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Introduction
- A sense of purpose and foundation
Since its founding in 1989, Wilderness Watch has pursued its
mission as the citizen voice for Wilderness stewardship,
giving a voice to the wilderness and wild rivers of our national
preservation systems. We seek to preserve our unique natural heritage
the public will articulated by the Wilderness Act and Wild and
Scenic Rivers Act.
We wrote this guide to help you respond to wilderness and wild
river management issues and to provide a basis for consistent
management. It will not provide all the answers, but it will provide
you with a foundation on which to base positions on critical issues
that are consistent with wilderness and wild river legislation.
The Wilderness Resource
Wilderness is defined in the Wilderness Act as an area "where
the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man...retaining
its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements
or human habitation...which is protected and managed so as to
preserve its natural conditions...." Wildernesses protected
by the Act are devoted to the public purposes of "recreational,
scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical
use."
Today, pristine wilderness completely devoid of any evidence
of humankind exists in very few, if any, places. However, the "ideal" needs to be understood to make appropriate management
decisions.
With respect to management, the Wilderness Act in Section 4(b)
mandates that all uses be administered to preserve the areas' "wilderness character." Section 4(c) of the Act lists
a number of activities that are generally prohibited including
commercial enterprise, permanent roads, temporary roads, motor
vehicles, motorized equipment, motorboats and aircraft, mechanical
transport, structures and installations. The Act in Section 4(d)
makes some specific exceptions to these general prohibitions which
will be discussed under the Stewardship Parameters and Stewardship
Issues sections.
Wilderness Watch endorses the application of a "non-degradation" policy (historically articulated in the Forest Service Manual)
to all parts of all Wildernesses. Any decision affecting Wilderness
must first ensure that the decision preserves the area's existing
wilderness character. Likewise, the uses of Wilderness (i.e. recreational,
scientific) must be conducted in a manner that preserve the existing
wilderness character. Appropriate activities are dependent upon
the wilderness environment and its unique qualities. Some activities
are not dependent upon a wilderness setting (for example, competitive
events or fishing for stocked fish), although they may be enhanced
by such a setting. When such activities pose conflicts or potential
impacts, the decision must always be made in favor of the wilderness
resource and wilderness dependent activities.
Management Methods
Wilderness Watch strongly favors management methods which
provide the visitor with an opportunity for spontaneity and discovery.
Education must constitute a major element of a comprehensive visitor
management program and should be directed at the general public,
specific wilderness visitor groups, and agency personnel. Education
programs should explore wilderness concepts and promote the "leave
no trace" concept. Education alone will not protect wilderness.
It must be supported by regulations and a vigorous enforcement
effort. Wilderness users and administrators must be held accountable
for preserving wilderness character.
Federal and State agencies must abide by congressional mandates
to manage wilderness to achieve a specific long range national
objective. It is essential that personnel be educated about the
meaning and value of wilderness.
Stewardship Parameters
All
management decisions and actions must be firmly rooted in:
Some
individual Wilderness bills have contained special provisions worth
noting:
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The so-called "Eastern Wilderness Act" (P.L. 93-622)
granted the Secretary of Agriculture authority to use condemnation
to acquire private land in wildernesses in the eastern states.
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Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (P.L. 96-487)
included special provisions for motorized access and subsistence
use on the 56 million acres in Alaska designated by ANILCA.
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The "Colorado Wilderness Act" (P.L. 96-560) contains
explicit language for managing livestock grazing in Wilderness.
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The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (P.L. 94-579), passed
in 1976, expanded the list of federal lands that could be part
of the Wilderness System to include lands managed by the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM)
The Minimum Tool Concept
Section
4(c) of the Wilderness Act provides that motorized equipment, mechanical
transport, motorboats and aircraft landings are prohibited "...except
as necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration
of the area for the purpose of this Act..." Every proposed
administrative activity must be evaluated to see if it is required.
If so, then it is a "minimum requirement."
If
it is not feasible to implement the "minimum requirement"
without using generally prohibited activities (e.g. motorized equipment),
then using motorized equipment becomes necessary and is the "minimum
tool." Feasibility must be determined by physical possibilitiesnot
efficiency, convenience or cost. Each tool's proposed use must be
evaluated on its own merits. A determination that a rock drill is
"necessary" does not mean that it is acceptable to use
a chainsaw or land a helicopter on the same project. Violating the
spirit of the Act by using motorized and/or mechanized equipment
should occur only rarely; often times it is best to reconsider whether
the project is truly necessary.
