# NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

REFERENCE MANUAL

**RM 41:**

**WILDERNESS PRESERVATION**

**AND MANAGEMENT**

**NATIONAL PARK SERVICE**

**U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR**

**July 1999**

> [\_ \_\_/s/ Robert Stanton\_\_\_\_]{.underline}

**Robert Stanton, Director**

"Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the
remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests
to be turned into comic books and plastic cases; if we drive the few
remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction; if we
pollute the last clear air and dirty the last clean streams and push our
paved roads through the last of the silence, so that never again will
Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts,
stinks of human and automotive waste. And so that never again can we
have the chance to see ourselves single, separate, vertical and
individual in the world, part of the environment of trees and rocks and
soil, brother to the other animals, part of the natural world and
competent to belong in it. Without any remaining wilderness we are
committed wholly, without chance for even momentary reflection and rest,
to a headlong drive into our technology termite-life, the Brave New
World of a completely man-controlled environment. We need wilderness
preserved---as much of it as is still left, and as many kinds---because
it was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed.
The reminder and the reassurance that it still there is good for our
spiritual health even if we never once in ten years set foot in it. It
is good for us when we are young, because of the incomparable sanity it
can bring briefly, as vacation and rest, into our insane lives. It is
important to us when we are old simply because it is there---important,
that is, simply as idea....These are some of the things wilderness can
do for us. That is the reason we need to put into effect, for its
preservation, some other principle than the principles of exploitation
or 'usefulness' or even recreation. We simply need that wild country
available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and
look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as
creatures, part of the geography of hope.

Wallace Stegner

Coda: Wilderness Letter (1960)

**TABLE OF CONTENTS**

# I. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 7

**II. LEGISLATIVE GUIDANCE APPLICABLE TO N.P.S.**

**WILDERNESS PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT** 7

A. The Relationship between the Wilderness Act and the NPS

Organic Act 7

B. Clarifying Section 4(a)(3) of the Wilderness Act 8

C. Clarifying Section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act 9

D. Additional Emphasis on Preservation Provided by the

Redwood National Park Expansion Act of March 27, 1978 9

E. Significance of the Eastern Wilderness Act 10

III. **MANAGEMENT POLICIES: CHAPTER 6: WILDERNESS**

**PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT** 10

6.1 Wilderness Preservation and Management: General Statement 10

6.2 Identification and Designation of the Wilderness Resource 11

> 6.2.1 Determination of Wilderness Suitability and Nonsuitability 11
> 6.2.2 Wilderness Studies 12 6.2.2.1 Potential Wilderness 13 6.2.2.2
> Proposed Wilderness 13

6.2.3 Recommended Wilderness 13

6.2.4 Designated Wilderness 13

6.3 Wilderness Resource Management 14

6.3.1 General Policy 14

6.3.2 Responsibility 14

6.3.3 Consistency 14

> 6.3.4 Wilderness Related Planning and Environmental Compliance 15
>
> 6.3.4.1 Zoning for Wilderness 15

6.3.4.2 Wilderness Management Plan 15

> 6.3.4.3 Environmental Compliance 15

6.3.5 Minimum Requirement 16

6.3.6 Scientific Activities 17

> 6.3.6.1 General Policy 17
>
> 6.3.6.2 Monitoring of Wilderness Resources 18

6.3.7 Natural Resources Management 19

> 6.3.8 Cultural Resources 19
>
> 6.3.9 Fire Management 20

6.3.10 Management Facilities 20

> 6.3.10.1 Administrative Facilities 20
>
> 6.3.10.2 Trails in Wilderness 21
>
> 6.3.10.3 Campsites and Shelters 21
>
> 6.3.10.4 Signs 21

6.3.11 Wilderness Boundaries 21

6.3.11.1 Legal Descriptions and Boundary Maps 22

6.3.11.2 Caves 22

6.3.11.3 Waters in Wilderness 22

6.4 Wilderness Use Management 22

6.4.1 General Policy 22

6.4.2 Wilderness Interpretation and Education 23

> 6.4.3 Recreation Use Management in Wilderness 23
>
> 6.4.3.1 Recreation Use Evaluation 23
>
> 6.4.3.2 Leave No Trace 24
>
> 6.4.3.1 Use of Motorized Equipment 24

6.4.4 Commercial Services 24

6.4.5 Special Events 25

6.4.6 Grazing and Livestock Driveways 25

6.4.7 Rights-of-way 25

6.4.8 Mineral Development 25

6.4.9 Existing Private Rights 26

6.4.10 Accessability for Persons with Disabilities 26

**IV. DIRECTOR\'S ORDER #41: WILDERNESS PRESERVATION**

**AND MANAGEMENT** 27

A. Introduction 27

> B. Instructions and Requirements 28

1.  Reference Manual 28

2.  National Wilderness Steering Committee 28

3.  Management Accountability and Responsibility 28

> a\. CompleteWilderness Identification

and Designation Process 28 i). Wilderness Suitability Assessments 29
ii). Wilderness Studies 29 iii). Wilderness Proposal/Recommendation 29

iv). Wilderness Designation Process 29

b\. Complete Wilderness Management Planning 29

i). Wilderness Management Plan 29

ii). Wilderness Management Plan Coordination 29

c\. Establish Wilderness Management Accountability 29 i). Critical
Results for Wilderness Stewardship 29 ii). Wilderness Responsibilities
in Position Descriptions 30

iii). Wilderness Integrated into KSA\'s 30

iv). Wilderness Training for Key Staff 30

v). Wilderness in GPRA Strategic Plan 30

vi). Annual Report to Congress 30

d\. Administer and Protect Wilderness 30

> i). Responsible Persons and/or Organization 30

ii). Minimum Requirement Process 30

iii). Wilderness Management Plan Implementation 30

iv). Suitable, Study Areas, Proposed and Recommended

Wilderness Preservation 31 v). Legal Description and Boundary Map
Completion 31

vi). Designated Potential Wilderness Management 31 vii). Recreation
Impact Evaluation 31

> viii).Wilderness in Comprehensive Interpretive Plan 31
>
> ix). Geographic Naming in Wilderness 31

C.  Management Issues 32

> 1\. Wilderness Management Plan Requirements 32

2.  Application of the Minimum Requirement Concept 33

3.  Interagency Coordination 35

> 4\. Cultural Resource Management in Wilderness 36

5\. Fire Management in Wilderness 37

6\. Wilderness Interpretation and Education 39

7\. Mineral Development in Wilderness 40

8\. Scientific Activities in Wilderness 41

9\. Wilderness Use by Persons with Disabilities 42

10\. Special Events in Wilderness 44

11\. Wilderness Training Requirements 44

12\. Commercial Services in Wilderness 44

13\. Air Quality in Wilderness 45

14\. Annual Report to Congress 46

> 15\. Other Wilderness Issues to be Addressed 47

\--End of Director's Order\--

**V. APPENDIXES** 48

> A. The Wilderness Act 49
>
> B. Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 58
>
> C. Wilderness Accountability and Responsibility Checklist 59
>
> D. Wilderness Management Plan -- Recommended Content 61
>
> E. Wilderness Access Decision Tool (1996 U.S.F.S) 65
>
> F. Examples of Minimum Requirement Decision Tools 66
>
> G. Procedures for Completing Legal Descriptions

And Boundary Maps 69

> H. Designating Potential Wilderness as Wilderness 74
>
> I. Primary Interpretive Themes for Wilderness 76
>
> J. Leave No Trace Protocols 78
>
> K. Reporting Format for Compliance with Section 7

of the Wilderness Act 79

**VI. DEFINITIONS** 80

I. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The Wilderness Act of September 3, 1964, established the National
Wilderness Preservation System and identified the National Park Service
(NPS) as one of the four federal agencies responsible for the protection
and preservation of the nation\'s wilderness resource. The language
within the Wilderness Act clearly shows Congress intended wilderness
areas within units of the National Park System receive special attention
in addition to that resulting from other laws and policies affecting
national park resources. Wilderness areas are to be given supplemental
and permanent protection beyond that normally afforded other backcountry
resources. This requires park managers to know and understand the laws,
policies, and procedures that apply to wilderness in addition to those
that apply to national park areas in general.

The purpose of Reference Manual #41 is to provide superintendents and
park staff with the essential information on the laws, policies, and
procedures applicable to wilderness preservation and management within
the National Park System. The Reference Manual contains National Park
Service **Management Policies** and supplemental information needed to
assist managers in meeting their responsibilities toward the wilderness
resource. The Reference Manual also includes NPS **Director\'s Order \#
41** that provides further clarification and interpretation of the
Service's wilderness policies. The goal of the Reference Manual is to
provide as much information as practical to assist field managers in
making both day-to-day and long-term decisions affecting National Park
Service wilderness.

**II. LEGISLATIVE GUIDANCE APPLICABLE TO NPS WILDERNESS**

**PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT**

There are several laws, or specific provisions within those laws, that
have significant implications to the way the National Park Service
preserves and manages wilderness. National Park Service employees whose
responsibilities include wilderness planning and management should
become familiar with the way the Service interprets those laws or
provisions, as discussed in the following subsections.

A. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WILDERNESS ACT AND THE National Park
Service ORGANIC ACT

The 1916 Organic Act of the National Park Service states that the
purpose of the national parks is to \"conserve the scenery and the
natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide
for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will
leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.\" (16
U.S.C. 1). Under this statute, the National Park Service fostered the
steady development of national parks, as early managers responded to the
perceived need to promote increased visitation and support for the
national park idea. Development has taken the form of roads and trails,
visitor centers, employee housing and infrastructure, patrol cabins,
communications towers, airstrips and helicopter landing sites,
campgrounds, livestock enclosures, and other recreational facilities.

The amount and degree of park development throughout the decades of the
1930\'s, 1940\'s and 1950\'s caused a growing concern in the
environmental community, and among many NPS staff, that the National
Park Service was placing too much emphasis on development and not enough
on the preservation of pristine lands. This concern led Congress to
include the National Park Service within the scope of the Wilderness Act
of 1964 (P. L. 88-577, 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq., Reference Manual #41:
Appendix A).

While the Wilderness Act of 1964 echoes many of the words of the Organic
Act, it provides a degree of protection to the resources of the National
Park System that the National Park Service Organic Act does not. The
Wilderness Act directs that wilderness areas, even within national
parks, \"shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American
people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and
enjoyment **as wilderness**\" \[emphasis added\].

While the National Park Service Organic Act and the Wilderness Act speak
in comparable terms about preserving the integrity of resources, the
Wilderness Act prohibits activities in national park wilderness areas
that the Organic Act permits or leaves open to interpretation by park
managers. The effect of the Wilderness Act is to unambiguously place an
additional layer of protection on wilderness areas within the National
Park System.

The National Park Service Management Policies and Director\'s Order on
wilderness preservation and management reflect the purpose of the
Wilderness Act and are intended to establish consistent servicewide
direction for the preservation, management, and use of wilderness.
Certain requirements, however, may be affected by statutory provisions
that apply to individual wilderness areas, by rights reserved by former
landowners, and in Alaska, by applicable provision of the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA, 16 USC 3101 et seq.,
Reference Manual #41: Appendix B).

B. CLARIFYING SECTION 4(a)(3) OF THE WILDERNESS ACT

The Wilderness Act contains language Section 4 (a)(3), 16 U.S.C.
1133(a)(3), which states: \"*Nothing in this Act shall modify the
statutory authority under which units of the national park system are
created. Further, the designation of any\...unit of the national park
system as a wilderness area shall in no manner lower the standards
evolved for the use and preservation of such park, monument or other
unit of the national park system*.\" Some park managers and staff
erroneously interpret this statement to imply that units of the National
Park System might be exempt from the requirements of the Wilderness Act.
The following information is intended to clarify this misunderstanding.

Congress included some sections within the Wilderness Act that are
generally applicable only to U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land
Management wilderness areas. These sections included the ability to
conduct mineral surveys, locate mineral claims, authorize water
projects, continue grazing allocations, and provide access to inholdings
and mining claims. To avoid the implication that these exceptions were
somehow applicable to units of the National Park Service, Congress added
the above Section 4(a)(3) statement. This language was meant to guard
against interpretations that would make these special provisions in the
Act applicable to the NPS unless specifically provided by legislation.
In a 1967 opinion, the Department of the Interior Solicitor wrote, \"it
is obvious that Congress could only have intended by the Wilderness Act
that wilderness designation of national park system lands should, if
anything, result in a higher, rather than a lower, standard of
unimpaired preservation.\"

The intention of the Congress to provide additional protection to NPS
wilderness areas is further emphasized in Section 4(a) of the Wilderness
Act, which states: \"*The purposes of this Act are hereby declared to be
within and supplemental to the purposes for which national forests and
units of the national parks and national wildlife refuge system are
established and administered*.\" Section 4(b) also states that
\"\...*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*.\"

C.  CLARIFYING SECTION 4(d)(1) OF THE WILDERNESS

NPS wilderness managers need to carefully read their individual
authorizing legislation to understand Congressional intent with respect
to Section 4(d)(1), 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act. In most
NPS wilderness areas, the Congress purposefully provided the Secretary
of the Interior with some of the same authorities as the Secretary of
Agriculture to permit the continued operation of certain pre-existing
aircraft or motorboat uses to continue, subject to such restrictions as
the Secretary might deem desirable. Such pre-existing uses should be
addressed by the National Park Service in wilderness studies as well as
in wilderness management planning.

**D. ADDITIONAL EMPHASIS ON PRESERVATION PROVIDED BY THE REDWOOD
NATIONAL PARK EXPANSION ACT OF MARCH 27, 1978**

The protection and preservation of natural resources as the primary
purpose of the various areas of the National Park System was emphasized
by the Redwoods National Park Expansion Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-250, 92
Stat. 163, as amended, 1978). This Act re-emphasized that park
management must be consistent with \"the first section of the Act of
August 25, 1916,\" and that management actions \"shall not be exercised
in derogation of the values and purposes for which these various areas
have been established, except as may have been or shall be directly and
specifically provided by Congress.\"

In 1986 the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in the
case of the National Rifle Association v. Potter, stated: \"In the
Organic Act Congress speaks of but a single purpose, namely
conservation.\" The court further stated that \"finally, in its 1978
rider to the Redwood National Park Expansion Act, Congress reiterated
its intention that the National Park System be administered in
furtherance of the 'purpose' (not purposes) of the Organic Act, that
being, of course, the conservation of\...wildlife resources.\"
Wilderness preservation should be considered among the purest
applications of the Service's responsibilities for protecting
'wildlife,' its habitat, and the conservation of associated resources.

**E. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EASTERN WILDERNESS ACT**

While the Eastern Wilderness Act (P.L. 93-622, 16 U.S.C. 1131, et. seq.)
does reference \"certain areas in the National Park System in the
eastern half of the United States\...\" in its stated purpose of
expanding the National Wilderness Preservation System, the law contains
no specific direction concerning NPS lands and targeted \"National
Forest areas east of the 100th meridian.\" Never the less, it resolved a
long-standing debate concerning how "pure" an area must be before it can
be considered for wilderness designation. By including lands that had
previously been clearcut or had abandoned roads, Congress implied that
wilderness did not have to consist solely of pristine old-growth
forests, and that lands previously disturbed could be rehabilitated to
meet wilderness standards and qualities.

III\. MANAGEMENT POLICIES: CHAPTER 6

WILDERNESS PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT

National Park Service Management Policies set the framework and provide
direction for management decisions. Servicewide policies governing
wilderness preservation and management are articulated primarily in
Chapter 6 of the National Park Service Management Policies, and are
based on statutory provisions, including those described in Section II.
The policies that guide the preservation and management of National Park
Service wilderness are as follows: (cross-references pertain to other
sections of National Park Service Management Policies, except as
otherwise noted).

# 6.1 GENERAL STATEMENT.

The National Park Service will manage wilderness areas for the use and
enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them
unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness. Management will
include the protection of these areas, the preservation of their
wilderness character, and the gathering and dissemination of information
regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness. The public purpose of
wilderness in the national parks includes the preservation of wilderness
character and wilderness resources in an unimpaired condition, as well
as for the purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, education,
conservation, and historical use.

# 6.2 IDENTIFICATION AND DESIGNATION OF THE WILDERNESS

#  RESOURCE

The National Park Service will use the following wilderness study
process to consider National Park Service areas for inclusion within the
Congressionally designated National Wilderness Preservation System.

**6.2.1** **Assessment of Wilderness Suitability or Nonsuitability.**
All lands administered by the National Park Service, including new units
or additions to existing units since 1964, will be evaluated for their
suitability for inclusion within the National Wilderness Preservation
System. A **wilderness suitability assessment** will consist of a brief
memorandum, from the Regional Director to the Director, to be completed
no later than one year after the establishment of the park or the
acquisition of new lands, that makes a managerial determination as to
the suitability of the new unit or new acreage to be studied for
wilderness designation, either as a new wilderness area or as an
addition to an existing area.

National Park Service lands will be considered suitable for wilderness
if they are at least five thousand acres or a sufficient size to make
practicable their preservation and use in an unimpaired condition, and
if they possess the following characteristics (as identified in the
Wilderness Act):

> -where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man \--
> where man himself is a visitor who does not remain;
>
> -undeveloped federal land retaining its primeval character and
> influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation;
>
> -which generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces
> of nature, with the imprint of man\'s work substantially unnoticeable;

-which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural
conditions; and

> -which has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and
> unconfined type of recreation;

A wilderness area may also contain significant ecological, geological,
or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical
value; although it does not need these things to be considered suitable
for wilderness designation.

Lands that have been logged, farmed, grazed, mined, or otherwise
utilized in ways not involving extensive development or alteration of
the landscape may also be considered suitable for wilderness designation
if, at the time of assessment, the effects of these activities are
substantially unnoticeable or their wilderness character could be
maintained or restored through appropriate management actions.

An area will not be excluded from a determination of wilderness
suitability solely because established or proposed management practices
require the use of tools, equipment, or structures, if those practices
are necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of
the area as wilderness.

In the process of determining wilderness suitability, lands will not be
excluded solely because of existing rights or privileges (e.g., mineral
exploration and development, commercial operations, agricultural
development, grazing, or stock driveways). If the National Park Service
determines that these lands possesses wilderness character, these areas
may be included in the suitability determination so that they can be
considered for designation as wilderness or potential wilderness.

