretary of Agriculture shall, by reasonable regulations consistent with
the preservation of the area as wilderness, permit ingress and egress to
such surrounded areas by means which have been or are being
customarily enjoyed with respect to other such areas similarly situated.
Acquisition
(c) Subject to the appropriation of funds by Congress, the Secretary of
Agriculture is authorized to acquire privately owned land within the
perimeter of any area designated by this Act as wilderness if (1) the
owner concurs in such acquisition or (2) the acquisition is specifically
authorized by Congress.
GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Section 6. (16 U.S.C. 1135)
(a) The Secretary of Agriculture may accept gifts or bequests of land
within wilderness areas designated by this Act for preservation as
wilderness. The Secretary of Agriculture may also accept gifts or
bequests of land adjacent to wilderness areas designated by this Act
for preservation as wilderness if he has given sixty days advance notice
thereof to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives. Land accepted by the Secretary of Agriculture under
this section shall become part of the wilderness area involved.
Regulations with regard to any such land may be in accordance with
such agreements, consistent with the policy of this Act, as are made
at the time of such gift, or such conditions, consistent with such
policy, as may be included in, and accepted with, such bequest.
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior is
authorized to accept private contributions and gifts to be used to
further the purposes of this Act.
20
ANNUAL REPORTS
Section 7. (16 U.S.C. 1136)
At the opening of each session of Congress, the Secretaries of Agriculture
and Interior shall jointly report to the President for transmission to
Congress on the status of the wilderness system including a list and
descriptions of the areas in the system, regulations in effect, and other
pertinent information, together with any recommendations they may
care to make.
Note from the editors: This requirement was terminated, effective May
15, 2000, by the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of
1995 (P.L. 104-66, Section 3003). As of 2003, the National Park
Service continued to file them. The reports are available from the
Office of the Secretary, United States Department of the Interior,
Washington, D.C. 20240.
Approved September 3, 1964
Legislative History
House Reports:
No. 1538 accompanying H.R. 9070 (Committee on Interior
& Insular Affairs) and No. 1829 (Committee of Conference)
Senate Report:
No. 109 (Committee on Interior & Insular Affairs)
Congressional Record:
Vol. 109 (1963): April 4, 8, considered in Senate. April 9,
considered and passed Senate.
Vol. 110 (1964): July 28, considered in House. July 30,
considered and passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 9070.
August 20, House and Senate agreed to conference report.
21
3. Designating New
Wilderness Areas
A
s noted, Section 2(c) of the Wilderness Act sets the parameters
for defining wilderness and deciding which federal lands are
eligible for the National Wilderness Preservation System. Over the
years, critics have charged that federal land management agencies
have used an unreasonably strict—or “purist”—interpretation of the
Act to limit the number of new wilderness areas. Congress and the
courts have frequently agreed and have taken steps to correct
restrictive agency interpretations, especially those of the Forest
Service and the BLM. In fact, under the Act, Congress itself is the
only decision-maker on which areas are to be added to the system.
The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as “an area of undeveloped
federal land retaining its primeval character and influence..., which
generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of
nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable.”
The definition does not require a pristine appearance with no evidence
of human activities. Rather, it states that an area must appear to be
substantially natural and that human imprints cannot dominate.
©Brien Culhane
The following excerpts from committee reports address major points
in the purity controversy. (Committee reports accompany legislation
out of committee to the House or Senate floor. They explain the
meaning of the bills, providing guidance to the agencies and the
public about the correct reading of the legislation.) The first report, for
the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act of 1975, makes clear that land that
was once cut over or otherwise significantly altered by humans may be
eligible for wilderness designation if it has been restored to a
substantially natural appearance. In fact, the Eastern Wilderness Areas
Act designated as wilderness a number of areas that had recovered
from heavy logging and other disturbances.
The second excerpt, from the report on the Endangered American
Wilderness Act of 1978, states that areas are not disqualified from
consideration as wilderness because of the “sights and sounds” of
23
civilization located outside the areas. In that Act, Congress
designated a number of wilderness areas near major cities to
demonstrate the principle.
Before proceeding with the excerpts, we note that the Wilderness Act
also states that land eligible for wilderness designation should have
“outstanding opportunities for solitude, or a primitive and unconfined
type of recreation.” The Bureau of Land Management has interpreted
that standard in a particularly unreasonable manner. The agency
dropped many areas, some more than 100,000 acres in size, from
consideration for wilderness because they were flat or lacked
“vegetative screening,” supposedly making them incapable of providing
sufficient opportunities for solitude. Congressional oversight and
administrative appeals have challenged the BLM’s interpretation.
P.L. 93-622
93rd Congress, 2nd Session
January 3, 1975
THE EASTERN WILDERNESS AREAS ACT
Senate Report 93-803
[to accompany S.3433]
May 2, 1974
“Since the enactment of the Wilderness Act of 1964, 95 wilderness
areas have been designated in the United States. However, only 4 of
these have been designated in National Forests east of the 100th
meridian. Thus, most of the wilderness areas are in the less populous
western part of the Nation, while in the more populous eastern half of
the United States, there are few wilderness areas.
This situation results, in part, from the position that the Forest Service
has taken as to what qualifies as wilderness. The Forest Service, in
contrast with the National Park Service and the Bureau of Sport
Fisheries and Wildlife [renamed the Fish and Wildlife Service] has
taken the position that most of the areas in the East are not sufficiently
pristine to qualify as wilderness. The Interior Committee has under
active consideration several bills that would designate wilderness
areas in eastern lands administered by the National Park Service and
the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. The Interior Committee
has, in the past, approved several bills designating such areas in the
24
East. It cannot be questioned that National Forest lands in the East
have felt the impact of man. However, many of these areas have been
restored or are in the process of restoration to a primitive and
natural condition.
The Forest Service interpretation of the definition of wilderness in
section 2(c) of the Wilderness Act of 1964 has come under heavy
attack by certain citizen and conservation groups. Many citizens
have felt that there is a pressing need to set aside and preserve
primitive areas in the eastern United States regardless of whether
these areas have in the past felt the heavy impact of man.... The
Forest Service felt, [however], that because most of these wildernesslike settings in the East had been cut over, or in some other way
seriously scarred by man, they would not qualify for wilderness
designation under the criteria of the Wilderness Act of 1964.”
Section 2 of the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act contains the
statement of findings and policy. It includes a congressional
determination of the “urgent need” to find, study, and include
eastern areas in the National Wilderness Preservation System. The
section concludes with the congressional declaration of policy that
the national interest would be served by a program that results in
the prompt designation of additional wilderness areas. These
wilderness areas are to be preserved and managed so as to promote
and perpetuate the wilderness character of the land, including its
values of solitude, physical and mental challenge, scientific study,
inspiration, and primitive recreation.
P.L. 95-220
95th Congress, 2nd Session
February 24, 1978
THE ENDANGERED AMERICAN WILDERNESS ACT
House Report 95-540
[to accompany H.R. 3454]
July 27, 1977
“...[I]ntense criticism has been leveled at the criteria and rating
system used by the Forest Service to disqualify the 44 million plus
acres of nonselected ‘de facto’ wilderness areas. Among other things,
the 1972 Forest Service RARE II review: (1) arbitrarily fragmented
25
large roadless tracts into smaller units thus lowering possible points
given to an area on the Forest Service’s rating system for ‘solitude’;
(2) deducted rating points for areas containing commercial timber
reflecting a Forest Service policy that designated Wilderness Areas
should not have significant volumes of commercial timber—a policy
which is definitely not contained in the Wilderness Act; and (3)
adopted a ‘purity’ definition and concept of wilderness so stringent as
to preclude most ‘de facto’ wilderness from further wilderness study.
The latter concept of wilderness, the so-called ‘purity’ issue, has
generated extensive debate. Testimony presented during nine days
of Subcommittee hearings on H.R. 3454 repeated allegations that
the Forest Service has been unduly restrictive in setting wilderness
evaluation criteria that relied solely on the most stringent possible
interpretation of the definition section (section 2(c)) of the
Wilderness Act. For example, instead of recommending further
wilderness studies in areas where ‘the imprint of man’s work (is)
substantially unnoticeable’ as stated in section 2(c) of the
Wilderness Act, the Forest Service’s 1972 RARE review generally
did not favor areas where any trace of man’s activities was present.
Further, many areas, including the Lone Peak and Sandia Mountain
proposals in H.R. 3454, received lower wilderness quality ratings
because the Forest Service implemented a ‘sights and sounds’
doctrine that subtracted points in areas where the sights and sounds
of nearby cities (often many miles away) could be perceived from
anywhere within the area. This eliminated many areas near population
centers and has denied a potential nearby high-quality wilderness
experience to many metropolitan residents, and is inconsistent with
Congress’ goal of creating parks and locating wilderness areas near
population centers. The committee is therefore in emphatic support
of the Administration’s decision to immediately discontinue this
‘sights and sounds’ doctrine.”
26
4. National Forest Wilderness
O
f the four federal land systems, national forests have the longest
wilderness tradition. The Wilderness Act of 1964 designated
9.1 million acres of wilderness—all of it within the National Forest
System. Since then, Congress has designated an additional 25.7
million acres of national forest wilderness. Today the total stands at
34.8 million acres in 38 states.
Not surprisingly, the Forest Service has the most highly developed
and visible wilderness management program within the four land
management agencies. The Forest Service has the most experience, a
long-standing commitment to wilderness training, and the most
people allocated to wilderness management. Along with the BLM,
the Forest Service also has a discrete budget line item for wilderness
management. The agency also spearheaded the formation of the
Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training Center and the Aldo Leopold
Wilderness Research Institute, both in Montana.
The secretary of agriculture completed the review of primitive
areas within the ten-year period specified by Section (3)(b) of the
Act. Many of the determinations included proposed additions of
contiguous national forest lands to wilderness areas designated by the
Wilderness Act. Presidential recommendations regarding those lands
have been made. Congress has made decisions on nearly all
of the primitive area recommendations, designating more than
five million acres of wilderness in addition to the 9.1 million acres
established by the Wilderness Act. Still awaiting action are 174,000
acres in Arizona’s Blue Range.
Nothing in the Wilderness Act prevents the secretary of agriculture from
considering designation of lands not within primitive areas, and a
number of reviews of de facto wilderness have taken place. The first
was the system-wide Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE),
which occurred between 1971 and 1973, and which was successfully
challenged in court as inadequate (Sierra Club v. Butz). In the mid1970s, the Forest Service began a separate review of each area studied
during RARE as part of agency’s planning process for all national forests.
27
In 1977, the Carter administration ordered a second system-wide
review called RARE II. Completed in 1979, RARE II was an
accelerated study of 62 million acres of roadless areas for potential
wilderness designation. Congress responded to the RARE II
recommendations, and to a 1982 federal court of appeals decision that
RARE II was also inadequate (California v. Block), with state-by-state
legislation for numerous states. Besides designating new wilderness
areas, the RARE II bills prohibited the Forest Service from conducting
additional statewide wilderness reviews and directed the agency to
review the wilderness option when revising individual national
forest management plans.
