Frequently Asked Questions
About California Wilderness
Prepared by the California Wilderness Coalition
What is the definition of wilderness?
The Wilderness Act of 1964 created a National Wilderness Preservation System and established the definition of wilderness that is still used today. The Act defines wilderness 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."
The Act further goes on to define wilderness as "an area of undeveloped federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation." Wilderness areas are at least 5,000 acres in size (with limited exceptions), are relatively pristine with the imprint of man's work "substantially unnoticeable," provide opportunities for backcountry recreation, and may contain outstanding social or ecological values.
How is wilderness designated?
The Wilderness Act of 1964 states that only Congress can add lands to the National Wilderness Preservation System. While land management agencies can make recommendations, Congress and the President have the final say on wilderness designations. Administrative action (e.g., President Clinton's roadless area conservation policy) cannot designate new wilderness.
Who manages an area once it becomes wilderness?
The same land management agency that administered the area before it became wilderness will continue to manage it, unless Congress decides otherwise.
How much wilderness is designated in California?
Currently, California contains approximately 14 million acres of federal wilderness. This includes six million acres managed by the National Park Service, 4.4 million acres managed by the Forest Service, and 3.6 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
What activities are prohibited in wilderness areas?
Wilderness areas are managed to retain their natural character, and are closed to activities that may harm the ecological integrity of the landscape. According to the Wilderness Act, "there shall be no temporary (or permanent) road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanized transport, and no structure or installation within any such area." The Wilderness Act also prohibits commercial activities, except those necessary to enhance visitors' enjoyment of wilderness areas.
Wilderness areas are closed to logging, road construction, vehicle use, and other forms of development.
What activities are allowed in wilderness areas?
Everything that is not mentioned above! All non-motorized and non-mechanized forms of recreation are allowed in wilderness areas. This includes: hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, swimming, backpacking, horseback riding, rafting, skiing, snowshoeing, birdwatching, and much, much more.
Does the Wilderness Act prohibit mining and grazing?
Both mining and grazing are explicitly allowed in wilderness areas, so long as their use (or claim to future use) has already been established.
Grazing can continue where it was previously occurring, but no new grazing leases, and no increase in number of livestock are allowed in wilderness areas. All grazing is subject to the terms and conditions established by the land management agency overseeing the area.
Mining may take place if a claim has been staked prior to wilderness designation. (Wilderness areas are closed to new mining claims.) However, the land management agencies may require additional environmental safeguards and restoration to protect the natural integrity of a wilderness area. Federal law guarantees that miners be provided "reasonable access" to mining claims.
What about private property?
Wilderness designations only apply to federally owned lands. Private land may be contained within designated wilderness areas, but management restrictions for wilderness areas--such as prohibitions on logging and road construction--do not apply to private land.
The Wilderness Act also requires that federal land management agencies "assure adequate access" to parcels of private property within wilderness areas. The Act does not allow the government to take over private land. It only provides for federal acquisition if there is a willing seller, and Congress approves the acquisition. If you own property that is surrounded by federal land (often called an "inholding"), then you are guaranteed reasonable access to your land whether or not it is inside a wilderness area. If you have a road accessing your property, for example, then you may continue to drive it. Other members of the public will not be able to drive on your access route if it is included in a wilderness.
Wilderness designation of surrounding federal land will not impair your ability to develop your property as you see fit. In addition, your water rights are secure, since wilderness areas have no vested water rights. Many landowners have found that their property values increase because wilderness designation guarantees that no clearcuts or other disturbances will ever mar their views.
How does wilderness influence fire management?
Once an area becomes wilderness, land managers can still use fire as a tool to restore fire-dependent ecosystems. This has the benefit of reducing potentially hazardous fuel levels. At the discretion of land managers using a previously approved fire plan, lightning fires may be allowed to burn so long as the fire does not exceed any of the speed or intensity levels outlined in the plan. If the fire exceeds these parameters, then the agency will aggressively attack it.
Land managers are also allowed to use all available methods (including bulldozers and other heavy equipment) to suppress wildfires in wilderness if they feel human lives and property are threatened. This requires permission from higher agency authorities and is usually deemed unnecessary, since most fires are small and are suppressed using aircraft and hand crews whether a fire is in wilderness or not.
Are hunting and fishing allowed in wilderness?
Yes. Hunting and fishing in wilderness are subject to the same California Department of Fish and Game rules that apply elsewhere. The only exception is that game carts cannot be used. Many hunters and anglers prefer to visit wilderness because reduced competition often leads to more rewarding experiences.
Won't wilderness make my favorite hiking spot too popular?