Lands containing aboveground utility lines will normally not be
considered as suitable for wilderness designation, but they can be
considered as suitable for "potential" wilderness designation if there
is a long-term intent to remove the lines. Although relocation outside
the wilderness is preferable, areas containing underground utility lines
may be included if the area otherwise qualifies as wilderness and the
maintenance of the utility line, including use of mechanized and
motorized equipment, is administered under minimum requirement
procedures identified in the park's Wilderness Management Plan. No new
utility lines may be installed in wilderness, and existing utility lines
may not be extended or enlarged except as provided for in ANILCA Section
1106.

Historic features that are primary attractions for park visitors will
generally not be recommended as suitable for wilderness designation.
However, an area that attracts visitors primarily for the enjoyment of
solitude and unconfined recreation in a primitive setting may also
contain cultural resource features and still be included in wilderness.
Historic trails may serve and be maintained as part of the wilderness
trail system, as identified and coordinated within an approved
wilderness management plan and the park's cultural resource plan.

The Service will involve the public in the wilderness suitability
assessment process through notification of its intentions to conduct the
assessment and publication of its determination, either as "suitable" or
as "nonsuitable" for further wilderness study. Notification will include
the issuance of news releases to local and regional newspapers and the
publication of final suitability determination in the [Federal
Register]{.underline}.

The final determination of an area's suitability, or nonsuitability, as
wilderness must be approved by the Director before publication of the
final suitability determination in the Federal Register. For areas
determined to be nonsuitable for wilderness designation, the wilderness
preservation provisions in the National Park Service Management Policies
are no longer applicable.

**6.2.2 Wilderness Studies.** Lands and waters found to possess the
characteristics and values of wilderness, as defined in the Wilderness
Act and determined suitable pursuant to the wilderness suitability
assessment, will be formally studied to develop the recommendation to
Congress for wilderness designation. The National Park Service will
continue to undertake wilderness studies for newly acquired lands or
units that have been determined suitable as a result of the wilderness
suitability assessment. Also, studies will be made for lands where
subsequent legislation directs wilderness studies be made, and any areas
where there are public requests that these studies be conducted and the
National Park Service has completed a wilderness suitability assessment
with a determination of suitability.

Wilderness studies will be supported by appropriate documentation of
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the National
Historic Preservation Act (16 USC 470, et seq.). The Council on
Environmental Quality requires Environmental Impact Statements for
wilderness studies that will result in recommendations for designations
(i.e. proposals for legislation to designate as wilderness).

**6.2.2.1 Potential Wilderness**. A wilderness study may identify lands
that are surrounded by or adjacent to lands proposed for wilderness
designation but that do not themselves qualify for immediate designation
due to temporary, non-conforming or incompatible conditions. The
wilderness recommendation forwarded to the Congress by the President may
identify these lands as "potential" wilderness for future designation as
wilderness when the non-conforming use has been removed or eliminated.
If so authorized by Congress, these potential wilderness areas will
become designated wilderness upon the Secretary\'s determination,
published in the [Federal Register]{.underline}, that they have finally
met the qualifications for designation by the cessation or termination
of the non-conforming use.

**6.2.2.2 Proposed Wilderness**. The findings and conclusions of a
formal wilderness study will be forwarded from the Director to the
Department of the Interior (Assistant Secretary's Office) as "proposed"
wilderness. The proposed wilderness recommendation will identify park
lands which are being recommended for immediate wilderness designation
as well as any identified as "potential" wilderness.

**6.2.3 Recommended Wilderness.** The Secretary of the Interior is
responsible for recommending to the President those lands under his/her
jurisdiction which qualify for inclusion within the National Wilderness
Preservation System. The Secretary performs this function through the
Assistant Secretary's Office by reviewing Park Service proposed
wilderness and either approving or revising the proposal. The final
result is forwarded to the President for his consideration. The
President is then responsible for transmitting, to the President of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, his
recommendations with respect to wilderness designation. These
recommendations must be accompanied by maps and boundary descriptions.
The National Park Service will track the status of the wilderness
designation process.

**6.2.4 Designated Wilderness**. After the President formally transmits
the wilderness recommendation to the Congress, that body considers the
President's wilderness recommendations and enacts the legislation needed
to establish the area within the National Wilderness Preservation System
as "designated**"** wilderness and/or "potential" wilderness. The
National Park Service will assist the Department and the Congress in
this process as requested.

# 6.3 WILDERNESS RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

**6.3.1. General Policy**. For the purposes of applying these policies,
the term \"wilderness\" will include the categories of suitable, study,
proposed, recommended, and designated wilderness. Potential wilderness
may be a subset of any of these five categories. (See VI. Definitions).
The policies apply regardless of category.

In addition to managing these areas for the preservation of the physical
wilderness resources, planning for these areas must ensure that the
wilderness character is likewise preserved. This policy will be applied
to all planning documents affecting wilderness.

The National Park Service will take no action that would diminish the
wilderness suitability of an area possessing wilderness characteristics
until the legislative process of wilderness designation has been
completed. Until that time, management decisions pertaining to lands
qualifying as wilderness will be made in expectation of eventual
wilderness designation. This policy also applies to potential
wilderness, requiring it to be managed as wilderness to the extent that
existing non-conforming uses allow. The National Park Service will seek
to remove the temporary, non-conforming conditions that preclude
wilderness designation. All management decisions affecting wilderness
will further apply the concepts of "minimum requirements" for the
administration of the area regardless of wilderness category.

**6.3.2 Responsibility**. National Park Service responsibility for
carrying out wilderness preservation mandates will be shared by the
Director, regional directors, and superintendents of parks with
suitable, study area, proposed, recommended and designated wilderness.
Interagency cooperation and coordination and training responsibilities
will also be carried out at the Washington, region, and park levels.
Specific wilderness management responsibilities will be assigned at each
of these administrative levels to carry out these responsibilities
effectively and to facilitate efforts establishing agency and
interagency consistency in wilderness management techniques.

The National Wilderness Steering Committee and the Wilderness Program
Manager for the National Park Service will provide the Directorate with
recommendations and advice to permanently establish a system of
accountability, consistency, and continuity for National Park Service
wilderness management.

**6.3.3 Consistency**. The National Park Service will seek to achieve
consistency in wilderness management objectives, techniques, and
practices on both an agency and an interagency basis. Accordingly, the
National Park Service will seek to maintain effective intra-agency and
interagency communications and will encourage, sponsor, and participate
in intra-agency and interagency training and workshops designed to
promote the sharing of ideas, concerns, and techniques related to
wilderness management. However, the need for interagency consistency
will in no way diminish any established National Park Service wilderness
standards and values.

**6.3.4 Wilderness Related Planning and Environmental Compliance.**
Policies on wilderness planning and compliance include the following:

**6.3.4.1 Zoning for Wilderness**. As appropriate, all categories of
wilderness will be zoned for visitor experiences and resource conditions
consistent with their wilderness values in the management zoning system
for each park. Management zoning or other land use classifications will
not diminish or reduce the maximum protection to be afforded lands with
wilderness values. Transition zones adjacent to wilderness may be
identified to help protect wilderness values, but no transitional or
\"buffer\" zones are appropriate within wilderness boundaries.

**6.3.4.2 Wilderness Management Planning** . The superintendent of each
park containing wilderness resources will develop and maintain a
wilderness management plan or equivalent planning document to guide the
preservation, management, and use of these resources. The wilderness
management plan will identify desired future conditions, as well as
establish indicators, standards, conditions, and thresholds above which
management actions will be taken to reduce human impacts to wilderness
resources.

The park's wilderness management plan may be developed as a separate
document or as an action component of another planning document.
Wilderness management plans will be supported by appropriate
documentation of compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act
and the National Historic Preservation Act. The plan will be developed
with public involvement, and will contain specific, measurable
management objectives that address the preservation and interpretation
of natural and cultural resources within wilderness in order to achieve
the purposes specified by the Wilderness Act and other pertinent
legislation.

**6.3.4.3 Environmental Compliance**. Proposals having the potential to
impact wilderness resources will be evaluated in accordance with
National Park Service procedures for implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act. Those procedures include the use of
categorical exclusions, environmental assessments (EA\'s) and/or
environmental impact statements (EIS\'s). Administrative actions
impacting wilderness must be addressed in either the EA or EIS
accompanying the approved wilderness management plan, or as a separate
environmental compliance document.

Managers contemplating the use of aircraft or other motorized equipment
within wilderness must consider impacts to the aesthetics and traditions
of wilderness, as well as the costs and efficiency of the equipment.

In evaluating environmental impacts, the National Park Service will take
into account wilderness characteristics and values, including the
primeval character and influence of the wilderness; the preservation of
natural conditions (including the lack of man-made noise); and
assurances that there will be outstanding opportunities for solitude,
that the public will be provided with a primitive and unconfined type of
recreational experience, and that wilderness will be preserved and used
in an unimpaired condition. Managers will be expected to appropriately
address cultural resources management considerations in the development
and review of environmental compliance documents impacting wilderness
resources.

**6.3.5** **Minimum Requirement**. All management decisions affecting
wilderness must be consistent with the minimum requirement concept. This
concept is a documented process used to determine if administrative
activities effecting wilderness resources or the visitor experience are
necessary and how to minimize impacts. The minimum requirement concept
will be applied as a two-step process that determines:

-   Whether or not the proposed management action is appropriate or
    necessary for administration of the area as wilderness; and does not
    pose a significant impact to wilderness resources and character; and

-   The techniques and type of equipment needed to ensure that impact to
    wilderness resources and character is minimized.

    In accordance with this policy, superintendents will apply the
    minimum requirement concept in the context of wilderness management
    planning as well as to all other administrative practices, proposed
    special uses, scientific activities and equipment use in
    wilderness**.** When determining minimum requirement, the potential
    disruption of wilderness character and resources will be considered
    before, and given significantly more weight than, economic
    efficiency and convenience. If a compromise of wilderness resources
    or character is unavoidable, only those actions that preserve
    wilderness character and/or have localized, short-term adverse
    impacts will be acceptable.

    While park managers have flexibility in identifying the method used
    to determine minimum requirement (See IV.C.2) within the approved
    wilderness management plan, the method used must clearly weigh the
    benefits and impacts of the proposal, document the decision process,
    and be supported by an appropriate environmental compliance
    document. Parks with no approved wilderness management plan must
    develop a separate process to determine minimum requirement until
    the plan is finally approved. Parks will complete a minimum
    requirement analysis on those administrative practices and equipment
    use that have the potential to impact wilderness resources or
    values. The minimum requirement concept cannot be used to
    rationalize permanent roads or inappropriate or unlawful uses in
    wilderness.

    Administrative use of motorized equipment or mechanical transport
    will be authorized only:

-   If determined by the superintendent to be the minimum requirement
    needed by management to achieve the purposes of the area as
    wilderness, including the preservation of wilderness character and
    values, or

-   In emergency situations (search and rescue) involving the health or
    safety of persons actually within the area. Such management
    activities will be conducted in accordance with all applicable
    regulations, policies, and guidelines, including minimum requirement
    protocols as practicable.

    Such management activities will also be conducted in accordance with
    all applicable regulations, policies, and guidelines and, where
    practicable, will be scheduled to avoid creating adverse resource
    impacts or conflicts with visitor use.

    **6.3.6** **Scientific Activities in Wilderness**. The statutory
    purposes of wilderness include scientific activities, and these
    activities are encouraged and permitted when consistent with the
    agency's responsibilities to preserve and manage wilderness.

    **6.3.6.1 General Policy.** The National Park Service has a
    responsibility to support appropriate scientific activities in
    wilderness, and to use science to improve wilderness management. The
    National Park Service recognizes that wilderness can and should
    serve as an important resource for long-term research, study, and
    observation of ecological processes and the impact of humans on
    these ecosystems. The National Park Service further recognizes that
    appropriate scientific activities may be critical to the long-term
    preservation of wilderness.

    Scientific activities are to be encouraged in wilderness. Even those
    scientific activities (including inventory, monitoring, and
    research) that involve a potential impact to wilderness resources or
    values (including access, ground disturbance use of equipment,
    animal welfare, etc) should be allowed when the benefits of what can
    be learned outweigh the impacts on the wilderness resource or
    values. However, all such activities must also be evaluated using
    the minimum requirement concept and include documented compliance
    which assesses impacts against benefits to wilderness. This process
    should assure the activity is appropriate and utilizes the minimum
    tool required to accomplish project objectives.

    Scientific activities involving prohibitions identified in Section
    4 (c) of the Wilderness Act may be conducted within wilderness when:

-   The desired information is essential for the understanding, health,
    management or administration of wilderness, and the project cannot
    be reasonably modified to eliminate or reduce the nonconforming
    wilderness use(s); or if it increases scientific knowledge, even
    when this serves no immediate wilderness management purposes,
    provided it does not compromise wilderness resources or character.
    The preservation of wilderness resources and character will be given
    significantly more weight than economic efficiency and/or
    convenience.

-   Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (including
    completion of documented categorical exclusions, environmental
    assessments/findings of no significant impact, or environmental
    impact statements/records of decision) and other regulatory
    compliance (including compliance with Section 106 of the National
    Historic Preservation Act) is accomplished and documented.

-   All scientific activities will be accomplished in accordance with
    terms and conditions adopted at the time the research permit is
    approved. Later requests for exceptions to the Wilderness Act will
    require additional review and approval.

-   The project will not significantly interfere with other wilderness
    purposes (recreational, scenic, educational, conservation or
    historical) over a broad area or for a long period of time.

-   The minimum requirement concept is applied to implementation of the
    project.

Research and monitoring devices (e.g., video cameras, data loggers,
meteorological stations) may be installed and operated in wilderness if:
(1) the desired information is essential for the administration and
preservation of wilderness and cannot be obtained from a location
outside of wilderness without significant loss of precision and
applicability, and (2) the proposed device is the minimum requirement
necessary to accomplish the research objective safely.

Park Managers will work with researchers to make National Park Service
wilderness area research a model for use of low-impact, less intrusive
techniques. New technology and techniques will be encouraged if they are
less intrusive and cause less impact. The goal will be for studies in
National Park Service wilderness to lead the way in 'light on the
resource' techniques.

Devices located in wilderness will be removed when determined to be no
longer essential. Permanent equipment caches are prohibited within
wilderness. Temporary caches must be evaluated using the minimum
requirement concept.

All scientific activities, including the installation, servicing,
removal, and monitoring of research devices, will apply minimum
requirement concepts and be accomplished in compliance with Management
Policies, Director\'s Orders, and procedures specified in the park\'s
wilderness management plan.

(See Studies and Collections 4.2)

**6.3.6.2 Monitoring Wilderness Resources**. In every park containing
wilderness, the conditions and long-term trends of wilderness resources
will be monitored to identify the need for or effects of management
actions. The purpose of this monitoring will be to ensure that
management actions and visitor impacts on wilderness resources and
character do not exceed standards and conditions established in an
approved park plan.

As appropriate, wilderness monitoring programs may assess physical,
biological and cultural resources, and social impacts. Monitoring
programs may also need to assess potential problems that may originate
outside the wilderness, in order to determine the nature, magnitude, and
probable source of those impacts.

**6.3.7 Natural Resources Management.** The National Park Service
recognizes that wilderness is a composite resource with interrelated
parts. Without spectacular natural resources, especially indigenous and
endemic species, a wilderness experience might not be possible. Natural
resources are critical, defining elements of the wilderness resource,
but need to be managed within the context of the whole. Natural resource
management plans will be integrated with and cross-reference wilderness
management plans. Pursuing a series of independent component projects,
such as single species management, in wilderness will not necessarily
accomplish the over-arching goal of wilderness management. Natural
resources management in wilderness will include and be guided by a
coordinated program of scientific inventory, monitoring, and research.

The principle of non-degradation will be applied to wilderness
management, and each wilderness area's condition will be measured and
assessed against its own unimpaired standard. Natural processes will be
allowed, in so far as possible, to shape and control wilderness
ecosystems. Management should seek to sustain natural distribution,
numbers, population composition, and interaction of indigenous species.
Management intervention should only be undertaken to the extent
necessary to correct past mistakes, the impacts of human use, and the
influences originating outside of wilderness boundaries. Management
actions, including restoration of extirpated native species, altered
natural fire regimes, controlling invasive alien species, endangered
species management, and the protection of air and water quality, should
be attempted only when the knowledge and tools exist to accomplish
clearly articulated goals.

**6.3.8 Cultural Resources**. Historic properties eligible for the
National Register of Historic Places that have been included within
wilderness will be protected and maintained according to the pertinent
laws and policies governing cultural resources, using management methods
that are consistent with preservation of wilderness character and
values. These laws include the antiquities Act of 1906 and the Historic
Sites Act of 1935, as well as the subsequent historic preservation
legislation, including the national Historic Preservation Act, the
Archeological Resources Protection act, the Native American grave
Protection and Repatriation Act, and the American Indian Religious
Freedom Act. The Secretary's Standards for Archeology and Historic
Preservation projects provide guidelines for protection and maintenance.
Cemeteries or commemorative features, such as plaques or memorials, that
have been included in wilderness may be retained (including approved
access to these sites), but no new cemeteries or additions to existing
cemeteries may be made unless specifically authorized by federal
statute, existing reservations, or retained rights. Native American
religious areas and other ethnographic and cultural resources will be
inventoried and protected. Native Americans will be permitted access
within wilderness for sacred or religious purposes consistent with the
intent of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the Wilderness
Act and related laws.

(See Identification and Evaluation of Resources 5.2, Stewardship 5.4)

**6.3.9 Fire Management**. Fire management activities conducted in
wilderness areas will conform to the basic purposes of wilderness. The
park\'s fire management and wilderness management plans must identify
and reconcile the natural and historic roles of fire in the wilderness,
and will provide a prescription for response, if any, to natural and
human-caused wildfires. If a prescribed fire program is implemented,
these plans will also include the prescriptions and procedures under
which the program will be conducted within wilderness.

Actions taken to suppress wildfires will use the minimum requirement
concept, and will be conducted in such a way as to protect natural and
cultural features and to minimize the lasting impacts of the suppression
actions and the fires themselves. Information on developing a fire
management program in wilderness is contained in Director\'s Order \#
18: Fire Management.

(See Fire Management 4.5)

**6.3.10 Management Facilities**. Part of the definition of wilderness
as provided by the Wilderness Act is \"undeveloped federal land
retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent
improvements.\" Accordingly, authorizations of NPS administrative
facilities located in wilderness will be limited to the types and
minimum number essential to meet the minimum requirements for the
administration of the wilderness area. A decision to construct,
maintain, or remove an administrative facility will be based primarily
on whether or not such a facility is required to preserve wilderness
character or values, not on considerations of administrative
convenience, economy of effect, or convenience to the public or park
staff. Maintenance or removal of historic structures will additionally
comply with cultural resource protection and preservation policies and
directives, and the concept of minimal requirement management techniques
for wilderness.

