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Wilderness Character
“The purpose of the Wilderness Act is to preserve the wilderness
character of the areas to be included in the wilderness system,
not to establish any particular use.” — Howard Zahniser,
1962
The overarching legal mandate of the Wilderness Act is to preserve
the Wilderness character of each area in the NWPS. Preserving Wilderness
character is the essential key to keeping alive the very meaning
of wilderness in America. Despite its statutory importance, the
concept of Wilderness character is not defined in the Wilderness
Act, although the Act refers to it repeatedly. Section 4(b) of the
Act explicitly mandates that managing agencies “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.”
Historical records clearly demonstrate that Wilderness Act visionaries
believed that wilderness character consists of both tangible, physical
components as well as intangible, psychological and spiritual components.
Some tangible components of Wilderness character include the presence
of native wildlife at naturally occurring population levels; lack
of human structures, roads, motor vehicles or mechanized equipment,
lack of crowding or large groups; few or no human “improvements
for visitor convenience such as highly engineered and over-developed
trails, developed campsites, signs, or bridges, and little or no
sign of biophysical damage caused by visitor use, such as trampled
or denuded ground, tree limbs cut for camp use, or habituated or
displaced wildlife.
Some intangible components of Wilderness character include solitude;
immediacy; opportunities for reflection; freedom; risk, adventure,
and mystery; places where safety is a personal responsibility; untrammeled,
wild and self-willed, where natural processes occur without intentional
human interference; uncommodified, not for sale and commercial-free;
opportunities for full self-reliance; opportunities for humans to
experience our connection to the larger community of life; places
that forever remain in contrast to modern civilization, its technologies,
and contrivances.
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Thinking in terms of Wilderness character is an extremely beneficial
way of viewing all visitor use and management actions in wilderness.
This concept refocuses our attention away from simply viewing wilderness
as an amalgam of various biophysical resources and visitor experiences,
to recognizing the relationship between these things and the overall
Wilderness character of these special places. The concept enables
us to view seemingly disparate management issues, proposals, and
potential threats within the singular context of how well these
will protect or diminish elements of Wilderness character.
Nondegradation
“Non-degradation of wilderness fundamentally should guide
stewardship activities.”
— Pinchot Panel for Conservation: Ensuring the Stewardship
of the National Wilderness Preservation System, 2001
The
nondegradation principle applies to more than biophysical conditions
in Wilderness; it is the essential key to protecting endangered
experiences, experiences of a special quality and nature that are
at risk of disappearing from our modern world.
The nondegradation principle is based on the mandate in Sec. 4(b)
of the Wilderness Act to preserve Wilderness character in each area
of the NWPS. It is Wilderness character that must not be allowed
to degrade or diminish.
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. — The Wilderness
Act, Sec. 4(b)
Congress can designate any federal land as wilderness, yet once
designated, the stewardship of that area must not allow its wilderness
character to diminish below the quality and amount that it possessed
on the day it was designated. The concept of nondegradation applies
to all aspects of Wilderness character, both its tangible and intangible
components. Though all four managing agencies have adopted the nondegradation
principle in their policies, few areas in the System currently meet
that standard.
A policy of nondegradation can not be achieved without engaging
the cause of degradation, as well as its effects. To this end, management
intent is critical – does the intent of an action affirm our
role as respectful guests and stewards of Wilderness? Or does it
simply reinforce the “primacy” of our uses and benefits,
our convenience and expediency?
When the intent of a management action is to achieve a goal that
is unnecessary or unrelated to protecting an area as Wilderness,
then wilderness character is often compromised in the process. Some
examples are the manipulation of wildlife to favor game species;
use of motorized equipment to construct and clear trails for visitor
convenience; scientific research that involves modifying the Wilderness
or using inappropriate equipment in Wilderness; and restoring or
replacing old buildings (often with use of motorized equipment)
rather than allowing them to naturally decay away. More...
