An Act to establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent good of the whole people, and for other purposes
PL 88-577 (S.4), enacted 09/03/1964

890 
PUBLIC LAW 88-577-SEPT. 3, 1964 
[78 STAT. 
Short title. 
SEC. 109. No part of the funds provided in this Act shall be used 
for purchase of land or land easements in excess of 100 per centum of 
the value as determined by the Corps of Engineers or the Bureau of 
Yards and Docks, except: (a) where there is a determination of value 
by a Federal court, (b) purchases negotiated by the Attorney General 
or his designee, and (c) where the estimated value is less than $25,000. 
SEC. 110. None of the funds appropriated in this Act may be used 
to make payments under contracts for any project in a foreign country 
unless the Secretary of Defense or his designee, after consultation with 
the Secretary of the Treasury or his designee, certifies to the Congress 
that the use, by purchase from the Treasury, of currencies of such 
country acquired pursuant to law is not feasible for the purpose, 
stating the reason therefor. 
SEC. 111. This Act may be cited as the Military Construction Appro-
priation Act, 1965. 
Approved September 2, 1964. 
Public Law 88-577 
AN ACT 
September 3, 1964 
[£;_f] 
To establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent good 
of the whole people, and for other purposes. 
Wilderness Act. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representathes 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ 
SHORT TITLE 
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Wilderness Act". 
WILDERNESS SYSTEM E8TAELISHED STATEMENT OF POLICY 
SEC. 2. (a) In order to assure that an increasing population, accom-
panied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not 
occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its posses-
sions, 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 Preser-
vation System to be composed of federally owned areas designated by 
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 pro-
vided 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 the payment of expenses or salaries for the adminis-
tration of the National Wilderness Preservation System as a separate 
unit nor shall any appropriations be available for additional personnel 
78 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 88-577-SEPT. 3, 1964 
891 
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 WIIJ)ERNESS 
(c) A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his 
own 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 unde-
veloi>ed Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, 
without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is pro-
tected and mansiged so as to preserve its natural conditions and which 
(1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of 
jiature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable; 
(2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and un-
confined 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, geo-
logical, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical 
viuue. 
NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM—EXTENT OF SYSTEM 
SEC. 3. (a) All areas within the national forests classified at least 30 
days before the effective date of this Act by the Secretary of Agricul-
ture 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 In-
terior 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 descrij)tions, copies of 
regulations governing them, copies of public notices of, and re-
ports submitted to Congress regarding pending additions, elimina-
tions, or modifications. Maps, legal descriptions, and regulations 
pertaining to wilderness areas within their respective jurisdic-
tions also shall be available to the public in the offices of regional 
foresters, national forest supenasors, and forest rangers. 
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall, within ten years after the 
classification. 
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. The President shall advise the LTnited States Senate rerommendluon 
and House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect ro to cot^ress. °" 
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, not less than two-thirds within 
seven years after the enactment of this Act, and the remaining areas 
within ten years after the enactment of this Act. Each recommenda- ^ ^°"^a"''^°"°^ 
tion of the President for designation as "wilderness" shall become 
892 
PUBLIC LAW88-577-SEPT. 3, 1964 
[78 STAT. 
Report to 
President. 
Presidential 
recommendation 
to Congress. 
Congressional 
approval. 
Suitability. 
Publication in 
Federal Register. 
Hearings. 
Publication in 
Federal Register. 
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 and 
eighty acres of such increase in any one compact imit; 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 altera-
tion 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 area 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. 
(c) Within ten years after the effective date of this Act the Secretary 
of the Interior shall review every roadless area of five thousand con-
tiguous 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 refuses and game ranges, under his 
iurisdiction 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. The Presi-
dent 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. A recommendation of the Presi-
dent for designation as wilderness shall become effective only if so pro-
vided 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 mainte-
nance of roadless areas within units of the national park system. 
(d)(1) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the 
Interior shall, prior to submitting any recommendations to the Presi-
dent with respect to the suitability of any area for preservation as 
wilderness— 
(A) ^ive such public notice of the proposed action as thev 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; 
(B) hold a public hearing or hearings at a loca,tion or locations 
convenient to the area aft'ected. 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; 
78 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 88-577-SEPT. 3,1964 
893 
(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 no 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 recommendations to the President and to Congress 
with respect to such area, 
(e) Any modification or adjustment of boundaries of any wilder- 
Proposed modi-
ness 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 Kepresentatives of his recommenda-
tions with respect to such modification or adjustment and such recom-
mendations shall become effective only in the same manner as pro-
vided for in subsections (b) and (c) of this section. 