Today, wilderness advocates continue to press for the inclusion of
deserving national forest lands in the National Wilderness
Preservation System. The Forest Service conducts new wilderness
reviews during the forest plan revision process for each national
forest, established by the National Forest Management Act of 1976
(NFMA). The RARE and RARE II experiences indicate a need for
vigorous public participation in the planning process to ensure that
agency reviews are conducted carefully and that subsequent
recommendations are adequate.
Regulations were promulgated under NFMA to guide the review of
roadless areas for wilderness designation in the forest planning process.
The regulations in effect as of April 2004 are excerpted below. These
regulations may be revised in 2004. The latest version of the planning
regulations (36 C.F.R. 219) can be obtained from the Forest Service
website at http://www.fs.fed.us/forum/nepa/nfmalrmpreg.htm> or
from any Forest Service office.
The NFMA was actually a series of amendments to the Resource
Planning Act of 1974. Section 6 of the NFMA directed that the
plans include coordination of wilderness and other multiple uses.
28
NFMA REGULATIONS
36 C.F.R. 219.17, Wilderness Designation
“(a) Unless otherwise provided by law, roadless areas within the
National Forest System shall be evaluated and considered for
recommendation as potential wilderness areas during the forest
planning process, as provided in paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section.
(i) Roadless areas including those previously inventoried in the
second roadless area review and evaluation (RARE II), in a unit
plan, or in a forest plan, which remain essentially roadless and
undeveloped, and which have not yet been designated as wilderness
or for nonwilderness uses by law. In addition, other essentially
roadless areas may be subject to evaluation at the discretion of the
Forest Supervisor.
(ii) Areas contiguous to existing wilderness, primitive areas, or
administratively proposed wildernesses, regardless of which agency
has jurisdiction for the wilderness or proposed wilderness;
(iii) Areas that are contiguous to roadless and undeveloped areas in
other Federal ownership that have identified wilderness potential; and
(iv) Areas designated by Congress for wilderness study, administrative
proposals pending before Congress, and other legislative proposals
pending which have been endorsed by the President.
(2) For each area subject to evaluation under paragraph (a)(1) of this
section the evaluation, and the determination of the appropriate
detail and scope of evaluation, shall be developed with public
participation. As a minimum, the evaluation shall include
consideration of:
(i) The values of the area as wilderness;
(ii) The values foregone and effects on management of adjacent
lands as a consequence of wilderness designation;
(iii) Feasibility of management as wilderness, in respect to size,
nonconforming use, land ownership patterns, and existing
contractual agreements or statutory rights;
29
(iv) Proximity to other designated wilderness and relative
contribution to the National Wilderness Preservation System; and
(v) The anticipated long-term changes in plant and animal species
diversity, including the diversity of natural plant and animal
communities of the forest planning area and the effects of such
changes on the values for which wilderness areas were created.”
[For a thorough discussion of grazing in wilderness, see page 43.]
“The action and tone
of his statement leads
me to conclude that
Secretary Watt’s idea
of wilderness is
a parking lot
without lines.”
— Don Edwards
30
5. Bureau of Land
Management Wilderness
T
he Bureau of Land Management is responsible for administering
approximately 262 million acres of public land in 11 western
states and Alaska. Of this total land base, only 6,512,000 acres have
been made part of the Wilderness System.
The Wilderness Act did not direct BLM to conduct a wilderness review
on its land, in part because there was not yet legislation to settle the
question of whether BLM lands would be retained in public ownership.
To get at this fundamental question, in 1976 Congress enacted the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the first
comprehensive “organic” law governing Bureau of Land Management
lands. Section 603 of FLPMA directed the BLM to identify and
inventory all the public lands having wilderness characteristics and
values as defined in the Wilderness Act and to study them for possible
recommendation as wilderness. Upon conclusion of the studies, the
law required that reports be submitted to the president and then to
Congress for action.
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act left the discretion
to conduct wilderness reviews with the Interior secretary. However,
in 1981 then-Secretary James G. Watt directed the BLM not to
evaluate the 70 million acres that the agency managed in Alaska to
determine their wilderness potential. Though this order was lifted
by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in 2001, it was re-imposed by
Interior Secretary Gale Norton in April 2003. However, under
FLPMA (Sections 201 and 202) and the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), the BLM is still required to review wilderness.
As of early 2004, the BLM was managing some 17.2 million acres
as wilderness study areas (WSAs). FLPMA required the BLM to
manage WSAs “so as not to impair the suitability of such areas for
preservation as wilderness.” This is to ensure that their wilderness
values are not damaged before Congress has had an opportunity to
decide whether they should be added to the National Wilderness
31
Preservation System. While only Congress can release a WSA to
development, FLPMA protects valid existing rights and certain
established uses, which are allowed to continue in WSAs in a manner
that minimizes impacts on wilderness values. FLPMA also stated that
designated wilderness areas on BLM lands must be managed under
the same principles set forth for national forest wilderness areas in the
Wilderness Act.
In April 2003, the Interior Department authorized a settlement of a
lawsuit brought by the state of Utah prohibiting BLM from designating
any more WSAs. Unless overturned, this agreement will prevent the
agency from determining whether tens of millions of acres of western
wildlands should be protected for future generations by putting them
into the National Wilderness Preservation System. In May 2003, The
Wilderness Society and other organizations went to federal court to
try to overturn this policy.
In June 2000, protected areas within the BLM received increased
attention when the agency established the National Landscape
Conservation System (NLCS), comprised of some of the BLM's most
remarkable public land areas. This system consists of BLM national
monuments, national conservation areas, the Headwaters Forest Reserve,
wilderness areas, wilderness study areas, wild and scenic rivers, and BLMmanaged units of the National Trails System—both historic and scenic.
FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT
Public Law 94-579 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)
94th Congress, 2nd Session
October 21, 1976
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT WILDERNESS STUDY
Section 603(a)
“Within fifteen years after the date of approval of this Act, the Secretary
shall review those roadless areas of five thousand acres or more and
roadless islands of the public lands, identified during the inventory
required by section 201(a) of this Act as having wilderness characteristics
described in the Wilderness Act of September 3, 1964 (78 Stat. 890; 16
U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and shall from time to time report to the President
his recommendation as to the suitability or nonsuitability of each such
area or island for preservation as wilderness: Provided, That prior to any
32
recommendations for the designation of an area as wilderness the
Secretary shall cause mineral surveys to be conducted by the Geological
Survey and the Bureau of Mines to determine the mineral values, if any,
that may be present in such areas: Provided further, That the Secretary
shall report to the President by July 1, 1980, his recommendations on
those areas which the Secretary had prior to November 1, 1975,
formally identified as natural or primitive areas. The review required by
this subsection shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure
specified in section 3(d) of the Wilderness Act.
(b) The President shall advise the President of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect to
designation as wilderness of each such area, together with a map thereof
and a definition of its boundaries. Such advice by the President shall be
given within two years of the receipt of each report from the Secretary.
A recommendation of the President for designation as wilderness shall
become effective only if so provided by an Act of Congress.
(c) During the period of review of such areas and until Congress has
determined otherwise, the Secretary shall continue to manage such
lands according to his authority under this Act and other applicable law
in a manner so as not to impair the suitability of such areas for
preservation as wilderness, subject, however, to the continuation of
existing mining and grazing uses and mineral leasing in the manner
and degree in which the same was being conducted on the date of
approval of this Act: Provided, That, in managing the public lands the
Secretary shall by regulation or otherwise take any action required to
prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of the lands and their
resources or to afford environmental protection. Unless previously
withdrawn from appropriation under the mining laws, such lands shall
continue to be subject to such appropriation during the period of
review unless withdrawn by the Secretary under the procedures of
section 204 of this Act for reasons other than preservation of their
wilderness character. Once an area has been designated for preservation
as wilderness, the provisions of the Wilderness Act which apply to
national forest wilderness areas shall apply with respect to the
administration and use of such designated area, including mineral
surveys required by section 4(d)(2) of the Wilderness Act, and mineral
development, access, exchange of lands, and ingress and egress for
mining claimants and occupants.”
33
6. National Park Wilderness
S
ection 3(2)(c) of the Wilderness Act required the Secretary of the Interior
to review, during a ten-year period, roadless areas of 5,000 or more
contiguous acres in then-existing National Park System units. In addition
to this explicit direction, NPS has the affirmative, ongoing obligation under
the NPS Organic Act, Wilderness Act, and National Environmental
Protection Act, as well as NPS Management Policies, to conduct suitability
studies of roadless areas in all parks and additions to parks. The agency has
made many wilderness recommendations and sent them to the president,
who forwarded them to Congress. However, the Park Service has yet to
study 13 park units in existence in 1964 and 26 units created after 1964.
Nor has the agency taken the simple step of forwarding to the president 2.7
million acres in recommendations. Of those recommendations that have
been received, Congress has yet to act on 17, totaling 5.5 million acres.
The most troubling acreage figures involve Alaska, home to more than twothirds of all National Park System lands. In 1980, when President Jimmy
Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
(ANILCA), 32.9 million acres of Park System lands were added to the
Wilderness System. The Act directed the Interior secretary to study an
additional 21.8 million acres in 13 parks to determine whether they, too,
should become wilderness areas. In 1988 the Park Service issued an
environmental impact statement finding nearly 17 million acres qualified
for designation. The assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks
ordered that the “preferred alternative” be cut back to seven million acres.
In December 1988, the acting assistant secretary reduced the
recommendation further, to 4.7 million acres. The Interior Department has
yet to make an official proposal to the president, and the Park Service
remains responsible for maintaining the wilderness quality of the land.
©D.C. Lowe
Management of park wilderness
The Wilderness Act of 1964 significantly strengthened the protection of
National Park System lands that are designated or under study for
wilderness designation. The Park Service manages nearly 44 million acres of
wilderness—more than any other federal agency. Indeed, wilderness is at
the core of major ecosystems within the park system. Yet, historically
within the National Park Service, wilderness has suffered an identity crisis.
35
In 1993, in recognition of this long-standing shortcoming, the director of the
National Park Service established a “Wilderness Task Force” to develop
recommendations on ways the Park Service could improve its wilderness
stewardship and management performance. In 1994 this task force released a
remarkably candid assessment of wilderness and the National Park Service.
The task force found that there had been no collective understanding of the
relationship between the 1916 Park Service Organic Act and the Wilderness
Act of 1964 and the implications this has for park management. Moreover,
the task force found that, institutionally, the importance of wilderness and its
effect on management had not been separated from basic park management—
the so-called “front-country, back-country” syndrome.
To rectify this situation, the task force made strong recommendations on six
major elements: wilderness leadership, conveying the wilderness message,
investing in wilderness management training, improving wilderness
planning, improving resource management, and unjamming the wilderness
designation backlog.
