| The Wilderness
Act of 1964 established the National Wilderness Preservation System within
national forests. It is considered an "organic act" that sets the
standard and guidance for acts designating specific wilderness areas,
including those administered by other federal agencies in addition to the
USFS (United States Forest Service).
For details, see the following documents:
Wilderness Act Summary
Wilderness
Act of 1964
FLPMA (Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976)
Definition of Wilderness: "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. An area of wilderness is further
defined to mean in this chapter an area of underdeveloped Federal land
retaining its primeval character and influence,
without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is
protected and managed to preserve its natural conditions and which (1)
generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature,
with the imprint of man's work substantially
unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for
solitude or a
primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3)
has at least five thousand acres of land
or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use
in an unimpaired condition; and (4)
may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific,
educational, scenic, or historic value."
Stated primary purposes:
"...wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public purposes of
recreational, scenic, scientific, educations, conservation, and historical
use."
Prohibition of Certain Uses:
"Except as specifically provided for in this chapter, and subject to
existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and
no permanent road within the wilderness
area designated in this chapter and, except as necessary to meet minimum
requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this
chapter (including measures required in emergencies involving the health
and safety of the 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 forms
of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such
area."
It is important to understand that
bicycles and motorized wheelchairs are prohibited and can not be
used in a designated Wilderness area.
Every new wilderness bill is in effect an
amendment to the Wilderness Act of 1964. Most bills have some
special provisions, but special provisions are difficult to get passed,
and only pass if congress concludes that they are consistent with the
"intent" of the original Wilderness Act.
The words in the eloquent definition of
wilderness in the 1964 Act have not been changed, but their meaning has
been diluted because of special allowances by Congress in many recent
wilderness bills.
In the beginning, wilderness was found in
remote and primitive areas where the sights and sounds of civilization did
not impinge on the solitude of those special areas created by God and
discovered by man. Roads did not exist, motorized vehicles could not
realistically travel, and the imprint of man was barely recognized.
Now we have "wilderness" with roads that
are excluded only by lines drawn on a map and they are called "cherry
stems". Man's imprint exists, but has been blurred by efforts to
remove it. We find "wilderness" that lies near heavily populated
areas where the sights and sounds of civilization are clearly seen and
heard.
The result is not wilderness, but
something that at best is only a facsimile.
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