Wilderness

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Wilderness Summary

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Wilderness

Wilderness is land that humans neither inhabit nor cultivate. Through the ages of western culture, as the human relation to land has changed, the meaning and perception of wilderness also has changed. At first, wilderness was to be either conquered or shunned. At times, it was the place for contrition or banishment, as in the biblical account of the Israelites condemned to wander 40 years in the wilderness. To European settlers of North America, wilderness was the untamed land entered only by the adventurous or perhaps the foolhardy. But the wilderness also held riches, making it new land to be exploited, tamed, and ultimately managed. Few saw wilderness as having value in its own right.

The idea of wilderness as land deserving of protection and preservation for its own sake is largely a product of late nineteenth and twentieth century North American thought. Rapidly expanding cultivation and industry not only created wealth, but it also increased the nonconsumptive, intrinsic values of wilderness. Gradually, people began to perceive the wilderness as a land of enjoyment and welcome solitude through intimacy with nature. For some, it became an important link to their cultural past, providing assurance that some part of the earth would be left in its primeval condition for future generations, and to many their image of the wilderness is as important as its physical reality.

This relatively new attitude toward wild lands has been fostered by scientific considerations. Such lands can hold a tremendous store of unadulterated native genetic material that may be important in maintaining diversity within and among species. Wilderness also can support nondestructive, unobtrusive research projects, which serve as references from which to gauge ecological effects in other areas.

The value of wilderness was promoted from roughly the mid-nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century by many influential people, including George Catlin, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and most notably Aldo Leopold and Robert Marshall. Their ideas were ultimately incorporated into the platforms of two major organizations: the Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club. With the creation of these groups, a formal movement had begun to convince the public and lawmakers that wilderness should be preserved and protected. A significant event in this movement occurred in 1951 at the Sierra Club's second Wilderness Conference when Howard Zahniser of the Wilderness Society proposed the idea of a federal wilderness protection bill. Zahniser's work came to fruition 13 years later, four months after his death.

In 1964, the United States Congress passed the Wilderness Act, establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS). The act grew out of a concern that an expanding population, with its accompanying settlement and mechanization, would leave no lands in the United States or its possessions in their natural condition. Congress intended to preserve areas of federal lands "to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness." The act defines wilderness as follows: "A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own 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." Further, wilderness is to "be protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions," unimpaired for future use and enjoyment.

The National Wilderness Preservation System began with 54 wilderness areas totaling a little over 9 million acres (3.6 million ha), which were administered by the Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the first three decades after passage of the Wilderness Act, the system has grown to nearly 500 units covering almost 95 million acres (38.5 million ha), about the size of Montana. These units are administered by the Forest Service, and by the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management, in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The NWPS increased to about 100 million acres (40.5 million ha), roughly the size of California, following the passage of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994.

The years of greatest growth for the wilderness system were from 1978 to 1984. In 1980, 83 units comprising more than 61 million acres (24.7 million ha) were added to this system; most of this land (56 million acres [22.7 million ha] in 35 units) was added in Alaska with the passage of the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act. All but six states, in the northeast and midwest, have wilderness areas. The western United States, with about 20% of the nation's population (11% in California) has almost 95% of NWPS lands. However, the largest tracts of wilderness are in Alaska, which contains nearly two-thirds of the wilderness system acreage.

Although the Wilderness Act generally defines the minimum size for wilderness as 5,000 acres (2,025 ha), it permits land "of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition." Consequently, wilderness areas range in size from the nearly 9-million-acre (3.6-million-ha) Wrangell–Saint Elias Wilderness in Alaska to the 6-acre (2.4-ha) Pelican Island Wilderness in Florida.

In addition to designated wilderness areas in the NWPS, Congress has established the National Scenic Trails System and the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Also, several states have designated their own form of wilderness areas, the most notable of which is the Adirondack Forest Preserve in northern New York. These state systems, which are of various types and purity, help broaden the diversity of protected ecosystems and their allowable uses.

Despite the wilderness movement, not everyone agrees that wilderness preservation is a good idea. Opponents object to the restrictions imposed by the Wilderness Act, arguing that they "lock up" huge tracts of land, greatly limiting their use and value to society. The act prohibits roads, use of motorized vehicles or equipment, mechanical means of transport, structures, and commercial enterprises, including timber harvesting. Some low-impact uses, such as hiking, hunting, and fishing are allowed, as are limited livestock grazing and mining.

Before passage of the Wilderness Act, the debate over wilderness concerned whether or not it should be preserved. However, after 1964 the debate shifted to two major questions: How much is enough, and how should wilderness be managed? The first question was nearly settled, at least in law, with passage of the California Desert Protection Act. This was probably the last sizable addition to the wilderness areas in the United States. The second question may seem oxymoronic, but it presents a substantial challenge to the federal agencies charged with overseeing the health and welfare of these areas. As population pressures increase, decisions become more difficult. For example, wilderness and resource experts must determine an acceptable level of grazing; they must also decide what role fire should play; and, perhaps most importantly, the amount of recreational activity to be allowed.

These management issues are dynamic, and the concept of wilderness likely will change in the future as society's values change. Moreover, decisions regarding management of adjacent lands will influence the management of wilderness areas. Finally, ecosystems themselves change—that which is preserved today will not be what exists tomorrow, as fires, storms, volcanic eruptions, and ecological succession reshape the landscape.

Concerns, challenges, and emotional debate over preservation of native ecosystems have arisen in other parts of the world, including Europe and the Amazon Basin. Although international concepts of wilderness are different from that in the United States, other countries are studying the American model for possible adaptation to their own situations. Apart from certain differences, concepts of wildernesses around the globe have some strong commonalities: Wilderness is the antithesis of industry; it exists in the body of the earth and in the mind of humanity; and in wilderness lies the ballast of civilization.