**6.3.10.1 Administrative Facilities.** Administrative facilities (e.g.
ranger stations and/or patrol cabins, fire lookouts, radio and/or
cellular telephone antennas, radio repeater sites, associated storage or
support structures, drift fences, and facilities supporting trail stock
operations) may be allowed in wilderness only if they are determined to
be the minimum requirement necessary to carry out wilderness management
objectives and are specifically addressed within the park's wilderness
management plan or other supporting environmental compliance documents.
New roads will not be built in wilderness. Temporary vehicular access
may be permitted only to meet the minimum requirements of emergency
situations, and will be restored, per an approved restoration plan, as
rapidly as possible. Where abandoned roads have been included within
wilderness, they may be used as trails, restored to natural conditions,
or managed as a cultural resource.

No permanent heliports, helipads, or airstrips will be allowed in
wilderness unless specifically authorized by statute or legislation.
Temporary landing facilities may be used to meet the minimum
requirements of emergency situations. Site improvements determined to be
essential for safety reasons during individual emergency situations may
be authorized, but no site markings or improvements of any kind may be
installed to support non-emergency use.

**6.3.10.2 Trails in Wilderness.** Trails will be permitted within
wilderness when they are determined to be necessary for resource
protection and/or for providing for visitor use for the purposes of
wilderness. The identification and inventory of the wilderness trail
system will be included as an integral part of the wilderness management
plan or other appropriate planning document. Trails will be maintained
at levels and conditions identified within the approved wilderness
management plan or planning document. Trail maintenance structures (e.g.
waterbars, gabions, etc.) may be provided, under minimum requirement
protocols, where they are essential for resource preservation, or where
significant safety hazards exist during normal use periods. Historic
trails will be administered in keeping with approved cultural resource
plan requirements.

Borrow pits are not permitted in wilderness areas, with the exception of
small quantity use of borrow material for trails which must be in
accordance with an approved wilderness management plan.

**6.3.10.3 Campsites and Shelters.** The construction of new shelters
for public use will generally not be allowed, in keeping with the values
and character of wilderness. An existing shelter may be maintained or
reconstructed only if the facility is necessary to achieve specific
wilderness management objectives as identified in the park\'s wilderness
and cultural resources management plans. The construction, use, and
occupancy of cabins and other structures in wilderness areas in Alaska
are governed by applicable provisions of ANILCA and by National Park
Service regulations in 36 CFR 13, and may be permitted only under
conditions prescribed in the park\'s wilderness management plan.

Although the development of facilities to serve visitors will generally
be avoided, campsites may be designated when essential for resource
protection and preservation or to meet other specific wilderness
management objectives. In keeping with the terms of the park\'s
wilderness management plan, campsite facilities may include a site
marker, fire rings, tent sites, food-storage devices, and toilets if
these are determined by the superintendent to be the minimum facilities
necessary for the health and safety of wilderness users, or for the
preservation of wilderness resources and values. Toilets will be placed
only in locations where their presence and use will resolve health and
sanitation problems or prevent serious resource impacts, especially
where reducing or dispersing visitor use is impractical or has failed to
alleviate the problems. Picnic tables will not be allowed in wilderness.

**6.3.10.4 Signs**. Signs detract from the wilderness character of an
area and make the imprint of man and management more noticeable. Only
those signs necessary for visitor safety or to protect wilderness
resources, such as those identifying routes and distances, will be
permitted. Where signs are used, they should be compatible with their
surroundings and the minimum size possible.

**6.3.11 Wilderness Boundaries.** Policies related to wilderness
boundaries include the following:

## **6.3.11.1 Legal Descriptions and Boundary Maps**. Every park with designated wilderness will possess a written legal description of the wilderness area and a map (or maps) which illustrates the legal description of the wilderness. Each park will ensure that the legal description and map(s) are filed in the appropriate locations. 

## (See IV.B.3.d.1 and Reference Manual #41: Appendix G) 

**6.3.11.2 Caves**. All cave passages located totally within the surface
wilderness boundary will be managed as wilderness. Caves that have
entrances within wilderness but contain passages that may extend outside
the surface wilderness boundary will be managed as wilderness. Caves
that may have multiple entrances located both within and exterior to the
surface wilderness boundary will be managed in keeping with the surface
boundary; those portions of the cave within the wilderness boundary will
be managed as wilderness.

**6.3.11.3 Waters in Wilderness**. The NPS will manage all waters
included within wilderness boundaries, and the lands beneath these
waters (if owned by the United States) as wilderness, in keeping with
established jurisdictions and authorities.

**6.4 WILDERNESS USE MANAGEMENT**

The National Park Service will encourage and facilitate those uses of
wilderness that are in keeping with the definitions and purposes of
wilderness and do not degrade wilderness resources and character.
Appropriate restrictions may be imposed on any authorized activity in
the interest of preserving wilderness character and resources or to
ensure public safety.

When resource impacts or demands for use exceed established thresholds
or capacities, superintendents may limit or redirect use. Physical
alterations, public education, general regulations, special regulations,
permit systems, as well as local restrictions, public use limits,
closures, and designations implemented under the discretionary authority
of the superintendent (36 CFR Part 1.5 and 13; 43 CFR Part 36 for Alaska
units), may all be used in managing use and protecting wilderness, if
these actions are determined to be the minimally required level of
management.

**6.4.1 General Policy**. Park visitors need to accept wilderness on its
own unique terms. Accordingly, the National Park Service will promote
education programs that encourage wilderness users to understand and be
aware of certain risks, including possible dangers arising from
wildlife, weather conditions, physical features, and other natural
phenomena that are inherent in the various conditions that comprise a
wilderness experience and primitive methods of travel. The National Park
Service will not modify the wilderness area to eliminate risks that are
normally associated with wilderness, but it will strive to provide users
with general information concerning possible risks, any recommended
precautions, related user responsibilities, and applicable restrictions
and regulations, including those associated with ethnographic and
cultural resources.

# 6.4.2 Wilderness Interpretation and Education. In the context of interpretive and educational planning, national park units with wilderness resources will: operate public education programs designed to promote and perpetuate public awareness of, and appreciation for, wilderness character, resources and ethics, while providing for acceptable use limits; focus on fostering an understanding of the concept of wilderness that includes respect for the resource, willingness to exercise self-restraint in demanding access to it, and an ability to adhere to appropriate, minimum-impact techniques; and encourage the public to use and accept wilderness on its own terms; i.e., the acceptance of an undeveloped, primitive environment and the assumption of the potential risks and responsibilities involved in using and enjoying wilderness areas. National Park Service interpretive plans and programs for wilderness parks will address the primary interpretive themes for wilderness (Reference Manual 41: Appendix I). Education is among the most effective tools for dealing with wilderness use management problems and should generally be applied before more restrictive management tools. 

**6.4.3 Recreation Use Management in Wilderness.** Recreational uses of
National Park Service wilderness are generally those traditionally
associated with wilderness and identified by Congress in the legislative
record for the development of the Wilderness Act and in keeping with the
language provided by Sections 2(a) and 2(c) of the Act itself. These
recreational uses of wilderness will be of a type and nature that ensure
its use and enjoyment will leave it unimpaired for future use and
enjoyment as wilderness, provide for the protection of the area as
wilderness, and provide for the preservation of the wilderness
character.

Recreational uses in National Park Service wilderness areas will be of a
nature that enable the areas to retain their primeval character and
influence; protect and preserve natural conditions; leave the imprint of
man's work substantially unnoticeable; provide outstanding opportunities
for solitude or primitive and unconfined types of recreation; and
preserve wilderness in an unimpaired condition.

**6.4.3.1 Recreation Use Evaluation.** Recreational uses, particularly
new and emerging activities, that compromise the stated purposes and
definitions of wilderness or unduly impact the wilderness resource or
the visitor experience within wilderness, will be evaluated to determine
if these uses are appropriate, or should be limited or disallowed
through use of the superintendents compendium in 36 CFR 1.5. Evaluation
or re-evaluation should be accomplished within wilderness management
plans or similar implementation plans. Recreational uses which do not
meet the purposes and definitions of wilderness should be prohibited in
NPS wilderness.

Significant changes in patterns or increased levels of use will not be
authorized by special permit, administrative discretion, or authorities
under a superintendents compendia, except in cases where sufficient
information exists to adequately determine there is no significant
impact on wilderness resources and values, including visitor
experiences. These increased levels of use and changes in patterns of
existing use will normally not qualify for a categorical exclusion under
NEPA. Decisions regarding significant changes in patterns and new levels
of use will require environmental analysis and review, including
opportunity for public comment, in accordance with the requirements of
NEPA.

**6.4.3.2 Leave No Trace.** \"Leave-No-Trace\" principles and practices
will be applied to all forms of recreation management within wilderness,
including commercial operations. Wilderness users will generally be
required to carry out all refuse. Refuse is defined in 36 CFR 1.4. (See
Reference Manual 41: Appendix J).

**6.4.3.3 Use of Motorized Equipment.** Public use of motorized
equipment or any form of mechanical transport will be prohibited in
wilderness except as provided for in specific wilderness legislation.
Operating a motor vehicle or possessing a bicycle in designated
wilderness outside Alaska is prohibited (see NPS regulations in 36 CFR
4.30(d)(1)). However, Section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act authorizes
the Secretary, where legislation designating the wilderness specifically
makes this provision applicable, to allow the continuation of motorboat
and aircraft use under certain circumstances in which those activities
were established prior to wilderness designation. Section 4(d)(1) gives
the Secretary the discretion to manage and regulate the activity in
accordance with the Wilderness Act, the NPS Organic Act, and individual
park enabling legislation. As authorized, the National Park Service will
administer this use to be compatible with the purpose, character, and
resource values of the particular wilderness area involved. The use of
motorized equipment by the public in wilderness areas in Alaska is
governed by applicable provisions of ANILCA and NPS regulations in 36
CFR 13 and 43 CFR 36. The specific conditions under which motorized
equipment may be used by the public will be outlined in each park\'s
wilderness management plan.

**6.4.4. Commercial Services**. Wilderness oriented commercial services
that contribute to public education and visitor enjoyment of wilderness
values or provide opportunities for primitive and unconfined types of
recreation may be authorized if they meet the \"necessary and
appropriate\" tests of the National Park Service Concessions Management
Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-391), Section 4(d)(6) of the Wilderness Act, and
if they are consistent with the wilderness management objectives
contained in the park\'s wilderness management plan. Activities such as
guide services for outfitted horseback, hiking, mountain climbing, or
river trips and similar activities may be appropriate and may be
authorized if conducted under terms and conditions outlined in the
park\'s wilderness management plan and/or in legislation authorizing
these types of commercial use.

The only structures or facilities used by commercial services that will
be allowed in wilderness will be temporary shelters, such as tents, or
other specifically approved facilities that may be required (within the
wilderness management plan) for resource protection and the preservation
of wilderness values. Temporary facilities will generally be removed
from the wilderness after each trip unless such removal will cause
additional degradation of the wilderness resources. The use of permanent
equipment and supply caches by commercial operators is prohibited within
wilderness. Managers will ensure that commercial operators are in
compliance with established "Leave-No-Trace" protocols.

(See Commercial Services 10.1; also see Reference Manual 48)

**6.4.5. Special Events**. The National Park Service will not sponsor or
issue permits for special events to be conducted in wilderness if those
events are inconsistent with wilderness resources and character, or do
not require a wilderness setting to occur.

Permits will not be issued for special events that are commercial
enterprises, or for competitive events, activities involving animal,
foot or watercraft races, physical endurance of a person or animal,
organized survival exercises, war games, or similar exercises in
National Park Service wilderness areas.

**6.4.6. Grazing and Livestock Driveways**. Commercial grazing or
driving of livestock in park wilderness will be allowed only as
specifically authorized by Congress. Where these activities are
authorized, they will be managed under conditions and requirements
identified within the approved wilderness management plan and
corresponding allotment management plans. The use of motorized vehicles,
motorized equipment, or mechanical transport by grazing permittees will
not be allowed except as provided for by a specific authority. The
construction of livestock management facilities other than those
specifically authorized by legislation is prohibited.

Noncommercial grazing of trail stock used as part of an approved
livestock management program within wilderness may be authorized in
accordance with National Park Service regulations and conditions
outlined in the wilderness management plan or stock use management plan.
All approved livestock use must ensure preservation of wilderness
resources and character. Superintendents will be responsible for
monitoring livestock use in wilderness to the same degree as human use,
and may use the same management tools and techniques, including the
application of the minimum requirement concept to manage livestock use
that are available for managing other wilderness uses.

**6.4.7. Rights-of-Way**. Existing rights-of-way that have been included
in wilderness should be terminated or phased out where practicable.
Rights-of-way subject to National Park Service administrative control
should be administered under conditions outlined in the park\'s
wilderness management plan which protect wilderness character and
resources and limit the use of motorized or mechanical equipment. The
National Park Service will not issue any new rights-of-way or widen or
extend any existing rights-of-way in wilderness.

Rights-of-way and access procedures affecting wilderness areas in Alaska
are governed by applicable provisions of ANILCA and regulations in 43
CFR 36 and 36 CFR 13.

**6.4.8. Mineral Development**. The National Park Service will seek to
remove or extinguish valid mining claims and non-federal mineral
interests in wilderness through authorized processes including
purchasing valid rights. In parks where Congress has authorized the
leasing of federal minerals, the National Park Service will take
appropriate actions to preclude the leasing of lands or minerals within
wilderness when, and wherever, it is authorized to do so. Lands included
within wilderness will be listed as \"excepted areas" under applicable
regulations in 43 CFR 3100, 3500, and 3500.8.

Unless and until mineral interests and mining claims within National
Park Service wilderness are eliminated, they must be managed pursuant to
existing National Park Service regulations, policies, and procedures. A
validity exam of unpatented claims in wilderness affected by a proposed
plan of operations must be conducted by a Certified Mineral Examiner
prior to plan approval. Motorized use in wilderness is allowed only with
an approved plan of operations on valid claims and where there is no
reasonable alternative. Motorized use for access can occur only on
existing roads; there will be no new roads or improvement of existing
roads unless necessary for resource protection or human safety. Any plan
of operations that is approved will include stipulations on operations
and reclamation that will ensure that long-term effects on the
wilderness area are substantially unnoticeable.

**6.4.9. Existing Private Rights**. Wilderness designation does not
extinguish existing private rights **(**e.g., fee-simple interest,
less-than fee simple interest, valid mineral operations, rights-of-way

6.4.10. Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities. The National Park
Service has legal obligations to make available equal opportunities for
people with disabilities in all programs and activities. This
requirement includes the opportunity to participate in wilderness
experiences. Management decisions responding to requests for special
consideration to provide wilderness use by persons with disabilities
must be in accord with the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, The
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended in 1978), and Section 507(c) of
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Such decisions should
balance the intent of access and wilderness laws and find a way of
providing the highest level of protection to the wilderness resource.

Section 17.550 of the Secretary of the Interior's regulations regarding
"Enforcement of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in
Department of Interior Programs" (43 CFR Part 17) states that agencies
are not required to take any actions nor provide access that would
result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a program or
activity. However, the agency has the burden of proving that compliance
would result in a fundamental alteration. This concept is also found in
Section 507 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(See IV.C.9 and Reference Manual #41: Appendix E)

IV\. DIRECTOR'S ORDER #41: WILDERNESS PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT

**Approved: \_\_\_\_**[/s/ Robert
Stanton]{.underline}**\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_**

**Robert Stanton, Director**

**Effective Date: \_\_**[August 2, 1999]{.underline}**\_\_**

**Sunset Date: \_\_\_**[August 2, 2003]{.underline}**\_\_\_**

**Table of Contents**

A. Introduction 3. Interagency Coordination

B.  Instructions and Requirements 4. Cultural Resource Management in
    Wilderness

    1\. Reference Manual 5. Fire Management in Wilderness

    2\. National Wilderness Steering Committee 6. Wilderness
    Interpretation and Education

    3\. Management Responsibility and Accountability 7. Mineral
    Development in Wilderness

    a\. Complete Wilderness Identification 8. Scientific Activities in
    Wilderness

    and Designation Process 9. Wilderness Use by Persons with
    Disabilities

    b\. Complete Wilderness Management Planning 10. Special Events in
    Wilderness

    c\. Establish Wilderness Management Accountability 11. Wilderness
    Training Requirements

    d\. Administer and Protect Wilderness Resource 12. Commercial
    Services in Wilderness

C.  Wilderness Management Issues 13. Air Quality in Wilderness

1\. Wilderness Management Plan Requirements 14. Annual Report to
Congress

2\. Application of the Minimum Requirement Concept 15. Other Issues to
be Addressed

# A. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of **Director's Order #41** is to provide accountability,
consistency, and continuity to the National Park Service\'s wilderness
management program, and to otherwise guide Servicewide efforts in
meeting the letter and spirit of the 1964 Wilderness Act. This
Director\'s Order will clarify, where necessary, specific provisions of
National Park Service Management Policies; and will establish specific
instructions and requirements concerning the management of all National
Park Service wilderness areas.

Director\'s Order #41 should be applied to management actions carried
out within the framework of a park\'s general management plan, the
Government Performance and Results Act, a park's natural and cultural
resources plans, and the park's wilderness management plan.

It is important to note that policies may in some instances be
superseded by statutory provisions that apply to individual wilderness
areas, by rights reserved by former landowners and, in Alaska, by
applicable provisions of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation
Act (ANILCA).

# B. INSTRUCTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

In keeping with the principles of management accountability, the
National Park Service will apply the following requirements to its
wilderness preservation activities. For the purpose of applying these
requirements, the term \"wilderness\" includes the categories of
"suitable," "study areas," "proposed," "recommended," and "designated."

**1. Reference Manual.** The July 1999 edition of [Reference Manual #41:
Wilderness Preservation and Management]{.underline} is hereby approved
for release as a supplement to this Director's Order. The Associate
Director for Park Operations and Education is authorized and required to
maintain and update the manual to provide comprehensive guidance on
wilderness preservation and management. The reference manual will
include applicable policies and Director's Orders; an assessment of the
critical issues in wilderness preservation and management, with
instructions on how these issues will be managed; minimum content
requirements for wilderness management plans; and other information that
will help field managers and staff meet their responsibilities.