The Park Service has started to make good on a number of these
recommendations, but still has much room for improvement. On the positive
side, the agency has established an internal National Wilderness Steering
Committee and a Wilderness Policy Council, both of which provide better
leadership. An awards program has been established to recognize excellence in
wilderness at the field level. The Park Service has also produced a set of
Directors Orders to improve wilderness leadership, which is complemented
by a set of refined wilderness policies and a Wilderness Managers Toolbox.
The agency is a participant in the Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training Center
in Huson, Montana.
Areas in which improvement is needed include training across the agency on
wilderness and more staff dedicated to wilderness in the Washington and
regional offices. While 51 percent of all national park lands have been
designated as wilderness, there is only one person working full-time on
wilderness management. In addition, as noted above, the Park Service must
fulfill its long-standing wilderness review and recommendation obligations,
including: 1) completing suitability studies for all parks and additions, 2)
conversion of potential wilderness to designated wilderness where appropriate,
and 3) ensuring that more than the current 12 of 75 park units containing
designated wilderness have approved wilderness management plans.
36
7. National Wildlife Refuge
Wilderness
T
he Wilderness Act’s Section 3(2)(c) required the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct wilderness reviews for all roadless areas of
5,000 or more contiguous acres and all roadless islands in the
National Wildlife Refuge System. In response, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service began proposing areas in the Refuge System for
wilderness designation and completed its studies by 1974.
In 1968 Congress established the first wilderness area in the Refuge
System, consisting of 3,660 acres inside Great Swamp National
Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. Twelve years later, the Alaska Lands
Act designated 18.6 million acres in Alaska refuges as wilderness
and mandated wilderness study for 58 million additional refuge acres.
Overall, Congress has designated as wilderness 20.7 million acres on
66 wildlife refuges. Among these are the watery wilds of the 354,000acre Okefenokee Refuge Wilderness in Georgia, the desert solitude
of the 803,000-acre Cabeza Prieta Refuge Wilderness in Arizona, and
thousands of rocks, reefs, islands, spires, and headlands covering
more than 2.5 million acres of the Alaska Maritime Refuge.
Another 3.4 million acres on ten refuges in Alaska and two million
acres in 22 refuges outside Alaska have been recommended for
wilderness, but Congress has not yet acted on those recommendations.
Numerous areas that qualify for the Wilderness System have yet to be
recommended. The problem is two-fold: an unwillingness by past
administrations to recommend suitable lands, and a failure to study
lands added to the Refuge System since the last wilderness reviews.
For example, the Alaska reviews were conducted during the days of
Interior Secretary James Watt, an outspoken critic of the Wilderness
System. The Fish and Wildlife Service completed its Alaska refuge
review in 1985, but as with the Park Service findings for park
wilderness in Alaska, the Fish and Wildlife Service determinations were
undermined by administration policies. While the agency found that
37
52 million acres qualified for wilderness designation, a mere 3.5
million acres were recommended for wilderness.
The Wilderness Society has long considered these Alaska
recommendations highly inadequate and contrary to the initial
findings of the professionals at the Fish and Wildlife Service. These
recommendations should be revisited as the Fish and Wildlife
Service revises management plans for 16 national wildlife refuges in
Alaska over the next several years. So, too, should inadequate
recommendations for refuges in the rest of the country.
While it goes without saying that the National Wildlife Refuge
System was established to conserve wildlife, some refuges have been
undermined by oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, and farming.
In 1997 Congress passed the National Wildlife Refuge System
Improvement Act, a long-overdue “organic act” for the Refuge
System that clarifies the system’s mission, establishes clear standards
for determining which activities to allow, and requires preparation
of a comprehensive conservation plan for each refuge.
While amendments made to the 1966 law by the National Wildlife
Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 should result in far fewer
38
©Page Chichester
commercial activities being allowed on refuges,
wilderness designation precludes many of these
activities outright. The result is greater
protection of fish and wildlife that otherwise
may be subjected to the deleterious impacts of
these uses.
In 2000 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
finalized its rules for preparing comprehensive
conservation plans, which require the agency to
conduct wilderness reviews as part of the plans.
The agency will evaluate lands added to the
Refuge System since wilderness reviews were
completed in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s,
and will review again those lands that were
studied but were not recommended for
wilderness designation. Any areas qualifying for
designation are to be recommended as part of
these plans. As of the printing of this publication,
however, the Interior Department had indicated
that it would attempt to exempt national
wildlife refuges in Alaska from this policy.
In addition, management of refuge wilderness
must improve. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has used motorized vehicles and other
mechanized equipment in a number of
wilderness areas without demonstrating that
they are necessary to maintain the areas’
wilderness character and are the minimum tool.
[See page 56 for a discussion of management
issues involving fish and wildlife habitat.]
39
“What a country
chooses to save is
what a country
chooses to say
about itself.”
— Mollie Beatty
8. Wilderness Management
and Stewardship
T
he varied benefits derived from wilderness depend in large part
on the preservation of its undisturbed, natural integrity. To some,
“wilderness” and “management” may seem to be contradictory. However,
wilderness is a multiple-use resource providing services important to
both humans and the rest of the natural world. They include watershed
protection, scientific research, habitat for threatened or endangered
plant and animal species, habitat for game and non-game fish and
wildlife species, scenic beauty, and many forms of outdoor recreation,
including horseback riding, backpacking, hunting, fishing, camping,
rock climbing and mountaineering, hiking, birding, boating, and
photography. Without adequate stewardship and management to monitor
and protect wilderness, many outstanding wilderness areas would begin
to lose the very values that they were established to preserve.
Wilderness management is largely a question of managing human use
and enjoyment of wilderness. However, while a principal goal of
wilderness is to allow natural processes to freely operate, there may be
times when it is appropriate to reintroduce fire, remove exotic species,
or take other steps.
Underlying Principles
©Francis/Donna Caldwell
In 1992, The Wilderness Society and the U.S. Forest Service published
Keeping it Wild: A Citizen Guide to Wilderness Management. The book lists
guiding principles—drawn from the Wilderness Act, subsequent
legislation, and 35 years of experience—for wilderness managers.
Those principles are summarized as follows:
• Attain the highest level of purity in wilderness within legal
restraints. The goal for managing wilderness is to keep it as
wild and natural as possible.
• Manage wilderness as a distinct resource with inseparable parts.
Avoid undermining the ecological processes that create the
interconnected web of life in wilderness.
41
• Allow natural processes to operate freely within wilderness. In
wilderness, nature is free to perform “management” and
“manipulation” of vegetation and wildlife species.
• Preserve air and water quality.
• Provide for human use while preserving the wilderness character,
provide outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and
unconfined recreation experience in each wilderness, and control
and reduce the adverse impacts of human use in wilderness
through education or minimum regulation. The freedom of the
wilderness dictates that people should generally be free from
regulation. Education is preferred over regulations, but some rules
may be the only effective means of preventing damage to the
wilderness resource.
• Favor wilderness-dependent activities when managing wilderness
use. Many recreational or other activities taking place in
wilderness can be enjoyed elsewhere. Pursuits that require a
wilderness environment should receive priority where there are
competing demands for human use.
• Perform any necessary wilderness management work, which
should be undertaken only after determining the “minimum
requirement,” with the “minimum tool.” The “minimum tool”
has the least discernible impact on the land.
• Establish specific management objectives, developed in concert
with the public, in a management plan for each wilderness.
• Harmonize wilderness and adjacent land-management activities.
Wilderness does not exist in a vacuum. Management on both
sides of a wilderness boundary should take that fact into account.
• Manage wilderness with interdisciplinary scientific skills.
• Manage special exceptions provided in wilderness legislation to
ensure a minimum impact on the wilderness resource.
42
While these guidelines may be desirable, not all wilderness areas are
managed according to them—nor even in a uniform manner.
Wilderness management standards in Section 4 of the Wilderness Act
can be thought of as an overlay on the original legislative mandate
given each of the land management agencies. Designation of an area
as wilderness within any of the federal land systems can further
refine and supplement current resource protection measures but
cannot reduce existing protection.
Additional legislative direction for managing wilderness—refining and
expanding interpretation of the Wilderness Act—can be found in
subsequent omnibus, statewide, and individual wilderness designation
bills. For example, the committee report on the Endangered American
Wilderness Act established specific guidelines for the management
of fish and wildlife species, control of forest fires, and control of forest
insect and disease outbreaks. These guidelines have often been
incorporated in subsequent wilderness legislation and agency policies.
The Colorado Wilderness Act established guidelines for managing
grazing activities within wilderness that applied to national forest
wilderness areas nationwide. The Central Idaho Wilderness Act
(establishing the 2.3 million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return
Wilderness) permitted the continued use of aircraft and landing strips
in wilderness where such use was established prior to designation, but
the provision applied only to the areas designated by that act. The
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) provided
direction on the use of cabins, snowmobiles, and airplanes that was
limited to Alaska wilderness areas, but the Act’s guidelines regarding
access to privately owned lands within national forests and BLM lands
applied nationwide.
Livestock Grazing
Livestock grazing, where established prior to an area’s designation as
wilderness, is permitted to continue by Section 4(d)(4)(2) of the
Wilderness Act: “...the grazing of livestock, where established prior to
the effective date of this Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to
such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by the Secretary
of Agriculture.” Further direction for the Forest Service was provided
by the 1980 Colorado Wilderness Act (see below), which states that
grazing activity should not be curtailed or eliminated because an area
43
is included in the wilderness system. In 1990 the BLM received identical
guidelines in the report (H. Rept. 101-405) accompanying the Arizona
Desert Wilderness Act (P.L. 101-628). However, the guidelines also
emphasize that all reasonable measures must be taken to minimize the
impact of grazing activities on wilderness character and to protect
other resource values. (Under other statutes, the secretaries of Interior
and Agriculture retain the authority to manage or terminate livestock
grazing on BLM lands and the national forests, including acreage inside
wilderness areas. Congress has the power to terminate livestock grazing
inside wilderness boundaries and did so in 2000 in designating
wilderness at Steens Mountain in Oregon.)
COLORADO WILDERNESS ACT
(P.L. 96-560; 1980)
“Section 108: The Congress hereby declares that, without amending the
Wilderness Act of 1964, with respect to livestock grazing in National
Forest wilderness areas, the provisions of the Wilderness Act relating to
grazing shall be interpreted and administered in accordance with the
guidelines contained under the heading ‘Grazing in National Forest
Wilderness’ in the House Committee Report accompanying this Act.”
EXCERPTS FROM HOUSE REPORT 96-617 ON THE
COLORADO WILDERNESS ACT:
Grazing In National Forest Wilderness Areas
“The legislative history of this language is very clear in its intent
that livestock grazing, and activities and the necessary facilities to
support a livestock grazing program, will be permitted to continue
in National Forest wilderness areas, when such grazing was
established prior to classification of an area as wilderness.
