Wilderness Tutorials: Wilderness Benefits

There are many, varied, important benefits of Wilderness. Many are unique to Wilderness. Many are critical for Montana communities to survive.

Freedom

• The wilderness has long symbolized American freedom at its best, and it preserves our values of self-reliance and independence.
• Wilderness serves as an important escape from the cacophony of our busy lives.

Health

• Montana communities depend on clean water for drinking, agriculture, and world-class fishing. The cleanest water begins as rivulets of melting snow in the state’s Wilderness and wilderness-quality areas.
• Wilderness preserves the diverse plant and animal life needed to keep nature functioning correctly. In Montana, healthy lands mean healthy communities with clean air, clean water, and opportunities for subsistence hunting and fishing close to home.
• Fragile species like grizzly bear, elk, mountain goat, wolf, lynx, and native trout need undisturbed habitat to survive and thrive. Undisturbed bird habitat provides valuable pest and insect control.

Preserving Traditions

• For hundreds of years, wilderness lands have been places for people to explore on foot or horseback.
• Montana is revered worldwide for its hunting and fishing opportunities. Many families pass on those traditions from generation to generation.

Economic

• 306 Montana outfitting businesses depend directly on either roadless areas or designated Wilderness areas (or both) for income.
• A 1998 survey of 306 wildlands outfitting businesses shows they generated $107 million in economic activity in Montana that year, and created 4,336 jobs. Seventy-seven percent of wildlands outfitters (235) utilize unprotected roadless areas. In other words, $83 million in economic activity and 3,339 Montana jobs stem from businesses dependent on maintaining Montana’s roadless areas.
• 30,000 tourism jobs depend on Montana’s image as a "wild" place.
• The $300 million wildlife industry (hunting, fishing, and wildlife observation) depends on roadless areas for wildlife habitat, clean water, and scenery.
• In drought years, the agriculture industry depends even more on the measured runoff that forested slopes provide.

Spiritual

• For many people, wilderness is a peaceful sanctuary that provides much-needed solitude and spiritual renewal.
• Montana Indian tribes consider many wilderness lands sacred and still use them today for vision quests and other spiritual purposes.

Social

• Some programs for troubled youth utilize wilderness trips to help break a youth’s cycle of crime or violence, or to help them move away from drugs and alcohol.
• Wilderness is the premier laboratory for children and adults alike to learn how the earth works—and how we depend on it for daily survival.
• Wilderness lands provide opportunities for high-quality time with family and friends.