WILDERNESS FAQ
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Designated wilderness is carved out of federal public lands already set aside as national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, and lands managed by the BLM. It is created by specific acts of Congress designating particular areas as wilderness. Today, there are more than 109 million acres of wilderness protected in America’s national forests, wildlife refuges, parks, and BLM lands. The largest amount of designated wilderness is in Alaska.
Wilderness areas are important because they provide long-term protection to the last of our nation’s wild landscapes — places that possess spectacular beauty, offer outstanding solitude, support native plants and animals, protect valuable water resources, shelter ancient cultural artifacts, provide opportunities for primitive recreation, and maintain resiliency in the face of global climate change.
There is a long history of the land protection ethic in America. In 1864, Congress set aside land in Yosemite that would later become Yosemite National Park. In 1872, Yellowstone was made the first national park. The first bill to create a National Wilderness Preservation System was introduced in 1956. The 1964 Wilderness Act took eight years, eighteen hearings, and sixty-six revisions to become law.
An area is considered to be natural if the imprints of human intrusion are “substantially unnoticeable.” The Wilderness Act specifically permits trails, bridges, fire towers, pit toilets, fire rings, fish habitat enhancement facilities, fencing, and research monitoring devices. Other human impacts are permitted in Wilderness areas, so long as their overall impact is substantially unnoticeable. Sights and sounds of activities occurring outside an area are not considered when assessing naturalness, even if these activities are quite prominent.
Non-motorized recreation including horseback riding, non-commercial herb gathering, hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting are allowed. Agencies may maintain and construct trails in wilderness. The use of wheelchairs, including motorized wheelchairs, is permitted in wilderness areas when the wheelchair is a medical necessity. Grazing is allowed to continue at levels consistent with sound resource management if it existed prior to the designation of the area as a wilderness.
The Wilderness Act prohibits such activities as mining, chaining, water development, and timber harvest (although mining may occur where there is a valid pre-existing right to mine). The Wilderness Act also prohibits use of motorized vehicles in wilderness except under emergency circumstances. This means that chain saws, trucks, cars, bulldozers, off-road vehicles, helicopters, and other motorized equipment cannot be used within wilderness areas. Mountain bikes are not permitted in wilderness areas.
Wilderness areas are defined as roadless areas on public lands that have been designated by Congress to be preserved in a primitive condition. Parts of many national parks are also preserved in a largely natural condition in which roads, mechanical devices and permanent structures are not allowed. However, national parks can also include developed, roaded areas. With few exceptions, grazing and hunting are not allowed in parks, whereas they are allowed in wilderness areas.
A wilderness area is protected by law (the 1964 Wilderness Act) and the status can only be changed by an act of Congress. Congress has carefully defined wilderness, established a uniform national system of wilderness, and given clear guidance as to how wilderness must be managed. Other designations such as “primitive areas” provide temporary protection, but the protection can be modified or removed by the signature of an appointed administrative official. Similarly, conservation areas and recreation areas lack the statutory foundation of the Wilderness Act to guide their permanence and integrity.
Only areas which are currently roadless and undeveloped qualify for wilderness designation. Areas with constructed, regularly maintained roads do not qualify for wilderness.
Reasonable access to state lands and private property, by such means as motorized vehicles, is allowed within wilderness, but the land management agency generally attempts to acquire these inholdings on a willing-seller basis.