Stewardship
Issues
1. Administrative Activities and Facilities
Administrative
exceptions to the general prohibitions found in Section 4(c) of
the Wilderness Act must be used only when it is not feasible to
accomplish a necessary administrative task with other methods. Modern
equipment use must be based on the minimum tool concept. Administrative
personnel should set examples in how to travel, work and "live"
in the wilderness. If there are standards the general public is
expected to meet (e.g. portable tents rather than permanent structures),
then managersas well as agency cooperators, partners and permitteesshould
also meet or exceed those standards.
2. Trails
The Wilderness Act prohibits structures and installations in wilderness
except where they are "...necessary to meet minimum requirements
for the administration of the area..." as wilderness. Trails,
bridges, signs, and related facilities are structures or installations
that are permitted by the exception provided for in the Act, but only
to the extent that the structures are the minimum necessary for administering
the Wilderness.
No new trails or bridges should be constructed until a management
plan demonstrates that the trails or bridges are necessary to achieve
a wilderness stewardship objective. The plan must determine how trails
contribute to the desired future condition without impairing wilderness
character. No authority exists to build trails or other structures
to higher standards than necessary for wilderness purposes. Existing
trails, bridges and related structures should be periodically reviewed
to determine whether they should be removed or relocated.
User-created trails should be closed and/or obliterated whenever possible.
Users should be educated about the damage to soil, vegetation and
other resources from creating new trails, and to the need to limit
evidence of human activity in Wilderness. Projects that remove user-created
trails make excellent service projects for Wilderness Watch chapters,
members, and other volunteers.
Managers must keep trails and their use from causing unacceptable
wilderness degradation. There is no authority to build or reconstruct
trails to make them easy or more comfortable. The cutting of each
tree, the blasting of each rock and the moving of each cubic foot
of soil must be justified as the minimum necessary to meet a wilderness
stewardship objective.
Wilderness
trails should lay lightly on the land. They should "fit" the landscape as a game trail does, respecting land forms and natural
hazards. Trails that intrude on the natural setting have no place
in Wilderness.
3. Signs
Like
other evidence of modern life, signs detract from the wilderness
experience. Map reading, compass, and orienteering skills promote
a closer relationship to the land. There should be no mileage markers,
interpretive signs or place name signs within wilderness. Signs
may be a management necessity at some trail junctions, and some
temporary signs may be necessary to change damaging use patterns.
Necessary signs should be constructed to blend with the landscape.
4. Fish Stocking
Stocking
fish into naturally fishless waters has been shown to adversely
impact the natural aquatic ecosystem including invertebrates, insect
larvae, amphibians and other dependent wildlife species. Fish stocking
has also been shown to significantly affect indigenous fish populations
through competition, predation, and hybridization.
When supported by appropriate NEPA documentation and public involvement,
fish stocking may be considered acceptable when it is essential
to recover an indigenous species adversely affected by human influence
and with methods appropriate within wilderness. Fish stocking that
is intended to modify wilderness for recreational purposes, stocking
with non-indigenous species, or fish stocking in lakes or streams
historically and naturally devoid of fish is unacceptable.
5.
Wildlife
Natural processes should prevail and should determine the relative
abundance and diversity of fish and wildlife species in wilderness.
Management decisions and activities should minimize the level of human
influence in the wilderness system. Where human actions have eliminated
an indigenous species, where habitat conditions are suitable, and
where the population will be self-sustaining Wilderness Watch supports
reintroduction of extirpated species. Natural recolonization is preferred
to overt reintroduction. Manipulating habitat is unacceptable unless
it is necessary to protect threatened or endangered species.
Wildlife management is the most manipulative management activity in
most wildernesses. Population control, skewing male/female and age
demographics, and introducing non-indigenous fish and terrestrial
wildlife species are common manipulations. Managers and citizens must
move wildlife management programs in a direction that leaves wilderness
as an area "untrammeled by man...retaining its primeval character
and influence...protected and managed so as to preserve its natural
conditions..."
6.
Recreation Livestock
The
use of pack and saddle stock is part of the wilderness heritage.
Continued use of livestock for recreation and administrative travel
must be accommodated without degrading the Wilderness resource.
Stock users should use and promote low impact equipment and techniques.