Solitude
Section
2(c) of the Wilderness Act defines Wilderness, in part, as an area
with “outstanding opportunities for solitude.” The Act
clearly recognized the human need and benefits of seeking solitude
from modern civilization, its pressures and technologies. Opportunities
for solitude from civilization forms an intrinsic component of an
area’s wilderness character. Good Wilderness stewardship requires
protecting this important quality, and not allowing it to diminish
over time. Carefully note that the Act does not require that individual
visitors must want or appreciate wilderness solitude. The Act’s
legal mandate to managers is that they are to preserve “outstanding
opportunities” for visitors to experience this component of
an area’s Wilderness character. This means managers cannot
justify using motorized or mechanized equipment in Wilderness just
because it is the ‘off-season’ when few visitors may be
present. According to the law, Wilderness character must be preserved
at all times, not just when visitors are present, and solitude is
a key component of Wilderness character.
Wilderness solitude is diminished by actions and activities that
are reminders of civilization, its conventions, and technologies.
Solitude therefore can be diminished by the presence of crowding,
large groups, intrusion of motorized vehicles and mechanized equipment,
visible regulatory presence inside wilderness, habituation and displacement
of wildlife, commercialized extreme sports, significant or dominant
presence of other commercial activities, proliferation of recreation
developments such as over-built bridges, wide trails, signs, restrooms,
campsite benches, and hitching rails, and sense of immediate search
& rescue availability.
Zahniser believed that experiencing solitude from civilization is
very conducive to deriving the unique psychological and spiritual
benefits of Wilderness:
“Deeper and broader than the recreational value of wilderness…
is the importance that relates it (wilderness) to our essential
being, indicating that the understandings which come in its surroundings
are those of true reality… In the wilderness it is thus possible
to sense most keenly our human membership in the whole community
of life on the Earth. And in this possibility is perhaps one explanation
for our modern deep-seated need for wilderness.”
Zahniser described an awareness of our membership in the larger
community of life as the profound educational value of Wilderness.
He believed that solitude from civilization is a key factor in enabling
us to experience this benefit of Wilderness.
Purpose of the Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act has one singular statutory purpose, and that
is to secure the benefits of an enduring resource of Wilderness.
This singular purpose is articulated in the opening paragraph of
the Act as the Act’s Statement of Policy:
“…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. For this purpose
there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preservation System…”
As Howard Zahniser repeatedly testified to Congress during debate
on the Wilderness bill, preserving Wilderness character is the essential
key to securing an enduring resource of wilderness. The resource
of wilderness and Wilderness character are inextricably intertwined.
Without preservation of Wilderness character, the Wilderness resource
would not exist.
It is also important to note that Congress explicitly refers to
the wilderness resource as singular. It recognized that wilderness
is more than just a collection of other natural resources such as
wildlife, free-flowing streams, etc. These physical resources are
important components of the wilderness resource, but the Wilderness
Act’s emphasis on wilderness character demonstrates that Congress
intended that wilderness be understood as more than just a mixture
of biophysical resources. By congressional decree, wilderness is
a complex and unique resource in its own right, consisting of both
tangible and intangible qualities. Therefore we cannot secure an
enduring resource of wilderness simply by applying traditional natural
resource management to various biophysical resources of wilderness.
Preserving the resource of wilderness requires that we protect the
overall wilderness character of each area in the System.
Public Purposes of the Wilderness Act
As discussed above, the purpose of the Wilderness Act is singular:
to secure an enduring resource of Wilderness. People commonly confuse
this with the “public purposes” of wilderness referred
to in Sec. 4 of the Act. The title of Sec. 4 is “Use of Wilderness
Areas.” Sec. 4(b) states that, “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.”
These “public purposes” are not the purpose of the Act,
they are the appropriate purposes for which the public may use Wilderness.
These “public purposes” are allowable uses of Wilderness.
However, they are not mandatory uses. These “public purposes”
or uses do not take precedence over the singular purpose of the
Act, which is to preserve an enduring resource of wilderness by
preserving the Wilderness character of each area in the NWPS.
If any of the allowable public uses of Wilderness conflict with
the preservation of an area’s Wilderness character, then protecting
Wilderness character has priority. Since the “public purposes”
are allowable but not mandatory uses, a Wilderness can be completely
closed to one or all of these “public purposes” if such
use would diminish or degrade key components of Wilderness character.
For this reason, there are several Wildernesses that are completely
closed year-round to any public entry, as well as some that are
completely closed to the public for part of the year.
