Wilderness areas are lands designated by Congress to be protected and preserved in their natural condition, without permanent improvements or habitation. Wilderness in California contains many of the nation's most spectacular and rugged scenery, as well as many of its most delicate and fragile ecosystems. The Pacific Southwest Region manages 52 Wilderness areas, encompassing more than 4.3 million acres. These lands include Mt. Shasta, portions of the Kings River Canyon, and Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. In the central Sierra Nevada, where 14 National Forest and 3 National Park Wilderness areas stretch along the Sierra Crest for 250 miles, the Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management are working together to educate users and standardize user regulations.
People often refer to wild lands as wilderness.
Land managers use the term to describe lands formally designated by Congress. The Wilderness Act of 1964 established a National Wilderness Preservation System to benefit the nation as a whole. This landmark conservation legislation established for the American people an enduring resource of wilderness. There are many recognized reasons for wilderness preservation. Wildlands have ecological and economic values that are vital to our society's physical and economic health and the world's body of knowledge.