...It is the intention of the Committee that [the following]
guidelines and policies be considered in the overall context of the
purposes and direction of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and this Act,
and that they be promptly, fully, and diligently implemented and
made available to Forest Service personnel at all levels and to all
holders of permits for grazing in National Forest Wilderness areas:
44
1.There shall be no curtailments of grazing in wilderness areas
simply because an area is, or has been designated as wilderness, nor
should wilderness designations be used as an excuse by
administrators to slowly ‘phase out’ grazing. Any adjustments in
the numbers of livestock permitted to graze in wilderness areas
should be made as a result of revisions in the normal grazing and
land management planning and policy setting process, giving
consideration to legal mandates, range condition, and the protection
of the range resource from deterioration.
It is anticipated that the numbers of livestock permitted to graze in
wilderness would remain at the approximate levels existing at the
time an area enters the wilderness system. If land management
plans reveal conclusively that increased livestock numbers of animal
unit months (AUMs) could be made available with no adverse
impact on wilderness values such as plant communities, primitive
recreation, and wildlife populations or habitat, some increases in
AUMs may be permissible. This is not to imply, however, that
wilderness lends itself to AUM or livestock increases and
construction of substantial new facilities that might be appropriate
for intensive grazing management in non-wilderness areas.
2.The maintenance of supporting facilities, existing in an area prior
to its classification as wilderness (including fences, line cabins, water
wells and lines, stock tanks, etc.), is permissible in wilderness. Where
practical alternatives do not exist, maintenance or other activities
may be accomplished through the occasional use of motorized
equipment. This may include, for example, the use of backhoes to
maintain stock ponds, pickup trucks for major fence repairs, or
specialized equipment to repair stock watering facilities. Such
occasional use of motorized equipment should be expressly authorized
in the grazing permits for the area involved. The use of motorized
equipment should be based on rule of practical necessity and
reasonableness. For example, motorized equipment need not be
allowed for the placement of small quantities of salt or other
activities where such activities can reasonably and practically be
accomplished on horseback or foot. On the other hand, it may be
appropriate to permit the occasional use of motorized equipment to
haul large quantities of salt to distribution points. Moreover, under
the rule of reasonableness, occasional use of motorized equipment
45
“In wilderness
I sense the
miracle of life,
and behind it
our scientific
accomplishments fade to
trivia.”
— Charles A.
Lindbergh
should be permitted where practical alternatives are not
available and such use would not have a significant
adverse impact on the natural environment. Such
motorized equipment uses will normally only be
permitted in those portions of a wilderness area where
they had occurred prior to the area’s designation as
wilderness or are established by prior agreement.
3.The replacement or reconstruction of deteriorated
facilities or improvements should not be required to
be accomplished using “natural materials,’ unless the
material and labor costs of using natural materials are
such that their use would not impose unreasonable
additional costs on grazing permittees.
4.The construction of new improvements or
replacement of deteriorated facilities in wilderness is
permissible if in accordance with these guidelines and
management plans governing the area involved.
However, the construction of new improvements
should be primarily for the purpose of resource
protection and the more effective management of
these resources rather than to accommodate increased
numbers of livestock.
5.The use of motorized equipment for emergency
purposes such as rescuing sick animals or the
placement of feed in emergency situations is also
permissible. The privilege is to be exercised only in
true emergencies, and should not be abused by
permittees.
In summary, subject to the conditions and policies
outlined in this report, the general rule of thumb on
grazing management in wilderness should be that
activities or facilities established prior to the date of
an area’s designation as wilderness should be allowed
to remain in place and may be replaced when necessary
for the permittee to properly administer the grazing
program. Thus, if livestock grazing activities and
46
facilities were established in an area at the time Congress determined
that the area was suitable for wilderness and placed the specific area
in the wilderness system, they should be allowed to continue. With
respect to areas designated as wilderness prior to the date of this
Act, these guidelines should not be considered as a direction to
reestablish uses where such uses have been discontinued.”
Mining Claims in Wilderness
Under Section 4(d) of the Wilderness Act, national forest wilderness
areas were open to the staking of hardrock mining claims under the
Mining Law of 1872 until January 1, 1984. Wilderness areas are
now closed to new claims, but valid claims established before the
1984 closure may be worked at any time. However, for a claim to
be considered valid, it must contain a valuable deposit and must
have been properly located, recorded, and maintained.
The Forest Service requires claimants to submit notices and plans
before conducting mining operations within wilderness areas. The
agency’s rules are excerpted below.
36 C.F.R. Section 252.15—Operations Within National
Forest Wilderness
“(a) The United States mining laws shall extend to each National
Forest Wilderness for the period specified in the Wilderness Act
[until midnight Dec. 31, 1983] and subsequent establishing
legislation to the same extent they were applicable prior to the date
the Wilderness was designated by Congress as a part of the National
Wilderness Preservation System. Subject to valid existing rights, no
person shall have any right or interest in or to any mineral deposits
which may be discovered through prospecting or other informationgathering activity after the legal date on which the United States
mining laws cease to apply to the specific Wilderness.
(b) Holders of unpatented mining claims validly established on any
National Forest Wilderness prior to inclusion of such unit in the
National Wilderness Preservation System shall be accorded the rights
provided by the United States mining laws as then applicable to the
National Forest land involved. Persons locating mining claims in
47
any National Forest Wilderness on or after the date on which said
Wilderness was included in the National Wilderness Preservation
System shall be accorded the rights provided by the United States
mining laws as applicable to the National Forest land involved and
subject to provisions specified in the establishing legislation. Persons
conducting operations as defined in Section 252.3 in National Forest
Wilderness shall comply with the regulations in this part. Operations
shall be conducted so as to protect National Forest surface resources
in accordance with the general purposes of maintaining the National
Wilderness Preservation System unimpaired for future use and
enjoyment as wilderness and to preserve its wilderness character,
consistent with the use of the land for mineral location, exploration,
development, drilling and production and for transmission lines,
water lines, telephone lines, and processing operations, including,
where essential, the use of mechanized transport, aircraft or
motorized equipment.
(c) Persons with valid mining claims wholly within National Forest
Wilderness shall be permitted access to such surrounded claims by
means consistent with the preservation of National Forest Wilderness
which have been or are being customarily used with respect to other
such claims surrounded by National Forest Wilderness. No operator
shall construct roads across National Forest Wilderness unless
authorized in writing by the Forest Supervisor in accordance with
Section 252.12.
(d) On all mining claims validly established on lands within the
National Wilderness Preservation System, the operator shall take all
reasonable measures to remove any structures, equipment and other
facilities no longer needed for mining purposes in accordance with
the provisions in Section 252.10 and restore the surface in
accordance with the requirements in Section 252.8(g)....
(f) The Chief, Forest Service shall allow any activity, including
prospecting, for the purpose of gathering information about
minerals in National Forest Wilderness except that any such
activity for gathering information shall be carried on in a manner
compatible with the preservation of the wilderness environment as
specified in the plan of operations.”
48
Water Rights
The issue of protecting water in wilderness is very complex. Each
wilderness area features unique hydrology, and it is not always easy to
gauge how much water is needed to preserve natural conditions and
healthy ecosystems.
It is important to note that protecting water in wilderness areas does
not consume water; it simply preserves natural flows. Wilderness
designation actually benefits downstream water users (including
ranchers, farmers, rural communities, and urban areas) by limiting
opportunities for water developments and diversion, and thus
providing an additional layer of protection from water loss and water
pollution. Safeguarding water flows in wilderness areas can, however,
limit future water development upstream or within wilderness areas
(e.g., on inholdings).
Concern about protecting water in wilderness is greatest in arid
regions, and in “mid-river” wilderness areas, where new water
diversions upstream and outside wilderness areas may reduce natural
flows. In wilderness areas located in headwaters, legislation usually can
protect water by controlling access to land and removing the
president’s authority to approve water developments and diversions
(described below). This headwaters approach does not require securing
legal water “rights.”
When groundwater is involved, there are other complexities. Legal
doctrines applicable to groundwater may differ from those applicable to
surface water, and in many areas less is known about groundwater
hydrology, including connections to surface water. Even more
complexities arise when watercourses cross state or national boundaries
because interstate common law or international law may come into play.
Sometimes, water in federal wilderness areas can be protected by
securing water rights under state water law. State laws vary, but a
number of them offer very limited protection for water in wilderness
areas, so it is usually preferable to employ federal law.
49
Congress has the authority to decide whether and how to protect water
in wilderness, and whether to use state or federal law. Congress has,
however, historically often left this matter unclear in enacting wilderness
legislation. The Wilderness Act contains language addressing state and
federal water law: “[N]othing in this Act shall constitute an express or
implied claim or denial on the part of the Federal Government as to
exemption from State water laws.” But those words are subject to
differing interpretations. Furthermore, the Wilderness Act empowers
the president to authorize water and power projects, as well as
associated facilities, under certain circumstances in some kinds of
wilderness. This authority has never been exercised, and its scope is
unclear. Even so, it is wise, where possible, to urge removal of this
authority when working on new wilderness bills.
A longstanding legal doctrine (the Winters doctrine) provides that,
unless Congress says otherwise, water rights are created under federal
law when the United States sets aside land for things like national
parks, forests, and wildlife refuges. The Supreme Court has never
decided whether this doctrine creates federal water rights when
federal land is set aside as wilderness. Lower court decisions have
pointed in both directions. This leaves unclear whether wilderness
areas designated before the mid-1980s have federal law-based water
rights, or whether such rights are created when Congress remains
silent on water in designating new wilderness areas.
Since the mid-1980s, Congress sometimes has addressed water rights
more clearly in wilderness legislation. But there has been no
consistency. Depending on the local situation, Congress has taken
one of four approaches. The first approach is to remain silent. A second
is to expressly reserve water when creating wilderness. Third, more
recently Congress sometimes has declared that no reservation of
water under federal law is necessary, citing various reasons, such as
1) because the area is a headwaters area and land access restrictions
and the removal of the president’s authority to approve water
developments are sufficient to protect water, or 2) because the area
does not contain significant water resources. Finally, Congress at
times has used some combination of these approaches.
50
All these complexities dictate caution. Wilderness advocates
crafting wilderness legislation need to make every effort to
understand the facts about the hydrology and water uses in the area
and should consult with experienced attorneys. Taking these steps
will help prevent creation of any real or perceived conflicts.
Fire Management and Insect and Disease Control
Fire plays an elemental role in maintaining fully functioning
wilderness ecosystems. However, in many areas, decades of fire
suppression have compromised this natural process, making the
reintroduction of fire essential to ecological health.