**2. National Wilderness Steering Committee**. The Associate Director
for Park Operations and Education may establish a National Wilderness
Steering Committee to promote consistency and improvement in National
Park Service wilderness stewardship, and to initiate interagency
wilderness coordination. The Committee will provide the Directorate with
recommendations and advice to establish accountability, consistency, and
continuity within the Service's wilderness management program and will
function until such time as the Directorate determines that it is no
longer needed.

**3. Management Responsibility and Accountability**. Park managers will
ensure that wilderness resources are afforded maximum protection through
implementation of the following actions addressing the NPS wilderness
accountability and responsibilities defined in Chapter 6 Wilderness
Preservation and Management policies. (Reference Manual #41: Appendix C
provides a checklist for these items)

> **a.** **Complete Wilderness Identification and Designation Process.**
>
> \(i\) [Wilderness Suitability Assessments]{.underline}. A wilderness
> suitability assessment
>
> must be completed for all lands to determine suitability for inclusion
> within the National Wilderness Preservation System no later than one
> year after NPS acquisition.
>
> \(ii\) [Wilderness Studies]{.underline}. Formal studies of lands
> identified as suitable for
>
> wilderness must be completed within five years of the wilderness
> suitability
>
> assessment. (See also 36 CFR Subpart A Part 19)
>
> \(iii\) [Wilderness Proposal/Recommendation:]{.underline} Wilderness
> designation proposals will be forwarded to the Director immediately
> upon completion of the formal Wilderness Study for review and
> approval. The Director will, in a timely manner, forward the
> Wilderness Proposal and a recommendation to the Assistant Secretary
> and Secretary of the Interior for approval. Managers will track and
> know the status of their wilderness designation proposals.
>
> \(iv\) [Wilderness Designation Process:]{.underline} After the
> Secretary has forwarded the Recommendation to the President, and the
> President has transmitted the Recommendation to Congress, the National
> Park Service will track the status of the Recommendation as it
> progresses in the designation process.
>
> **b. Complete Wilderness Management Planning**
>
> \(i\) [Wilderness Management Plan]{.underline}. Park superintendents
> with wilderness resources will prepare and implement a wilderness
> management plan or equivalent integrated into an appropriate planning
> document (see Reference Manual #41: Appendix D). An environmental
> compliance document, in keeping with NEPA requirements, which provides
> the public with the opportunity to review and comment on the park's
> wilderness management program, will accompany the plan.
>
> \(ii\) [Wilderness Management Plan Coordination]{.underline}. The
> goals and objectives of the wilderness management plan will be
> effectively coordinated with other park management documents (e.g.
> General Management Plan, Strategic Plan, Annual Performance Plan, and
> other operational plans such as the Fire Management Plan, and Natural
> and Cultural Resources Management Plan).
>
> **c. Establish Wilderness Management Accountability.** Wilderness
> management accountability will be established through completion of
> the following:
>
> \(i\) [Critical Results for Wilderness Stewardship]{.underline}.
> Regional Directors will include a statement on wilderness management
> in the \"Critical Results\" element of the Employee Performance Plan
> and Results Report (Form DI-2002) for the superintendent of each area
> containing wilderness resources. Documentation of these critical
> results will clearly identify and ensure appropriate focus on their
> wilderness management responsibilities.
>
> \(ii\) [Wilderness Responsibilities in Position
> Descriptions]{.underline}. All positions having significant wilderness
> responsibilities will be supported by position descriptions that
> describe these responsibilities.
>
> \(iii\) [Wilderness Integrated Into KSA's]{.underline} . Wilderness
> will be effectively integrated into the Knowledge, Skills, and
> Abilities requirements for all vacancy announcements for positions
> having significant wilderness responsibilities.
>
> \(iv\) [Wilderness Training for Key Staff]{.underline}. Each key
> person responsible for the management and protection of wilderness
> resources will receive the wilderness training necessary to ensure
> awareness, knowledge of, and accountability for, their specific
> wilderness responsibilities.
>
> (v[)]{.underline} [Wilderness Referenced in GPRA Strategic
> Plan]{.underline}. Wilderness stewardship responsibilities will be
> referenced in the park's strategic plan developed pursuant to the
> Government Performance and Results Act.
>
> \(vi\) [Annual Report To Congress]{.underline}. Parks with wilderness
> resources will provide the Associate Director for Park Operations and
> Education with the information necessary to prepare the annual Report
> to Congress required by Section 7 of the Wilderness Act.
>
> **d. Administer and Protect the Wilderness Resource.** Stewardship
> responsibilities for wilderness will be completed through the
> following:
>
> \(i\) [Responsible Persons and/or Organizations]{.underline}. Key park
> staff who have direct responsibility for the development,
> coordination, implementation, and accountability for the park's
> wilderness management program will be designated and identified. The
> responsible individual/organization may be the line officer,
> interdivisional committee, wilderness coordinator/manager, or other.
>
> \(ii\) [Minimum Requirement Process]{.underline}. A process to
> determine the \"minimum requirement\" for administrative actions**,**
> proposed special uses, scientific activities, and equipment use in
> wilderness will be identified and established. It must specify how the
> process is to be implemented in the park and that a record of the
> decisions generated through this process must be kept for public
> inspection.
>
> \(iii\) [Wilderness Management Plan Implementation:]{.underline}
> Progress will be made annually in implementing approved actions and
> activities in the wilderness management plan.
>
> \(iv\) [Suitable, Study Area, Proposed, and Recommended Wilderness
> Preservation]{.underline}. Lands identified as being suitable for
> wilderness designation, wilderness study areas, proposed wilderness,
> and recommended wilderness (including potential wilderness) will be
> managed to preserve their wilderness character and values undiminished
> until Congress acts on the recommendations. Decisions will be made in
> the expectation of eventual wilderness designation.
>
> \(v\) [Legal Description and Boundary Map Completion]{.underline}.
> Every park with designated wilderness must possess a written legal
> description of the wilderness area and a map (or maps) that depict
> that legal description. Parks that have not yet done so, will complete
> a wilderness legal description and map(s) no later than eighteen
> months from the date of issuance of this Director's Order. All parks
> containing wilderness will ensure that the legal description and map
> are filed in the appropriate NPS offices and submitted to Congress, if
> required by law. (Reference Manual #41: Appendix G provides detailed
> instruction for completing legal descriptions and boundary maps).
>
> \(vi\) [Designated Potential Wilderness Management]{.underline}.
> Potential wilderness will be managed as wilderness to the extent that
> existing nonconforming uses will allow; temporary (non-conforming)
> uses will be eliminated as soon as practicable in keeping with
> National Park Service authorities and budgets. All parks containing
> potential wilderness designated by Congress will inventory that
> potential wilderness within two years of the issuance of this
> Director's Order, and every five years thereafter. When non-conforming
> uses have ceased within the potential wilderness, each park will take
> the steps necessary for the Secretary to publish in the Federal
> Register the notice that the potential wilderness is now designated
> wilderness. (Reference Manual #41: Appendix H addresses conversion of
> potential wilderness to designated wilderness).
>
> \(vii\) [Recreation Impact Evaluation]{.underline}. The
> appropriateness of recreation activities in wilderness, and recreation
> impacts, will be evaluated when changes in the nature and significance
> of the activities affect their compatibility with wilderness
> preservation and the statutory purposes of wilderness. The assessment
> of new or increased activities will be addressed through appropriate
> environmental compliance documentation as identified in DO#12.
>
> \(viii\) [Wilderness in Comprehensive Interpretive Plan.]{.underline}
> The Comprehensive Interpretive Plan for parks with wilderness
> resources will address the primary interpretive themes for wilderness
> education and reflect the wilderness significance statements as they
> appear in the park's GPRA Plan (See Reference Manual #41: Appendix I)
>
> \(ix\) [Geographic Naming in Wilderness]{.underline}. In order to
> maintain the untrammeled character of wilderness, the naming of
> additional geographic features is discouraged. The National Park
> Service will not propose to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, nor
> support proposals by others, to apply new names to geographic features
> within any category of wilderness. An exception to this policy may be
> considered on a case-by-case basis when a proposed name: (a) serves a
> useful educational or interpretive purpose; or (b) is linked to an
> historical figure, activity, incident, or resources having a direct
> association with the geographic feature; and (c) meets all other
> National Park Service and Board on Geographic Names policies
> applicable to geographic naming.

**C. WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT ISSUES**

The following guidance is provided for dealing with major wilderness
management issues confronting the National Park Service:

**1. Wilderness Management Plan Requirements**

The superintendent of each park containing wilderness will develop and
maintain a wilderness management plan (or plan for the management of
suitable, proposed/ recommended wilderness area) to guide the
preservation, management, and use of that area.

The plan will be developed with public involvement, and will contain
specific, measurable management objectives that address the preservation
and interpretation of wilderness-dependent cultural and natural resource
values.

*NPS Management Policies: 6.3.5 Wilderness Management Plan*

For the purposes of applying NPS wilderness policies, the term
\'wilderness\' includes the categories of suitable, study, proposed,
recommended and designated wilderness. NPS wilderness policies apply
regardless of category. Potential wilderness may be a subset of any of
these five categories\...In addition to managing these classified areas
for the preservation of their wilderness values, planning for these
areas must ensure that the wilderness character is likewise preserved.

*NPS Management Policies: 6.3.1 General Policy*

The minimum content requirements for a wilderness management plan are as
follows:

A wilderness management plan will be completed every ten years by all
parks containing wilderness resources for the purpose of providing
accountability, consistency, and continuity to the National Park
Service\'s wilderness management program. The requirement to have a
current wilderness management plan (or similar plan) applies to all
areas containing suitable, study, proposed, recommended, and designated
wilderness.

The wilderness management plan will: 1) clearly identify the boundaries
of wilderness units of the park; 2) identify individuals and/or
organizations within the park administration responsible for wilderness
preservation; 3) establish an administrative process to determine
\"minimum requirement\" for actions in wilderness; and 4) establish
specific management actions to be applied to guide public use and
preservation of wilderness resources, including the establishment of
desired future conditions.

An environmental compliance document that provides the public with the
opportunity to review and comment on the park's wilderness management
program will accompany all wilderness management plans, consistent with
the requirements of NEPA and appropriate National Park Service policy
guidance. Because of the unique nature of wilderness resources and
possible public controversy over use allocations and their effects, in
some instances a full environmental impact statement will be required.

Wilderness management plans must be coordinated and integrated with
other park planning documents (General Management Plan, the park\'s
Strategic Plan/Annual Performance Plan, Facility Management Plans, Fire
Management Plan, etc.) to ensure consistency across park management
programs. All park disciplines should participate in the planning
process.

While parks may exercise considerable flexibility as to the
organizational and physical format of the wilderness management plan
(i.e., plans may be developed as separate documents or integrated into
General Management Plans, Backcountry Management Plans, or Resource
Management Plans), the plan must contain at least the topics identified
in the "Wilderness Management Plan-Recommended Content" included in
Reference Manual #41: Appendix D.

**2. Application of the Minimum Requirement Concept**

...except as necessary to meet the 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.

*The Wilderness Act: Section 4 (c)*

All management decisions affecting wilderness must be consistent with a
minimum requirement concept.... When determining minimum requirement,
the potential disruption of wilderness character and resources will be
considered before, and given significantly more weight than, economic
efficiency and convenience. If a compromise of wilderness resource or
character is unavoidable, only those actions that preserve wilderness
character and/or have localized, short-term adverse impacts will be
acceptable.

*NPS Management Policies: 6.3.5 Minimum Requirement*

The National Park Service will apply the minimum requirement concept to
all administrative activities that affect the wilderness resource and
character. The application of the minimum requirement concept is
intended to minimize impacts on wilderness character and resources and
must guide all management actions in wilderness.

Wilderness managers may authorize (using a documented process) the
generally prohibited activities or uses listed in Section 4(c) of the
Wilderness Act if they are deemed necessary to meet the minimum
requirements for the administration of the area as wilderness and where
those methods are determined to be the 'minimum tool' for the project.
The use of motorized equipment and the establishment of management
facilities are specifically prohibited when other reasonable
alternatives are available. The minimum requirement process cannot be
used to permit roads or inappropriate commercial enterprises within
wilderness unless these are authorized by specific legislation.

The minimum requirement concept is to be applied as a two-step process
that documents:

\(1\) A determination as to whether or not a proposed management action
is appropriate or necessary for the administration of the areas as
wilderness, and does not pose a significant impact to the wilderness
resources and character; and,

\(2\) If the project is appropriate or necessary in wilderness, the
selection of the management method (tool) that causes the least amount
of impact to the physical resources and experiential qualities
(character) of wilderness.

It is important to understand the distinctions between the terms
"Minimum Requirement," and \"Minimum Tool.\"

> [Minimum Requirement]{.underline} is a documented process the NPS will
> use for the determination of the appropriateness of all actions
> affecting wilderness.
>
> [Minimum Tool]{.underline} means a use or activity, determined to be
> necessary to accomplish an essential task, which makes use of the
> least intrusive tool, equipment, device, force, regulation, or
> practice that will achieve the wilderness management objective. This
> is not necessarily the same as the term "primitive tool," which refers
> to the actual equipment or methods that make use of the simplest
> available technology (i.e., hand tools).

Park managers will apply the minimum requirement concept when making all
decisions concerning management of the wilderness area. This includes
decisions concerning administrative practices, historic properties,
proposed special uses, research, and equipment use in wilderness.

Planned administrative actions that may result in an exception to a
prohibited use (i.e., chainsaws, aircraft use, radio repeater sites,
rock drills, patrol structures, weather stations) or have the potential
to impact wilderness resources and values must be consistent with an
approved wilderness management plan and be documented in accordance with
the park's minimum requirements process. The minimum requirements
process will be conducted through appropriate environmental analysis
(e.g., categorical exclusions, environmental assessment/FONSI, or an
environmental impact statement/Record of Decision).

When determining the minimum requirement for a proposed action, the
manager will strive to minimize the extent of adverse impact associated
with accomplishing the necessary wilderness objective. The determination
as to whether or not an action has an adverse impact on wilderness must
consider both the physical resources within wilderness, and wilderness
characteristics and values. These characteristics and values include:
the wilderness's primeval character and influence; the preservation of
natural conditions (including the lack of man-made noises); cultural
resource values, the assurance of outstanding opportunities for
solitude; the assurance that the public will be provided with a
primitive and unconfined type of recreational experience; and the
assurance that wilderness will be preserved and used in an unimpaired
condition.

Managers must give appropriate consideration to the aesthetic values of
wilderness as well as the physical resource. These factors take
precedence over cost or convenience in determining minimum requirement.

National parks with wilderness must have a documented process for
applying the minimum requirement concept. Reference Manual #41: Appendix
F includes examples of \"decision trees,\" which may be adopted or
referred to as a procedure by which alternatives can be assessed and
final management decisions developed. These decision tree examples do
not alleviate a park's responsibility for providing adequate
environmental compliance documentation for individual projects.

**3. Interagency Coordination**

For this purpose there is hereby established a National Wilderness
Preservation System to be composed of federally owned areas....

> The Wilderness Act: Sec. 2(a)

######  Interagency cooperation and coordination and training responsibilities will also be carried out at the Washington, region, and park levels. 

*NPS Management Policies : 6.3.2 Responsibility*

Interagency cooperation and coordination are required to minimize
administrative differences and visitor confusion and to ensure that
wilderness resources receive maximum protection. It will be the
responsibility of the park manager to ensure that wilderness management
within the park unit is coordinated with the management of the
surrounding federal, state, and local land managers; federally
recognized Native American tribes; and with other public and private
organizations, as appropriate.

In areas where the National Park Service wilderness adjoins wilderness
administered by another land management agency, the superintendent is
responsible for coordinating with adjacent wilderness units to achieve
as much consistency as possible in the application of wilderness
regulations and management techniques. Coordination can include, but is
not limited to, programs and policy concerning the issuance of permits,
saddle and pack stock, group and party size, research projects, limits
on campfires and pets, and other resource and visitor management issues.
While the goal is to mitigate problems resulting from the differing
missions of the agencies, the National Park Service will not adopt any
practice that weakens or compromises the preservation of wilderness
within the parks. Where appropriate, National Park Service wilderness
education programs will explain the reasons for differences among
neighboring agencies managing wilderness.

**4. Cultural Resource Management in Wilderness**

Each Federal agency shall establish, in consultation with the Secretary,
a preservation program for the identification, evaluation, and
nomination to the National Register of Historic places, and protection
of historic properties.

*National Historic Preservation Act*

*\...the designation of any area of any park, monument, or other unit of
the national park system as a wilderness area pursuant to this Act shall
in no manner lower the standards evolved for the use and preservation of
such park,\...in accordance with the Act of August 25, 1916, the
statutory authority under which the area was created, or any other Act
of Congress which might pertain to or affect such area including\...the
Act of June 8, 1906 \[\"Antiquities Act\"\]\... and the Act of August
21, 1935 \[\"Preservation of Historic Sites Act\"\]\...*

*The Wilderness Act: Section 4(a)(3)*

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: Section 4(b)*

Wilderness contains scientific, educational, and historical properties
that are also cultural resources. There has been extensive prior human
use in most areas now designated as wilderness, resulting in
archeological sites, historic structures, cultural landscapes and
associated features, objects, and traditional cultural properties that
are contributing elements to wilderness. It is important to recognize
that laws, such as the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA),
Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA), American Indian Religious
Freedom Act (AIRFA) and the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), as well as others, intended to preserve our
cultural heritage, are applicable in wilderness.

National Park Service managers are responsible for maintaining an
affirmative cultural resource management program in wilderness. The
cultural resource management tasks within wilderness are the same as
those elsewhere, but these sites must additionally be treated in a
manner that preserves other wilderness resources and character. Measures
to protect and inventory cultural resources in wilderness must comply
with the Wilderness Act provisions on access and use of the minimum
requirement concept.

Cultural resource specialists shall fully participate in the development
of a park\'s wilderness management plan. In keeping with the full range
of options identified in the Secretary's Standards, management actions
affecting cultural resources in wilderness may include a variety of
management options including preservation of a site or property,
protection from vandalism, professional level documentation, and may
include removal. However, actions involving all cultural resource types
in wilderness must comply with cultural resource laws, such as
compliance actions and inventory requirements mandated by the NHPA.
Pertinent management actions must be made in consultation with the
public interested in the historic preservation issue(s), including, but
not limited to Native American tribes, State Historic Preservation
Officers and, if necessary, the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation.

