Wilderness Pros And Cons
Introduction.
The year of 2014 is tied with the greatest 50th anniversary of landmark of the whole conservation history of the USA, the Wilderness Act. 50 years ago on September 3, 1964 President Lyndon Johnson signed it into the law. This act actually established a way for Americans to protect and preserve the most valuable wildlands for future generations. For the first time ever, it provided protection for Wilderness in the federal statutes. Moreover, this act created the National Wilderness Preservation System, which includes nowadays approximately 110 million acres of wild American lands, protecting them as designated wilderness whichever means the highest level of protection of the nation’s lands. A designated wilderness prohibits any …show more content…
commercial enterprises, roads, vehicles and permanent installations as well as mining. The Wilderness Act also required the process of designation of wilderness areas to the National Wilderness Preservation System only through the Act of Congress. These areas are designated within existing federal public lands.
Nowadays there are 4 federal land management agencies – U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service – to manage the preservation of the wilderness areas in the United States.
This act has not only legal importance but it also plays an important role in American society, lives of people and future generations. Today millions of Americans enjoy the wilderness areas for camping, fishing, hiking, watching wildlife and other outdoor recreation activities. This type of wild activities gives certain benefits for our health and wellbeing. Wilderness simply provides people with places where they can seek relief from the noise, haste and crowds that too often confine us.
I.
Historical and legal background.
In the period of settlement of the United States, it was a huge territory of extensive and undeveloped wildlands. Number of years after the territory of these wildlands unfortunately was significantly reduced. It gave a start to conservation movements at that time. People started to appreciate these values.
During the period from 1950s to 1970s, there was a great rise of society’s concern in clean air and water quality, preservation of wild natural areas. One of the famous cases that gave a great push to conservation movement at those days was Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument. All these led society to establish these wild public lands as designated wilderness areas. And the most effective way to bring this idea into life was actual enacting a law, which should be passed by Congress and signed by President.
Howard Zahniser wrote the first draft of the Wilderness Act in 1956. The act went through more than 60 drafts before it finally passed. At the end President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act into law on September 3, …show more content…
1964.
II. Wilderness Act of 1964.
§1. Purpose and establishment of Wilderness Act.
16 U.S.C.A. § 1131(a) section of the Act sets several objectives such as:
1) declaration of national policy of protection of wilderness areas. The first objective was a national policy to protect wilderness. Supporters of this objective, including the Wilderness Society and Sierra Club, did not approve of National Park Service (NPS) and United States Forest Service (USFS) policies that allowed recreation and extraction at the expense of preservation. The Acts declares that the policy of the Congress is “to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness”.
2) establishment of the National Wilderness Preservation System “to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as ‘wilderness areas’, and these shall be administered… in such manner as will them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness…” .
3) designation of wilderness areas only by statutes of Congress. The Act states “no Federal lands shall be designated as ‘wilderness areas' except as provided for in this chapter or by a subsequent Act.”
§2. Legal definition of Wilderness.
Wilderness is an indispensable part of American history, however, people have held various perspectives of wilderness throughout time. Historical events and articles, pamphlets, stories and books authored about wilderness and the environment tell us a story of shifting perceptions. But the United States was the first country in the world which gave the first legal definition of wilderness as “an area of undeveloped Federal 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…”
From the legal definition of the Act which basically provides specific features of wilderness areas:
• affected primarily by the forces of nature, where man is a visitor who does not remain;
• possessed outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation;
• federally owned, undeveloped, and generally over 5,000 acres of size but there is a exceptional qualifications which authorize wilderness designation for areas less than 5,000 acres in size, for instance islands that can be protected as wilderness in an unimpaired condition. In fact, there are about 100 wilderness areas in NWRS smaller than 5,000 acres.
• contained ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historic value.
Another interesting feature of Wilderness act is that the crafters essentially defined the wilderness with obscure word as “untrammeled”. While this word is often confused with “untrampled,” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines “untrammeled” as unhindered.
For purposes of the Act, wilderness areas are undeveloped federal lands largely retaining their primeval character and influence without permanent improvements or human habitation. They are to be managed so as to preserve natural conditions.
Basically the primary management goal for wilderness is the preservation of the wilderness character. Other permitted uses of the federal land from which the wilderness area was withdrawn may continue if they do not interfere with the preservation of wilderness character. At the end the Act shall be supplemental to the purposes for which the national forests, parks, and refuges have been established. “Wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation and historical use.” §3. National Wilderness Preservation System.
When the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, 54 areas (9.1 million acres) in 13 states were designated as wilderness. This law established these areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Since 1964, the National Wilderness Preservation System has grown almost every year and now includes 758 areas (appr. 110 millions acres) in 44 states. In 1980, the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) added over 56 million acres of wilderness to the system, the largest addition in a single year.
Overall, however, this is only about 5% of the entire United States is protected as wilderness. Moreover, the state of Alaska contains just about 2.7% of the United States as wilderness protected areas.
Nowadays the National Wilderness Preservation System includes wilderness areas of four types of lands managed by U.S. Government:
• National parks;
• National forests;
• National wildlife refuges;
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.
