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32-559: The term wilderness is defined as "an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain" and "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". As of 2023, 806 wilderness areas have been designated, totaling 111,889,002 acres (45,279,873 ha; 452,798.73 km; 174,826.566 sq mi), which comprise about 4.5% of

64-638: A state by state basis and determines which areas and how much land in each area will become part of the WPS. There have been multiple occasions in which Congress designated more federal land than had been recommended by the nominating agency. Where as the Wilderness Act stipulated that a wilderness area must be "administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness",

96-663: Is under federal ownership and management, (2) the area consists of at least five thousand acres of land, (3) human influence is "substantially unnoticeable," (4) there are opportunities for solitude and recreation, and (5) the area possesses "ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value." Wilderness areas are subject to specific management restrictions; human activities are limited to non-motorized recreation (such as backpacking , camping , hunting , fishing , horseback riding, etc.), scientific research , and other non-invasive activities. During these activities, patrons are asked to abide by

128-591: The Eastern Wilderness Areas Act of 1975, which added 16 national forest areas to the NWPS, allowed for the inclusion of areas that had been severely modified by human interference. The Wilderness Act provides criteria for lands being considered for wilderness designation. Though there are some exceptions, the following conditions must be present for an area to be included in the NWPS: (1) the land

160-622: The Leave No Trace policy. This policy sets guidelines for using the wilderness responsibly and leaving the area as it was before usage. These guidelines include: Packing all trash out of the wilderness, using a stove as opposed to a fire, camping at least 200 feet (61 m) from trails or water sources, staying on marked trails, and keeping group size small. When closely observed, the Leave No Trace ethos ensures that wilderness areas remain untainted by human interaction. In general,

192-664: The Pelican Island Wilderness in northern Florida , which measures just 6 acres (2.4 ha) total. The smallest area preserved in the system was formerly the Rocks and Islands Wilderness in Northern California at 5 acres (2.0 ha), but after a reassessment by the Bureau of Land Management in 2006 it was officially expanded to 19 acres (7.7 ha). On November 7, 2009, an agreement between

224-480: The land area of the United States . During the 1950s and 1960s, as the American transportation system was on the rise, concern for clean air and water quality began to grow. A conservation movement began to take place with the intent of establishing designated wilderness areas. Howard Zahniser created the first draft of the Wilderness Act in 1956. It took nine years and 65 rewrites before the Wilderness Act

256-712: The Federal National Wilderness Preservation System . This table lists all U.S. areas that have been designated by the United States Congress under the Wilderness Act . The designation date is the date that the wilderness was signed into law. Some areas have been expanded or otherwise changed since their original designation. Eastern Wilderness Areas Act The Eastern Wilderness Areas Act ( Pub. L.   93–622 , 88  Stat.   2096 )

288-709: The Forest Service bill, advocates for wilderness, including The Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club , and Friends of the Earth , and their congressional allies, responded with the proposed Eastern Wilderness Areas Act. Promoted largely by Ernie Dickerman , a Wilderness Society staff member, and George Aiken , a senator from Vermont, the Senate endorsed the bill in May 1974. The final legislation adopted some elements of

320-472: The Forest Service opposed congressional designation of new wilderness areas in West Virginia with land use histories of logging. In 1971, it adopted a "purity" interpretation for wilderness designation so that no eastern or western lands with a history of human disturbance could qualify as wilderness. The Forest Service drafted its own bill as an alternative "to establish a system of wild areas within

352-490: The Forest Service-inspired bill, but it did not alter the definition and intent of the Wilderness Act of 1964. The previous debate regarding the meaning of "wilderness" versus "pristine" land led to the understanding that cultural use of lands should not keep the area from being restored to a "secondary wilderness," with functioning natural processes similar to when the land was in a primary state. Therefore,