Wilderness, for some Native American groups, is a place of profound
tribal history, traditional use, or a homeland. Ancestral human remains
are protected in wilderness through NAGPRA, standing Executive orders,
and the Presidential Memorandum concerning "Government to Government
Relationships." These underscore strongly held tribal relationships to
places in wilderness. Within wilderness, a number of Native American
tribes continue religious ceremonies and other practices as provided for
in the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.

Managers must develop long-term, constructive relationships with
traditionally associated tribes to assist in culturally sensitive
wilderness management. Wilderness areas may also be areas where treaty
responsibilities and provisions apply.

**5. Fire Management in Wilderness**

\(d\) The following special provisions are hereby made\...In addition,
such measures may be taken as may be necessary in the control of
fire\...subject to such conditions as the Secretary deems desirable.

*The Wilderness Act: Section 4(d)*

Fire management activities conducted in wilderness areas will conform to
the basic purposes of wilderness. The park\'s Fire Management and
wilderness management plans together will identify the natural and
historic roles of fire in the wilderness and will provide a prescription
for response, if any, to natural and human-caused wildfires. If a
prescribed fire program is implemented, these plans will also include
the prescriptions and procedures under which the program will be
conducted within wilderness.

Actions taken to suppress wildfire will use the minimum requirement
concept and will be conducted in such a way as to protect natural and
cultural features and to minimize the lasting impacts of the suppression
actions and the fires themselves.

*NPS Management Policies: 6.3.9 Fire Management*

Under ideal conditions, natural fire should be considered as a
fundamental component of the wilderness environment. Director\'s Order
\# 18: Wildland Fire Management, directs that all fires burning within
wilderness will be classified as a \"wildland fire\" or a \"prescribed
fire.\" Wildland fires are those that result from unplanned ignitions.
Prescribed fires are those resulting from planned ignitions. All
wildland fires within wilderness will be managed to include the
application of minimum requirement suppression techniques, the
consideration of firefighter and public safety, a cost/benefit analysis,
sensitive natural and cultural resources, and will use the strategic and
tactical options described in an approved fire management plan.

Fire management plans must address the effects of fire management
decisions on wilderness resources and character, air quality, smoke
management, water quality, and other pertinent natural and cultural
resource management objectives.

Until a fire management plan is approved, all wildland fires in
wilderness must be suppressed, with strong emphasis on the concept of
minimum requirement in determining suppression methodologies.

Parks containing wilderness will integrate wilderness considerations in
the systematic decision-making process, determining the most appropriate
management strategies for all planned ignitions (prescribed fires), and
for any unplanned fires that no longer meet resource management
objectives. While parks lacking an approved fire management plan may not
use resource benefits as a primary consideration influencing selection
of a wildfire suppression strategy, the resource impacts of suppression
alternatives on wilderness values must be considered when decisions are
made.

Wilderness values must be adequately represented during all fire
planning processes, and wilderness managers will assist in the selection
and implementation of appropriate responses to wilderness fires.
Resource advisors must be knowledgeable about wilderness values,
objectives, and policies.

Any delegation of authority to Incident Management Teams will include
appropriate emphasis on the protection of wilderness resources. The
methods used to suppress all wildland fires should be those that
minimize the impacts of the suppression action and the fire itself,
commensurate with effective control and the preservation of wilderness
values. Fire suppression teams should be trained in the concepts of
wilderness management, the preservation of wilderness values, and
wilderness fire management. This requirement should be identified in
appropriate delegation orders.

**6. Wilderness Interpretation and Education**

In the context of park interpretive and educational planning, national
parks with wilderness resources will operate public education programs
designed to promote and perpetuate public awareness of, and appreciation
for, wilderness character, resources and ethics....

*NPS Management Policies: 6.4.8 Wilderness Interpretation and Education*

The Comprehensive Interpretive Plan for parks with wilderness will
include and address the primary park interpretive themes that reflect
the wilderness significance statements that appear in the park's GPRA
Plan (See Reference Manual 41: Appendix I). Wilderness character and
resources should be included in the park\'s interpretation and
educational program, and be included as an integral component of the
long range interpretive plan and annual implementation plan. Other key
issues to be presented include wilderness safety and Leave No Trace
ethics.

Public interpretation and education is essential for the support,
understanding, and protection of wilderness. On-site programs may
include talks, walks and other presentations, trailhead information,
publications, and wilderness information centers or exhibits in existing
visitor centers. Off-site and outreach programs may include a variety of
presentations, curriculum-based education programs, web page sites, and
publications.

Guided interpretive walks in wilderness will be conducted in accordance
with day use limits prescribed in the park\'s Wilderness Management
Plan. The walks will be conducted with sensitivity toward the experience
of other wilderness users, and with minimal impact to the wilderness
character and resource.

Staff education is an integral part of any wilderness education program.
Wilderness awareness training will be incorporated into to all
appropriate training programs. Examples include orientation training for
seasonal park staff, cooperating associations, concessions, and
volunteers. Park managers are encouraged to establish partnerships to
better promote the benefits and values of wilderness.

**7. Mineral Development in Wilderness**

*Except as specifically provided for in this chapter, and subject to
existing private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no
permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this chapter
\....*

*The Wilderness Act: Sec. 4(c)*

The NPS will seek to remove or extinguish valid mining claims and
non-federal mineral interests in wilderness through authorized processes
including purchasing valid rights. In parks where Congress has
authorized the leasing of federal minerals, the Park Service will take
appropriate actions to preclude the leasing of lands or minerals within
wilderness\....

*NPS Management Policies: 6.4.6 Mineral Development*

Valid mineral interests and mining claims in wilderness will be managed
pursuant to existing NPS regulations, policies, and procedures unless
and until eliminated by acquisition, relinquishment, exchange or other
methods. Regulations at 36 CFR Part 9A govern the development of mining
claims located under the 1872 Mining Law. Regulations at 36 CFR Part 9B
govern nonfederal oil and gas development. All other mineral development
in parks, including wilderness, must be authorized under applicable
regulations at 36 CFR Parts 1.6 and 2 through 5. Access in Alaska is
additionally regulated by 43 CFR Part 36. More detailed information on
managing minerals in wilderness can be found in other NPS guidance
documents, including the \"NPS Procedures Governing Mining Claims,\" the
\"NPS Procedures Governing Non-federal Oil and Gas Rights,\" and Natural
Resources Reference Manual #77.

Validity exams: Under current NPS policy, validity exams must include
the costs of complying with all applicable NPS regulations (NPS
Procedures Governing Mining Claims, p. 35). In wilderness areas,
validity exams should include the costs of environmental mitigation
necessary to preserve the wilderness character, including possible
restrictions on access or operations or additional costs of reclamation.
Determination of the necessary mitigation measures may require that the
environmental compliance process be conducted concurrently with the
validity exam.

Motorized access: Stipulations on access may include non-motorized
means, restrictions on the time and location of the access, restrictions
on traffic volume and size, or other reasonable measures to minimize
both short-term and long-term effects on wilderness resources and
character.

Plan of operations: Stipulations on approved operations to ensure that
short-term and long-term effects on the wilderness area are
substantially unnoticeable may include, but are not limited to, sound
barriers, camouflage, camping platforms, reducing operations to certain
times of the day or year, limiting night lighting, hauling out all
greywater or other wastes, and restoration of natural conditions and
processes.

Abandoned mine lands: Sites will be evaluated for closure or restoration
using the minimum requirement analysis, which includes consideration of
public safety and other pertinent laws and regulations and restoration
of wilderness values.

**8. Scientific Activities in Wilderness**

A wilderness\...may also contain ecological, geological, or other
features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.

*The Wilderness Act: Sec. 2(c)(4)*

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.

######  The Wilderness Act: Sec. 4(b)

The statutory purposes of wilderness include scientific activities, and
these activities are permitted when consistent with the agency's
responsibilities to preserve and manage wilderness. The National Park
Service has a responsibility to support appropriate scientific
activities in wilderness, and to use science to improve wilderness
management. The National Park Service recognizes that wilderness can and
should serve as an important resource for long-term research, study, and
observation of ecological processes and the impact of humans on these
ecosystems. The National Park Service further recognizes that
appropriate scientific activities may be critical to the long-term
preservation of wilderness. Accordingly, scientific activities are to be
encouraged in wilderness, provided that the benefits of what can be
learned outweigh any negative impacts on the wilderness resource or
values.

*NPS Management Policies: 6.3.6 Scientific Activities*

The Wilderness Act intended, and NPS policy provides for, the conduct of
legitimate natural and cultural scientific use of wilderness areas. The
scientific value of wilderness derives from its undisturbed conditions.
Because undisturbed natural areas are increasingly rare, wilderness
areas often provide unique opportunities for scientific investigation.
Scientific activities are to be encouraged in wilderness, provided that
the benefits of what may be learned outweigh the negative impacts on
other wilderness values.

The National Park Service recognizes and supports the value of
wilderness areas as natural outdoor laboratories of both local and
national significance. Research that aids or supports wilderness
stewardship or administration and purposes of the wilderness area or
park is to be encouraged\--within the bounds of other applicable
National Park Service policy and regulations, including the application
of the minimum requirement concept.

The increase of scientific knowledge, even if it serves no immediate
wilderness management purpose, may be an appropriate wilderness research
objective when it does not compromise wilderness resources and
character. However, research and other science projects in wilderness
must meet accepted protocols and standards, including those related to
safety.

It is important for scientists to understand that the conduct of their
research should be in accord with wilderness preservation principles.
Applications for research and other scientific work in National Park
Service wilderness should demonstrate a positive benefit to wilderness
or wilderness purposes and must include a minimum requirements analysis
of the project\'s methodologies.

**9. Wilderness Use By Persons With Disabilities**

(*1) In General \-- Congress reaffirms that nothing in the Wilderness
Act is to be construed as prohibiting the use of a wheelchair in a
wilderness area by an individual whose disability requires use of a
wheelchair, and consistent with the Wilderness Act, no agency is
required to provide any form of special treatment or accommodation, or
to construct any facilities or modify any conditions of lands within a
wilderness area to facilitate such use.*

\(2\) Definition \-- For the purposes of paragraph (1), the term
wheelchair means a device designed solely for the use by a
mobility-impaired person for locomotion that is suitable for use in an
indoor pedestrian area.

######  Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA): 

######  Section 507(c), 104 Stat. 327, 42 U.S.C. 12207

In meeting the goal of accessibility, emphasis will be placed on
ensuring that persons with disabilities will be afforded experiences and
opportunities with other visitors to the greatest extent practicable.

*NPS Management Policies: 9.1.2*

> *Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities*

The National Park Service has legal obligations to make available equal
opportunities for people with disabilities in all of our programs and
activities. This requirement includes the opportunity to participate in
wilderness experiences. Management decisions responding to requests for
special consideration to provide for wilderness use by persons with
disabilities must be in accord with the Architectural Barriers Act of
1968, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (amended in 1978), and Section
507(c) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Such decision
should balance the intent of the access and wilderness laws and find a
way to provide the highest level of access for the disabled with the
lowest level of impact on the wilderness resource.

As a matter of law, the Rehabilitation Act (29 USC 701 et seq.)
prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all programs and
activities provided by the National Park Service. The Department of the
Interior has adopted regulations (43 CFR 17) to implement the
requirements of the Rehabilitation Act. Additionally, in the Americans
with Disabilities Act, Congress added the above provision to the Act to
address the access needs of persons with disabilities in wilderness
areas.

The Secretary of the Interior's regulations regarding "Enforcement of
Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Department of the
Interior Programs" (43 CFR 17) require that the NPS will operate all
programs and activities so that they are accessible to and usable by
persons with disabilities to the greatest extent practicable. However,
Section 17.550 of those regulations states that agencies are not
required to take any actions or provide access that would result in a
fundamental alteration in the nature of a program or activity. This
concept is also found in Section 507 of the American with Disabilities
Act. The agency subsequently has the burden of proving that compliance
would result in a fundamental alteration. While providing for the use of
wheelchairs in wilderness areas, Congress states that "no agency is
required to provide any form of special treatment or accommodation, or
to construct any facility or modify any condition of lands within a
wilderness area in order to facilitate the use of a person using a
wheelchair."

While the National Park Service is not required to provide any special
treatment to provide access for persons with disabilities who use
wheelchairs, managers should explore solutions for reasonable
accommodations when not in conflict with the Wilderness Act (e.g.,
barrier-free trails, accessible campsites). Any facilities, built or
altered, must meet current accessibility guidelines.

Wheelchairs are allowed in wilderness if they meet the definition in the
ADA. The intent of this definition is that a wheelchair is a person\'s
primary mode of locomotion, manual or electric, that is suitable for use
in indoor pedestrian areas. This definition is also intended to ensure
that persons using wheelchairs are reasonably accommodated in wilderness
without the need to compromise the wilderness resource and its
character.

The National Park Service will allow service animals within wilderness
when it makes these areas accessible and usable by persons with
disabilities. The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal
dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to a
person with a disability. Service animals are required by persons with
disabilities in day-to-day activities, and are permitted in wilderness.
The training of service animals in wilderness is only allowed with
specific permission from the park superintendent. Documentation must be
provided that the animal is legitimately in training to be a service
animal.

A publication entitled "Wilderness Access Decision Tool" (See Reference
Manual #41: Appendix E) provides further guidance in assisting managers
in making appropriate, objective, and consistent decisions regarding the
use of wilderness areas by persons with disabilities. Managers should
ensure that decisions concerning wilderness use does not inadvertently
discriminate against persons with disabilities.

**10. Special Events in Wilderness**

The National Park Service will not sponsor or issue permits for special
events to be conducted in wilderness if those events might be
inconsistent with wilderness resources and character, or do not require
a wilderness setting to occur.

######  NPS Management Policies: 6.4.5 Special Events

Special events can cause wilderness resource degradation and intrude on
the opportunities for solitude. Any request for the issuance of a permit
for a special event in wilderness must be evaluated through the minimum
requirement process and administered under 36 CFR 2.50.

Permits will not be issued for special events that are commercial
enterprises, or for competitive events, activities involving animal,
foot or watercraft races, physical endurance of a person or animal,
organized survival exercises, war games, or other similar exercises in
NPS wilderness areas.

**11. Wilderness Training Requirements**

Superintendents, aided by the National Wilderness Program Manager and
the Office of Employee Development, are responsible for providing
appropriate types and levels of wilderness training needed by park and
other agency personnel. Parks will be surveyed on a periodic basis to
determine their highest priority wilderness training needs for
incorporation into a long-term training strategy.

The Associate Director, Park Operations and Education, in cooperation
with the Office of Employee Development, will develop and maintain a
strategic plan for wilderness training that identifies training needs
for personnel, locations of personnel, and a plan for delivery of
training. The Office of Employee Development and the National Wilderness
Program Manager will complete an annual training notice to provide
information on all wilderness training opportunities available from all
sources, recruitment and nomination procedures, criteria for selection
of participants, and available funding sources. The National Wilderness
Program Manager will also complete an annual report on wilderness
training accomplishments.

**12. Commercial Services in Wilderness**.

Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing
private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise\...within any
wilderness area\....

*The Wilderness Act: Section 4(c)*

*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 area.*

> *The Wilderness Act: Section 6*

Wilderness-oriented commercial services that contribute to achieving
public enjoyment of wilderness values or provide opportunities for
primitive and unconfined types of recreation may be authorized if they
meet the \"necessary and appropriate\" tests of the Concessions Policy
and Wilderness acts and if they are consistent with the wilderness
management objectives contained in the park\'s Wilderness Management
Plan.

*NPS Management Policies: 6.4.4 Commercial Services*

Appropriate commercial enterprise may be permitted under special
provisions found in: (1) Section 4(d)(5) of the Wilderness Act; (2)
individual park wilderness enabling legislation; or (3) existing private
rights. While a permitted commercial enterprise allowed under Section
4(d)(5), including a commercial recreational service such as a guide
service, is not subject to the \"prohibition of certain uses\"
conditions identified in section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act, it must
adhere to the minimum requirement concept in all aspects of its
operation.

The only structures or facilities used in support of such commercial
recreational services that will be allowed in wilderness are temporary
shelters, such as tents, which will be removed from the wilderness after
each trip unless exceptions are clearly identified in the park's
Wilderness Management Plan. There may also be specific exceptions to
this policy identified within individual park wilderness enabling
legislation or in ANILCA.

Commercial film and commercial photography permits, as identified and
required by 36 CFR 5.5, Section 8.6.6 of National Park Service
Management Policies, and Director's Order #53, will not be approved in
wilderness areas unless determined to be necessary and proper for
providing educational information about wilderness uses, resources or
values, or necessary for other wilderness purposes.

The appropriate and fair ratio between commercial and private use
allocation is to be addressed within the park wilderness management plan
and associated environmental compliance document. The public must be
afforded a full opportunity to provide input to these use allocations.

**13. Air Quality in Wilderness**

*The purpose(s) of this part \[Prevention of Significant Deterioration
of Air Quality\] are as*

*follows\...to preserve, protect, and enhance the air quality in
national parks, national*

*wilderness areas, national monuments, national seashores, and other
areas of special*

*national or regional natural, recreational, scenic, or historic
value\...*

*The Clean Air Act: Section 160*

*Congress hereby declares as a national goal the prevention of any
future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment of visibility in
mandatory Class I federal areas, which impairment results from manmade
air pollution*.

*The Clean Air Act: Section 169A*

The Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended specifically gives Federal Land
Managers (FLMs) the affirmative responsibility to protect the air
quality related values (AQRVs), including visibility, of Class I areas
and to consider, in consultation with the Administrator of EPA, whether
a proposed major emitting facility will have an adverse impact on such
values (CAA, Section 165 (d)(2)(B)).

AQRVs and levels of impact vary for different Class I areas. Managers
must inventory wilderness ecosystems, collect baseline data, and
identify sensitive indicators to air pollution. Long term monitoring
programs should be established to track changes to these indicators.

Air pollution is a threat that knows no boundaries and is caused by many
diverse sources. Most air pollution is generated outside Class I area
boundaries and transported into wilderness areas and national parks.
These sources of pollution include electric power generation,
automobiles and other mobile sources, industrial manufacturing
activities, dust from roadways, construction activities and other urban
and rural sources, for example. To mitigate the impacts of these
sources, managers will be involved in State and local air quality
planning and permitting processes and in reviewing NEPA projects with
the potential to impact Class I areas. Smoke from wildland fire is an
exception, in that it commonly occurs within our Class I areas. Managers
will be responsible for reducing the impacts of smoke from wildland
fires on visibility in Class I wilderness, while understanding and
promoting the need to re-introduce the natural role of fire into
wilderness ecosystems.