These 4 types of lands are regulated by these following land management agencies: National Park Service, U.S.
Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management which are under the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture. While each land management agency has its own specific duties and objectives, all wilderness-managing agencies are provided by general directions within the Wilderness Act.
The National Park Service was established to protect the nation’s natural, historical, and cultural resources and to provide places for recreation. The National Park Service manages 51 national parks. It also oversees more than 300 national monuments, historic sites, memorials, seashores, and battlefields.
The Forest Service manages national forests and grasslands. It conducts forestry research and works with forest managers on state and private lands. The Forest Service oversees about 200 million acres of national forest and other lands.
The Fish and Wildlife Service conserves the nation’s wild animals and their habitats by managing a system of more than 500 national wildlife refuges and other areas, totaling more than 91 million acres of land and water.
The Bureau of Land Management manages nearly 270 million acres of wilderness and non-wilderness land. Among other activities, the Bureau of Land Management conserves these lands and their historical and cultural resources for the public’s use and
enjoyment.
§4. Prohibition of certain uses.
Section 4(c) states "..., there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this Act and... 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."
So the Wilderness act directly prohibits commercial activities, motorized uses, permanent roads, structures and facilities in units of National Wilderness Preservation System designated by acts of Congress. Thus it banned most businesses, commercial resource exploitation, and motorized or mechanical operations (via cars, trucks, motorboat, aircrafts and any mechanical transport).
However, the Act also provides for exceptions to these prohibitions, for instance in case of emergencies.
Conclusion.
Summing up this research the author considers logical and useful to mention the actual threats to wilderness areas. These areas are quite vulnerable to any threats mostly coming from fast economic development and industrialization.
Thus there are several dangers the wilderness areas can be found under:
Firstly, the recreational overuse of wilderness areas can lead to disruption of ecosystems and habitat.
Secondly, the invasion of specific species of plants or animals can displace or destroy native species in wilderness all over the country.
Thirdly, fire suppression is one of risky activities, which can cause some negative results to the environment unless the fire occurs naturally that brings some important benefits as reduction of invasive plants and healthier ecosystems.
Fourthly, the air and water pollution also create the serious threats to the wilderness areas. The pollution created by people outside these areas can directly affect on whole ecosystems.
Finally, on of the most important social problems of wilderness areas is the lack of people awareness. Contemporary technically developing world unfortunately is creating significant difference between people and wilderness. There is a low level awareness of what the wilderness area is, what purpose and goals it pursues.
Therefore there is a strong need in protecting these unique wilderness areas. After all people are the ones who can truly enjoy the valuable wild lands.
The year of 2014 is tied with the greatest 50th anniversary of landmark of the whole conservation history of the USA, the Wilderness Act. 50 years ago on September 3, 1964 President Lyndon Johnson signed it into the law. This act actually established a way for Americans to protect and preserve the most valuable wildlands for future generations. For the first time ever, it provided protection for Wilderness in the federal statutes. Moreover, this act created the National Wilderness Preservation System, which includes nowadays approximately 110 million acres of wild American lands, protecting them as designated wilderness whichever means the highest level of protection of the nation’s lands. A designated wilderness prohibits any …show more content…
commercial enterprises, roads, vehicles and permanent installations as well as mining. The Wilderness Act also required the process of designation of wilderness areas to the National Wilderness Preservation System only through the Act of Congress. These areas are designated within existing federal public lands.
Nowadays there are 4 federal land management agencies – U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service – to manage the preservation of the wilderness areas in the United States.
This act has not only legal importance but it also plays an important role in American society, lives of people and future generations. Today millions of Americans enjoy the wilderness areas for camping, fishing, hiking, watching wildlife and other outdoor recreation activities. This type of wild activities gives certain benefits for our health and wellbeing. Wilderness simply provides people with places where they can seek relief from the noise, haste and crowds that too often confine us.
I.
Historical and legal background.
In the period of settlement of the United States, it was a huge territory of extensive and undeveloped wildlands. Number of years after the territory of these wildlands unfortunately was significantly reduced. It gave a start to conservation movements at that time. People started to appreciate these values.
During the period from 1950s to 1970s, there was a great rise of society’s concern in clean air and water quality, preservation of wild natural areas. One of the famous cases that gave a great push to conservation movement at those days was Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument. All these led society to establish these wild public lands as designated wilderness areas. And the most effective way to bring this idea into life was actual enacting a law, which should be passed by Congress and signed by President.
Howard Zahniser wrote the first draft of the Wilderness Act in 1956. The act went through more than 60 drafts before it finally passed. At the end President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act into law on September 3, …show more content…
1964.
II. Wilderness Act of 1964.
§1. Purpose and establishment of Wilderness Act.
16 U.S.C.A. § 1131(a) section of the Act sets several objectives such as:
1) declaration of national policy of protection of wilderness areas. The first objective was a national policy to protect wilderness. Supporters of this objective, including the Wilderness Society and Sierra Club, did not approve of National Park Service (NPS) and United States Forest Service (USFS) policies that allowed recreation and extraction at the expense of preservation. The Acts declares that the policy of the Congress is “to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness”.
