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The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by
Howard Zahniser Howard Clinton Zahniser (February 25, 1906 – May 5, 1964) was an American environmental activist. For nearly 20 years, he helped lead The Wilderness Society as executive secretary, executive director, and editor of ''The Living Wilderness'', fro ...
of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of
wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a long effort to protect federal wilderness and to create a formal mechanism for designating wilderness, the Wilderness Act was signed into law by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964 after over sixty drafts and eight years of work. The Wilderness Act is well known for its succinct and poetic 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." – Howard Zahniser
When Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act on September 3, 1964, it created the
National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...
. The initial statutory wilderness areas, designated in the Act, comprised 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of national forest wilderness areas in the
United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
previously protected by administrative orders. The current amount of areas designated by the NWPS as wilderness totals 757 areas encompassing 109.5 million acres of federally owned land in 44 states and
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
(5% of the land in the United States).


Background

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s there were growing concerns about the rapidly growing population in America after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, a period known as a
baby boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are ofte ...
. Additionally, American transportation systems grew in size which made transportation easier and increased environmental concerns. A leading concern was that environmental degradation would have an impact on air and water quality, this was partly addressed by the initial passage of the Clean Air Act in 1963. The problem of American wilderness available still persisted even after attempts to regulate pollutants. Part of America's identity was its vast untamed wilderness that was untouched by humans, which had fallen to about 2.5% of the total land in America by the 1960s. Previous efforts to conserve the nature had yielded public land designations and protections such as the National Parks System, National Forests, and primitive areas. Unfortunately, many of these designations came short of providing the necessary protections needed to keep the land preserved for future generations. The shortcomings of previous protections was exclaimed by efforts to develop protected lands for mining and energy utilization, a prominent example is the
Echo Park Dam Echo Park Dam was proposed in the 1950s by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as a central feature of the Colorado River Storage Project. Situated on the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado River, the dam was proposed for the Echo Park dist ...
controversy at
Dinosaur National Monument Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Although most of the monument area is i ...
. The encroachment on existing protected land motivated conservationist to lobby Congress to add additional protections to wilderness land, in particular Howard Zahniser wrote the first draft of the Wilderness Act.


Legislative history

The Wilderness Act of 1964 went through numerous discussions and drafts before finally being enacted during the 88th Congressional Session.


Before the 88th Congress

The concept of developing a federal Wilderness system through Congress began to be seriously explored when in 1948 a group of Congressional members requested a report be compiled on the topic through the Legislative Reference Service within the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
.Congressional Quarterly Almanac 1964, p. 487. The report was completed a year later, and the results released the data that had been requested which provided more information on the current state of federal land. In 1956, about seven years later, the first committee hearings began in House and Senate on the topic of protecting Wildlife Refuge areas. The first drafts of the Wilderness Act were introduced in the House in January of 1957, where 6 bills were introduced over a span of four days. One month later the Senate also introduced a draft bill of the Wilderness Act. President John F. Kennedy was a supporter of the Wilderness Act, his administration worked to rally Legislators to pass the bill. During the 87th Congressional session the Senate voted and passed a version of the Wilderness Act, however it never made it to a vote in the House and its overall fate was regarded as uncertain at the time.


The 88th Congress

Early in the 88th Congressional term the Senate debated and eventually passed the Wilderness Bill in April 1963. After President Kennedy's assassination, President Lyndon B Johnson continued the executive efforts for the Wilderness Act to be passed. During a press conference on June 23, 1963 President Johnson included the Wilderness Act as a pieces of legislation needed to be passed in his list of 30 "musts." After going to a conference committee to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, the Act eventually was eventually signed into law by President Johnson on September 3, 1964.


Legal framework

The Wilderness Act of 1964 included a few provisions (sections), that covered different aspects its implementation.


Definition of a Wilderness

Section 2 of the Wilderness Act provides a justification for and definition of what constitutes an area of land as wilderness. Wilderness Act land is chosen from existing federal land and by determining which areas are considered to meet the following criteria: * Minimal human imprint * Opportunities for unconfined recreation * At least five thousand acres * Educational, scientific, scenic or historical value * Have no commercial enterprises within them or any motorized travel or other form of mechanical transport (e.g., vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles).