As community leaders in environmental stewardship, NPS managers are
committed to using sustainable practices in parks that will reduce air
pollution, such as the use of alternative energy sources, i.e., solar
power, wind energy, and alternative fuels. Interpretation of these and
other sustainable practices in parks will also help educate visitors on
ways they can reduce their contribution to air pollution.

Notwithstanding the FLM's affirmative responsibility to protect AQRVs in
Class I areas, we have no direct permitting or enforcement authority
over air pollution sources. Ours is a consultation role with the
regulatory agencies. Our recommendations can be accepted or rejected by
EPA, State, or local air permitting authorities. Therefore, it is very
important that managers communicate routinely with regulatory agencies
regarding sources that threaten resources in our Class I areas. Managers
will participate in interagency partnerships for the purpose of
protecting Class I air quality and related values.

14. Annual Report to Congress

At the opening of each session of Congress, the Secretaries of
Agriculture and Interior shall jointly report to the President for
transmission to Congress on the status of the wilderness system,....

> *The Wilderness Act: Section 7*

Each wilderness park area will provide the information needed by the
Washington Wilderness Program Coordinator to prepare the National Park
Service's submission to the Secretary of the Interior for his/her Annual
Report to Congress. The format for the park submission will be developed
by the Wilderness Program Manager and the National Wilderness Steering
Committee. Reference Manual #41: Appendix J contains a draft format as
an example of the needed annual park submission.

**15. Other Wilderness Management Issues To Be Addressed**

There are many other policy and director's orders issues that need to be
addressed and/or expanded upon, and this will be done quickly as time
and staffing allow. These issues include, but are not limited to, the
following:

Climbing protocols, Annual Report to Congress Format (per Section 7 of
the Wilderness Act), Evaluating Proposals for Scientific Activities in
Wilderness, Solitude and Preservation of the Wilderness Soundscape, Risk
Management and Safety/ Search and Rescue, New/Emerging Technologies,
Zoning, Water Resource Management, Human Waste Management, Carrying
Capacities, Group Size Limits, and Alien Species Management.

Other issues will be addressed as necessary. Superintendents and staff
are encouraged to address these issues within the context of their
individual wilderness management plans and/or request program guidance.

> \-\--End of Director's Order\-\--

**V. APPENDICES**

######### A. The Wilderness Act

B. Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

> C. Manager's Wilderness Accountability/Responsibility Checklist

D. Wilderness Management Plan --- Minimum Content

> E. Wilderness Access Decision Tool (1996 U.S. Forest Service)
>
> F. Examples of Minimum Requirement Decision Tools
>
> G. Procedures for Completing Legal Descriptions and Boundary Maps

G.  H. Designating Potential Wilderness as Wilderness

    I. Primary Interpretive Themes for NPS Wilderness

    J. Leave No Trace Outdoor Skills and Ethics

    K. Reporting Format for Compliance with Section 7 of the Wilderness
    Act

    **APPENDIX A**:

# THE WILDERNESS ACT {#the-wilderness-act .unnumbered}

Public Law 88-577 (16 U.S. C. 1131-1136)

88th Congress, Second Session

September 3, 1964

# A N A C T {#a-n-a-c-t .unnumbered}

To establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent
good of the whole people, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled.

# SHORT TITLE {#short-title .unnumbered}

**SECTION 1**. This Act may be cited as the \"Wilderness Act.\"

# WILDERNESS SYSTEM ESTABLISHED - STATEMENT OF POLICY {#wilderness-system-established---statement-of-policy .unnumbered}

**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. For this
purpose there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preservation
System to be composed of federally owned areas designated by the
Congress as \"wilderness areas,\" and these shall be administered for
the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will
leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so
as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of
their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of
information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness; and no
Federal lands shall be designated as \"wilderness areas\" except as
provided for in this Act or by a subsequent Act.

\(b\) The inclusion of an area in the National Wilderness Preservation
System notwithstanding, the area shall continue to be managed by the
Department and agency having jurisdiction thereover immediately before
its inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System unless
otherwise provided by Act of Congress. No appropriation shall be
available for payment of expenses or salaries for the administration of
the National Wilderness Preservation System as a separate unit nor shall
any appropriations be available for additional personnel stated as being
required solely for the purpose of managing or administering areas
solely because they are included within the National Wilderness
Preservation System.

**DEFINITION OF WILDERNESS**

\(c\) A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his works
dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth
and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a
visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to
mean in this Act 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 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; (3) 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 (4)
may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of
scientific, educational,

scenic, or historical value.

# NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM EXTENT OF SYSTEM {#national-wilderness-preservation-system-extent-of-system .unnumbered}

**SECTION 3**. (a) All areas within the national forests classified at
least 30 days before the effective date of this Act by the Secretary of
Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Service as \"wilderness,\"
\"wild,\" or \"canoe\" are hereby designated as wilderness areas. The
Secretary of

Agriculture shall:

\(1\) Within one year after the effective date of this Act, file a map
and legal description of each wilderness area with the Interior and
Insular Affairs Committees of the United States Senate and the House of
Representatives, and such descriptions shall have the same force and
effect as if included in this Act: Provided, however, That correction of
clerical and typographical errors in such legal descriptions and maps
may

be made.

\(2\) Maintain, available to the public, records pertaining to said
wilderness areas, including maps and legal descriptions, copies of
regulations governing them, copies of public notices of, and reports
submitted to Congress regarding pending additions, eliminations, or
modifications. Maps, legal descriptions, and regulations pertaining to
wilderness areas within their respective jurisdictions also shall be
available to the public in the offices of regional foresters, national
forest supervisors, and forest rangers.

Classification. (b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall, within ten years
after the enactment of this Act, review, as to its suitability or
nonsuitability for preservation as wilderness, each area in the national
forests classified on the effective date of this Act by the Secretary of
Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Service as \"primitive\" and
report his findings to the

President.

Presidential recommendation to Congress. The President shall advise the
United States Senate and House of Representatives of his recommendations
with respect to the designation as \"wilderness\" or other
reclassification of each area on which review has been completed,
together with maps and a definition of boundaries. Such advice shall be
given with respect to

not less than one-third of all the areas now classified as \"primitive\"
within three years after the enactment of this Act, and the remaining
areas within ten years after the enactment of this Act.

Congressional approval. Each recommendation of the President for
designation as \"wilderness\" shall become effective only if so provided
by an Act of Congress. Areas classified as \"primitive\" on the
effective date of this Act shall continue to be administered under the
rules and regulations affecting such areas on the effective date of this
Act until

Congress has determined otherwise. Any such area may be increased in
size by the President at the time he submits his recommendations to the
Congress by not more than five thousand acres with no more than one
thousand two hundred acres in any one compact unit; if it is proposed to
increase the size of any such area by more than five thousand acres or
by more

than one thousand two hundred and eighty acres in any one compact unit
the increase in size shall not become effective until acted upon by
Congress. Nothing herein contained shall limit the President in
proposing, as part of his recommendations to Congress, the alteration of
existing boundaries of primitive areas or recommending the addition of
any contiguous area of national forest lands predominantly of wilderness
value. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, the Secretary
of Agriculture may complete his review and delete such areas as may be
necessary, but not to exceed seven thousand acres, from the southern tip
of the Gore Range-Eagles Nest Primitive Area, Colorado, if the Secretary
determines that such action is in the public interest.

Report to President. (c) Within ten years after the effective date of
this Act the Secretary of the Interior shall review every roadless area
of five thousand contiguous acres or more in the national parks,
monuments, and other units of the national park system and every such
area of, and every roadless island within, the national wildlife refuges
and game ranges, under his jurisdiction on the effective date of this
Act and shall report to the President his recommendation as to the
suitability or nonsuitability of each such area or island for
preservation as wilderness.

Presidential recommendation to Congress. The President shall advise the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
of his recommendation with respect to the designation as wilderness of
each such area or island on which review has been completed, together
with a map thereof and a definition of its boundaries. Such advice shall
be given with respect to not less than one-third of the areas and
islands to be reviewed under this subsection within three years after
enactment of this Act, not less than two-thirds within seven years of
enactment of this Act, and the remainder within ten years of enactment
of this Act.

Congressional approval. A recommendation of the President for
designation as wilderness shall become effective only if so provided by
an Act of Congress. Nothing contained herein shall, by implication or
otherwise, be construed to lessen the present statutory authority of the
Secretary of the Interior with respect to the maintenance of roadless
areas within units of the national park system.

Suitability. (d)(1) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of
the Interior shall, prior to submitting any recommendations to the
President with respect to the suitability of any area for preservation
as wilderness

Publication in Federal Register. (A) give such public notice of the
proposed action as they deem appropriate, including publication in the
Federal Register and in a newspaper having general circulation in the
area or areas in the vicinity of the affected land;

Hearings. (B) hold a public hearing or hearings at a location or
locations convenient to the area affected. The hearings shall be
announced through such means as the respective Secretaries involved deem
appropriate, including notices in the Federal Register and in newspapers
of general circulation in the area: Provided. That if the lands involved
are located in more than one State, at least one hearing shall be held
in each State in which a portion of the land lies;

\(C\) at least thirty days before the date of a hearing advise the
Governor of each State and the governing board of each county, or in
Alaska the borough, in which the lands are located, and Federal
departments and agencies concerned, and invite such officials and
Federal agencies to submit their views on the proposed action at the
hearing or by not later than thirty days following the date of the
hearing.

\(2\) Any views submitted to the appropriate Secretary under the
provisions of (1) of this subsection with respect to any area shall be
included with any recommendation to the President and to Congress with
respect to such area.

Proposed modification. (e) Any modification or adjustment of boundaries
of any wilderness area shall be recommended by the appropriate Secretary
after public notice of such proposal and public hearing or hearings as
provided in subsection (d) of this section. The proposed modification or
adjustment shall then be recommended with map and description thereof to
the President. The President shall advise the United States Senate and
the House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect to such
modification or adjustment and such recommendations shall become
effective only in the same manner as provided for in subsections (b) and
(c) of the OF WILDERNESS AREAS

SECTION 4. (a) The purposes of this Act are hereby declared to be within
and supplemental to the purposes for which national forests and units of
the national park and wildlife refuge systems are established and
administered and:

\(1\) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to be in interference with the
purpose for which national forests are established as set forth in the
Act of June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 11), and the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield
Act of June 12, 1960 (74 Stat. 215).

\(2\) Nothing in this Act shall modify the restrictions and provisions
of the Shipstead-Nolan Act (Public Law 539, Seventy-first Congress, July
10, 1930; 46 Stat. 1020), the Thye-Blatnik Act (Public Law 733,
Eightieth Congress, June 2, 1948; 62 Stat. 568), and the
Humphrey-Thye-Blatnik-Andresen Act (Public Law 607, Eighty-fourth
Congress, June 22, 1956; 70 Stat. 326), as applying to the Superior
National Forest or the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture.

\(3\) Nothing in this Act shall modify the statutory authority under
which units of the national park system are created. Further, the
designation of any area of any park, monument, or other unit of the
national park system as a wilderness area pursuant to this Act shall in
no manner lower the standards evolved for the use and preservation of
such park, monument, or other unit of the national park system in
accordance with the Act of August 25, 1916, the statutory authority
under which the area was created, or any other Act of Congress which
might pertain to or affect such area, including, but not limited to, the
Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225; 16 U.S.C. 432 et seq.); section 3(2)
of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796 (2); and the Act of August 21,
1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

\(b\) 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 {#prohibition-of-certain-uses .unnumbered}

\(c\) 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 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.

**SPECIAL PROVISIONS**

\(d\) The following special provisions are hereby made:

\(1\) Within 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 measure may be taken as
may be necessary in the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject
to such conditions as the Secretary deems desirable.

\(2\) Nothing in this Act shall prevent within national forest
wilderness areas any activity, including prospecting, for the purpose of
gathering information about mineral or other resources, if such activity
is carried on in a manner compatible with the preservation of the
wilderness environment. Furthermore, in accordance with such program as
the Secretary of the Interior shall develop and conduct in consultation
with the Secretary of Agriculture, such areas shall be surveyed on a
planned, recurring basis consistent with the concept of wilderness
preservation by the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines to
determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present; and the
results of such surveys shall be made available to the public and
submitted to the President and Congress.

Mineral leases, claims, etc. (3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of
this Act, until midnight December 31, 1983, the United States mining
laws and all laws pertaining to mineral leasing shall, to the same
extent as applicable prior to the effective date of this Act, extend to
those national forest lands designated by this Act as \"wilderness
areas\"; subject, however, to such reasonable regulations governing
ingress and egress as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture
consistent with the use of the land for mineral location and development
and exploration, drilling, and production, and use of land for
transmission lines, waterlines, telephone lines, or facilities necessary
in exploring, drilling, production, mining, and processing operations,
including where essential the use of mechanized equipment and
restoration as near as practicable of the surface of the land disturbed
in performing prospecting, location, and, in oil and gas leasing,
discovery work, exploration, drilling, and production, as soon as they
have served their purpose. Mining locations lying within the boundaries
of said wilderness areas shall be held and used solely for mining or
processing operations and uses reasonably incident thereto; existing
rights, all patents issued under the mining laws of the United States
affecting national forest lands designated by this Act as wilderness
areas shall convey title to the mineral deposits within the claim,
together with the right to cut and use so much of the mature timber
therefrom as may be needed in the extraction, removal, and beneficiation
of the mineral deposits, if the timber is not otherwise reasonably
available, and if the timber is cut under sound principles of forest
management as defined by the national forest rules and regulations, but
each such patent shall reserve to the United States all title in or to
the surface of the lands and products thereof, and no use of the surface
of the claim or the resources therefrom not reasonably required for
carrying on mining or prospecting shall be allowed except as otherwise
expressly provided in this Act: Provided, That, unless hereafter
specifically authorized, no patent within wilderness areas designated by
this Act shall issue after December 31, 1983, except for the valid
claims existing on or before December 31, 1983. Mining claims located
after the effective date of this Act within the boundaries of wilderness
areas designated by this Act shall create no rights in excess of those
rights which may be patented under the provisions of this subsection.
Mineral leases, permits, and licenses covering lands within national
forest wilderness areas designated by this Act shall contain such
reasonable stipulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of
Agriculture for the protection of the water of the land consistent with
the use of the land for the purposes for which they are leased,
permitted, or licensed. Subject to valid rights then existing, effective
January 1, 1984, the minerals in lands designated by this Act as
wilderness areas are withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the
mining laws and from disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral
leasing and all amendments thereto.

Water resources. (4) Within wilderness areas designated by this Act, (1)
the President may, within a specific area and in accordance with such
regulations as he may deem desirable, authorize prospecting for water
resources, the establishment and maintenance of reservoirs,
water-conservation works, power projects, transmission lines, and other
facilities needed in the public interest, including the road
construction and maintenance essential to development and use thereof,
upon his determination that such use or uses in the specific area will
better serve the interests of the United States and the people thereof
than will its denial; and (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.

\(5\) Other provisions of this Act to the contrary notwithstanding, the
management of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, formerly designated as the
Superior, Little Indian Sioux, and Caribou Roadless Areas, in the
Superior National Forest, Minnesota, shall be in accordance with
regulations established by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance
with the general purpose of maintaining, without unnecessary
restrictions on other uses, including that of timber, the primitive
character of the area, particularly in the vicinity of lakes, streams,
and portages: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall preclude the
continuance within the area of any already established use of
motorboats.

\(6\) 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.

\(7\) Nothing in this Act shall constitute an express or implied claim
or denial on the part of the Federal Government as to exemption from
State water laws.

\(8\) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the
jurisdiction or responsibilities of the several States with respect to
wildlife and fish in the national forests.

# STATE AND PRIVATE LANDS WITHIN WILDERNESS AREAS {#state-and-private-lands-within-wilderness-areas .unnumbered}

SECTION 5. (a) In any case where State-owned or privately owned land is
completely surrounded by national forest lands within areas designated
by this Act as wilderness, such State or private owner shall be given
such rights as may be necessary to assure adequate access to such
State-owned or privately owned land by such State or private owner and
their successors in interest, or the State-owned land or privately owned
land shall be exchanged for federally owned land in the same State of
approximately equal value under authorities available to the Secretary
of Agriculture:

Transfers, restriction. Provided, however, That the United States shall
not transfer to a State or private owner any mineral interests unless
the State or private owner relinquishes or causes to be relinquished to
the United States the mineral interest in the surrounded land.

\(b\) In any case where valid mining claims or other valid occupancies
are wholly within a designated national forest wilderness area, the
Secretary of Agriculture shall, by reasonable regulations consistent
with the preservation of the area as wilderness, permit ingress and
egress to such surrounded areas by means which have been or are being
customarily enjoyed

with respect to other such areas similarly situated.

Acquisition. (c) Subject to the appropriation of funds by Congress, the
Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to acquire privately owned land
within the perimeter of any area designated by this Act as wilderness if
(1) the owner concurs in such acquisition or (2) the acquisition is
specifically authorized by Congress.

# GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND CONTRIBUTIONS {#gifts-bequests-and-contributions .unnumbered}

**SECTION 6**. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture may accept gifts or
bequests of land within wilderness areas designated by this Act for
preservation as wilderness. The Secretary of Agriculture may also accept
gifts or bequests of land adjacent to wilderness areas designated by
this Act for preservation as wilderness if he has given sixty days
advance notice thereof to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives. Land accepted by the Secretary of
Agriculture under this section shall become part of the wilderness area
involved. Regulations with regard to any such land may be in accordance
with such agreements, consistent with the policy of this Act, as are
made at the time of such gift, or such conditions, consistent with such
policy, as may be inch bequest.

\(b\) The Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior is
authorized to accept private contributions and gifts to be used to
further the purposes of L REPORTS

**SECTION 7**. At the opening of each session of Congress, the
Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior shall jointly report to the
President for transmission to Congress on the status of the wilderness
system including a list and descriptions of the areas in the system,
regulations in

effect, and other pertinent information, together with any
recommendations they may care to make.

Approved September 3, 1964.

Legislative History:

[House Reports]{.underline}: No. 1538 accompanying H.R. 9070 (Committee
on Interior & Insular Affairs) and No. 1829 (Committee of Conference).

[Senate Report]{.underline}: No. 109 (Committee on Interior & Insular
Affairs).

[Congressional Record]{.underline}:

Vol. 109 (1963): April 4, 8, considered in Senate.

April 9, considered and passed Senate.

Vol. 110 (1964): July 28, considered in House.

July 30, considered and passed House, amended,

in lieu of H.R. 9070.

