Living & Playing in Wyoming’s Wild Country
A Primer on Appreciating and Protecting
the Wild Country of Wyoming
the Wild Country of Wyoming
What is Wilderness?
An Enduring Resource
In 1964, the National Wilderness Preservation System was created by the law we know as the Wilderness Act. It grew from the recognition that our heritage of wild lands was in danger of being lost to expanding population and settlement. The purpose of the law was, therefore, to "secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness."
The Wilderness Act gives the American people the world's only National Wilderness Preservation System. Designated to remain forever wild are some lands within National Forests, National Parks and Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, and public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Only Congress can designate a Wilderness. Section 2 of the Act gives the U.S. Forest Service a mandate. We must manage these acres so they are "an enduring resource," one that remains "unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness." This means much more than just picking up garbage.
Untrammeled by Man
A puzzling word stands out near the beginning of the Act's definition of Wilderness, forcing readers to dust off their dictionaries. Howard Zahniser, the primary author of the Wilderness Act, carefully selected "untrammeled" to be a key word in this definition. When the Act defines wilderness as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man," many readers confuse trammeling with trampling and think that Congress simply asked us not to beat down the vegetation. The actual meaning is more profound. Defined as uncontrolled or unrestricted, "untrammeled" means that Wilderness is unlike any other land in the nation, where humans and their technology do not control or restrict the plants, animals and natural forces.
Benefits of Wilderness
What are some of the benefits we gain from Wilderness? Wilderness visitors gain personal benefits, remembered in the stories they bring home. But the benefits of wilderness reach beyond its value as a scenic playground.
Wilderness is...
- a storehouse for biodiversity that resupplies surrounding areas with plants and wildlife.
- a stronghold for plants and animals that are being displaced by human occupation elsewhere.
- a place where air and water are clean and undisturbed soil and plant cover serve as filters for pollution.
- a place where we can observe nature at work and learn how ecosystems function.
- a place of beauty and inspiration where we can challenge ourselves and gain confidence.
- a place of freedom from the technical trappings of modern life, where bonds with friends and family may be strengthened through shared experiences, or where we may go alone for contemplation and spiritual renewal.
- a place that does not threaten our survival, but whose survival depends on us, where we can learn skills that help us use the land without damaging it.
- a distant view, a photograph, a row of high peaks on the horizon. The presence of wilderness, even as viewed from a highway passing by, offers a scenic and uplifting backdrop to our daily lives; part of our identity and history, an idea that has inspired scientists, artists, and writers.
An Act of Compromise
Congress defined Wilderness as having "outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation." Furthermore "the imprint of man's work" must remain "substantially unnoticeable." Certain activities are inconsistent with this concept and are prohibited in the Wilderness Act. They are:
- Commercial enterprises
- Roads and structures
- The landing of aircraft
- Motorized equipment
- Motor or mechanical transport
The Wilderness Act also includes exceptions to each of these prohibitions. Called special provisions, they are compromises, the result of eight years of debate between the time the first wilderness bill was introduced and the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act. If Congress had not compromised, the Act never would have passed. The rewrite that finally triumphed on Capitol Hill allows these bits of civilization inside wildernesses:
- Aircraft and motorboats may operate if their use was established before the Act was passed.
- Prospecting and mining, although permitted when the Wilderness Act of 1964 was written, are no longer permitted. Now, mining activity can only continue on valid claims existing prior to December 31, 1983. Prospecting is not allowed.
- The Act allows hunting and fishing, as long as State fish and game regulations are followed.
- Outfitters can operate commercial businesses so long as they provide services that "are proper for realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes of the areas."
- Livestock grazing is permitted where this use was established before the Act was passed. The President can authorize water developments and power projects. These could include reservoirs, transmission lines, and roads.
- Owners of private property surrounded by wilderness are allowed access to their land and wilderness regulations do not apply to their property.
"Without enough wilderness America will change. Democracy, with its myriad personalities and increasing sophistication, must be fibered and vitalized by regular contact with outdoor growths--animals, trees, sun warmth and free skies--or it will dwindle and pale." ---- Walt Whitman
Roadless Areas
National park backcountry areas and BLM/USFS “roadless areas” (areas of at least 5,000 acres in size) are the primary reservoir for potential wilderness areas to be designed in the future.
Whether or not roadless areas are someday designated as wilderness, they are important backcountry areas, offering sanctuaries for wildlife, alternatives to sometimes over-crowded wilderness destinations, a wide variety of vegetation communities and habitat, and clean water and air—in other words, similar to wilderness. They differ in that they are not protected from future development, and they are open to motorized and mechanized travel.