Yet, active fire suppression doesn't necessarily mean a wilderness
ecosystem is out of ecological balance. Many wilderness areas are
located at elevations and in ecosystems with very long fire return
intervals where fire suppression may not have unduly interrupted or
altered natural fire regimes. In wilderness areas with shorter fire return
intervals, such as at lower elevations or in drier regions, fire suppression
may very well have compromised ecosystem function. Additionally,
in such areas, fire exclusion may have allowed fuels to accumulate to
unnaturally high levels causing fires to burn hotter than normal, with
an attendant negative impact on soils, increased erosion, and the
degradation of downstream water quality. In either case, the sooner fire
can be reintroduced, the better. Fortunately, the relative isolation
of many wilderness areas and a lower risk to external property and
resources make designated wilderness areas top candidates for
reintroducing fire.
Generally, to successfully introduce and manage fire, there should
be a site-specific plan that identifies where naturally occurring fires
can be allowed to burn themselves out, based on predetermined
factors and management scenarios.
In areas with altered fire regimes and excessive fire risk, fuel levels
can be gradually reduced to natural levels through a series of
prescribed burns. Once conditions have been restored to what they
are believed to have been before the exclusion of fire, the area can
again be managed through wildland fire use.
51
Section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act allows firefighting in designated
wilderness, stating that “such measures can be taken as may be
necessary in the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such
conditions as the Secretary deems desirable.”
In 1978, in House Report 95-540 accompanying the Endangered
American Wilderness Act (P.L. 95-237), Congress specified some of
the permissible “measures:” “Fires, Insects and Disease— Section
4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act permits any measures necessary to control
fire, insect outbreaks, and disease in wilderness areas. This includes
the use of mechanized equipment, the building of fire roads, fire
towers, fire breaks or fire pre-suppression facilities where necessary
and other techniques for fire control. In short, anything necessary for
the protection of public health or safety is clearly permissible.”
When fire suppression is undertaken, it should be guided by the
“minimum tool” principle and make use of the least damaging
equipment and methods consistent with the safety of the public and
firefighters. For example, hand-built fire lines and backfires are
preferred over heavy equipment. If aircraft is used, water drops are
preferable to chemical fire retardants. Natural features and clearings
can be used as fuel breaks or for helicopter landings.
However, in the event chainsaws, heavy equipment, or aircraft are
deemed necessary, they can be used in wilderness areas without
violating the Wilderness Act. When they are used, the area affected must
be made a top priority for rehabilitation following suppression activities.
Fire management policies should be flexible so that individual
wilderness management plans can respond to areas of high fire risks,
specifically areas close to communities or those featuring intensely fireprone vegetation. However, the issue of fire management continues to
evolve in statute, committee reports, and in actual practice.
The Report of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (H.
Rept. 98-40) accompanying the California Wilderness Act of 1984
(P.L. 98-425), contained an extensive discussion of fire and fuels
management in wilderness. Section 4 of the report said:
52
“In some instances, the Forest Service’s past policy of strict fire
suppression has lead to an unnatural buildup of fuel which presents a
fire potential in excess of that which might exist had fire been
allowed to burn naturally or prescribed burning been initiated. Not
only does the threat of wildfire pose a danger to public safety, but
uncontrolled fires can also cause severe damage to watersheds, water
quality and other beneficial wilderness values.
To address this concern in the context of H.R. 1437, the Committee
has reiterated the fire provisions of Section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness
Act in Section 4(b)(2) of H.R. 1437. As the Committee stressed in
House Report 95-540 in the 95th Congress this provision is intended
to grant the Forest Service with the means of utilizing such measures or
tools as it deems ‘necessary’ and ‘desirable’ in the control or
presuppression of fire in wilderness areas… The Committee also
believes that prescribed burning could prove to be an especially
significant fire presuppression method, particularly in cases where a
history of past fire suppression policies have allowed ‘unnatural’
accumulations of dead or live fuel (such as chaparral) to build up to
hazardous levels. Controlled burning, for example, initiates a process of
nature in a prescribed or planned manner and may have the advantage
of producing fewer long term adverse impacts (and possibly beneficial
impacts) on wilderness values than would the construction of roads or
similar intrusions. The major point to be made, however, is that the
Wilderness Act permits the Forest Service to utilize measures
necessary to control wildfire, or the threat of fire, in wilderness areas.
Obviously such measures should, to the maximum extent practicable,
be implemented consistent with maintaining the wilderness character
of areas, while at the same time protecting the public health and
safety and protecting private property located immediately adjacent
to wilderness areas.”
Fire management, and more narrowly, the “threat” of fire and what
can be done about it in wilderness continues to be front and center in
wilderness debates. The issue has progressed well beyond a
suppression-oriented discussion and is now focused more on
prevention and “pre-suppression” activities -- in other words, what
types of activities are allowed in designated wilderness to reduce the
risk and severity of wildland fire?
53
The Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails
National Conservation Area Act of 2000 (P.L.106-554) was
amended in 2001 with the addition of new fire language by Section
135(f) of an Omnibus Appropriations Bill (P.L. 107-63), which
said: “Nothing in this Act or the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131
et seq.) precludes a Federal, State, or local agency from conducting
wildland fire management operations (including prescribed burns)
within the areas designated as wilderness under subsection (a),
subject to any conditions that the Secretary considers appropriate.”
Two years later, in the Clark County Conservation of Public Land and
Natural Resources Act of 2002 (P.L.107-282), Congress included
rather broad language regarding fire suppression and mechanized
equipment: “Consistent with section 4 of the Wilderness Act (16
U.S.C. 1133) nothing in this title precludes a Federal, State, or local
agency from conducting wildfire management operations (including
operations using aircraft or mechanized equipment) to manage
wildfires in the wilderness areas designated by this title.” (Sec.
209). Clearly, as wildland fire continues to evolve as a public policy
issue, the trend has been to include fairly broad and flexible
interpretations of the fire language in the Wilderness Act.
In a number of regions, federal agencies have entered into
memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with state and local
agencies for initial attack of wilderness fires.
Aircraft Use
Provision was made in Section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act to
permit continued use of backcountry airstrips in wilderness by light
aircraft. Such use can continue only at the discretion of the land
management agency, and, although landing strips have not been
closed simply because they are in designated wilderness, some have
been closed because of safety considerations and unacceptable
impacts on other wilderness resources. Agency decisions to close
airstrips or otherwise restrict the existing uses of aircraft are usually
made in individual wilderness management plans.
The Central Idaho Wilderness Act modified existing legislative
direction, but the provision applied only to the areas designated in
54
that act. While the Wilderness Act states that aircraft use may be
permitted to continue where previously established, the Central Idaho
Wilderness Act stated that aircraft use of landing strips “in regular
use” shall be permitted to continue, denying the land management
agency (in this case, the Forest Service) the discretion to close
airstrips but allowing for restrictions that the agency believes are
necessary. The Forest Service can close the airstrips for safety reasons
but only with the concurrence of the Idaho government.
The impacts of the continued use of airstrips on wilderness resources
can be mitigated in several ways. Regular use can be discontinued
and the areas revegetated with a grassy cover so that emergency use
of the fields is still possible. Existing improvements at the fields that
are not essential to emergency use (for example, windsocks and strip
markers) can be removed. On landing strips where regular use is to
continue, the “minimum tool” principle should be applied to achieve
the management goals for the facility with the least impact on the
wilderness setting. Airstrips can be kept free of rocks, ruts, and
woody debris, and grassy vegetation can be kept in check without
resorting to close-crop mowing. Existing landing surface dimensions
and approach clearings can be removed except where strips are in
close proximity to unfenced grazing allotments. Maintenance can be
performed by non-motorized methods, with approval for motorized
access granted on a case-by-case basis.
WILDERNESS ACT
(P.L. 96-560; 1980)
Section 4(d)(1): “...the use of aircraft...where these uses have already
become established, may be permitted to continue subject to such
restrictions as the Secretary of Agriculture may deem desirable.”
WILDERNESS ACT (P.L. 88-577; 1964)
ENDANGERED AMERICAN WILDERNESS ACT
(P.L. 95-237; 1978)
House Report 95-540:”...mechanized vehicle use (e.g. aircraft) may
be necessary and appropriate in emergencies or for the proper
administration of an area. As a rule, there should be no altitude
limits on aircraft over flight in wilderness areas.”
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Managing Fish and Wildlife Habitat
The presence of native fish and wildlife at naturally fluctuating
population levels is an important component of wilderness character.
Fish and wildlife are interdependent with biophysical features of the
wilderness landscape—such as soils, water, geology, and plants.
Maintaining healthy populations of native wildlife and restoring
populations that have been depleted due to human influence can be
primary reasons for designating an area as wilderness. In fact, they
are among the conservation purposes for which wilderness is to be
managed, pursuant to Section 4(b) of the Wilderness Act.
Many wildlife species found in wilderness areas are sensitive to
human disturbance, especially during their nesting, mating, and
denning seasons. Wilderness managers should identify specific areas
within a wilderness that are essential for such wildlife needs and
initiate visitor-use controls during critical periods of the year.
Habitat modification in wilderness areas is inappropriate “except as
necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of
the area for the purpose of [the Wilderness] Act[.]” (Section 4(c)).
The Wilderness Act specifically prohibits modifications to the
wilderness landscape in its definition of wilderness: “An area of
wilderness is further defined to mean in this chapter an area of
undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and
influence, without permanent improvements…” (Section 2(c)). A
large part of the value of wilderness is in the absence of human
control over the land.
In certain limited instances, however, habitat modification in
wilderness may be necessary to maintain wilderness character.
Specifically, certain management activities may be necessary to
restore wildlife populations that have been suppressed by humancaused habitat degradation.
Occasional, temporary use of motor vehicles and aircraft, including
helicopters, may be allowed for transport of animals inside or
outside the wilderness or for research, but only when necessary
to guide managers in administering an area as wilderness.
56
The Endangered American Wilderness Act (P.L. 95-237) provides
that fishery restoration practices may be permissible in wilderness
where they aid in achieving the goal of preserving wilderness character.
©R.J. Shallenberg
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Where they occur, such forms of intervention must be the
“minimum tool” necessary to accomplish the task and should be
designed to be temporary and directed at stabilizing native species.
No roads should be built to accommodate vehicles, for example.
Managers must ensure a natural balance of all wildlife species—
both game and non-game—that depend on natural conditions for
their survival. They are not to emphasize activities that favor some
animals to the detriment of other species dependent on wild areas.
57
The Forest Service and the BLM are guided by “Policies and Guidelines
for Fish and Wildlife Management in Wilderness,” developed by those
two agencies with the International Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies. The guidance states, for example: “maintenance of exiting
water supplies and development of additional water supplies may be
permitted, but only when essential to preserve the wilderness resource
and to correct unnatural conditions resulting from human influence.”
The Arizona Desert Wilderness Act (and House report language)
successfully incorporates this guidance.
ARIZONA DESERT WILDERNESS ACT OF 1990
(P.L. 101-628)
Section 101(h) “Wildlife Management – In furtherance of the
purposes and principles of the Wilderness Act, management
activities to maintain or restore fish and wildlife populations and
the habitats to support such populations may be carried out within
wilderness areas designated by this title, where consistent with relevant
wilderness management plans, in accordance with appropriate polices
and guidelines such as those set forth in Appendix B of the Report
of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to accompany H.R.
