Wilderness Viewpoints

Anthropocentricvs.

Biocentric

Evolution of Wilderness System

1872 - Designation of Yellowstone

1913 – Hetch-Hetchy 1916 – Establishment of National

Park Service

Evolution of Wilderness System

1929: L-20 Regulation on FS lands Permitted uses today considered

incompatible with wilderness but made it more difficult to implement them:

logging grazing road construction mechanical devices

Evolution of Wilderness System

1935: Wilderness Society formed by Bob Marshall and Aldo Leopold

Evolution of Wilderness System

1939: U regulations on Forest Service land Bob Marshall (Chief, F.S. Div. of Rec. and

Lands)

Three use categories: U-1: Wilderness (> 100,000 acres) U-2: Wild areas (5,000 to 100,000 acres) U-3: Roadless areas (managed for rec.use)

Grazing & mining permitted

Evolution of Wilderness System

1956: Howard Zahniser (Director of Wilderness Society) proposes first wilderness bill

1964: Wilderness Act finally passed by Congress

National Wilderness System

Wilderness Act of 1964Created a national wilderness system.

Bob Marshall Wilderness Area

Wilderness Area

“An area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where

man himself is a visitor who does

not remain.”Wilderness Act, 1964

Sunlight Basin, Shoshone NF

Wilderness Criteria

5,000 acres minimum or adequate size to make preservation possible.

Unnoticeable human impact. Opportunities for solitude and

primitive recreation. May contain features of ecological,

geological, scientific, educational, historic, or scenic value.

Wilderness Study Areas Areas being considered for

designation as wilderness areas. Undergo a formal study of their

resources to assess their suitability for wilderness designation.

National Wilderness System

Eastern Wilderness Act of 1975 Made it possible to designate areas

in the eastern U.S. as wilderness. Less stringent concerning human

impacts. Smaller parcels allowed (1,000

acres minimum).

Wilderness Managers National Park Service US Forest Service US Fish & Wildlife Service Bureau of Land Management

Designation Wilderness Study Areas designated

by President. Wilderness Areas designated by

Congress.

Is this use permitted? Grazing? Roads? Mechanical devices? Buildings? Timber harvesting? Mining? Fire control? Wilderness outfitters & guides? Aircraft use?

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Coastal Plain: 1.5 million acres

Brooks Range, ANWR

Gwich’in Indians Inupiat Eskimos