If feed is carried into the wilderness it must be certified as "weed-free".
It
generally isn't possible to use livestock without "leaving
a trace". However, impacts from livestock should recover from
year to year, rather than persist over longer periods. Some areas
are so fragile that livestock use must be severely restricted or
prohibited. Management methods that promote minimum impact techniques
and limit use are preferred to installing stock handling facilities.
7.
Commercial Outfitting and Guiding
Section
4(c) of the Wilderness Act states "...there shall be no commercial
enterprise..." within any wilderness area. Commercializing
wilderness tends to interject economic considerations into wilderness
management decisions, something Congress clearly wanted to avoid.
At the same time, Congress recognized outfitting as a traditional
use of wilderness and that some people needed the services of outfitters
in order to experience the benefits of wilderness. Thus, Section
4(d)(5) of the Act provides that "Commercial services may be
performed...to the extent necessary for activities which
are proper for realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes
of the areas" (emphasis added). Whether to allow commercial
outfitting and guiding is a discretionary decision for wilderness
managers. The Act requires that managers preserve wilderness character
and that commercial services be allowed only to the extent necessary.
There
isn't a hard and fast rule for determining how much or what kind
of commercial services are necessary. Outfitters and guides play
an important role by making it possible for people who don't have
the equipment, skill, or physical ability to enjoy wilderness on
their own. Demand, however, expressed as a function of the
industry's ability to market wilderness, is not a valid indicator
of what is necessary. Each wilderness management plan should include
a "needs analysis" that defines the level and type of
commercial services necessary to achieve the purposes of wilderness
within the constraints of preserving wilderness character. Every
effort should be made to prevent commercial activities from leading
to expanded use of non-conforming equipment such as motorboats,
aircraft, chainsaws or administrative structures.
Commercial
outfitters, guides and their clients must abide by the same rules
that apply to other wilderness users. For example, they should be
governed by the same party-size and length of stay limits, they
should compete fairly for campsites, they must "pack out"
what they "pack in" (i.e. no caches or permanent structures)
and they must strive to leave no trace of their visit.
When
it is necessary to limit use, the allocation between outfitted and
non-outfitted users should be equitable. All workable options should
be explored to ensure that all citizens share equal opportunities
to visit wilderness and wild rivers where use is limited by permits.
The current system allows those who can afford and choose to hire
an outfitter far greater opportunities to visit some wilderness
and float some rivers than the general public enjoys.
8.
Aircraft and Airstrips
Section 4(d) of the Wilderness Act allows administrators to permit
use of aircraft and wilderness airstrips where those uses were established
prior to wilderness designation. Because aircraft are a non-conforming
use, their use should not be allowed to exceed the level of use that
existed when the wilderness was designated.
Wilderness overflights degrade the experience of wilderness users,
and cause stress to wildlife. Aircraft should fly at least 2,000 feet
above terrain except when there is a bona fide emergency, such as
search and rescue, or for fire control. Game-spotting and low-level
sight-seeing flights are unacceptable.
Wilderness airstrips should not be enlarged or improved. Their only
purpose should be to provide access for wilderness dependent activities.
Helicopter landings should be prohibited except for emergencies involving
the life of persons within the area and when primitive transport is
not feasible.
Military
training flights over wilderness must be justified through an EIS.
The EIS should clearly demonstrate that such flights are necessary,
in the national interest, and that use of alternate airspace over
non-wilderness lands would create a greater impact on the environment.
9.
Livestock Grazing
Section 4(d)(4)(2) of the Wilderness Act allows domestic livestock
grazing to continue where established prior to wilderness designation.
Congress has directed managers to not reduce grazing simply because
an area is designated Wilderness. However, where there are impacts
to soil, vegetation, wildlife, recreation, riparian areas, etc.,
grazing can be reduced.
While allowing for grazing, the Wilderness Act also charges managers
with preserving "wilderness character" (i.e. "...retaining
its primeval character and influence...managed so as to preserve
its natural conditions...affected primarily by the forces of nature....").
Grazing should not inhibit natural succession (i.e. plant communities
should reflect those that would exist with the absence of human
impactreferred to as "potential natural vegetation"),
increase the percentage of bare soil area, or measurably impair
water quality.