2570 of the One Hundred First Congress.” (H. Rept. 101-405)
House Report 101-405: “Fish and wildlife management activities in
wilderness will be planned and carried out in conformance with the
Wilderness Act's purpose of securing an ‘enduring resource of wilderness’
for the American people… Fish and wildlife management activities
will emphasize the protection of natural processes. Management
activities will be guided by the principle of doing only the
minimum necessary to manage the area as wilderness.
The emphasis is on the management of the area as wilderness as
opposed to the management of a particular resource. This language
is viewed as direction that all management activities within
wilderness be done without motor vehicles, motorized equipment,
or mechanical transport, unless truly necessary to administer the area
or are specifically permitted by other provisions in the Act. It means
that any such use should be rare and temporary; that no roads can
be built; and that wilderness managers must determine such use is
the minimum necessary to accomplish the task. Any use of
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motorized equipment or mechanical transport requires advance
approval by the administering agency.”
ENDANGERED AMERICAN WILDERNESS ACT
(P.L. 95-237; 1978)
House Report 95-540: “Fisheries Enhancement—Fisheries enhancement
activities and facilities are permissible and often highly desirable in
wilderness areas to aid in achieving the goal of ‘preserving the wilderness
character of the area’ as stated in Section 4(b) of the Wilderness Act.
Such activities and facilities include fish traps, stream barriers, aerial
stocking, and the protection and propagation of rare species.”
Recreation Use
The Wilderness Act clearly recognizes recreation as an important
value of wilderness. Arguably, the drafters of the Wilderness Act
considered “solitude” and a “primitive and unconfined type of
recreation” to be premier wilderness values.
Recreation within a wilderness area depends significantly on the
mandate of the relevant land management agency. For example,
hunting is allowed to continue when an area is designated as
wilderness—except in national park wilderness, because hunting is
generally not permitted in parks.
Nonetheless, while recreation is a recognized use of wilderness, it is
not the only one--nor the most important. Some thought should be
given to leaving large portions of a wilderness area free of trails.
Visitor use can be dispersed by constructing new trails where trails
are already located or, more often, simply through better
maintenance of the existing trail network. Inadequate trail
maintenance is an increasing problem in wilderness areas, resulting
in its own negative environmental and social impacts.
Facilities such as trail shelters are regarded as relatively permanent
structures and generally are not permitted in wilderness. Most land
management agency policies prohibit the construction of new shelters
and call for prompt removal of existing shelters after an area is
designated as wilderness. Those policies were criticized, especially
59
along the Appalachian Trail and in several proposed wilderness areas
in the East. Congress addressed that concern by specifying in several
wilderness proposals for eastern states that trails and their “related
structures” could be maintained, even after wilderness designation
(excerpts below).
©D.C. Lowe
Bridges are permitted by law as a part of the trail system, but they
should be limited to locations where no other crossing is reasonably
available and where the stream or river cannot be crossed safely by
foot or on horseback. In constructing bridges, managers should use
appropriate technologies to meet safety objectives while minimizing
intrusions in the wilderness environment.
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ENDANGERED AMERICAN WILDERNESS ACT
(P.L. 95-237; 1978)
House Report 95-540: “Trails, Bridges, Trail Signs—Trails, trail signs,
and necessary bridges are all permissible when designed in keeping with
the wilderness concept.
These are often important to the recreational access and use of a
wilderness area. Trail construction or maintenance can include the
use of mechanical equipment where appropriate and/or necessary.
Shelters, Campsite Facilities--Trailside shelters or lean-tos should not
be provided in wilderness areas except where necessary under Section
4(b) or (c) of the Wilderness Act for the protection of the wilderness,
or for the health and safety of the user. In general, fire rings, hitching
posts, non-permanent tent platforms or pads, and other temporary
structures used by outfitters may be allowed at the discretion of the
Secretary, and the Committee feels that these should not have to be
removed each winter if they can be stored in an unobtrusive fashion.”
Climbing in Wilderness
Climbing has a long history in designated wilderness and is
considered to be a legitimate activity in wilderness. Yet, certain
aspects of climbing have generated controversy—particularly the use
of permanent, fixed anchors. There are both temporary and
permanent fixed anchors. Temporary anchors are readily removable
and include nylon slings, or metal nuts and chocks that are wedged
into cracks in the rock. Others, such as small bolts that are attached
to rock faces by drilling a small hole in the rock and inserting a bolt
to which a rope is attached are more permanent in character.
The Wilderness Act is silent on climbing and on the issue of fixed
anchors, although they were in use at the time, primarily in the form
of pitons. The use of fixed anchors in wilderness areas became an
issue in 1998 after a Forest Service ban on the use of permanent and
temporary anchors in Idaho's Sawtooth Wilderness was extended to
all wilderness areas. This nationwide ban subsequently was lifted,
pending the outcome of a rule-making committee. However, the
committee was unable to come to a unanimous agreement. As of April
2004, fixed anchors are allowed in designated wilderness. Some areas,
where the use of permanent anchors is pervasive, are addressing the
61
issue locally through management plans. It remains to be seen if
efforts are revived to establish formal regulations.
Mountain Bikes
In A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold wrote: “Mechanized recreation
already has seized nine-tenths of the woods and mountains; a decent
respect for minorities should dedicate the other tenth to wilderness.”
That sentiment was an elemental part of the Wilderness Act, which,
in Section 4(c), prohibited use of “mechanical transport.” Some
mountain bike riders have suggested that the Act be amended to
allow use of these vehicles. But there is a broad consensus among
others in the conservation community that it would be unwise to
endorse any reduction in the protection provided for the four percent
of the U.S. that is in the Wilderness System.
Access for People with Disabilities
The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-336) clarified
the intent of the Wilderness Act with respect to wilderness access by
people with disabilities. Specifically, Section 507 of the Americans
With Disabilities Act (ADA) reads as follows:
“(a) Study. The National Council on Disability shall conduct a study and
report on the effect that wilderness designations and wilderness land
management practices have on the ability of individuals with disabilities
to use and enjoy the National Wilderness Preservation System as
established under the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.).
(b) Submission of Report. Not later than 1 year after the enactment of
this Act, the National Council on Disability shall submit the report
required under subsection (a) to Congress.
(c) Specific Wilderness Access -(1) In General --Congress reaffirms that nothing in the Wilderness
Act is to be construed as prohibiting the use of a wheelchair in a
wilderness area by an individual whose disability requires use of a
wheelchair, and consistent with the Wilderness Act no agency is
required to provide any form of special treatment or accommodation,
or to construct any facilities or modify any condition of lands
within a wilderness area to facilitate such use.
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(2) Definition--For the purposes of paragraph (1), the term
wheelchair means a device designed solely for use by a mobilityimpaired person for locomotion, that is suitable for use in an
indoor pedestrian area.”
In December 1992, the report required by Sec. 507 of the ADA was
submitted to Congress, setting forth the findings of the study. The
highlights of the report are as follows:
• People with disabilities appear to visit the wilderness for the same
reasons people without disabilities do.
• A total of 76 percent of persons with disabilities surveyed do not
believe that the restrictions on mechanized use in the Wilderness
Act diminish their ability to enjoy the wilderness.
• The four federal land management agencies responsible for
wilderness have different policies and practices regarding
wilderness and people with disabilities.
In addition, the report set forth a series of recommendations to
address this issue. These were:
• All federal agencies that manage wilderness should adopt policies
toward wheelchair use consistent with those stated in Sec. 507(c)
of the ADA.
• Federal agencies should bring existing facilities outside
wilderness up to code for use by persons with disabilities as soon as
possible. This includes trailheads, parking facilities, restrooms, etc.
• Agencies managing wilderness should develop guidelines for
special permits and modifications regarding use by persons with
disabilities that are consistent with the Wilderness Act.
• Agency wilderness managers should receive additional training to
increase general awareness of disability issues and specific
awareness of the policies and practices regarding use of wilderness
by persons with disabilities.
Military Use of Wilderness
Since 1990, a number of wilderness bills have had language affecting
military use of wilderness, the airspace above wilderness, and the
lands surrounding wilderness. Military use can have substantial impacts
on the ground. In these times of terrorism and prospective war, the
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Defense Department and its Capitol Hill allies are an especially
formidable political force. Even so, wilderness advocates have had
some success in the designation of new wilderness by working directly
with base commanders and securing their support or acquiescence. In
fact, this is one area of the wilderness management debate where
environmental advocates have managed to step back from the worst
language enacted and get support in recent Congresses for earlier,
more moderate language. The conflicts with the military include
findings, overflights, and on the ground training as well as
boundaries and the designation/release of specific areas.
Findings. Both the California Desert Protection Act and the
Military Lands Withdrawal Act (MLWA) of 1999 concerning Cabeza
Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness contain lengthy sets
of findings concerning the importance and supposedly benign nature
of military activities. For example, the California Desert Act states that
“there is a lack of alternative sites available for these military training,
testing, and research activities.” [P.L. 103-433, Sec. 801(b)(3)] In
fact, DOD has repeatedly refused to seriously consider alternative
locations for training facilities. The MLWA of 1999 asserts that
military training at the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range “has
coexisted for many years with the wildlife conservation and
wilderness purposes for which the refuge and wilderness were
established.” [P.L. 106-65, Sec. 3032(a)(3)]
Overflights. It is important to understand that air travel is governed
by the FAA and not by land managing agencies. The Wilderness Act
does not restrict overflights, but the FAA does ask pilots to voluntarily
maintain a minimum altitude over wilderness, parks, and assorted
other places. The military habitually seeks legal exemption. The
Arizona Desert Wilderness Act and the California Desert Protection
Act generally state that nothing in the wilderness/park designations
will have any impact on whether overflights can continue, or whether
new airspace that would permit low-level overflights can be
designated. [P.L. 101-628, Sec. 101(i); P.L. 103-433, Sec. 802]
The Arizona Desert Wilderness Act simply says that wilderness
designation shall not “preclude” low-level overflights. The California
Act, however, goes further in two ways. First, that Act says that
special management designations shall not “restrict or preclude”
64
overflights. Second, the California statute says that nothing in the Act
or any “other land management laws generally applicable to the new
units of the National Park or Wilderness Preservation Systems” shall
restrict overflight.
Conflict involving overflights will continue. However, recent
Congresses and the military have agreed to use the Arizona language
or variations of it. One example is the Clark County Conservation of
Public Land And Natural Resources Act of 2002 (P.L.107-282).
Access Control. Language addressing access control is included in the
Cabeza Prieta NWR and Wilderness Act [P.L. 106-65, Sec. 3032(e)].
It provides that the Interior Department shall close routes or areas
within the refuge if “military operations, public safety, or national
security require” it. The military tries to include and expand all of
these provisions in wilderness legislation.
