Wilderness Tutorials: Becoming Wilderness

Wilderness Tutorials

Designating Wilderness

Becoming Wilderness

Wilderness Benefits

Defending Wilderness

Wilderness Threats

Wilderness Misconceptions

Wilderness Preservation

How does an area become Wilderness?
Wilderness is a National designation, so Congress must pass a law establishing a Wilderness area. Because Wilderness is created from lands held by the U.S. Government, and thus belong to all of us, Congress looks for agreement among many people and agencies as to which lands are suitable for Wilderness protection. Anyone can recommend an area for Wilderness; it is often recommended by citizen’s groups as well as Federal Agencies, such as the Forest Service. It is almost always the case that the Congressional Delegation (Senators and Representatives from the area) have an important say in the outcome of a Wilderness bill. The House and Senate work together to define the specific boundaries and characteristics of a given Wilderness, then pass a bill that must be signed by the President before it can become law. Historically, only one veto has occurred: in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan. That vetoed bill included a significant amount of Wilderness in Montana.

To determine whether an area might be suitable for Wilderness designation, you might ask a few initial questions:

• Is the area 5,000 acres in size or larger?
• Does the area generally appear to be natural and is human presence, such as roads or buildings, relatively unnoticeable?
• Does the area offer the opportunity for primitive and unconfined recreational activities like camping, hiking, hunting and skiing?
• Does the area provide opportunities for solitude?
• Does the area contain features of ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic, or historical significance?

Besides Wilderness designation, wild lands can also be protected as national parks, national forests, national monuments, national seashores, national recreation areas, national conservation areas, national wildlife refuges, wild and scenic rivers, and national scenic and historic trails.