Ranchers
carved ranches out of the wilderness without motorized equipment
and mechanical transport, and we believe that heritage can be kept
alive by operating traditionally in Wilderness. Non-motorized transport
and equipment should be used whenever feasible. House of Representatives
Report No. 96-1126 provides additional congressional guidance for
grazing management.
10.
Predator Control
As
Aldo Leopold succinctly stated in A Sand County Almanac ,"One
of the most insidious invasions of wilderness is via predator control.."
Predation is integral to a natural functioning ecosystem and
should be allowed without management interference. Non-lethal methods
should be used to protect livestock from predators.
11. Fire Management
Most
wilderness ecosystems evolved with fire as a major influencing force.
Fire must be allowed to return to wilderness as a natural process.
Fire Management Plans should prescribe conditions that allow naturally
ignited fires to burn under natural conditions.
Years of fire suppression have allowed unnatural fuel levels to
accumulate in some situations. Planned ignitions may be necessary
to reduce fuel levels to a point where natural fires can again define
wilderness conditions. Planned ignitions, however, will not create
the same biological effects as natural fires unless they are applied
under the same conditions and time of year in which naturally ignited
fires generally occur. Planned ignitions must be supported by an
EIS.
Fire
control should utilize natural features (rivers, vegetation changes)
and hand tools. Motorized equipment such as chainsaws or aircraft
should be approved only after the request has been subject to a
rigorous "minimum tool" test.
12. Research
Wilderness
Watch supports non-manipulative research within wilderness. The
public purposes to which the Wilderness Act devotes wilderness include
scientific and education use. Research is often necessary to determine
wilderness management standards, and the health of wilderness ecosystems.
Wilderness can also serve as a baseline to measure the health of
non-wilderness ecosystems.
The
general prohibitions of Section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act apply
to research methods. Tagging or collaring wildlife or marking other
wilderness features should be discouraged. Where alternatives exist,
research should be conducted in non-wilderness settings. Motorized
equipment and structures can be considered only if the research
is the minimum necessary for administration of the area.
Devices
used for measuring snowpack, flood control and other similar purposes
that were established prior to wilderness designation should be
removed as soon as adequate correlation can be established with
sites outside the wilderness.
13. Historic Structures
Significant
historic structures, such as those eligible for the National Register,
should be identified and protected, but attempts to restore or stabilize
structures should be discouraged. The natural deterioration of historic
structures is part of wilderness; it is evidence of untrammeled
and timeless natural processes reclaiming the wilderness from temporary
human occupation. Insignificant historic structures or those causing
resource damage should be removed if their removal can be done in
a manner consistent with wilderness principles and the impact from
reclaiming the site or removing the structure is less than the impact
from leaving the structure in place.
14. Dams
Many
water storage facilities were built in areas that were later designated
by Congress as wilderness. Most are stock watering facilities. Others
are used to store water for irrigation or other "beneficial
uses" recognized by state water laws. A few small dams were
built to provide fishing or other recreational opportunities, but
it is difficult to justify their continued existence. They were
built precisely to modify and trammel the wilderness.
We
recognize that if a dam is to remain, it must be maintained in a
safe condition as defined by federal and state dam safety laws.
However, work on structures must meet the same minimum tool analysis
as any other wilderness project, and some dams may not be needed.
Most dams in Wilderness were built without motorized equipment,
and except in exceptional circumstances which must be justified
on a case by case basis, all work must be completed without motorized
equipment.
15. Access to Private Land
The
Act guarantees adequate access to private inholdings "...or
privately owned land shall be exchanged for federally owned land
in the same state..." Access to recreation retreats will be
by primitive travel over existing trails. Where current or planned
development is inconsistent with wilderness values a land exchange
or purchase must ensue.
16. Personal Safety
Wilderness
is a place where visitors should expect opportunities for risk and
challenge. People must accept responsibility for their own health
and safety. The manager's principle safety responsibility is to
eliminate man-made hazards. Administrative structures should not
create a safety hazard, and assigned campsites must avoid hazard
trees, areas susceptible to flash flooding, and other avoidable
risks.
17. Naming Of Geographic Features
Giving
names to geographic features (rivers, peaks) is one way that humans "occupy" or leave their mark on the land. With each new
name the wilderness looses a bit of its character as terra incognita,
as a blank spot on the map. Where unnamed geographic features still
exist they should remain unnamed.
