How many wilderness areas in united states

The Pacific Crest Trail passes through 48 wilderness areas including six that are named for famous conservationists. The Continental Divide Trail passes through 24 wilderness areas including the Gila , the first wilderness area administratively designated in , and near the Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness, the first wilderness area designated by Indian Tribes, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana.

The Appalachian Trail passes through 24 wilderness areas and borders another 4, including three designated in by the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act. Learn more about how trails connect us to wilderness.

So far, 26 wilderness areas are named after famous people including former presidents, congressmen, and conservationists. Deam Wilderness , Daniel J.

Aiken Wilderness , Henry M. Jackson Wilderness , J. Douglas Wilderness. Information about all of the wildernesses that make up the National Wilderness Preservation System is available in a searchable format. Use the practitioner's data search to find Wilderness areas by name, agency, state, size or year of enacting legislation. Wilderness Connect. Other trails include Tahoe Rim, which encircles Lake Tahoe, and those that lead more serious hikers up the highest peak in the Carson Range, Mount Rose.

Wildflowers and wildlife are attractions here as well. In summer, alpine meadows are covered in wildflowers like forget-me-nots, buttercups, bluebells and columbine. In forests of aspen, conifers, oak and maple visitors may spy Rocky Mountain goats, mule deer, elk and moose.

Hundreds of lakes feed cold rivers that carve through canyons, forming the headwaters of the state. Its rough terrain prevented clear-cutting so it remains one of only a few old growth forests in the Blue Ridge Mountains range. Linville is the only gorge in the state without a road in the bottom and the only one in the nation designated as wilderness by the Wilderness Act that has never changed in acreage. Visitors are drawn to rock climbing at Jonas Ridge, scenic viewing at Linville Falls as well as backpacking, hunting and fishing.

Those seeking more solitude are advised to explore the southern half of the wilderness or the rough northern section around Brushy Ridge. The original 13, acres designated fifty years ago has since expanded to 18, acres. The largest Wilderness in the state, Middle Prong Wilderness lies at its southwestern border. Logging and wildfires during the first half of last century are evidenced by grassy "balds" today.

Despite hard-to-follow trails, this wilderness remains one of the most visited in the state, perhaps because it is the closest to the city of Asheville. Its proximity to the legendary Appalachian Trail as well as Skyline Drive means it is a well-visited one. Visitors would never guess that its abundant forests were once nearly completely cleared. Thankfully, today they are home to many wild creatures, including deer, bears, bobcats, wild turkeys and about other species of birds.

The Beartooth Range has many high peaks, including one that looks like a bear's tooth. Granite Peak, Montana's tallest, towers over the vast Beartooth Plateau and alpine lakes are small but plentiful.

The neighboring Absaroka mountain range, named for what the Crow Indians called themselves, has dense forests and expansive meadows with trout-rich streams. It extends to the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park, offering over miles of trails for ultimate backpacking adventures. Among its 1, miles of rugged trails through coniferous canyons and valleys, many remain sparse. This makes it ideal habitat for the plentiful Selway elk herd, as well as recently reintroduced packs of the grey wolf.

This area offers the quintessentially wild experience, so it is legendary among backpackers, as well as delightfully expansive - both reasons why it is one of the most visited.

But for places treasured for their removal from hindrances of man, a delicate balance must be struck. When it comes to wilderness, popularity has its risks.

For one, crowds decrease the opportunities for solitude that wilderness so uniquely offers. They also can lead to undesired impacts on fragile areas, such as trampling of plants, campfire dangers, tree damage, wildlife disturbance and littering. These areas are protected in part so they can be enjoyed, but visitors are also responsible for caring for them. Regardless of how you plant to revel in their beauty, please observe leave no trace principles during your visit. Visiting throughout the week also helps prevent overcrowded weekends.

Search Search Clear. Join Donate. Where We Work. About Us. Acting at its own discretion, and at the behest of an employee named Aldo Leopold, the Forest Service created the first wilderness area in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico in In the succeeding decades, the agency's system of wilderness, wild, and primitive areas grew to However, in the s, increasing timber harvests and recreational use of the national forests led to public concerns about the permanence of this purely administrative system.

The Forest Service had relied on its administrative authority in making wilderness designations, but there was no law to prevent a future change to those designations. In response, Congress enacted the Wilderness Act in The act described the attributes and characteristics of wilderness, and it prohibited or restricted certain activities in wilderness areas to preserve and protect the designated areas, while permitting other activities to occur.

The act reserves to Congress the authority to designate areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Wilderness System began with the 9. The Wilderness Act directed the Secretary of Agriculture to review the agency's 5. The Secretaries were to report their recommendations to the President and to Congress within 10 years i.