Installations. There is increasing focus on the issue of
communications installations, both existing and proposed. Beginning
in the 1984 Utah Wilderness Act (P.L. 98-428) and continuing with
the 1989 Nevada Wilderness Protection Act (P.L. 101-195), Congress
has allowed existing communications and meteorological devices to
be maintained and replaced within newly created wilderness areas.
Most of these installations are installed on mountaintops and require
only infrequent maintenance, usually by helicopters that are unlikely
to land. The environmental position has been to limit the size of the
footprint on any replacement or additional facilities that the military
finds necessary and to retain the management authority of the
Department of the Interior.
The Great Alaskan Wilderness
Carving wilderness boundaries in the vastness of Alaska presented a
new set of challenges. Congress responded with the Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which followed the
definition of wilderness in the Wilderness Act while taking into
account the special relationship between Alaskans and the wildlands
on which they live and work. A number of uses are permitted that are
prohibited in the contiguous 48 states and Hawaii by the Wilderness
Act and subsequent legislation. ANILCA was carefully worded to
65
make it clear that the exceptions apply only to Alaskan wilderness
areas. The uses include the construction and maintenance of cabins;
the use of motorized vehicles, such as snowmobiles, motorboats, and
airplanes; temporary fishing and hunting encampments; and
subsistence uses by both natives and non-natives. In most cases, the
relevant land-management agency still maintains authority to
regulate or limit such uses to protect the wilderness character.
ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS
CONSERVATION ACT
(P.L. 96-487; 1980; 16 USC 3101-3233)
Wilderness Management
“Section 1315(a): Application only to Alaska—The provisions of this
section are enacted in recognition of the unique conditions in Alaska.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to expand, diminish, or modify
the provisions of the Wilderness Act or the application or interpretation
of such provisions with respect to lands outside of Alaska.”
(d) New Cabins—Within wilderness areas designated by this Act, the
Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture as appropriate, is authorized
to construct and maintain a limited number of new public use cabins
and shelters if such cabins and shelters are necessary for the protection
of the public health and safety. All such cabins or shelters shall be
constructed of materials which blend and are compatible with the
immediate and surrounding wilderness landscape. The Secretary of
Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as appropriate, shall notify the
House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of his intention to
remove an existing or construct a new public use cabin or shelter.
(See also Section 1303: Use of cabins on conservation system units.)”
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©Larry Aumiller
Alaska Fish & Game
Cabins
“Section 1315(c-d): (c) Existing Cabins—Previously existing public
use cabins within wilderness designated by this Act, may be permitted
to continue and may be maintained or replaced subject to such
restrictions, as the Secretary deems necessary to preserve the
wilderness character of the area.
Use of airplanes, snowmobiles, and motorboats
“Section 1110(a): Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act
or other law, the Secretary shall permit, on conservation system units,
national recreation areas, and national conservation areas, and those
public lands designated as wilderness study, the use of snowmachines
(during periods of adequate snow cover, or frozen river conditions in
the case of wild and scenic rivers), motorboats, airplanes, and nonmotorized surface transportation methods for traditional activities
(where such activities are permitted by this Act or other law) and
for travel to and from villages and homesites. Such use shall be
subject to reasonable regulations by the Secretary to protect the
natural and other values of the conservation system units, national
recreation areas, and national conservation areas, and those public
lands designated as wilderness study.
Section 811: (a) The Secretary shall ensure that rural residents
engaged in subsistence uses shall have reasonable access to subsistence
resources on the public lands.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or other law,
the Secretary shall permit on the public lands appropriate use for
subsistence purposes of snowmobiles, motorboats, and other means
of surface transportation traditionally employed for such purposes
by local residents, subject to reasonable regulation.”
Structures at hunting and fishing camps
“Section 1316: (a) On all public lands where the taking of fish and
wildlife is permitted in accordance with the provisions of this Act or
other applicable State and Federal law the Secretary shall permit,
subject to reasonable regulation to insure compatibility, the
continuance of existing uses, and the future establishment, and use, of
temporary campsites, tent platforms, shelters, and other temporary
facilities and equipment directly and necessarily related to such
activities. Such facilities and equipment shall be constructed, used, and
maintained in a manner consistent with the protection of the area in
which they are located. All new facilities shall be constructed of
materials which blend with, and are compatible with, the immediately
surrounding landscape. Upon termination of such activities and uses
(but not upon regular or seasonal cessation), such structures or facilities
shall, upon written request, be removed from the area by the permittee.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the Secretary may
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determine, after adequate notice, that the establishment and use of such
new facilities or equipment would constitute a significant expansion of
existing facilities or uses which would be detrimental to the purposes
for which the affected conservation system unit was established,
including the wilderness character of and wilderness area within such
unit, and may thereupon deny such proposed use or establishment.”
Access to private inholdings
“Section 1110(b): Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act
or other law, in any case in which State owned or privately owned
land, including subsurface rights of such owners underlying public
lands, or a valid mining claim or other valid occupancy is within or
is effectively surrounded by one or more conservation system units,
national recreation areas, national conservation areas, or those public
lands designated as wilderness study, the State or private owner or
occupier shall be given by the Secretary such rights as may be
necessary to assure adequate and feasible access for economic and
other purposes to the concerned land by such State or private owner
or occupier and their successors in interest. Such rights shall be
subject to reasonable regulations issued by the Secretary to protect
the natural and other values of such lands.
Section 1111: (a) In General—Notwithstanding any other provision
of this Act or other law the Secretary shall authorize and permit
temporary access by the State or a private landowner to or across
any conservation system unit, national recreation area, national
conservation area, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, or those
public lands designated as wilderness study or managed to maintain
the wilderness character or potential thereof, in order to permit the
State or private landowner access to its land for purposes of survey,
geophysical, exploratory, or other temporary uses thereof whenever
he determines such access will not result in permanent harm to the
resources of such units, area, Reserve, or lands.
(b) Stipulations and Conditions—In providing temporary access
pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary may include such
stipulations and conditions as he deems necessary to insure that the
private use of public lands is accomplished in a manner that is not
inconsistent with the purposes for which the public lands are
reserved and which insures that no permanent harm will result to
the resources of the unit, area, Reserve, or lands.”
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“Wilderness to
the people of
America is a
spiritual
necessity, an
antidote to the
high pressure of
modern life, a
means of
regaining
serentiy and
equilibrium”
— Sigurd Olson
Aids to navigation
“Section 1310: (a) Existing Facilities—Within
conservation system units established or expanded by
this Act, reasonable access to, and operation and
maintenance of, existing air and water navigation aids,
communications sites and related facilities and existing
facilities for weather, climate, and fisheries research and
monitoring shall be permitted in accordance with the laws
and regulations applicable to units of such systems, as
appropriate. Reasonable access to and operation and
maintenance of facilities for national defense purposes
and related air and water navigation aids within or
adjacent to such areas shall continue in accordance with
the laws and regulations governing such facilities
notwithstanding any other provision of this Act.
Nothing in the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to
prohibit such access, operation and maintenance within
wilderness areas designated by this Act.
(b) New Facilities—The establishment, operation, and
maintenance within any conservation system unit of new
air and water navigation aids and related facilities,
facilities for national defense purposes, and related air
and water navigation aids, and facilities for weather,
climate, and fisheries research and monitoring shall be
permitted but only (1) after consultation with the
Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, as appropriate,
by the head of the Federal department or agency
undertaking such establishment, operation, or
maintenance, and (2) in accordance with such terms
and conditions as may be mutually agreed in order to
minimize the adverse effects of such activities within
such unit.”
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9. Wilderness Myths
T
here is a lot of misunderstanding about what is allowed in
wilderness areas. Sometimes those who oppose this form of land
protection promote such confusion. To raise the level of the
wilderness debate, we have pulled together some of the most
common myths—and the realities.
MYTH: Wilderness conflicts with “multiple use” of federal lands.
REALITY: Wilderness is a “multiple use” both in fact and in law,
with wilderness preservation first being recognized—legally—by
the Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act of 1960 and subsequently
reaffirmed by two major 1976 laws: the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act and the National Forest Management Act.
The “multiple uses” of wilderness, according to law, include the
protection of watersheds that are essential for clean and abundant
water, the maintenance of soil and water quality, ecological
diversity, plant and animal gene pools, and habitat for wildlife,
including rare and endangered species. In addition, wilderness
provides unsurpassed opportunities for a wide range of outdoor
recreation activities, including hiking, horse-packing, backpacking,
hunting, and fishing.
MYTH: Wilderness restricts recreation opportunities.
REALITY: One of the most important purposes of wilderness is to
provide people with a broad array of outdoor recreational
opportunities. These include backpacking, hiking, hunting, fishing,
camping, horseback riding, mountaineering and rock climbing,
cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, wildlife viewing, photography,
canoeing, and kayaking. The only exception to these uses is in
wilderness in national parks, where hunting is prohibited because of
the underlying national park designation.
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MYTH: Wilderness “locks up” commercial forestlands.
REALITY: Wilderness preservation is a negligible factor in the
availability and production of U.S. timber. The national forests
produce less than five percent of the total U.S. timber supply.
Timber in designated and potential wilderness is generally less
accessible and less cost-efficient than in other government and
private forestlands that are readily available.
MYTH: Wilderness harms local and regional economies.
REALITY: Quite the contrary. Wilderness provides numerous
economic benefits and helps to maintain the natural capital that can
help communities diversify economies by attracting and retaining
new businesses, residents, and a local workforce. Wilderness also can
protect scenic backdrops that improve property values, thereby
increasing county revenues.
MYTH: Only pure, pristine, and virgin lands qualify for
wilderness designation.
REALITY: The Wilderness Act carefully defines wilderness as “an
area of undeveloped federal land retaining its primeval character and
influence…and which generally appears to have been affected primarily
by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially
unnoticeable.” The Forest Service’s “purity” doctrine was repudiated
by Congress in 1975 in the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act and the
Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978.
MYTH: Wilderness erodes private property rights.
REALITY: Only federal land may be designated as wilderness. Private
property inside designated wilderness areas can be acquired only if the
owner agrees to sell, unless the acquisition is specifically authorized by
Congress. Private land may be surrounded by wilderness, but wilderness
area management restrictions—such as prohibitions on logging and road
construction—do not apply to private land. Property owners must be
assured “adequate access” to their parcels, and that could include
permission to drive through wilderness.
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MYTH: Motorized transportation is totally prohibited in wilderness
areas, even in emergencies.
REALITY: The Wilderness Act prohibits the general use of motorized
equipment or vehicles in wilderness, but the law clearly allows such
nonconforming uses where necessary to insure the health and safety
of people.
MYTH: Fires, insects, and diseases may not be controlled in
wilderness areas.
REALITY: Section 4(d)(1) of the Act states that “such measures may
be taken as necessary in the control of fires, insects and diseases.”