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384-519: The NWPS included 34 areas protecting 9.1 million acres (37,000 km) in the national forests. As of 2023, there are 806 areas in the NWPS, preserving 111,889,002 acres (45,279,873 ha). This is approximately 4.5% of the entire United States , though only about 2.7% of the 48 contiguous states. However, most of that acreage is located in a handful of states. The states with the highest number of wildernesses are California , Arizona , Nevada , Alaska , and Oregon . However, when measured in acres

416-745: The NWPS, much of the wildlife in the U.S. also has an area in which to exist without significant human interaction. In late 2011, a full wilderness review was requested of the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain in Alaska. One of the major qualifications for this area to be considered as a possible wilderness area was its diverse wildlife population, many of which are on the endangered species list. In this potential wilderness area alone, whales , seals , wolves , polar bears , grizzly bears , muskoxen , caribou , and over 200 species of migratory birds call this one area home for at least part of

448-721: The National Wilderness Preservation System. On March 30, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 . The legislation designated an additional 2 million acres (810,000 ha) in nine states as wilderness, representing the largest expansion of wilderness lands since 1994. The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 added another 1.3 million acres (530,000 ha) in 43 new and expanded wilderness areas. On federal lands in

480-1000: The United States' land area, an area larger than the state of California . About 52% of the wilderness area is in Alaska , with 57,425,569 acres (89,727.452 sq mi; 232,393.03 km ) of wilderness. They are located in 44 states (excepting Connecticut , Delaware , Iowa , Kansas , Maryland , and Rhode Island ) and Puerto Rico . The NPS has oversight of 43,890,500 acres (68,578.9 sq mi; 177,619 km ) of wilderness at 61 locations. The USFS oversees 36,160,078 acres (56,500.122 sq mi; 146,334.64 km ) of wilderness areas in 447 areas. The FWS has responsibility for 20,702,350 acres (32,347.42 sq mi; 83,779.4 km ) in 71 areas. BLM oversees 8,726,011 acres (13,634.392 sq mi; 35,312.91 km ) at 224 sites. Some wilderness areas are managed by multiple agencies. Some areas are designated wilderness by state or tribal governments . These are not governed by

512-587: The United States, Congress may designate an area as wilderness under the provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Multiple agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management , the National Park Service , the Fish and Wildlife Service , and the U.S. Forest Service , are responsible for the submission of new areas that fit the criteria to become wilderness to Congress. Congress then reviews these cases on

544-531: The United States, Canada, and Mexico entitled the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation" was made. This agreement created a new entity, the North American Intergovernmental Committee on Cooperation for Wilderness and Protected Areas Conservation, that would streamline the process for open communication between international agencies for the purpose of wilderness preservation. This committee

576-845: The Wilderness Act itself. The Great Swamp in New Jersey became the first National Wildlife Refuge with formally designated wilderness in 1968. Wilderness areas in national parks followed, beginning with the designation of wilderness in part of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho in 1970. A dramatic spike in acreage added to the wilderness system in 1980 was due in large part to the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act , signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on December 2, 1980. A smaller spike in 1984 came with

608-402: The Wilderness Act" and pledged himself to correct the falsity of the so-called purity theory. Senator Frank Church , who had been leader of the Senate debate on the Wilderness Act, observed that "the effect of such an interpretation would be to automatically disqualify almost everything, for few if any lands on this continent—or any other—have escaped man’s imprint to some degree." To counteract

640-593: The exact nature of protection may differ from federal laws. Some U.S. states have created wilderness preservation programs modeled on the NWPS. List of wilderness areas of the United States The National Wilderness Preservation System includes 806 wilderness areas protecting 111,889,002 acres (174,826.566 sq mi; 452,798.73 km ) of federal land as of 2023 . They are managed by four agencies: These wilderness areas cover about 4.5% of

672-535: The future of both the U.S. system and North American preservation efforts as a whole. One of the major goals of the Wilderness Preservation System is to provide undeveloped habitats for threatened or endangered species . Many of the species found in the United States are represented in wilderness areas. There are 261 basic ecosystems in the U.S., and 157 of them are represented in the system. With 60% of all ecosystems somewhat protected by