Separate recommendations were made for each area, and many areas recommended for wilderness were later designated, although some of the recommendations are still pending. The 90 th Congress began expanding the Wilderness System in , as shown in Table 1. Five laws were enacted, creating five new wilderness areas with , acres in four states. Wilderness designations generally increased in each succeeding Congress, rising to a peak of This figure included the largest single designation of The th Congress was the first Congress to designate no additional wilderness acres.

Including the Wilderness Act, Congress has enacted more than laws designating new wilderness areas or adding to existing ones, as shown in Table 1. The Wilderness System now contains wilderness areas managed by the four federal land management agencies, with approximately The agencies are studying additional lands to determine if these lands should be added to the Wilderness System.

However, comprehensive data on the lands recommended and being reviewed for wilderness potential are not available. Table 1. Additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System. Number of New Areas Additions b. Excludes laws with minor boundary and acreage adjustments less than 10 acres of net change. The first number indicates the number of new wilderness areas; the number in parentheses indicates the number of additions to existing wilderness areas.

The total reported for a given Congress reflects the acreage as designated at the time of enactment, which may differ from the acreage used to calculate the total for the column because of subsequent acreage revisions.

This figure includes The Wilderness Act described wilderness as an area of generally undisturbed federal land. Specifically, Section 2 c defined wilderness as. A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his 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.

An area of wilderness is further defined to mean This definition provides some general guidelines for determining which areas should or should not be designated wilderness, but the law contains no specific criteria.

The phrases "untrammeled by man," "retaining its primeval character," and "man's work substantially unnoticeable" are not precise. Even the numerical standard 5, acres is not absolute; smaller areas can be designated. These imprecise criteria stem in part from differing perceptions of what constitutes wilderness.

To some, wilderness is an area where there is absolutely no sign of human presence: no traffic can be heard including aircraft ; no roads, structures, or litter can be seen. To others, sleeping in a camper in a site campground in Yellowstone National Park is a wilderness experience.

Complicating these differing perceptions is the wide range of ability to "get away from it all" in various settings. In a densely wooded area, isolation might be measured in yards; in mountainous or desert terrain, human developments can sometimes be seen for miles.

Section 2 of the Wilderness Act also identified the purposes of wilderness. Specifically, Section 2 a stated that the act's purpose was to create wilderness lands "administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness.

Thus, there are contrasting views about what constitutes wilderness and how wilderness should be managed. In an attempt to accommodate contrasting views of wilderness, the Wilderness Act provided certain exemptions and delayed implementation of restrictions for wilderness areas, as will be discussed below. At times, Congress has also responded to the conflicting demands of various interest groups by allowing additional exemptions for certain uses especially for existing activities in particular wilderness designations.

The subsequent wilderness statutes have not designated wilderness areas by amending the Wilderness Act. Instead, they are independent statutes. Although nearly all of these statutes direct management in accordance with the Wilderness Act, many also provide unique management guidance for their designated areas.

Ultimately, wilderness areas are whatever Congress designates as wilderness, regardless of developments or activities that some might argue conflict with the act's definition of wilderness.

The Wilderness Act and subsequent wilderness laws contain several provisions addressing management of wilderness areas. These laws designate wilderness areas as part of and within existing units of federal land, and the management provisions applicable to those units of federal land, particularly those governing management direction and restricting activities, also apply.

Thus, hunting would be prohibited for the wilderness areas in those NPS units but would be permitted in Forest Service or BLM wilderness areas, absent specific statutory language. In addition to the management requirements applicable to the underlying federal land, most of the subsequent wilderness statutes direct management of the designated areas in accordance with or consistent with the Wilderness Act, although some management provisions have been expanded or clarified.

The Wilderness Act, and subsequent statutes, authorized some uses to continue, particularly if the uses were authorized at the time of designation. For example, the Wilderness Act specifically directs that "the grazing of livestock, where established prior to the effective date of this Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture" Section 4 d 4 2.

Many of the subsequent wilderness statutes also expressly directed continued livestock grazing in conformance with the Wilderness Act and the committee reports. The Wilderness Act extended the mining and mineral leasing laws for wilderness areas in national forests for 20 years, through Until midnight on December 31, , new mining claims and mineral leases were permitted for those wilderness areas and exploration and development were authorized, "subject, however, to such reasonable regulations governing ingress and egress as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture.

Some subsequent wilderness statutes have specifically withdrawn the designated areas from availability under the mining and mineral laws, whereas others have directed continued mineral development and extraction or otherwise allowed historical use of an existing mine to continue within designated areas.

The Wilderness Act, directly and by cross-reference in virtually all subsequent wilderness statutes, generally prohibits commercial activities; motorized uses; and roads, structures, and facilities in designated wilderness areas. Specifically, Section 4 c states:. Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this Act and, except as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this Act including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area , there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.

The use of motorized or mechanized equipment—such as cars, trucks, off-road vehicles, bicycles, aircraft, or motorboats—is also prohibited, except in emergencies and specified circumstances.