“If the public uses were the purposes of the Act, then it would
make no sense to close some areas to those uses. But Zahniser himself
was emphatically clear on the secondary role of public uses in wilderness:
“The purpose of the Wilderness Act is to preserve the wilderness
character of the areas to be included in the wilderness system,
not to establish any particular use.”
For example, although recreation is an allowable use, it must be
conducted in a manner that is compatible with preserving Wilderness
character. This means the use of motorized and mechanized equipment
to maintain trails and other recreational facilities can rarely
be justified in Wilderness because motorized use diminishes Wilderness
character. Promoting easy or convenient trail use is not necessary
for preservation of wilderness character and therefore does not
justify incompatible methods of trail maintenance. The protection
of Wilderness character must come first, ahead of any allowable
public uses of wilderness.
Minimum Requirement
Section
4(c) of the Wilderness Act provides the basis for the concepts of
“minimum requirement” and “minimum tool.” These
concepts apply to agency administrative actions in wilderness, including
actions undertaken by non-agency entities with authorization through
a permit issued by the managing agency. Examples of administrative
actions are trail construction and maintenance, wildlife management,
and fire management activities. Examples of agency-authorized activities
requiring a permit are scientific research, management of livestock
grazing, and commercial outfitting and guiding. Together, the concepts
of minimum requirement and minimum tool are used to determine the
appropriateness of administrative actions in Wilderness.
Section 4(c) prohibits a variety of specific actions in wilderness
because their presence, however temporary, is contrary to the meaning
of Wilderness character:
PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES. 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 this 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.
Section 4(c) explicitly prohibits two things in Wilderness, and
also prohibits a number of other specific activities but makes two
narrow exceptions for when these activities may be allowed. The
two explicitly prohibited activities are commercial enterprise and
permanent roads. The only exception to this prohibition is if there
are prior existing rights that allow for these uses, such as a legal
right-of-way.
The other generally prohibited activities in Sec. 4(c) include landing
of aircraft, temporary roads, use of motor vehicles or mechanized
transport, motorboats, motorized equipment, and placement of structures
or installations. The Wilderness Act provides two very narrow exceptions
for these generally prohibited activities, as described in the two
steps discussed below.
The minimum requirement concept does not apply to the general public’s
use of wilderness because the general public has no authority to
engage in any of the prohibited activities listed in Sec. 4(c) of
the Act. More...
Wilderness as a System
The
1964 Wilderness Act established the National Wilderness Preservation
System, and directed all four land management agencies to manage
wilderness in the same manner and according to the same principles
and concepts as provided in that Act. Today, the NWPS is larger
than our National Park System (83 million acres) and our National
Wildlife Refuge System (92 million acres). Unlike these other two
land protection Systems, however, the concepts and principles of
the organic Act that established the NWPS have not been applied
consistently across the System. This means that many of the qualities
that the Wilderness Act sought to preserve are not being protected
and are in fact declining and suffering degradation.
In order to achieve the Wilderness Act’s purpose to preserve
an enduring resource of wilderness, it is imperative that the meaning
and values of wilderness be upheld System-wide. Wilderness should
be a recognizable resource, it should be managed according to the
Wilderness Act’s intent that it be a place in contrast to civilization.
Only by applying the Wilderness Act’s concepts and principles
evenly across the System and to every new wilderness that is designated
in the future will Wilderness continue to have any meaning as a
unique resource in America.
Though each managing agency is governed by the Wilderness Act, they
are left to draft up their own management policies and regulations.
The resulting mish-mash of management styles and objectives results
in a confusing and often ineffective stewardship regime. While some
Wildernesses enjoy management commitment to the purpose and values
of Wilderness, the protection of many if not most of our wildernesses
fall through the cracks due to due to other managerial priorities
and misunderstanding or apathy regarding the values and meaning
of Wilderness.
Designating an area as Wilderness by law and on the map does not
automatically protect it as Wilderness. It is critical that the
meaning and purpose of wilderness be widely understood and respected
by both the public, wilderness visitors, and those entrusted with
an obligation to implement the spirit and intent of the Wilderness
Act.
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