Wild and Scenic Rivers
The
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act represents an historic turning point
in our nation's conservation ethic. The policy enunciated in the
Act of preserving some rivers and their immediate environments in
a free-flowing, natural condition contrasts sharply with the dam
building and water diversion ethos that completely dominated our
national river policy up until that time. Wild and scenic rivers
provide a wealth of benefits including clean water for municipal
and agriculture purposes as well as recreational experiences ranging
from primitive non-motorized to urban motorized uses. The ecological
values of these river corridors may prove the most important of
all. They provide essential habitat for wildlife species, many of
which are endangered or threatened with extinction, and serve as
corridors for connecting larger natural areas and linking diverse
vegetative zones. Wild and scenic rivers will continue to play a
crucial role in our country's natural and cultural heritage.
Protection
and Use
Rivers
in the system are classified as either wild, scenic, or recreational depending on the degree of development existing at the time of designation
(see Wild and Scenic Rivers Act excerpts at the end of this booklet
for a description of each classification). The Act requires that
each river or segment of river "shall be administered in such
manner as to protect and enhance the values which caused it to be
included" in the system. Management should follow a policy
of "non-degradation," that is, any decision affecting
a wild and scenic river must first ensure that the decision does
not in any way harm a value(s) which caused the river to be designated.
Only a very small amount (less than one quarter of one percent)
of U.S. river miles are designated as either wild or scenic:
Every effort should be made to preserve and/or restore their natural
ecological conditions and function.
Wild
Rivers
Wild
river areas are described in the Act as being "essentially
primitive" and representing "vestiges of primitive America." There should be no roads or other permanent structures built within
the river corridor, and there should be little or no evidence of
human activity. Motorboat use may be allowed, but unless otherwise
authorized by law, it should be limited to the level of use that
was occurring at the time of designation. Opportunities to phase
out motorboat use should be pursued.
Scenic
Rivers
Scenic
river areas are described as "largely primitive and shorelines
largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads." Thus,
some rivers or segments of rivers that otherwise appear natural
have existing developments that preclude their classification as
wild. This shouldnàt be interpreted as justification for
additional structures or roads, which would almost certainly diminish
the values for which the river was designated to protect. Motorboat
use may be allowed, but unless otherwise authorized by law, it should
be limited to the level of use that was occurring at the time of
designation. Opportunities to phase out motorboat use should be
pursued.
Recreational
Rivers
Recreational
river areas must be free-flowing, but may include a high degree
of development along their shorelines. They can exist within urban
or intensive agricultural zones. Their value for recreation, for
improving water quality, and as greenways for humans and pathways
for wildlife should not be underestimated. Decisions affecting recreational
river areas should strive to restore, as near as possible, the river
and its shorelines to their natural condition.
The
Wilderness Act of 1964
(excerpts with emphasis added)
Purpose
Section
2(a). In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied
by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy
and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions,
leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their
natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of
the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future
generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.
Definition
Section
2(c). 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 is a visitor who does not remain. An area of
wilderness is further defined to mean...land retaining its primeval
character and influence, without permanent improvements or human
habitation, which is protected and managed so as 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....
Use
of Wilderness Areas
Section
4(b). Except as otherwise provided in this Act, each agency administering
any area designated as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving
the wilderness character of the area and shall so administer
such area for such other purposes for which it may have been established
as also to preserve its wilderness character. Except as otherwise
provided in this Act, wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public
purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation,
and historical use.
Prohibition
of Certain Uses
Section
4(c). Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject
to existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise
and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated
by the Act and, except as necessary to meet minimum requirements
for the administration of the area for the purpose of this Act (including
measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety
of 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 form of mechanical transport, and
no structure or installation within any such area.
Special
Provisions
Section
4(d)(1). Within the wilderness areas designated by this Act the
use of aircraft or motorboats, where these uses have already become
established, may be permitted to continue subject to such restrictions
as the Secretary of Agriculture deems desirable. In addition, such
measures may be taken as may be necessary in the control of fire,
insects, and diseases, subject to such conditions as the Secretary
deems desirable.
Section 4(d)(4)(2). ...the grazing of livestock, where established
prior to the effective date of this Act, shall be permitted to continue
subject to such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by
the Secretary of Agriculture.
Section
4(d)(5). Commercial services may be performed within the wilderness
areas designated by this Act to the extent necessary for activities
which are proper for realizing the recreational or other wilderness
purposes of the areas.