Creation of the National Wilderness Preservation System

Section 3 of the Act outlines the creation and regulation of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS). When Congress designates each wilderness area, it includes a very specific boundary line in statutory law. Once a wilderness area has been added to the system, its protection and boundary can be altered only by Congress. The basics of the NWPS set out in the Wilderness Act are straightforward: *The lands protected as wilderness are areas of our
public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...
s. *Wilderness designation is a protective overlay Congress applies to selected portions of national forests, parks,
wildlife refuge A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s, and other public lands. *Within wilderness areas, the Wilderness Act strives to restrain human influences so that
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
s
he Wilderness Act, however, makes no specific mention of ecosystems He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
can change over time in their own way, free, as much as possible, from human manipulation. In these areas, as the Wilderness Act puts it, "the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man," untrammeled meaning that the forces of nature operate unrestrained and unaltered. *Wilderness areas serve multiple uses but the law limits uses to those consistent with the Wilderness Act mandate that each wilderness area be administered to preserve the "wilderness character of the area." For example, these areas protect watersheds and clean-water supplies vital to downstream municipalities and agriculture, as well as
habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
supporting diverse wildlife, including
endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
, but logging and oil and gas drilling are prohibited. *Along with many other uses for the American people, wilderness areas are popular for diverse kinds of outdoor recreation but without motorized or mechanical vehicles or equipment except where specifically permitted. Scientific research is also allowed in wilderness areas as long as it is non-invasive. *The Wilderness Act allows certain uses (resource extraction, grazing, etc.) that existed before the land became wilderness to be grandfathered in and so they may continue to take place although the area that was designated as wilderness typically would not concede such uses. Specifically, mining, grazing, water uses, or any other uses that do not significantly impact the majority of the area may remain in some degree.


Land use regulations

Section 4 lists what usage is not allowed on land protected by the NWPS, and define the exceptions to the rules. Prohibited actions include: * Use of a motor vehicle, equipment, motorboat. or any other mechanical transport * Creation of a permanent or temporary road * Inclusion of a commercial enterprise * Aircraft landing


Expansion of the program

Sections 5, 6, and 7 discuss how Congress shall handle acquisition of more land, gifts, and addition of new designated wilderness areas.


Uncertainties

''Some topics surrounding the Act remained unanswered, which has prompted future actions and controversies.'' When the Wilderness Act was passed, it ignored lands managed by the
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's ...
because of uncertainty of policy makers surrounding the future of those areas. The uncertainty was clarified in 1976 with the passing of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) is a United States federal law that governs the way in which the public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management are managed. The law was enacted in 1976 by the 94th Congress and is ...
, which stated that land managed by the Bureau of Land Management would remain federally owned and, between March 1978 and November 1980, would be reviewed to possibly be classified as wilderness.Durrant, Jeffrey, ''Struggle Over Utah's San Rafael Swell: Wilderness, National Conservation Areas, and National Monuments'', Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2007. Print. Some argue that the criteria to determine wilderness are vague and open to interpretation. For example, one criterion for wilderness is that it be roadless, and the act does not define the term roadless. Wilderness advocacy groups and some agency staff have attempted to use this standard: "the word 'roadless' refers to the absence of roads that have been improved and maintained by mechanical means." For more information, see Revised Statute 2477. The Wilderness Act has been interpreted by the administrating agencies to ban bicycles from wilderness areas based on the statutory text prohibiting "other mechanical forms of transport." It is noteworthy that mountain bikes did not exist when the Wilderness Act was enacted, hence they were not explicitly identified in the statute. The prohibition on bicycles has led to opposition from mountain bikers to the opening of new wilderness areas.


Creation

The pioneering research and advocacy work of Margaret and Olaus Murie and Celia Hunter, along with the Alaska Conservation Society, was crucial to the passage of the Wilderness Act, and to the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Margaret Murie testified passionately before Congress in favor of the Wilderness Act. Margaret worked with Wilderness Society staffer
Howard Zahniser Howard Clinton Zahniser (February 25, 1906 – May 5, 1964) was an American environmental activist. For nearly 20 years, he helped lead The Wilderness Society as executive secretary, executive director, and editor of ''The Living Wilderness'', fro ...
, author of the bill, to promote passage of the act, and she attended the signing ceremony.