“Wilderness is an anchor to
windward. Knowing it is there,
we can also know that we are
still a rich nation, tending our
resources as we should—not a
people in despair searching
every last nook and cranny of
our land for a board of lumber,
a barrel of oil, a blade of grass,
or a tank of water.”
— Clinton P. Anderson
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Appendix A:
Wilderness Reading List
1. The History of Wilderness Preservation:
Nash, Roderick
Wilderness and the American Mind, Yale
University Press, 1982 (4th edition, 2001,
paperback) (426 pages)
Allin, Craig
The Politics of Wilderness Preservation,
Greenwood Press, 1982 (304 pages)
Scott, Douglas
A Wilderness-Forever Future: A Short History
of the National Wilderness Preservation System,
Campaign for America’s Wilderness, June
2001 (40 pages)
www.leaveitwild.org/reports/reports.html
Roth, Dennis M.
The Wilderness Movement and the National
Forests, Intaglio Press, 1995 (105 pages)
Frome, Michael
Battle for the Wilderness, University of Utah
Press, 1997 (256 pages)
2. By and About Founders of Wilderness Society:
Driven Wild: How the Fight Against
Automobiles Launched the Modern Wilderness
Movement, U. of Washington Press, 2002
(343 pages)
Leopold, Aldo
A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and
There, Ballantine Books, 1991 (295 pages)
[Note particularly the essay “Wilderness.”]
©John P. George
Sutter, Paul S.
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Marshall, Robert
Alaska Wilderness: Exploring the Central
Brooks Range, 1956 (University of California
Press, 2nd edition, paperback, 1983) (179
pages)
Glover, James M.
A Wilderness Original: The Life of Bob
Marshall, The Mountaineers, 1986 (323
pages)
Anderson, Larry
Benton MacKaye: Conservationist, Planner, and
Creator of the Appalachian Trail, Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2002 (464 pages)
Murie, Margaret
Two in the Far North, Alaska Northwest
Books,1997 (369 pages)
Olson, Sigurd F.
The Singing Wilderness, 1956
Wilderness Days, 1972
(The University of Minnesota Press
published revised editions of many of
Olson’s books in 1997 and 1998 as part of
the Flesher-Lampert Minnesota Heritage
Book Series.)
Stegner, Wallace
Wilderness letter, 1960 (Available at
www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Wilderness/
wildernessletter)
3. Stories of Wilderness Preservation Campaigns:
Harvey, Mark
A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the
American Conservation Movement, U. of
Washington Press, 2000 (368 pages)
Proescholdt, Kevin
Troubled Waters: The Fight for the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, North Star
Press of St. Cloud, Inc., 1996 (333 pages)
Wheat, Frank
California Desert Miracle: The Fight for Desert
Parks and Wilderness, Sunbelt Publishers,
1999 (256 pages)
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4. Other Books:
Hendee, John C.
Dawson, Chad P.
Wilderness Management: Stewardship and
Protection of Resources and Values, Third
Edition, Fulcrum Publishing, 2002 (637
pages)
Power, Thomas Michael Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies: The
Search for a Value of Place, Island Press, 1996
Campaign for America’s A Mandate to Protect America’s Wilderness:
Wilderness
Comprehensive Review of Wilderness Recent Public
Opinion Research, January 2003 (44 pages),
www.leaveitwild.org/reports/reports.html
The Wilderness Society The Land Ethic Toolbox: Using Ethics, Emotion
and Spiritual Values to Advance American
Land Conservation, 2004 (112 pages)
Sellers, Richard West
Preserving Nature in the National Parks:
A History, Yale University Press, 1997
(416 pages)
Zaslowsky, Dyan
Watkins, T. H.
These American Lands, The Wilderness
Society and Island Press, 1994 (398 pages)
5. Other Resources:
www.wilderness.org
Many wilderness resources, including
action alerts, ecological and economic
research documents
www.wilderness.net
Details on every wilderness area, online
library of all wilderness laws, links to other
resources, discussion forums, wilderness
curriculum materials
www.wildernessforever.org
Materials and resources for the 40th
anniversary of the Wilderness Act (valuable
even after that 2004 celebration)
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Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute
ForestService-led research institute on
wilderness topics
www.wilderness.net/leopold
Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center
Federal training center for wilderness
managers from all four wilderness agencies
www.wilderness.net/carhart
International Journal of Wilderness
Published three times a year; Dr. John C.
Hendee, Editor-in-Chief, P.O. Box 1380,
Ojai, CA 93024, www.ijw.wilderness.net
(some back issues available)
Wilderness Accessibility for People with Disabilities
A report to the President and Congress
on Section 507 of the Americans With
Disabilities Act, 1992 (Available through
the National Council on Disability, 1331 F
St., N.W., Washington, DC 20004)
The Wilderness Society archives at the Denver Public Library:
Archivist is Joan Harms ([email protected]).
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Appendix B: Leave No Trace
The mission of the Leave No Trace (LNT) program is to promote and
inspire responsible outdoor recreation through education, research,
and partnerships.
The program is managed by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor
Ethics, a nonprofit organization in Boulder, Colorado, that oversees
memberships, marketing, fundraising, and program development. The
National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), a founding partner of
Leave No Trace, is the center’s primary educational ally. NOLS has
published the Master Educator Handbook, the sole nationally approved
curriculum for Leave No Trace master educator courses.
The Leave No Trace message is more than a campaign for clean
campsites. It's a program dedicated to building awareness, appreciation,
and most of all, respect for our public recreation places. LNT is about
enjoying the great outdoors while traveling and camping with care.
Leave No Trace Principles:
1. Plan ahead and prepare
Know the regulations and special concerns for the area you'll visit.
Prepare for extreme weather, hazards, and emergencies.
Schedule your trip to avoid times of high use.
Visit in small groups. Split larger parties into groups of 4-6.
Repackage food to minimize waste.
Use a map and compass to eliminate the use of marking paint,
rock cairns or flagging.
2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces
Durable surfaces include established trails and campsites, rock,
gravel, dry grasses or snow.
Protect riparian areas by camping at least 200 feet from lakes
and streams.
Good campsites are found, not made. Altering a site is not necessary.
79
In popular areas:
Concentrate use on existing trails and campsites.
Walk single file in the middle of the trail, even when wet
or muddy.
Keep campsites small. Focus activity in areas where vegetation
is absent.
In pristine areas:
Disperse use to prevent the creation of campsites and trails.
Avoid places where impacts are just beginning.
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
Pack it in, pack it out. Inspect your campsite and rest areas for
trash or spilled foods. Pack out all trash, leftover food, and litter.
Deposit solid human waste in catholes dug 6 to 8 inches deep at
least 200 feet from water, camp, and trails. Cover and disguise
the cathole when finished.
Pack out toilet paper and hygiene products.
To wash yourself or your dishes, carry water 200 feet away from
streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable soap.
Scatter strained dishwater.
4. Leave What You Find
Preserve the past: examine, but do not touch, cultural or historic
structures and artifacts.
Leave rocks, plants and other natural objects as you find them.
Avoid introducing or transporting non-native species.
Do not build structures, furniture, or dig trenches.
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
Campfires can cause lasting impacts to the backcountry. Use a
lightweight stove for cooking and enjoy a candle lantern for light.
Where fires are permitted, use established fire rings, fire pans,
or mound fires.
Keep fires small. Only use sticks from the ground that can be
broken by hand.
Burn all wood and coals to ash, put out campfires completely,
then scatter cool ashes.
80
6. Respect Wildlife
Observe wildlife from a distance. Do not follow or approach them.
Never feed animals. Feeding wildlife damages their health,
alters natural behaviors, and exposes them to predators and
other dangers. Protect wildlife and your food by storing
rations and trash securely.
Control pets at all times, or leave them at home.
Avoid wildlife during sensitive times: mating, nesting, raising
young, or winter.
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Respect other visitors and protect the quality of their experience.
Be courteous. Yield to other users on the trail.
Step to the downhill side of the trail when encountering pack
stock.
Take breaks and camp away from trails and other visitors.
Let nature's sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices and noises.
Copyright © 2000 National Outdoor Leadership School. All rights
reserved; reproduction in whole or in part without permission is
prohibited.
“God bless
America….Let’s
save some of it.”
— Olaus Murie
81
82
The Wilderness Society
Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to protect
America's wilderness and to develop a nationwide network of wild
lands through public education, scientific analysis, and advocacy.
Our goal is to ensure that future generations enjoy the clean air and
water, scenic beauty, wildlife, and opportunities for outdoor
recreation and spiritual renewal provided by the nation's pristine
forests, rivers, deserts, and mountains.
©Al Larson
The passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964 was the culmination of
more than 20 years of effort by The Wilderness Society. The Society
also was instrumental in the passage of one of the most significant
pieces of public land legislation in this century—the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, which preserved
more than 100 million acres of spectacular wild country. The
Wilderness Society has continued to play a leading role in efforts to
expand the Wilderness System and has joined with other
conservation groups in seeking to establish sound multiple-use
management for our federal forest and range lands through
legislation such as the National Forest Management Act and the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
The Wilderness Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
maintains field offices across the country. The Public Policy and
Regional Conservation Departments cover wilderness and land
management issues involving national parks and forests, wildlife
refuges, and western heritage lands of the Bureau of Land
Management. The Ecology and Economics Research Department
provides economic and scientific analyses to support The Wilderness
Society’s efforts on behalf of resource conservation. The
Communications Department directs our educational mission and
produces a newsletter and an annual magazine, Wilderness.
83
For more information about wilderness preservation and management
and other issues related to natural resources on federal lands,
please contact:
Northern Rockies Region
105 West Main Street, Suite E
Bozeman, MT 59715-4689
406-586-1600
The Wilderness Society
1615 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-833-2300
www.wilderness.org
or to one of The Society’s
regional offices:
2600 Rose Hill, Suite 201
Boise, ID 83705
208-343-8153
Alaska Region
430 West 7th Avenue, #210
Anchorage, AK 99501-3550
907-272-9453
Southeast Region
112 Krog Street, Suite 26
Atlanta, GA 30307
404-872-9453
California/Nevada Region
Presidio Bldg. 1016
P.O. Box 29241
San Francisco, CA 94129
415-561-6641
Wilderness Support Center
P.O. Box 1620
Durango, CO 81302
970-247-8788
Four Corners States Region
1660 Wynkoop Street, Suite 850
Denver, CO 80202
303-650-5818
Northeast Region
45 Bromfield St., Suite 1101
Boston, MA 02108
617-350-8866
P.O. Box 10
West Charleston, VT 05872
802-586-9910
Pacific Northwest Region
1424 Fourth Avenue, Room 816
Seattle, WA 98101-2217
206-624-6430
84
“We simply need that wild
country available to us, even
if we never do more than
drive to its edge and look in.
For it can be a means of
reassuring ourselves of our
sanity as creatures, a part
of the geography of hope.”
— Wallace Stegner
The Wilderness Society
1615 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-833-2300
1-800-THE-WILD
www.wilderness.org