The Wilderness Legacy. Wilderness is here to stay. '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.' Wilderness - Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (U.S. National Park Service)