Section
4(d)(8). Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the
jurisdiction of responsibilities of the several States with respect
to wildlife and fish in the national forests.
The
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968
(excerpts with emphasis added)
Purpose
Section
1(b). It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States
that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate
environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational,
geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or other similar
values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that
they and their immediate environments shall be protected for
the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
Classification
Section
2(b)
(1) Wild river areasThose rivers or sections of rivers
that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except
by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive
and waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive
America.
(2) Scenic river areasThose rivers or sections of rivers
that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still
largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible
in places by roads.
(3) Recreational river areasThose rivers or sections
of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that
may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have
undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.
Land
Acquisition
Section 6(a). The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary
of Agriculture are each authorized to acquire lands and interest
in land within the authorized boundaries of any component of the
national wild and scenic rivers system...but he shall not acquire
fee title to an average of more than 100 acres per mile on both
sides of the river.
Section
6(b). If 50 per centum or more of the entire acreage within a federally
administered wild, scenic or recreational river area is owned by
the UnitedStates, by the State or States within which it lies, or
by political subdivisions of those States, neither Secretary shall
acquire fee title to any lands by condemnation under authority of
this Act. Nothing contained in this section, however, shall preclude
the use of condemnation when necessary to clear title or to acquire
scenic easements or such other easements as are reasonably necessary
to give the public access to the river and to permit its members
to traverse the length of the area or of selected segments thereof.
Water-related
Developments
Section
7(a). The Federal Power Commission shall not license the construction
of any dam, water conduit, reservoir, powerhouse, transmission line,
or other project works under the Federal Power Act (41 Stat. 1063),
as amended (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) on or directly affecting any
river which is designated...as a component of the national wild
and scenic rivers system...and no department or agency of the United
States shall assist by loan, grant, license, or otherwise in the
construction of any water resources project that would have a direct
and adverse effect on the values for which such river was established,
as determined by the Secretary charged with its administration.
Mining
and Minerals
Section
9 (a)(iii). subject to valid existing rights, the minerals in Federal
lands which are part of the system and constitute the bed or bank
or are situated within one-quarter mile of the bank of any river
designated a wild river under this Act or any subsequent
Act are hereby withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the
mining laws and from operation of the mineral leasing laws including,
in both cases, amendments thereto.
Uses
and Protection
Section
10 (a). Each component of the national wild and scenic rivers system
shall be administered in such manner as to protect and enhance
the values which caused it to be included in said system without,
insofar as is consistent therewith, limiting other uses that do
not substantially interfere withpublic
use and enjoyment of these values. In such administration primary
emphasis shall be given to protecting its esthetic, scenic, historic,
archeological, and scientific features.
(b)
Any portion of a component of the national wild and scenic rivers
system that is within the national wilderness preservation system...shall
be subject to preservation of such river and its immediate environment,
and in the case of the conflict between the provisions of these
Acts the more restrictive provisions shall apply.
Wildlife
Section
13(a). Nothing in this Act shall affect the jurisdiction or responsibilities
of the States with respect to fish and wildlife. The administering
Secretary may, however, designate zones where, and establish periods
when, no hunting is permitted for reasons of public safety, administration,
or public use and enjoyment and shall issue appropriate regulations
after consultation with the wildlife agency of the State or States
affected.
Water
Rights
Section
13(c). Designation of any stream or portion thereof as a national
wild, scenic or recreational river area shall not be construed as
a reservation of the waters of such streams for purposes other than
those specified in this Act, or in quantities greater than necessary
to accomplish these purposes.
Section
13(d). The jurisdiction of the States over waters of any stream
included in a national wild, scenic or recreational river area shall
be unaffected by this Act to the extent that such jurisdiction may
be exercised without impairing the purposes of this Act or its administration.
Legal
Mandate For Wilderness Stewards
This
guide provides specific direction for a number of issues related
to wilderness management and protection. Boiled down to its essence,
the Wilderness Act requires that all decisions and/or actions meet
the following principles:
Human
activity within a wilderness that occupies or modifies the land,
trammels natural processes or results in substantially noticeable
evidence of human works must be prevented or discontinued unless
specifically allowed by law.
There
must be no commercial enterprise, permanent or temporary roads,
structures or installations, use of motorized equipment or motorboats,
landing of aircraft, or any other form of mechanical transport within
any wilderness unless specifically allowed by law.
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