• • • 

.. 


' 

Wi{derness is • • • 


every Jlmerican's story 

v· t i 

"When I come here by myself, 

I feel tranquil. When I come 

here with children, I feel like 

I'm passing on something 

that was given to me - a gift 

- on to somebody else.,, 

- Carlos, educator 

"The preservation of 

wilderness is about 

preserving ourselves. We 

take great steps to preserve 

homes offamous and 

influential people. We make 

efforts to preserve historical 

areas in cities. Why not 

preserve wilderness areas ­

"If there were no wilderness 

the United States would be 

just technology, just cars, 

machines, we'd be nothing 

natural, we'd be dull, gray, 

metal. Wilderness brings 

harmony; it brings serenity, 

the peace we all look for. 

You can just listen to the river 

"Outfitting in wilderness has 

been our family's living for 

two generations. Over the 

years we've hosted guests 

from every state in the union 

and every conceivable walk 

oflife. Some ofthem already 

have the passion, but for 

those who don't, we're able 
The Purpose 

2020 Vision presents interagency goals, objectives, and actions to guide collaborative stewardship of 

America's National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS). 

In 1995, Directors of the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park 

Service, and the Chief of the Forest Service signed the lnteragency Wilderness Strategic Plan . In 2013, 

the lnteragency Wilderness Policy Council1 (IWPC) requested that the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research 

Institute and the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center facilitate revision of the 1995 Plan. 

2020 Vision is that revision and is informed by the National Wilderness Manager Survey 2014 Analysis 

Report and planning strategies from all four agencies. 

The Promise 

The 1964 Wilderness Act promised citizens of this country they can forever find special places of 

solitude and refuge from the sights and sounds of civilization, places where ecosystems remain 

undeveloped and intact and natural processes unfold without direct human intervention. 

Our Vision for Keeping the Promise 

To keep this promise, we are forging a unified vision and set of shared interagency priorities and actions 

for stewardship of America's National Wilderness Preservation System that will be directed by the IWPC 

to effectively use limited resources and inspire new partnerships. 2020 Vision and the products, 

services, and programs that derive from it reflect and help fulfill the promise of the 1964 Wilderness Act 

and foster the commitment, expectations, responsibility, and skills needed to protect America's National 

Wilderness Preservation System. 

Our first priorities for the next five years are to: 

1. Complete wilderness character inventories across the NWPS using standardized interagency 

protocols and institutionalize ongoing monitoring. 

2. Foster relevancy of wilderness to contemporary society by inspiring and nu rturing life-long 

connections between people of diverse cultures and wilderness . 

3. Strengthen commitment to, and support of, the lnteragency Arthur Carhart National Wilderness 

Training Center and the lnteragency Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute to foster excellence in 

interagency leadership and coordination . 

4. Conduct climate vulnerability and adaptation assessments across the National Wilderness 

Preservation System to improve ecological resiliency across broad landscapes. 

To achieve these first priorities and the rema ining goals and objectives of the Vision, the IWPC, with 

input from our partners, will develop an Implementation Plan by April 30, 2015 . 

(BLM Assistant Director, National Landscape Conservation System and Community Programs; FWS Director, Nat ional Refuge System; NPS 

Associate Director, Visitor and Resource Protection; NPS Associat e Director, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science; FS Director, Wi ldern ess 

and Wild & Scenic Rivers; FS Associa te Deputy Chief, Resea rch and Development; and, USGS Associate Director, Ecosystem M ission Area) 

1
;(/..__;, .1 ;;;_, ~ Neil Kornze, Director / ~ 

Bureau of Land Manage19-er 

/",H<Ld ;:;>~Jonathan B. Jarvis, Director / 

National Park Service 

Daniel M. Ashe, Director 

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

~7~v Thomas L. Tidwell, Chief 

U.S. Forest Service 

Suzette M. Kimball, Acting Director 

U.S. Geological Survey 
THEME 

Protect Wilderness Resources 

The top biophysical issues that managers identified 

for interagency solutions were inventory and 

monitoring, climate change, fish and wildlife, 

wildland fire, and invasive species. 

To PROTECT WILDERNESS RESOURCES, WE WILL: 

PRESERVE wilderness character. 