USE OF WILDERNESS AREAS 
SEC. 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 national wildlife refuge systems are estab-
lished 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- 
'^ "^^ ^^s. 
Use Sustained-Yield Act of June 12,1960 (74 Stat. 215). 
^^ "sc 528-531. 
(2) Nothing in this Act shall modify the restrictions and pro-
visions of the Shipstead-Nolan Act (Public Law 539, Seventy-
first Congress, July 10, 1930; 46 Stat. 1020), the Thve-Blatnik 577^"^^"'" 
Act (Public Law 733, Eightieth Congress, June 22,1948; 62 Stat. 
568), and the Humphrey-Thye-Blatnik-Andresen Act (Public 5^/^'^s^ 577c-
Law 607, Eighty-fourth Congress, June 22, 1956; 70 Stat. 326), 
le'usc 577d.i. 
as applying to the Superior National Forest or the regulations of 577g-i, 577h. 
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 
jgus^' ^^^' 
was created, or any other Act of Congress which might pertain 
^t seq. 
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 
^i stat. loea. 
August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.). 
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, each agency admin-
istering 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 estab-
lished as also to preserve its wilderness character. 
Except as other-
894 
PUBLIC LAW 88-577-SEPT. 3, 1964 
[78 STAT. 
wise provided in this Act, wilderness areas shall be devoted to the 
public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conser-
vation, and historical use. 
PROHIBITION OP CERTAIN 
USES 
(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 admin-
istration 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 estab-
lished, may be permitted to continue subject to such restrictions as the 
Secretary of Agriculture deems desirable. 
In addition, such meas-
ures 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 wilder-
ness 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 pro-
gram 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. 
i^i^V^ltn^"'''' 
(^) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, until mid-
night December 31, 1983, the United States mining laws and all laws 
pertaining to mineral leasing shall, to the same extent as applicable 
f
)rior to the effective date of this Act, extend to those national forest 
ands 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, water-
lines, telephone lines, or facilities necessary in exploring, drilling, 
producing, mining, and processing oj>erations, including where essen-
tial the use of mechanized ground or air 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 wil-
derness areas shall be held and used solely for mining or processing 
operations and uses reasonably incident thereto; and hereafter, sub-
ject to valid 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 
claims, etc. 
78 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 88-577-SEPT. 3, 1964 
895 
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 needed 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 wil-
derness 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 wilderness 
character of the land consistent with the use of the land for the pur-
poses 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. 
(4) Within wilderness areas in the national forests designated by 
^^*"" 'esources. 
this Act, (1) the President may, within a specific area and in accord-
ance 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 Secretarv of Agriculture. 
(5) Other pi-ovisions of this Act to the contrary notwithstanding, 
the management of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, formerly desig-
nated as the Superior, Little Indian Sioux, and Caribou Roadless 
Areas, in the Superior National Forest. Minnesota, shall be in accord-
ance with regulations established by the Secretary of Agriculture in 
accordance with the general purpose of maintaining, without unneces-
sary 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. 
896 
PUBLIC LAW 88-577-SEPT. 3, 1964 
[78 STAT. 
(8) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the juris-
diction or responsibilities of the several States with respect to wildlife 
and fish in the national forests. 
Transfers, re-
striction-
Acquisition. 
STATE AND PRIVATE LANDS WITHIN WILDERNESS AREAS 
SEC. 5. (a) In any case where State-owned or privately owned land 
is completely surrounded by national forest lands within areas desig-
nated 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 avail-
able to the Secretary of Agriculture: Provided^ hoioever^ 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 occu-
pancies 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. 
(c) Subject to the appropriation of funds by Congress, the Secre-
tary 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 
SEC. 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. Regula-
tions 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 included in, and accepted with, such bequest. 
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior is 
authorized to accept private contributions and gifts to be used to fur-
ther the purposes of this Act. 
ANNUAL tlEPORTS 
SEC. 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, includ-
ing a list and descriptions of the areas in the system, regulations in 
effect, and other pertinent information, together with any recommenda-
tions they may care to make. 
Approved September 3, 1964.