August 20, 1964, House and Senate agreed to conference report.

##### APPENDIX B {#appendix-b .unnumbered}

**ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS CONSERVATION ACT**

The full act should be referenced as needed, but the following is a list
of those portions of ANILCA which have direct wilderness management
implications for the National Park Service. In some respects, nearly the
entire text of ANILCA has implied wilderness management effects. This
list attempts to identify the most pertinent sections and is not
intended to be an all-inclusive checklist for management actions. These
sections include:

Section 101(b)\--Purposes

Title II\--Establishment and administration of park areas

Section 701\--Designation of wilderness in NPS units

Section 707\--Administration of wilderness

Section 801\--Subsistence findings

Section 802\--Subsistence policy

Section 810\--Subsistence evaluations

Section 811\--Access for subsistence

Section 815\--Subsistence limitations, savings clauses

Section 1106(b)\--Transportation systems in wilderness areas

Section 1110\--Special access and access to inholdings

Section 1111\--Temporary access

Section 1301\--Management plans

Section 1303\--Use of cabins and other sites

Section 1306\--Administrative sites and visitor facilities

Section 1307\--Commercial visitor services

Section 1310\--Navigation aids

Section 1315\--Wilderness management

Section 1316\--Allowed uses (temporary facilities)

Section 1317\--Wilderness review

**APPENDIX C**

**MANAGER'S WILDERNESS RESPONSIBILITY**

**AND ACCOUNTABILITY CHECKLIST**

A park's wilderness program will provide, accountability, consistency,
and continuity when the following actions are completed or current
(answer Yes, No, or In Process):

[ITEM]{.underline} [COMPLETED?]{.underline}

**I. Complete Wilderness Identification and Designation Process:**

A. Wilderness Suitability Assessment Completed Within

One Year of Park Establishment or Land Acquisition? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_

B. Wilderness Studies on Suitable Areas completed ? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_

C. Wilderness Proposal based on Studies forwarded to Director

and the Department of Interior? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_

D. Wilderness Designation Process Tracked After Wilderness

Recommendation forwarded by President to Congress? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

**II. Complete Wilderness Management Plan**.

A. Wilderness Management Plan current and approved? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

B. Wilderness Management Plan Coordinated with other

Planning Documents? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

III\. Establish Wilderness Management Accountability.

A. Wilderness Integrated into the Critical Results Section

of Superintendents Annual Performance Plan? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

B. Position Descriptions for Superintendent and Staff

Accurately Reflect Wilderness Responsibilities? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

C. Wilderness Identified in KSA's in Vacancy Announcements?
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

D. Key Park Staff Has Received Needed Wilderness Training?
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

E. Wilderness Integrated Within GPRA Strategic Plan? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

F. Park Has Provided Needed Information For

Annual Report to Congress? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

**IV. Administer and Protect Wilderness Resource**

J.  A. Individuals/Organizations responsible for Park

    Wilderness Management Program identified? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

    B. Minimum Requirement Process Established ? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

> C. Progress in Implementing Wilderness Management Plan ?
> \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

C.  Suitable, Study Areas, Proposed, and Recommended

> Wilderness Managed as Wilderness and Maintained
>
> in a Non-degraded Condition? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

E. Legal Descriptions and Boundary Maps Completed? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

F. Potential Wilderness Managed and Non-Conforming

Uses Monitored ? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

G. Potential Wilderness Converted to Designated Wilderness

> within One Year of Termination of Non-Conforming Uses?
> \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

H. New/Growing/Changing Recreation Activities Evaluated

> to determine appropriate management actions? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

I. Comprehensive Interpretive Plan includes Wilderness

> Interpretive Themes that reflect the wilderness significance
>
> statement(s) appearing in the park's GPRA plan? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

J. Appropriate scientific activities encouraged and

> applications processed in a timely manner? Less
>
> intrusive methods encouraged? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

K. In Compliance with Geographic Protocols? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

**APPENDIX D**

##### WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT PLAN---RECOMMENDED CONTENT

I.  INTRODUCTION

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A.  Goals and Objectives of the Plan. Provide an introductory statement
    which establishes

> the purpose and goals of the plan.
>
> B. Identification of the Wilderness Area. The park should provide a
> map (preferably using the GIS format), and text as needed, which
> clearly illustrates exactly where the park and wilderness boundaries
> are located. In order to provide maximum protection to wilderness
> resources, boundary maps should be as detailed as possible.
>
> C. Legislation and Pre-Existing Conditions Affecting Wilderness
> Management. Identify any legislative constraints and/or conditions
> which affects the management of the wilderness unit. This should also
> include the identification of any valid existing rights (patented or
> unpatented mining claims, treaty rights, access, water rights,
> legislated grazing, rights-of-way, etc.) that predate wilderness.
>
> D. Relationship of Wilderness Plan with Other Management Plans,
> Directives, and Initiatives. Explain how the wilderness plan relates
> to other pertinent management plans, initiatives, and directives,
> including the parks Government Performance and Results Act \[GPRA\]
> Strategic Plan.

I.  WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT PROPOSED GOALS AND ACTIONS

A. Inventory of Administrative Facilities.

1\. Trails

2\. Camp Areas

3\. Administrative Facilities: Identify and justify the current
administrative facilities (toilets, buildings, repeater sites, radio
towers, weather stations, research installations, etc.) which will be
maintained or allowed within the wilderness and the standards/conditions
at which these facilities are maintained. The justification should
clearly explain why the specific administrative facility or installation
is needed and/or authorized within wilderness and why these facilities
are needed \"for the purpose of the Wilderness Act.\" This section
should also describe the procedures and protocols, including cultural
resource management requirements, which will be used to operate and
maintain these facilities, i.e., use of specialized equipment to
maintain facilities, aircraft use. Also identify those facilities which
are incompatible and explain how these will be removed. Inventory lists
can be included as an appendix.

A.  Establish Desired Future Conditions**:** This section of the plan
    should describe the future conditions which should be achieved
    within wilderness as a result of your management actions. These
    conditions should be described in terms of measurable factors such
    as, but not limited too: physical or biological conditions
    (wildlife, air and water quality), cultural resource values, natural
    processes (re-establishment of fire regimes), visitor wilderness
    experiences, and levels of protection of natural and cultural
    resources. It is advisable to establish these conditions through
    public participation.

    Parks may apply accepted methodologies (Limits of Acceptable Change
    \[LAC\], or Visitor Experience and Resource Protection \[VERP\], or
    use reliable historic and/or anecdotal resource monitoring data to
    establish the indicators and standards needed to quantify these
    numbers. Regardless, the public must be provided with an opportunity
    to participate in the establishment of the desired future conditions
    for the wilderness, either through full involvement in an LAC or
    VERP process, or through formal review of the draft wilderness
    management plan. (See Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment
    Station General Technical Report INT-176 for a full explanation of
    the nine-step LAC process, the LAC discussion in [Wilderness
    Management]{.underline} by Hendee, Stankey, and Lucas (1990), and
    the [Wilderness Planning]{.underline} handbook developed by the
    Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center.

B.  Establish Monitoring Indicators. "Monitoring indicators" are the
    measurable variables used to evaluate the whether or not desired
    future conditions are actually being achieved. The changes to these
    indicators are caused by human activity and, accordingly, should be
    reflected by your management actions. Examples of measurable
    indicators include: number of occupied camps within sight and sound
    of each other, trailhead and trail social encounters, number of
    campsites per drainage, vegetation impacts in campgrounds,
    indications of human waste, social trailing, frequency of natural
    fires, recovery and/or protection of sensitive resources etc.

C.  Establish Standards for Indicators. Standards may be quantitative or
    qualitative. Condition-type standards describe acceptable resource
    and experience conditions in measurable terms that are considered
    realistic and attainable so it is clear when corrective management
    action is needed. Management-type standards describe the
    requirements that limit managers' discretion on how the desired
    condition might be achieved (procedures and actions that must be
    adhered to which are not already covered by national or regional
    policy directives.

    Standards should: promote conditions that meet the intent of the
    Wilderness Act and specific management goals, meet agency policy and
    regulations, meet desired future conditions, be attainable, allow or
    a certain amount of deviation, achieve what citizens, managers, and
    scientists consider acceptable, and be capable of being analyzed
    successfully. This section should include the establishment of the
    threshold standards at which management action will be triggered,
    and the methods that these indicators will actually be monitored.

D.  Establish Visitor Use Levels. Provide a description of the amount
    and types of human uses which will be permitted within the
    wilderness using the above desired future conditions, indicators,
    and standards, i.e., camping, group size limits, trail use limits
    (if any), day use limits (if any), etc.

    1\. Trail and Crosscountry Use Capacities

    2\. Establish Social\\Experience Levels

    3\. Camp Area Use

    4\. Permits and Reservation System

    5\. Sanitation Issues

E.  Staff Organization and Accountability. Identify key members of the
    park staff who are directly responsible and accountable for the
    parks wilderness management program. The plan should also include a
    statement as to when the plan should be reviewed for renewal and/or
    updating.

F.  Application of \"Minimum Requirement\" Concept. Establish a
    procedure for determining the method by which the park\'s
    administrative actions will be conducted in wilderness. Describe the
    process the park intends to use to determine the \"minimum
    requirement\" for administrative activities normally prohibited
    within wilderness. Include an explanation as to how the decision
    process will be documented.

G.  Access by Persons with Disabilities. As appropriate, describe how
    the park plans to make the area accessible to persons with
    disabilities.

H.  Stock Use. Determine whether or not saddle and pack stock use will
    be permitted and identify the specific limitations of this use
    within wilderness. Describe how this use is coordinated with the
    park\'s stock use management plan. Include any special conditions or
    regulations that would affect legislatively permitted livestock
    grazing with the park's designated wilderness. The use of livestock
    in wilderness must reconcile the goals of the wilderness management
    plan and the park\'s other stock management directives. Accordingly,
    the parks will be responsible for applying policies applicable to
    both when developing and implementing their respective management
    programs.

J. Fire Management. (See Section IV.C.5)

G.  K. Cultural Resources. Describe how cultural resources will be
    inventoried, preserved and protected in keeping with approved
    natural and cultural resource management plans. See Section IV.C.4
    (Cultural Resources) of this reference manual.

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L.  Climbing and Mountaineering. Describe how these activities, if
    present, will be managed.

M.  Interpretation and Education. Add statements describing how this
    will be managed. (See Section IV.C.6 and Appendix I of this
    reference manual.)

N.  Management of Valid Existing Rights and Congressionally Authorized
    Uses. Describe how these rights are to be administered to provide
    protection to wilderness.

O.  Interaction with Other Federal Land Management Agencies. Provide an
    explanation of how the park manager will coordinate, as much as
    possible, with adjoining wilderness units so that visitors traveling
    from one wilderness to the other can do so with a minimum of
    bureaucratic impediments. Examples include the issuance of permits,
    similar riding and packstock use programs, similar group and party
    sizes, and similar policy on the use of fire by visitors.

P.  Scientific Activities. Describe how the park will administer
    scientific activities (including NPS research and scientific
    activities) to ensure that this activity applies the minimum
    requirement protocols when assessing the benefits and impacts of the
    research to wilderness.

Q.  Additional Items as Needed. Address how other specific management
    issues including but not limited to alien species, signs, campfires,
    pets, grazing, caves, threatened and endangered species, will be
    managed in wilderness.

III\. ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE: ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OR
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

The following outline reflects the general NPS compliance contents for
development of an environmental assessment. Individual parks will need
to evaluate the potential for controversy and/or the level of public
involvement needed for their respective Wilderness Management Plans, per
requirements identified in Director's Order #12 and the NPS NEPA
Handbook. An environmental assessment is considered the minimum
environmental compliance document. A park may be required to do an
environmental impact statement.

> APPENDICES (AS NEEDED)

##### APPENDIX E

**WILDERNESS ACCESS DECISION TOOL**

**(1996 U.S. FOREST SERVICE)**

(Appended as separate document)

##### APPENDIX F

**EXAMPLES OF MINIMUM REQUIREMENT DECISION TREES**

**EXAMPLE #1**

**Example #2**

Is action essential?

(To meet planned Wilderness

##### Example #3

Decision Screening Questions

1\. Does your action insure that wilderness is not occupied and
modified?

2\. Does your action maintain or move the wilderness toward less human
influence

within legal constraints?

3.  Does your rationale allow wilderness to retain solitude and elements
    of surprise and discovery?

4\. Did you evaluate the traps of making decisions based on economy,
convenience, comfort, or commercial value?

5.  Did you look beyond the short-term outputs to ensure that future
    generations will be

    able to use and enjoy the benefits of an enduring resource of
    Wilderness?

6.  Does the alternative support the wilderness resource in its entirety
    rather than maximizing an individual resource?

7.  Does your decision recognize the unique characteristics for this
    particular

> wilderness?

G.  8\. Does the action prevent the effects of human activities from
    dominating natural

> conditions and processes.

Affirmative answers protect the wilderness!

Other examples of minimum requirement decision screening tools can be
obtained from the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center
(www.wilderness.net/carhart).

> **APPENDIX G**

# PROCEDURES FOR COMPLETING LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS

# AND BOUNDARY MAPS

### 

### A. Statutory Requirement. In 1970 Congress established the first wilderness within a national park system area. That law required that the National Park Service prepare legal descriptions and maps of the wilderness. In virtually all wilderness designations since, Congress imposed the same duty upon the National Park Service. 

Most national park system wilderness acts require that legal
descriptions and maps be filed with Congress "as soon as practicable
after" the establishment of wilderness. Some parks have discharged this
responsibility. Others parks have not. This section of Reference Manual
41 guides parks in preparing legal descriptions and maps.

### B. Legal Description Defined. A legal description of a boundary is a written, narrative recital of the external border of a tract of land and/or water. That recital begins at a fixed point on the boundary. Proceeding in a counterclockwise direction, the recital describes the boundary - segment by segment. Each segment must begin at the exact point where the preceding segment ended. The last segment ends at that same fixed point where the boundary description began.

Each segment represents a discrete portion of the boundary characterized
by a common direction. Thus, each segment varies in length, usually
until a change in direction occurs and a new segment begins. Sometimes
the describer may create shorter segments before a change in direction
if it will assist in better describing the boundary, for example by
ending and beginning at a known or surveyed point. Each segment is
described as a separate paragraph in the legal description. The legal
description of a large, uncomplicated wilderness boundary may be several
pages in length.

A legal description usually consists of segments that conform to the
borders of aliquot parts. However, a legal description may also contain
segments that describe a straight line that lies between two fixed
points on the ground. A segment may also be a meandering line,
conforming to a topographic contour or paralleling a relatively fixed
feature on the ground such as a road or body of water.

A less common method of legal description is to list the lands that are
in wilderness tract-by-tract rather than to describe their external
edges. For example, a legal description could read "Wilderness Unit #1 -
Township 15 North, Range 14 E., sections 1 through 10." This method can
be employed only where lands are laid out in a rectangular survey system
(generally outside the boundaries of the original thirteen colonies).
Some parks have already composed legal descriptions that use this
method. The National Park Service will not convert such previously filed
legal descriptions into the external boundary method. However all future
legal descriptions will employ the external boundary method.

Legal descriptions must employ standard methods and terminology used by
Bureau of Land Management Cadastral Survey personnel. However, a legal
description of land is not the same as a "survey," nor does a legal
description require that a boundary line be surveyed first. A survey is
conducted to physically establish and mark the boundaries between
abutting landowners, more particularly between the wilderness or park
boundaries and non-wilderness and non-park lands.

## 

## **C. Reason for Legal Description.** Congress invariably requires that the National Park Service prepare both a legal description and a map for wilderness areas. A final map without a legal description does not meet statutory requirements. 

Converting a legislative wilderness map into a written legal description
of the lands serves two purposes. First, a legal description represents
the precise delineation of a boundary in a written format; a description
able to replicate a boundary line in the same place on maps of any
scale. Consistent replication is not possible by simply transposing a
visual impression of a boundary line directly from a legislative map
onto another map. Second, a written legal description creates an
intermediate step between the legislative and final maps; an additional
step that assists in clarifying and refining a boundary. A written
description acts as a check that prevents or detects errors when drawing
the boundary on a final map.

# D. [Source for Legal Description]{.underline}. The primary and fundamental source for writing a legal description is the "legislative map" (or maps). The legislative map of wilderness is the map that is cited in, or accompanies, the law that designates the wilderness and was prepared by the National Park Service (submitted with the President's Recommendation). For most National Park Service wilderness, the law designating wilderness cites a legislative map by name, number and date. However, for other National Park Service wilderness (for example the parks of the California Desert), Congress appends maps of its own to the designating statute. 

The legislative maps are not the "final" wilderness maps. If they were,
Congress would not mandate that the National Park Service produce a
subsequent wilderness map. Only after the National Park Service has
written a legal description and drawn a map from that description can
the final wilderness map be produced.

Each park must conform as strictly as possible to the legislative map
when translating the wilderness boundary into a legal description and
final map. The process of describing or drawing a final boundary is not
to be used to adjust or modify wilderness boundaries. Neither the
National Park Service nor the Secretary has the power to change
boundaries from the legislative maps to accommodate uses that would
otherwise be prohibited or to ease restrictions or eliminate friction.

Parks may describe wilderness boundaries that make slight corrections to
the legislative maps, if the legislative maps contain an obvious error,
such as inclusion of a visitor center or automobile campground that
Congress never intended to be within wilderness. Such latitude does not,
for example, permit the park to draw a dirt road out of wilderness
because the NPS or users wish it to remain open.

Parks have some latitude to interpret the exact location on the ground
of the legislative map wilderness boundaries. Legislative map boundaries
are usually marked by a line whose thickness on the map may correspond
to a hundred or more feet on the ground. The park may place the
boundary, in the legal description and final map, at the inner or the
outer edge of that line. In doing so, parks should act conservatively,
deferring to maximum wilderness protection.

### E. Road Corridor Widths in Wilderness. Few legislative wilderness maps prescribe the distance from roads that border wilderness or the corridor width of roads that pass through wilderness. Nevertheless, this issue will inevitably arise when writing the legal description of wilderness. 

In a few cases, such as the California Desert Protection Act, Congress
prescribes the distance of wilderness boundaries from roads. For the
most part, Congress is silent about the distance of wilderness from
established roads. In such cases, this Manual prescribes the standards
that govern such distances and widths for all parks that have yet to
write legal descriptions of their wilderness.