1. 	 Complete wilderness character inventories 


across the NWPS and track changes to 


wilderness character over time. 


a. 	 Use standardized interagency protocols to achieve a baseline for each NWPS unit. 

b. 	 Implement a system-wide interagency data management system for data entry and 

storage and for reporting on trends in wilderness character within a wilderness, and 

across regions, agencies, and the entire NWPS. 

2. 	 Identify, conserve, and restore native fish and wildlife species and habitats in wilderness. 

a. 	 Complete a state-of-knowledge synthesis of law and policy and biophysical and social 

sciences related to the management of fish and wildlife in wilderness. 

b. 	 Strengthen collaborative partnerships for managing fish and wildlife species and 

habitats in wilderness. 

3. 	 Minimize management interventions that modify natural conditions by using the Minimum 

Requirements Analysis process to make decisions on all proposed management interventions. 

4. 	 Manage use of technologies that are likely to degrade wilderness character. 

PREPARE for ecological change. 

5. 	 Focus on the stewardship of dynamic 

landscapes through evaluating the role of 

wilderness in landscape scale conservation and 

ecosystem resiliency as climate change 

progresses. 

a. 	 Continue to support climate 

vulnerability and adaptation 

assessments across the National 

Wilderness Preservation System to 

contribute information for adaption 

actions across a broader landscape. 

b. 	 Develop guidance for determining if and when action should be taken in wilderness to 

address climate change and other ecological disturbances. 

6. 	 Restore fire to its natural role in the ecosystem. 

a. 	 Ensure fire plans identify where the risks to values inside and adjacent to wilderness are 

greatest; identify the conditions and circumstances under which natural fires will be 

2020 NWPS Vision 10-01-14 	 Page 3 
allowed to burn or be suppressed; and where prescribed fire is appropriate for resource 

benefit. 

b. 	 Incorporate wilderness fire concepts into appropriate All-Hazard, firefighter, resource 

advisor and National Incident Management System training. 

7. 	 Implement integrated exotic plant and animal management, including prevention, education, 

detection, quick elimination of spot infestations, and control of major occurrences. 

a. 	 Ensure objectives to manage non-native invasive plant and animal species in wilderness 

are included in every wilderness stewardship plan or invasive species management plan. 

INFO RM wilderness stewardship decisions using the 

most current and credible science. 

8. 	 Identify and conduct the wilderness science 

needed for present and future management 

decisions. 

a. Through collaboration of managers and 

scientists, develop and prioritize a 

national science agenda for wilderness. 

b. Seek and develop partnerships through 

entities such as Landscape-scale 

Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) to 

accomplish wilderness science agenda priorities. 

c. Develop effective communication networks to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and 

feedback from practitioners. 

"Wilderness exists in order to give the planet an opportunity to have spaces where nature can 

express itself without man's interference, so wilderness areas aren't locked up in a sense that they 

are ofno use, because they are always of use ifto nobody else but the planet itself" 

Press Stevens, former outfitter 

2020 NWPS Vision 10-01-14 	 Page 4 
THEME 

Connect People to their Wilderness 

Heritage 

The top social issues that managers identified for interagency 

solutions were relevance, education, visitor management, and 

access. 

TO CONNECT CITIZENS TO THEIR WILDERNESS HERITAGE, WE WILL: 

EXPAND public awareness, understanding, and support 

of Wilderness. 

9. 	 Utilize consistent and culturally relevant messages 

about Wilderness values and benefits. 

a. Identify and share the ecological, economic, and social values and benefits of 

wilderness. 

b. Develop and implement a national interagency Wilderness communication strategy that 

integrates with ongoing agencies communications and matches messages and media 

with diverse audiences. 

10. Foster wilderness visitor understanding and responsible behaviors that improve wilderness 

stewardship. 

a. 	 Develop tools and materials for managers to enlist public support for wilderness 

stewardship and for compliance with resource protection measures. 

b. 	 Emphasize Leave No Trace principles through signs, programs, and practices. 

c. 	 Utilize the lnteragency Visitor Use Work Group and others to develop and implement 

standards and monitoring protocols to minimize visitor use impacts to wilderness 

character. 

INSPIRE and nurture life-long connections between 

people of diverse cultures and wilderness. 