2) establishment of the National Wilderness Preservation System “to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as ‘wilderness areas’, and these shall be administered… in such manner as will them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness…” .
3) designation of wilderness areas only by statutes of Congress. The Act states “no Federal lands shall be designated as ‘wilderness areas' except as provided for in this chapter or by a subsequent Act.”
§2. Legal definition of Wilderness.
Wilderness is an indispensable part of American history, however, people have held various perspectives of wilderness throughout time. Historical events and articles, pamphlets, stories and books authored about wilderness and the environment tell us a story of shifting perceptions. But the United States was the first country in the world which gave the first legal definition of wilderness as “an area of undeveloped Federal 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…”
From the legal definition of the Act which basically provides specific features of wilderness areas:
• affected primarily by the forces of nature, where man is a visitor who does not remain;
• possessed outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation;
• federally owned, undeveloped, and generally over 5,000 acres of size but there is a exceptional qualifications which authorize wilderness designation for areas less than 5,000 acres in size, for instance islands that can be protected as wilderness in an unimpaired condition. In fact, there are about 100 wilderness areas in NWRS smaller than 5,000 acres.
• contained ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historic value.
Another interesting feature of Wilderness act is that the crafters essentially defined the wilderness with obscure word as “untrammeled”. While this word is often confused with “untrampled,” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines “untrammeled” as unhindered.
For purposes of the Act, wilderness areas are undeveloped federal lands largely retaining their primeval character and influence without permanent improvements or human habitation. They are to be managed so as to preserve natural conditions.
Basically the primary management goal for wilderness is the preservation of the wilderness character. Other permitted uses of the federal land from which the wilderness area was withdrawn may continue if they do not interfere with the preservation of wilderness character. At the end the Act shall be supplemental to the purposes for which the national forests, parks, and refuges have been established. “Wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation and historical use.” §3. National Wilderness Preservation System.
When the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, 54 areas (9.1 million acres) in 13 states were designated as wilderness. This law established these areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Since 1964, the National Wilderness Preservation System has grown almost every year and now includes 758 areas (appr. 110 millions acres) in 44 states. In 1980, the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) added over 56 million acres of wilderness to the system, the largest addition in a single year.
Overall, however, this is only about 5% of the entire United States is protected as wilderness. Moreover, the state of Alaska contains just about 2.7% of the United States as wilderness protected areas.
Nowadays the National Wilderness Preservation System includes wilderness areas of four types of lands managed by U.S. Government:
• National parks;
• National forests;
• National wildlife refuges;
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.
These 4 types of lands are regulated by these following land management agencies: National Park Service, U.S.
Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management which are under the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture. While each land management agency has its own specific duties and objectives, all wilderness-managing agencies are provided by general directions within the Wilderness Act.
The National Park Service was established to protect the nation’s natural, historical, and cultural resources and to provide places for recreation. The National Park Service manages 51 national parks. It also oversees more than 300 national monuments, historic sites, memorials, seashores, and battlefields.
The Forest Service manages national forests and grasslands. It conducts forestry research and works with forest managers on state and private lands. The Forest Service oversees about 200 million acres of national forest and other lands.
The Fish and Wildlife Service conserves the nation’s wild animals and their habitats by managing a system of more than 500 national wildlife refuges and other areas, totaling more than 91 million acres of land and water.
The Bureau of Land Management manages nearly 270 million acres of wilderness and non-wilderness land. Among other activities, the Bureau of Land Management conserves these lands and their historical and cultural resources for the public’s use and
enjoyment.
§4. Prohibition of certain uses.
Section 4(c) states "..., there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this Act and... 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."
So the Wilderness act directly prohibits commercial activities, motorized uses, permanent roads, structures and facilities in units of National Wilderness Preservation System designated by acts of Congress. Thus it banned most businesses, commercial resource exploitation, and motorized or mechanical operations (via cars, trucks, motorboat, aircrafts and any mechanical transport).
However, the Act also provides for exceptions to these prohibitions, for instance in case of emergencies.
Conclusion.
Summing up this research the author considers logical and useful to mention the actual threats to wilderness areas. These areas are quite vulnerable to any threats mostly coming from fast economic development and industrialization.
Thus there are several dangers the wilderness areas can be found under:
Firstly, the recreational overuse of wilderness areas can lead to disruption of ecosystems and habitat.
Secondly, the invasion of specific species of plants or animals can displace or destroy native species in wilderness all over the country.
Thirdly, fire suppression is one of risky activities, which can cause some negative results to the environment unless the fire occurs naturally that brings some important benefits as reduction of invasive plants and healthier ecosystems.
Fourthly, the air and water pollution also create the serious threats to the wilderness areas. The pollution created by people outside these areas can directly affect on whole ecosystems.
Finally, on of the most important social problems of wilderness areas is the lack of people awareness. Contemporary technically developing world unfortunately is creating significant difference between people and wilderness. There is a low level awareness of what the wilderness area is, what purpose and goals it pursues.
Therefore there is a strong need in protecting these unique wilderness areas. After all people are the ones who can truly enjoy the valuable wild lands.