Wilderness

Act 1964
Reed A Ochalek
What is 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.”

Wilderness Act of 1964

Written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society
The Need
- Increasing industrialization
and resource extraction
- Loss of recreation areas
- Piecemeal conservation

Constitutional Basis
- Property Clause
Federal Public Lands - Managers
Bureau of Land Management (245 ma)
National Forest Service (193 ma)
Fish and Wildlife Service (95 ma)
National Park Service (85 ma)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (55 ma)
Department of Defence (27 ma)
Bureau of Reclamation (6.1 ma)
Public Land Units
- National Parks
- National Recreation Areas
- National Forests
- National Wildlife Refuges
- National Monuments
- Many more (Seashores, lakeshores,
historic sites, battlefields)

Glen Canyon NRA

Photo by Tom Till
Federal Public Lands -
Wilderness
- An overlay…
- Does not change ownership
- Adds restrictions
No motors, roads, vehicles
No mining or grazing
No permanent installations.

Dark Canyon
Photo by James Kay
Requirements for Wolfman Panel – Butler Wash
Photo by Bev Wolf

Wilderness
- Minimal human imprint
- Opportunities for solitude or unconfined
primitive recreation
- At least 5000 acres
- Educational value
- Scientific value
- Cultural Value

Dark Canyon
Photo by James Kay
Tools to Create and
Manage Wilderness
 Wilderness
Designations
Ray Bloxham
America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act
America’s Red Rock
Wilderness Act
HR 3031 / S. 1310

88 Cosponsors in the House

22 in the Senate

Stores and sequesters 243 million tonnes of

carbon

Protects 8.4 million acres

Defines the turf for ongoing legal and legislative

protections
Travel Management
Plans
Labyrinth Canyon – Tidwell Bottom
Photo by James Kay
Travel Management Plans
- Dictates open trails and allowed uses
- Follows NEPA procedures
- Addresses OHV threats
- Preserves wildlands
- Recent victory in Labyrinth Canyon

Labyrinth Canyon
Photo by Ray Bloxham
White Canyon
Photo by Ray Bloxham
Wilderness Study
Areas
WSAs
- Wilderness Quality Lands
- Identified by inventory
- Managed as Wilderness
- Less fortified than formal wilderness
- FLPMA (Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976)
- Subsequent Inadequate Inventory
- Informal prohibition on new WSAs
Dark Canyon
Photo by James Kay
Stewardship Projects
Stewardship
- Once the land is significantly
degraded it no longer qualifies.
- Thus, protecting Wilderness Study
Areas and Lands with Wilderness
Characteristics (LWCs) is vital.
- Hands-on-stewardship helps.
- https://suwa.org/projectcalendar/

Dark Canyon
Photo by James Kay
Get Involved and Help
Protect Our Public
Lands!
Reed Ochalek: caintern@suwa.org
Bears Ears Draft Management Plan:
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/projec
t/2020347/510

Go to suwa.org
Stickers, postcards…