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Wilderness: Overview, Management, and Statistics (CRS Report for Congress)

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Release Date Revised July 29, 2022
Report Number RL31447
Report Type Report
Authors Ross W. Gorte, Resources, Science and Industry Division
Source Agency Congressional Research Service
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Summary:

Congress enacted the Wilderness Act in 1964. This act created the National Wilderness Preservation System, reserved to Congress the authority to designate wilderness areas, and directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior to review certain lands for their wilderness potential. The act also designated 54 wilderness areas with 9 million acres of federal land. Congress began expanding the Wilderness System in 1968, and as of July 15, 2019, there are 803 wilderness areas, totaling over 111 million acres, in 44 states and Puerto Rico. Numerous bills to designate additional areas and to expand existing ones have been introduced and considered in every Congress. The Wilderness Act defined wilderness as an area of undeveloped federal land, among other criteria, but due to differing perceptions of wilderness and its purpose, it did not establish criteria or standards to determine whether an area should be designated. In general, wilderness areas are undeveloped, and commercial activities, motorized access, and roads, structures, and facilities are prohibited in wilderness areas. In response to conflicting demands, however, Congress has granted both general exemptions and specific exceptions to the general standards and prohibitions. Questions also persist over the frequency and extent to which federal agencies must review the wilderness potential of their lands, and how those lands should be managed. Wilderness designation can be controversial. Because the designation generally prohibits commercial activities, motorized access, and human infrastructure from wilderness areas, opponents see such designations as preventing certain uses and potential economic development in rural areas where such opportunities are relatively limited. Advocates propose wilderness designations to preserve the generally undeveloped conditions of the areas. The federal government owns about 28% of the land in the United States, although the proportion in each state varies widely. Four federal agencies—the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of the Interior; and the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture—manage most of the 111 million acres of designated wilderness, as well as many other lands. They also protect certain other lands as possible additions to the Wilderness System, and review the wilderness potential of lands. In total, approximately 18% of federal land administered by the four major federal land management agencies, and nearly 5% of all land in the United States, has been designated as wilderness, largely in Alaska. Alaska, because of its size and relatively pristine condition, dominates wilderness statistics—more than 52% of designated wilderness is in Alaska (57.4 million acres). In total, nearly 16% of the entire state of Alaska has been designated as wilderness. In contrast, 3% of all land in the United States outside Alaska has been designated as wilderness.