11. Build respectful, long-term partnerships among 

wilderness managers, educators, Tribal leaders, 

cultural resource managers, and citizens from diverse 

traditions, to develop and implement programs and 

products that enhance connections to wilderness. 

a. 	 Expand partnerships with conservation corps 

and other educational and youth programs 

and organizations to provide outdoor experiences from backyard to wilderness. 

b. 	 Develop a plan to increase our capacity to replicate, distribute, and integrate K-12 

wilderness curriculum in classrooms across the country through existing and new 

environmental education, mentoring, and train-the-teacher programs. 

2020 NWPS Vision 10-01-14 	 Page 5 
.. ' 

NURTURE a new generation of future stewards and scientists. 

12. Foster a welcoming culture of inclusion for 

diverse cultures around wilderness work. 

a. 	 Collaborate with existing recruitment 

programs to create volunteer, 

internship, and employment 

opportunities in wilderness. 

b. 	 Expand citizen science and volunteerbased monitoring programs for both 

social and biophysical conditions. 

Create career appeal for youth by 

developing and improving wilderness 

career options and opportunities. 

RESTORE trails connecting wilderness and people 

13. Secure commitment from a diverse coalition of partners for the restoration of wilderness trails 

while preserving wilderness character. 

'The richest values of wilderness lie not in the days ofDaniel Boone, nor even in the present, but 

rather in the future." 

Aldo Leopold 

2020 NWPS Vision 10-01-14 	 Page 6 
THEME 

Foster Excellence in Wilderness 

Leadership and Coordination 

The top administrative issues that managers identified for 

interagency solutions were leadership, budget and staff, 

planning and management, and interagency coordination. 

TO FOSTER EXCELLENCE IN WILDERNESS LEADERSHIP AND COORDINATION, 

WE WILL: 

CULTl VATE strong interagency leadership throughout the 

National Wilderness Preservation System . 

14. Ensure wilderness science and training facilitates interagency coordination and consistency 

across the NWPS. 

a. 	 Strengthen commitment to, and support of, the lnteragency Arthur Carhart National 

Wilderness Training Center and the lnteragency Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research 

Institute. 

15. Deliver consistent and high quality on-the-ground wilderness decisions, stewardship skills, and 

wilderness awareness. 

a. 	 Develop interagency responses to System-wide issues. 

b. 	 Identify opportunities for developing consistent, interagency wilderness regulations. 

c. 	 Establish a system similar to the interagency wild land fire Red Card system to identify, 

develop, and track qualifications and competencies among employees and volunteers 

for various aspects of wilderness stewardship and traditional tool use. 

REINVIGORATE commitment to wilderness stewardship. 

16. Improve wilderness program stewardship 

accomplishments and recognize excellence in 

wilderness management. 

a. 	 Develop performance measures to document 

success in meeting wilderness management 

objectives. 

b. 	 Establish national recognition for managers who 

demonstrate success in preserving wilderness 

character. 

c. 	 Identify, develop, and showcase innovators in wilderness stewardship. 

BU ILD workforce capacity and wilderness program resources. 

17. Identify strategies for developing organizational capacity for wilderness stewardship, outreach, 

research, and enforcement duties. 

2020 NWPS Vision 10-01-14 	 Page 7 
,,,. ', 

a. 	 Develop workforce capacity plans that identify 


the right mix and numbers of workers with the 


right skills and knowledge to preserve 


wilderness character. 


b. 	 Create an interagency business plan that 


identifies the shared multi-disciplinary nature of 


wilderness. 


18. Improve capacity for recruiting and training volunteers. 

19. Strengthen and expand partnerships engaged in 

wilderness stewardship and complete the goals of this Vision document for the NWPS. 

"So it seems to me that this reflects a new and a strong national consensus to look ahead, and, 

more than that, to plan ahead; better still, to move ahead. We know that America cannot be 

made strong by leadership which reacts only to the needs or the irritations or the frustrations of 

the moment. True leadership must provide for the next decade and not merely the next day." 

President Lyndon Johnson upon signing the 1964 Wilderness Act 

2020 NWPS Vision 10-01-14 	 Page 8 
'T fioye tfie United" States of.'America is not so ricfi tliat 

sfie can afforato fet tfiese wifdernesses yass 6y, or so 

yoor sfie cannot afforato k-eey tfiem." 

- Jvlargaret Jvlurie 
r