The Wilderness Act (“Act”) is federal legislation enacted by Congress on September 3, 1964.  The Act establishes a National Wilderness Preservation System comprising of federally owned areas designated by Congress as “wilderness areas”.  “Wilderness” is defined as an area of undeveloped federal land retaining its primitive character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions.  Land classified as wilderness has the following additional characteristics [i]:

• It generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable;
• It has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation;
• It has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and
• It may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.

The Act provides for the protection of designated areas and also for the preservation of their wilderness character.  The Act permits activities such as mining on valid claims, access to private lands, fire control, insect and disease control, grazing, and water-resource structures on wilderness areas[ii].  Under the Act, federal agencies are obliged to manage such areas classified as wilderness to preserve their wilderness character[iii].

In Izaak Walton League of Am., Inc. v. Kimbell, 558 F.3d 751 (8th Cir. Minn. 2009), it was held that the Act governs the process by which the President recommends and Congress designates wilderness areas and establishes requirements for the management of such areas.  Further, the Act requires Congress to approve the creation of a wilderness area or the modification of a wilderness boundary.

The Act precludes commercial enterprise on lands designated as wilderness, but specifically permits grazing of livestock.  The Act also indicates that grazing should not be curtailed simply because of the wilderness designation.[iv]  The main intention of the Act is to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the U.S. and its possessions.

However, the Act does not provide any appropriation for the payment of expenses or salaries for the administration of the National Wilderness Preservation System as a separate unit.  Appropriations are also not available for additional personnel hired for the purpose of managing or administering areas solely because they are included within the National Wilderness Preservation System[v].

With pertinence to wilderness areas, the Act mandates that the following documents be maintained:

• Maps and legal descriptions and copies of regulations governing the wilderness areas;
• Copies of public notices of and reports submitted to Congress regarding pending additions, eliminations, or modifications of wilderness areas.

Maps, legal descriptions, and regulations pertaining to wilderness areas within their respective jurisdictions are also available to the public in the offices of regional foresters, national forest supervisors, and forest rangers[vi].

The Act states that a modification or adjustment of boundaries of any wilderness area can be recommended only by the appropriate secretary after public notice of such proposal and a public hearing or hearings.  Pursuant to 16 USCS § 1132, a proposed modification or adjustment must be recommended with a map and description thereof to the President.  The President then advises the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect to such modification or adjustment and such recommendations to make them effective.[vii]

Wilderness areas are devoted to serve public purposes like recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use.  However, the Act prohibits commercial enterprise, permanent or temporary roads, mechanical transports, and structures or installations within any wilderness area designated by this Act.  Similarly, the Act also prohibits the use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, or landing of aircraft within any wilderness area[viii].

The Secretary of Agriculture accepts gifts or bequests of land within wilderness areas designated by the Act for preservation as wilderness.  Pursuant to 16 USCS § 1135, the Secretary of Agriculture may also accept gifts or bequests of land adjacent to wilderness areas designated by the Act for preservation as wilderness.

Under the Act, mining locations lying within the boundaries of wilderness areas are held and used solely for mining or processing operations.  Mining locations are also subject to valid existing rights and patents issued under the mining laws of the U.S. affecting national forest lands designated by this Act as wilderness areas[ix].

[i] Oregon Natural Desert Ass’n v. BLM, 531 F.3d 1114, 1118 (9th Cir. Or. 2008).

[ii] River Runners for Wilderness v. Martin, 574 F.3d 723, 738 (9th Cir. Ariz. 2009).

[iii] Id.

[iv] Ventana Wilderness Alliance v. Bradford, 313 Fed. Appx. 944 (9th Cir. Cal. 2009).

[v] 16 USCS § 1131.

[vi] 16 USCS § 1132.

[vii] Id.

[viii] Id.

[ix] 16 USCS §§ 1131.