WHAT IS WILDERNESS MANAGED FOR?
“Once land is designated as wilderness, how do we
preserve the spirit of the land, its wildness and
naturalness?” -- Laura and Guy Waterman, Wilderness Ethics,1993
“The purpose of the Wilderness Act is to
preserve the wilderness character of the
areas to be included in the wilderness
system, not to establish any particular use.”
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IS THERE A PROBLEM?
• Many wilderness managers are concerned about:
 wilderness character is degrading
 a traditional primary focus on recreation
 shifting baselines with new staff
• A lack of tools managers can use to assess their
accomplishments in preserving wilderness character
• Little or no integration/communication across staff areas
about how wilderness character is changing over time
• Increasing litigation based on wilderness character
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WHY WILDERNESS CHARACTER?
It’s the law: Wilderness Act of 1964
• Statement of Policy, Section 2(a):
“a National Wilderness Preservation System...shall
be administered...so as to provide for the protection
of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness
character”
• Use of Wilderness Areas, Section 4(b):
“each agency administering any area designated
as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving
the wilderness character of the area”
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WHY WILDERNESS CHARACTER?
It’s the policy of all four wilderness managing
agencies to preserve wilderness character
USDA Forest Service: Forest Service Manual Chapter
2320—Wilderness Management
DOI Bureau of Land Management: Manual 8560—
Management of Designated Wilderness Areas
DOI Fish and Wildlife Service: Natural and Cultural
Resources Management, Part 610 Wilderness
Stewardship
DOI National Park Service: Chapter 6: Wilderness
Preservation and Management; Director’s Orders #41
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WHY WILDERNESS CHARACTER?
To Improve On-the-ground Stewardship:
• Understand consequences of decisions and actions
using a systematic framework and language
• Provide accountability
• Provide legacy information that will endure over
time when personnel change
• Communicate a positive and tangible vision for what
wilderness is within the agency and with the public
• Guard against legal vulnerability
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WILDERNESS CHARACTER IN COURT
“…an improper evaluation of the wilderness
character of the area….”
Barnes v. Babbitt (D. Ariz.) (2004)
“‘Natural conditions’…are part of the ‘wilderness
character’ to be preserved.”
Wilderness Soc. v. USFWS (9th Cir. En banc) (2003)
“…that action degrades the wilderness
character….”
Izaak Walton League v. Kimbell (D. Minn.) (2007)
“[The decision] is in direct contradiction of the
mandate to preserve the wilderness character.”
OLYM Park Assoc. v. Mainella (West. D. WA) (2005)
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WILDERNESS CHARACTER IN COURT
From all 287 cases involving “wilderness
character” (2010, Peter Appel, Stanford Env Law Journal):
• When plaintiffs claim the agency protects
wilderness “too much” the agency wins 90%
• When plaintiffs claim the agency protects
wilderness “too little” the agency wins 46%
All recent court cases confirm agency
responsibility for preserving wilderness character
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THE STEWARDSHIP TASK:
PRESERVE WILDERNESS CHARACTER
LESS
Wilderness
Character
MORE
Congress determines the
state of wilderness character
at the time of designation
Our task is to
sustain or
improve this
state
MORE
LESS
Modern Human Influence
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Please enter into the Q & A pane any questions
you have about the legislative and policy
mandate to preserve wilderness character
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DEFINING WILDERNESS CHARACTER:
A BRIEF HISTORY
1964 Wilderness Act: “each agency … shall be responsible
for preserving the wilderness character of the area”
2001 to 2005: Forest Service team builds and publishes
wilderness character monitoring framework
2005 to 2009: Forest Service team builds, pilot tests, and
publishes wilderness character monitoring protocols
2006 to 2009: Interagency team builds, pilot tests, and
publishes “Keeping It Wild” monitoring strategy
2009: BLM implements wilderness character monitoring
2010: NPS charters “Wilderness Character Integration Team”
2011: FWS implements wilderness character monitoring
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WILDERNESS CHARACTER
• Why preserve it?
• What is it?
• How to monitor it?
Developed by the
“Interagency Wilderness
Character Monitoring Team”
(2006 – 2008)
Proof-of-concept tested (2009)
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WHAT IS WILDERNESS CHARACTER?
No definition in the Wilderness Act and no legislative
history on the meaning of this phrase
What is “character”?