This manual adopts the same standards found in the BLM Wilderness
Manual. For paved roads that form the boundary of wilderness, the
wilderness boundary lies 100 feet from road centerline. For dirt roads
that form the boundary of wilderness or that are a corridor in
wilderness, the wilderness boundary lies 30 feet from road centerline.
Exceptions to these standards may need to be made on a case by case
basis to accommodate environmental protection and safety considerations.

# F. [Drawing Final Wilderness Maps]{.underline}. For parks that have not yet drawn final wilderness maps, the legal description of wilderness will be depicted on a map or maps of no less than 1:100,000 scale. Parks may use a scale of less than 1:100,000, at their discretion. The maps will be drawn only from a written legal description that has been thoroughly checked for accuracy and marked and dated as "Final." The maps may be drawn in the regional lands resources office or in the park if skilled cartographic technicians are available. The park will stamp this map as "Draft" and date it.

Park and regional office staff will review the draft of the wilderness
maps, check them against the final legal description to detect any
errors. After this step, the park will prepare final wilderness maps.
The park will stamp that map as "Final" after approval by the
superintendent.

The park will then arrange to have printed at least ten sets of the
final maps and as many additional sets as the park superintendent deems
desirable for park staff or public use.

The writing of the wilderness legal descriptions and preparation of
wilderness maps are categorically excluded from review and public
comment under the National Environmental Policy Act (516 Departmental
Manual 6, Appendix 7.4(A)(2)). However, if prior to release of the final
maps, the park consults with any interested public parties or
individuals to resolve questions of wilderness boundaries, the park must
do so openly and give due notice to all interested groups.

### G. Recording and Filing the Maps. The park will send four sets of maps and legal descriptions to the appropriate regional office. The regional office will retain two sets (one each in the regional land resources and wilderness coordinator's office). The regional office will send two sets, with a transmittal letter from the Regional Director, to the Chief, Office of Legislative Affairs, if the law requires that the NPS file the final legal description and map with Congress. The Office of Legislative Affairs will submit the final legal description and maps to the Congress under signature of the Director. 

The submission of maps to congressional committees, when such is
prescribed by law, completes the process. Upon filing the documents, the
legal description and maps have the same force and effect as if they
were contained in the law designating wilderness itself.

The National Park Service does not need an affirmative congressional
endorsement of the legal description and maps before they become final.
The legal description and maps are final upon submittal. Congress'
recourse, in cases where Congress disapproves of the final legal
description and maps, is to amend the wilderness boundary by further
legislation.

The park will send a set of legal description and maps to Associate
Director, Operations and Education for transmittal to the WASO
wilderness program manager. The park will send a set to the Technical
Information Center of the Denver Service Center. The park will retain at
least four sets of the legal description and wilderness maps in park
offices. One of those sets must be archived in the park's curatorial
collection.

# H. [Correcting Errors]{.underline}. NPS staff or the public may detect [typographical]{.underline} or [clerical]{.underline} errors in the final legal description and/or in the final wilderness maps. The laws that establish NPS wilderness often provide a mechanism for the National Park Service to correct errors after the legal description and maps are made final

Errors come in many shapes and sizes. A legal description could
inaccurately describe the map, or a map line may conflict with the
description. A number or direction could be a typographical mistake.
Errors may be uncovered shortly after filing the maps, or decades later.
It is never too late to correct errors.

The National Park Service will correct errors by writing a memorandum
from the park superintendent. The memorandum will explain the error in
the existing legal description and/or map(s). If the correction results
in a change of wilderness acreage, the memo will so state. The memo of
correction will be sent to the regional lands office, the WASO
wilderness program manager and the Technical Information Center of the
Denver Service Center. Each office will append the memo of correction to
the existing final legal description and wilderness maps.

Correcting typographical or clerical errors can not be used to adjust or
modify wilderness boundaries to eliminate management problems or
concerns. Adjusting or modifying existing wilderness boundaries may be
made only by a recommendation to Congress that Congress enacts into law.

##### APPENDIX H

##### DESIGNATING POTENTIAL WILDERNESS AS WILDERNESS

### A. Potential Wilderness. The 1964 Wilderness Act does not provide for a category of "potential wilderness." Congress itself established this category in 1976 when designating wilderness in several parks, a practice Congress has since continued.

Potential wilderness lands are Federal lands that Congress designates to
become full wilderness upon the elimination of nonconforming uses
prohibited by the Wilderness Act. Prohibited uses could include a road,
or a structure/installation such as a water pipeline. Congress has also
designated Federal lands as potential wilderness in a park where the
otherwise qualified Federal lands are interspersed among many
non-federally owned tracts, so when the non-federal lands are acquired
the area can be included as wilderness.

Potential wilderness is not intended to be a permanent land status.
Potential wilderness is a "half-way house" for lands that otherwise
merit full wilderness designation except for temporary, non-conforming
conditions. Congress has suspended the wilderness designation until the
Secretary has determined that the non-conforming used has been
terminated.

**B. [Managing Potential Wilderness]{.underline}**. Potential wilderness
is managed as if it were wilderness, to the extent the non-conforming
uses or conditions allow. Each park should inventory its designated
potential wilderness lands within two years of publication of DO# 41 and
every five years thereafter to check the status of the non-conforming
uses or conditions. For designated potential wilderness, the wilderness
management plan will address how and when the park intends to bring
about the cessation of those uses or conditions.

### 

### C. Conversion Authority. When Congress includes "potential" wilderness in a National Park Service wilderness designation, it intends for the Director, delegated by the Secretary of Interior, to complete the conversion process from "potential" to "designated." The National Park Service does not need additional authority or approval from Congress to do so. The National Park Service must follow the direction of Congress and publish a notice in the Federal Register.

### D. When to Complete Conversion. The appropriate time to designate potential wilderness as wilderness is when "uses...prohibited by the Wilderness Act have ceased." Further, once such uses have ceased, the laws require that the National Park Service publish a notice that the area is now designated wilderness. When the park's inventory, done within 2 years of issuance of D.O. #41 or every five years thereafter, reveals that substantial tracts of potential wilderness qualify as wilderness, the park should use the this guidance to complete the conversion process.

# E. [How to Convert Designated Potential Wilderness.]{.underline} Converting designated potential wilderness to designated wilderness is a relatively simple process. The park will prepare a notice to be published in the [FEDERAL REGISTER]{.underline} (FR). For an example of such a notice, see FR Vol. 62, No101, page 28729-28730. That edition contains a notice designating 3,052 acres of potential wilderness as wilderness in Joshua Tree National Park. 

The park will file a copy of the notice with its wilderness maps. Also,
copies should be sent to the Regional Office, the office of the WASO
wilderness program manager and the Technical Information Center of the
Denver Service Center to be included with the maps on file.

Publication of a notice to designate potential wilderness as wilderness
is categorically excluded from review and public comment under the
National Environmental Policy Act (516 Departmental Manual 6, Appendix
7.4(A)(2)).

**APPENDIX I**

##### Primary Interpretive Themes for NPS Wilderness

Interpretation provides opportunities for people to forge intellectual
and emotional connections to the meanings inherent in wilderness
resources. Interpretive themes communicate specific messages based upon
the significance of the wilderness resource and experience to the
American people. They are the stories through which the values of
wilderness are conveyed to the public. These themes connect wilderness
to larger ideas as well as universal meanings and values. They are the
building blocks on which interpretive products and services for
wilderness are based. The interpretive themes for National Park Service
wilderness areas are:

  -------------- ------------------------------------------------------------
  **PRIMARY      
  INTERPRETIVE   
  THEMES FOR     
  WILDERNESS     
  EDUCATION**    

  Theme A        The concept of wilderness, codified in law, originated in
                 the United States with the conviction that some wild land
                 resources are most valuable to Americans left in their
                 natural state. *(e.g. social, scientific, economic,
                 educational, recreational , and cultural value*)

  Theme B        As a foundation for healthy and diverse ecosystems,
                 officially designated wilderness and other remaining wild
                 lands provide critical habitat for rare and endangered
                 species and play a significant role in the overall health of
                 natural systems worldwide. *(e.g. watersheds, air quality).*

  Theme C        By law, wilderness is managed differently than other federal
                 lands in order to retain its primeval character and preserve
                 wilderness as a special place for humans to examine their
                 relationship to the natural world.

  Theme D        Wilderness offers opportunities for personal renewal,
                 inspiration, artistic expression, pride of ownership of our
                 shared heritage, and the prospect of hope for the future.
                 Wilderness has inspired and continues to inspire a
                 distinctive genre of literature and art, enriching millions
                 of lives in the United States and around the world.

  Theme E        Wilderness provides opportunities for physical and mental
                 challenge, risk and reward, renewal, self-reliance,
                 solitude, and serves as a haven from the pressures of modern
                 society. *(e.g. exploration, discovery, and recreation)*

  Theme F        The survival of wilderness depends on individual and
                 societal commitment to the idea of wilderness and on
                 appropriate visitor use, behavior, and values. *(e.g.
                 appreciation, values, skills).*

  Theme G        Wilderness provides a unique setting for teaching ecosystem
                 stewardship as well as science, math, literature, art and
                 other subjects using an interdisciplinary approach. *(e.g.
                 civics, outdoor skills, music, and others).*

  Theme H        Wilderness contains primitive areas relatively undisturbed
                 by human activities where scientific research may reveal
                 information about natural processes and living systems that
                 may have wide-ranging applications and may serve as global
                 indicators of ecological change.

  Theme I        Cultural and archeological sites found in wilderness can
                 provide a more complete picture of human history and
                 culture.*(This includes indigenous peoples, conquests,
                 colonialism and resistance, freedom, independence, and
                 ingenuity, a sense of connectedness, stewardship, and human
                 survival.)*

  Theme J        The Wilderness Act created a National Wilderness
                 Preservation System that preserves some of the most unique
                 ecological, geological, scientific, scenic, and historical
                 values in the National Park System, Fish and Wildlife Refuge
                 System, National Forest System, and in public lands
                 administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and that the
                 public and Congress have determined to require special
                 protection.

  Theme K        Wilderness visitors must accept certain inherent risks
                 associated with weather, terrain, water, wildlife, and other
                 natural elements. Visitor safety cannot be guaranteed, but
                 can be enhanced with proper trip planning, appropriate
                 skill, and responsible behavior.
  -------------- ------------------------------------------------------------

> **APPENDIX J**

**LEAVE NO TRACE OUTDOOR SKILLS AND ETHICS**

+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| **THE 7         | **MAJOR         | **SUB-HEADINGS**                 |
| PRINCIPLES OF   | SECTIONS**      |                                  |
| LNT**           |                 |                                  |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| **Plan Ahead    | -   Be Informed | -   Plan Your Meals              |
| and Prepare**   |                 |                                  |
|                 | -   Know Your   | -   Use Proper Gear              |
|                 |     Group       |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Accept the Risks             |
|                 | -   Take        |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Know and Respect Regulations |
|                 |  Responsibility |                                  |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -   **Travel    | -   Recognize   | -   Stay on maintained trails    |
|     and Camp on |     Durable     |                                  |
|     Durable     |     Surfaces    | -   Snow, rock, gravel or dry    |
|     Surfaces**  |                 |     grass are best               |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -               | -   Concentrate | -   Use Designated Campsites or  |
|                 |     Use in      |     areas that are already       |
|                 |     Popular     |     impacted                     |
|                 |     Areas       |                                  |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -               | -   Disperse    | -   Avoid Places Were Impacts    |
|                 |     Use in      |     Are Just Beginning           |
|                 |     Remote      |                                  |
|                 |     Areas       | -   Spread Out When Traveling    |
|                 |                 |     Off-Trail                    |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -   **Properly  | -   Pack It     | -   Properly dispose of litter   |
|     Dispose of  |     In - Pack   |                                  |
|     Waste**     |     It Out      |                                  |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -               | -   Practice    | -   Properly Dispose of Feces    |
|                 |     Good        |                                  |
|                 |     Sanitation  | -   Properly Dispose of Urine    |
|                 |                 |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Properly Dispose of Waste    |
|                 |                 |     Water                        |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -               | -   Hunting and | -   Properly Dispose of Fish and |
|                 |     Fishing     |     Game Entrails                |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -   **Leave     | -   Minimize    |                                  |
|     What You    |     Site        |                                  |
|     Find**      |     Alterations |                                  |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
|                 | -   Leave       |                                  |
|                 |     Natural     |                                  |
|                 |     Features    |                                  |
|                 |     Undisturbed |                                  |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
|                 | -   Help        |                                  |
|                 |     Preserve    |                                  |
|                 |     the Past    |                                  |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
|                 | -   Eliminate   |                                  |
|                 |     Non-native  |                                  |
|                 |     Species     |                                  |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| **Minimize      | -   Understand  | -   Campstoves Have Advantages   |
| Campfire        |     the Impacts |                                  |
| Impacts**       |                 | -   Use Down and Dead Wood Only  |
|                 |                 |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Keep Your Fire Contained     |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -               | -   Consider    | -   Use Established Fire Rings   |
|                 |                 |                                  |
|                 |    Alternatives | -   Try Mound or Pan Fires       |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -   **Respect   | -   Keep        | -   Enjoy Wildlife at a Distance |
|     Wildlife**  |     Wildlife    |                                  |
|                 |     Wild        | -   Never Feed Wildlife          |
|                 |                 |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Store Food and Garbage       |
|                 |                 |     Properly                     |
|                 |                 |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Minimize Noise               |
|                 |                 |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Avoid Sensitive Habitat      |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| -   **Be        | -   Minimize    | -   Avoid Conflicts              |
|     Considerate |     Social      |                                  |
|     of Other    |     Impacts     | -   Minimize Noise               |
|     Visitors**  |                 |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Keep a Low Profile           |
|                 |                 |                                  |
|                 |                 | -   Manage Your Pet              |
+-----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------+

> **APPENDIX K**

REPORTING FORMAT FOR COMPLIANCE

WITH SECTION 7 OF THE WILDERNESS ACT

\[RESERVED\]

VI. **DEFINITIONS**

**Air Quality Related Values:** Air quality related values (AQRVs) have
been defined as; "a scenic, cultural, physical, biological, ecological,
or recreational resource which may be affected by a change in air
quality as defined by the federal land managers for federal lands".
Class I areas are given additional protection for AQRVs against air
pollution. Visibility is specifically identified in the CAA as an AQRV.
NPS includes night sky visibility in this category.

**Backcountry**: The National Park Service uses the term "backcountry"
to refer to primitive, undeveloped portions of parks. \"Backcountry\" is
not the same as \"wilderness,\" and is not a specific management zone.
Rather, it refers to a general condition of land that may occur in zones
outside wilderness. Wilderness and backcountry may require different
administrative practices because the Wilderness Act imposes additional
conditions and constraints.

**Class I Areas:** As defined in the CAA include national parks larger
than 6,000 acres and national wilderness areas and national memorial
parks which exceed 5,000 acres, in existence on August 7, 1977. The 1990
Amendments provided that the extent of these Class I areas shall conform
to any boundary changes occurring subsequent to August 7, 1977.
Currently, 48 areas in the National Park system, 21 Refuge System units,
and 88 areas under the administration of the Forest Service are
designated as Class I.

**Designated Wilderness**: Federal land designated by Congress as a
wilderness area and a component of the National Wilderness Preservation
System where the NPS is required to manage according to the Wilderness
Act of 1964.

**Mechanical Transport**: Any contrivance for moving people or material
in or over land, water, snow or air that has moving parts and is powered
by a living or non-living power source. This includes (but is not
limited to) wheeled vehicles such as bicycles, game carriers, carts and
wagons. \"Mechanical transport\" does not include wheelchairs when used
as necessary medical appliances, nor does it include skis, snowshoes,
sleds, travois, non-motorized river craft including driftboats, rafts,
or canoes, or similar primitive devices.

**Minimum Requirement Concept**: The minimum requirement concept is a
two-step process that documents 1) the determination as to whether or
not a proposed management action is appropriate or necessary for the
administration of the area as wilderness, and does not pose a
significant impact to the wilderness resources and character; and, 2)
the selection of the management method (tool) that causes the least
amount of impact to the physical resources and experiential qualities
(character) of wilderness.

**Minimum Tool**: A use or activity, determined to be necessary to
accomplish an essential task, which makes use of the least intrusive
tool, equipment, device, force, regulation or practice that will achieve
the wilderness management objective.

**Motorized Equipment**: Any machine activated by a motor, engine, or
other non-living power source. This includes chain saws, power drills,
generators, windmills and snow blowers. \"Motorized equipment\" does not
include shavers, wrist watches, clocks, flashlights, cameras, camping
stoves, solar panels, batteries, explosives, geiger counters, cellular
telephones, radio receivers or transmitters, GPS units, or other similar
small, battery-powered, hand-carried personal camping equipment.

**Motor Vehicle**: Any vehicle that is self-propelled, including any
vehicle that is propelled by electric power. (See 36 CFR 1.4,
Definitions).

**Potential Wilderness**: Lands which possess wilderness characteristics
which would normally qualify them for designation within the National
Wilderness Preservation System but contain temporary non-conforming or
incompatible conditions (such as structures or roads) or uses (such as
in-holdings, valid mining claims or operations) which prevent their
being immediately designated as wilderness. These lands may be
identified as "potential wilderness" in NPS wilderness proposals,
wilderness recommendations, and within legislation designating other
portions of a park as wilderness. Designated potential wilderness should
be converted to designated wilderness once the non-conforming uses have
been extinguished by publishing a notice in the [Federal
Register]{.underline} ("Cessation of Certain Uses" statement).

**Proposed Wilderness**: A suitable wilderness area that has been
studied by the NPS that has been submitted as a proposal by a park or a
region to the Director but has not been approved by the Department of
the Interior.

**Recommended Wilderness**: A suitable wilderness area that has been
studied and proposed by the NPS, recommended for wilderness designation
by the Secretary to the President, and then transmitted by the President
to Congress. Once approved by the Secretary, the area can be considered
recommended wilderness for management purposes.

**Suitable Wilderness**: An area that possesses the qualities and
character, as identified within the Wilderness Act, which would qualify
it for designation within the National Wilderness Preservation System.
An area where, based upon a wilderness suitability assessment, the
Director has approved the determination of suitability for wilderness
designation.

**Wilderness Area**: Federal land designated by Congress as a component
of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

**Wilderness Study Area**: Acreage that has been determined to be
suitable for wilderness designation through the completion of a
wilderness suitability assessment and determination of approved by the
Director.

**Wheelchair:** An electric or manual device designed solely for use by
a mobility-impaired person for locomotion which is suitable for use in
an indoor pedestrian area (ADA definition).