Statistics

As of 2014, the National Wilderness Preservation System comprised over 109 million acres (441,000 km²), involving federal lands administered by four agencies:


Subsequent legislation

The Wilderness Act has created a foundation that allows for many new additions of American land to be designated as wilderness. Congress considers additional proposals every year, some recommended by federal agencies and many proposed by grassroots conservation and sportsmen's organizations. Additional laws adding areas to the NWPS include: * Eastern Wilderness Areas Act of 1975 * Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978 * Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 * Great Bear Wilderness Act of 1978 *
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) is a United States federal law signed by President Jimmy Carter on December 2, 1980. ANILCA provided varying degrees of special protection to over of land, including national parks, n ...
of 1980 * National Forest Wilderness Act of 1980 * New Mexico Wilderness Act of 1980 *
Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 The Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 () was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on June 19, 1984. The Act designated four new wilderness areas in the U.S. state of Vermont, while expanding one existing wilderness area. A total of of n ...
* New Hampshire Wilderness Act of 1984 * California Wilderness Act of 1984 * Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 * Arizona Wilderness Act 1984 * North Carolina Wilderness Act of 1984 * Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 *
Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act The Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act is a U.S. federal law enacted in 2006 that enlarged existing wilderness boundaries and created new wilderness areas for protection under the National Wilderness Preservation System. Thes ...
of 2006 *
New England Wilderness Act of 2006 The New England Wilderness Act of 2006 () was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 1, 2006. The Act designated three (3) new wilderness areas in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Vermont, while expanding five (5) exist ...
* Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 * Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Conservation and Recreation Act of 2014 *
John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 is an omnibus lands act that protected public lands and modified management provisions. The bill designated more than of wilderness area, expanded several national par ...
of 2019 Congressional bills are pending to designate new wilderness areas in Utah, Colorado, Washington, California, Virginia, Idaho, West Virginia, Montana and New Hampshire. Grassroots coalitions are working with local congressional delegations on legislative proposals for additional wilderness areas, including Vermont, southern Arizona, national grasslands in South Dakota, Rocky Mountain peaks of Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. The U.S. Forest Service has recommended new wilderness designations, which citizen groups may propose to expand.


50th anniversary of Wilderness Act

In 2014, America celebrated "50 Years of Wilderness", and Wilderness50, a growing coalition of federal agencies, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and other wilderness user groups has been created to document this historical commemoration honoring America's "True American Legacy of Wilderness." A series of projects and events were held to commemorate the 50th year of the Wilderness Act, including community museum, airport and visitor center displays; National website and social media campaign; Smithsonian photography exhibition; Washington D.C. Wilderness Week in September, and the National Wilderness Conference.


See also

* List of U.S. Wilderness Areas *
Conservation refugee Conservation refugees are people (usually indigenous) who are displaced from their native lands when conservation areas, such as parks and other protected areas, are created. Definition Many conservation refugees (such as the Great Lakes Twa) were ...
*
Natural heritage Natural heritage refers to the sum total of the elements of biodiversity, including flora and fauna, ecosystems and geological structures. It forms part of our natural resources. Definition Heritage is that which is ''inherited'' from past gener ...
*
National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Dant, Sara. "Making Wilderness Work: Frank Church and the American Wilderness Movement." Pacific Historical Review 77 (May 2008): 237-272. * * "The Wilderness Act of 1964.

* "Conducting Wilderness Characteristics Inventory on BLM Lands", 15 March 201

* *


External links


The Wilderness Society
(political advocacy)
50th Anniversary of Wilderness Act Commemoration Events

50th Anniversary of Wilderness Act Hub

Listen to President Johnson's remarks at the signing of the Wilderness Act on September 3, 1964
* Full text of the Wilderness Act*
Overview of other wilderness-related legislation

Campaign for America's Wilderness
(political advocacy)
Californians for Western Wilderness
(political advocacy)
America's Redrock Wilderness Act
- Library of Congress {{Authority control 88th United States Congress Protected areas of the United States United States federal public land legislation Act Environmental law in the United States