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704-494: The land of the national forest system" that would have allowed cutting trees to "improve" wildlife habitat and recreation. The organization described the bill as necessary because eastern areas "do not meet the strict criteria of the Wilderness Act." Members of Congress who championed the Wilderness Act resolved to overturn the misconception that wilderness areas included only those "pristine" in nature. Senator Henry Jackson warned of this "serious and fundamental misinterpretation of

736-671: The largest amount of wilderness land is administered by the National Park Service. The largest contiguous wilderness complex in the United States is the Noatak and Gates of the Arctic Wildernesses in Alaska at 12,743,329 acres (5,157,042 ha). The largest wilderness area outside Alaska is the Death Valley Wilderness in southeastern California. The smallest area protected by the WPS is

768-437: The law prohibits logging , mining , motorized or mechanized vehicles (including bicycles ), road-building, and other forms of development in wilderness areas, though pre-existing mining claims and grazing ranges are permitted through grandfather clauses in the Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas fall into IUCN protected area management category Ia (strict nature preserves) or Ib (wilderness areas). A special exemption to

800-570: The list changes dramatically, as Alaska contains many of the largest areas protected under the act. In terms of total acres, Alaska , California , Arizona , Idaho , and Washington are the top five states for wilderness, containing almost 80 percent of the acreage in the system. Wilderness totals in most eastern states are modest, with the exceptions of Florida and Minnesota . Wilderness areas exist in every state except Connecticut , Delaware , Iowa , Kansas , Maryland , and Rhode Island . Most U.S. wilderness areas are in national forests, but

832-877: The passage of many bills establishing national forest wilderness areas identified by the Forest Service's Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE) process. The Bureau of Land Management was not required to review its lands for inclusion in the NWPS until after October 21, 1976, when the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 was signed into law; designation of wilderness areas on BLM lands began in 1978. Over 200 wilderness areas have been created within Bureau of Land Management administered lands since then, consisting of approximately 8.71 million acres (3,520,000 ha) in September 2015. As of August 2008, 704 separate wilderness areas, encompassing 107,514,938 acres (43,509,752 ha), had become part of

864-479: The rule against mechanized equipment is made for wilderness areas in Alaska : limited use of motorized vehicles and construction of cabins and aquaculture are permitted. These exemptions were allowed due to the large amount of wilderness in Alaska and the concerns of subsistence users, including Alaska Natives . Wilderness areas are parts of national parks , wildlife refuges , national forests , and BLM lands; some units are managed by different agencies. Initially,

896-522: The year. This vast assortment of flora and fauna is a major consideration for addition into the wilderness preservation system. Thousands of laws and policies have helped shape and manage the National Wilderness Preservation System in the United States. The following Acts of Congress either directly affect the wilderness system or help influence wilderness management: Some state and tribal governments also designate wilderness areas under their own authority and local laws. These are not federal areas, and

928-461: Was finally passed in 1964. The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-577), which established the NWPS, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964. The Wilderness Act mandated that the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service review all federal lands under their jurisdiction for wilderness areas to include in the NWPS. The first national forest wilderness areas were established by

960-402: Was formed to gain insight on the benefits of wilderness preservation, establish open channels of communication between international agencies, and examine the cultural differences and similarities behind preservation efforts in each country. Within the U.S. system, all of the agencies responsible for wilderness preservation will work in cooperation with their international counterparts to determine

992-570: Was signed into law by President Gerald Ford on January 3, 1975. The Act designated 16 new wilderness areas in the Eastern United States , including 207,000 acres (84,000 ha) of wilderness on national lands in 13 states. Although it was originally untitled, the bill signed by Ford has come to be known as the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act. The Act built upon the Wilderness Act , which

National Wilderness Preservation System - Misplaced Pages Continue

1024-507: Was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. While the Wilderness Act created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act applied only to land east of the 100th meridian west . In 1964, both the Forest Service and Congress agreed that eastern areas would have qualified as wilderness. However, six years later,

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