Even the most obscure wild places will receive more visitors once they appear on tourist maps. However, this is a small price to pay for permanent protection. Some places that are far from urban areas and difficult to get to will never be overrun with people.
Is there a permit system or day-use fee for using wilderness?
National parks charge fees, while the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management most often do not. Permits may be required at the discretion of the land management agency. Most wilderness areas do not require permits.
Are wheelchairs allowed in wilderness?
Yes, including electric wheelchairs.
What is a "roadless area?"
Conservationists often use the terms "roadless area," "unprotected wilderness," "de facto wilderness," and "potential wilderness" interchangeably. These phrases generally apply to areas that meet the Congressional definition of wilderness, but have not yet been designated. That is, they contain all of the attributes of wilderness areas, but remain open to uses that degrade their natural character.
Both the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have completed surveys of their lands to determine the extent of potential wilderness areas. The Forest Service survey, completed in 1979, identified 372 areas totaling 6.3 million acres of potential wilderness. The BLM identified 209 areas totaling 7.1 million acres.
How many roadless areas remain in California?
Currently, the state contains over 300 roadless areas, totaling 7.4 million acres. The Forest Service manages the majority of these lands, with over five million acres. The Bureau of Land Management manages nearly two million acres of roadless land. The remainder of lands (about 250,000 acres) are managed by the National Park Service. This is out of a total of 45 million acres of federal land in California.
Is every vehicle route considered a road?
No. The Federal Land Management and Policy Act of 1976 (FLPMA) gave a definition of a road that is still widely used today. According to this Act, roads are improved and maintained to ensure continuous use. The Forest Service defines roads as passable by a standard passenger vehicle. Combining these definitions, we get a simple, and commonly accepted definition of a road: A road is mechanically constructed and maintained, and is passable by a standard passenger vehicle. You can also use the Ford Escort test in the field: if you can drive your Ford Escort (or equivalent) over it, it's probably a road.
Neither the Bureau of Land Management nor the Forest Service consider all vehicle routes roads. FLPMA is very clear on this point, stating that, "A way maintained solely by the passage of vehicles does not constitute a road." Many routes are created (often illegally) by continuous vehicle use. These routes are not roads. Further, rough, or ungraded and unmaintained routes are not roads either.
What is a "RARE II" roadless area?
RARE II stands for Roadless Area Review and Evaluation, a wilderness inventory completed by the U.S. Forest Service in 1979. The survey aimed to identify all potential wilderness within National Forests, and make a recommendation to Congress as to which areas should be designated as wilderness.
The initial roadless area inventory (RARE I) identified only 3.3 million acres of potential wilderness in California, and recommended even less for wilderness designation. This survey and recommendation was successfully challenged by conservationists and the agency was forced to start over. In 1979, the second inventory (RARE II) was completed, but conservationists still feared that important potential wilderness areas were missed, and recommendations were biased against wilderness designation. Still, that RARE II survey is widely used today as the standard for identifying roadless lands in national forests.
Didn't President Clinton protect all roadless areas as wilderness with his Roadless Area Conservation Rule?
No. President Clinton halted road construction and conventional logging in designated roadless areas on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The former President's Roadless Area Conservation Rule differs from wilderness in several ways. First, it provides only administrative protection for roadless areas. Such protections could be overturned by a Congress or by the Bush Administration, and indeed, the Bush Administration has so far delayed implementation of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Wilderness is a legislative protection, that can only be created or altered by Congress.
Second, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, if it is ever implemented, would not require that areas be managed as wilderness. Off-road vehicle use would still be allowed, as would other forms of resource extraction, such as oil and gas drilling. These activities are not permitted in wilderness.
What is a "Wilderness Study Area?"
The 1976 Federal Land Management Policy Act required the Bureau of Land Management to identify potential wilderness areas under its jurisdiction. In 1991, the agency released its statewide wilderness study report, which identified 7.1 million acres of potential wilderness areas across California. These areas are known as "wilderness study areas." They are equivalent to roadless areas within National Forests.
Are Wilderness Study Areas managed like roadless areas?
No. Wilderness Study Areas must be managed to preserve their wilderness values until Congress can act to either designate these areas as wilderness or to open them to other uses. This means that, in the interim, these areas are managed in a manner similar to wilderness areas.
How can I help protect California's remaining wilderness areas?
Join the California Wild Heritage Campaign and the California Wilderness Coalition. We are currently working with organizations and individuals from across the state to demonstrate the broad public support for wilderness preservation.
To learn more about the campaign, contact the California Wilderness Coalition at (510) 451-1450 or info@calwild.org.