“The combination of qualities or features that distinguishes
one person, group, or thing from another” – American
Heritage Dictionary
“The aggregate of distinctive qualities” – Webster’s 3rd New
International Dictionary
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Wilderness Act of 1964
Wilderness Character
Section 2(c) Definition
of Wilderness
Qualities of
Wilderness Character
• Tangible, practical
• Link management actions
directly to the language of
law and policy
• Applies to EVERY
wilderness and agency
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QUALITIES OF WILDERNESS CHARACTER
1. “Natural”
Wilderness ecological systems are substantially free
from the effects of modern civilization
WHY:
• Preserve indigenous
species, patterns,
and ecological and
evolutionary
processes
• Understand and learn
from natural systems
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EXAMPLES OF WHAT DEGRADES THIS QUALITY
• Air pollutants
• Occurrence of non-indigenous species
• Altered water flow
• Extirpated or extinct native animals and plants
• Altered disturbance regimes
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QUALITIES OF WILDERNESS CHARACTER
2. “Solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation”
Wilderness provides outstanding opportunities for
solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation
WHY:
• Primitive recreation and
the use of traditional skills
• Personal challenge and
self-discovery
• Freedom from the
constraints of culture
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EXAMPLES OF WHAT DEGRADES THIS QUALITY
• Agency-provided
facilities that decrease
self-reliant recreation
• The sights and
sounds of people
inside wilderness
• Management
restrictions on
visitor behavior
• The sights and sounds of occupied and
modified areas outside the wilderness
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QUALITIES OF WILDERNESS CHARACTER
3. “Undeveloped”
Wilderness retains its primeval character and
influence, and is essentially without permanent
improvement or modern human occupation
WHY:
• Preserve places from
“expanding settlement
and growing
mechanization”
• Allow people to feel a
part of “the community
of life”
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EXAMPLES OF WHAT DEGRADES THIS QUALITY
• Non-recreational structures or installations
• Use of motor vehicles,
motorized equipment, or
mechanical transport
• Inholdings
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QUALITIES OF WILDERNESS CHARACTER
4. “Untrammeled”
Wilderness is essentially unhindered and free from
the actions of modern human control or manipulation
WHY:
• To manage with the
utmost humility and
restraint
• To respect the
autonomy of nature,
to let a place be wild
and free
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EXAMPLES OF WHAT DEGRADES THIS QUALITY
• Authorized actions that manipulate, control, or
hinder the “community of life”
Killing predators
Spraying weeds
Suppressing fire
Stocking fish/wildlife
Lighting fire
Collaring wildlife
• Unauthorized actions that manipulate,
control, or hinder the “community of life”
“Bucket brigade”
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QUALITIES OF WILDERNESS CHARACTER
5. “Other features”
WHAT: wilderness “may also contain ecological,
geological, or other features of scientific, educational,
scenic, or historical value.” (Wilderness Act, Sec 2c)
WHY:
• To protect the
tangible features
that are unique
to the wilderness
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Wilderness character
is more than the sum
of its parts…
…and if one of those
parts is taken away or
degraded, the whole
doesn’t work the way
it’s supposed to
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IMPLICATION: A SINGLE DECISION OR ACTION MAY
AFFECT MORE THAN ONE QUALITY
Example: installing a
barrier to restrict nonnative
fish movement to improve
the natural quality, AND…
• The decision and action to install the structure
degrades the untrammeled quality
• Modified water flow degrades the natural quality
• The presence of the structure degrades the
undeveloped quality
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IMPLICATION: A SINGLE DECISION OR ACTION MAY
AFFECT MORE THAN ONE QUALITY
Example: installing
scientific equipment
to understand the
effects of climate
change may benefit
the natural quality,
AND…
• The installation degrades the undeveloped quality
• The sight and sound of the equipment and its use
degrades the solitude quality
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KEY POINTS ABOUT
WILDERNESS CHARACTER
• Wilderness character is composed of four
qualities that uniquely apply to every wilderness
• There may also be an “other features” quality that
is part of wilderness character
• All qualities of wilderness character are equally
important and inter-related
• Stewardship decisions to take or not take action
affect these qualities
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Please enter into the Q & A pane any
questions you have about the definition of
wilderness character
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USING WILDERNESS CHARACTER IN
PROJECT PLANNING
NEPA compliance
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USING WILDERNESS CHARACTER IN
PROJECT PLANNING
Wilderness
character was
used to analyze
the impacts from
the action
alternatives
Results reported
in terms of
degradation of
wilderness
character
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USING WILDERNESS
CHARACTER IN
WILDERNESS
PLANNING
Spatial model or map
of wilderness character
for the Death Valley
Wilderness in Death
Valley National Park
Composed of the four
equally weighted
qualities, built from 41
weighted input variables
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EFFECTS OF PLANNING ALTERNATIVES
Remoteness in the Racetrack area, Death Valley Wilderness
Dirt road
Paved Road
The darker the green the better the remoteness
The darker the brown the bigger the adverse impact on remoteness
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USING WILDERNESS CHARACTER IN
MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
• Minimum Requirements Analysis
• Evaluating proposals for science activities
• Fire resource advising
• Information needs assessment
• Interpretation and education planning
• Exotic species management
• Climbing management
• Commercial services assessment
• Maintenance operations
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USING WILDERNESS CHARACTER IN MONITORING
• Hierarchically organized
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HIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION
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USING WILDERNESS CHARACTER IN MONITORING
• Hierarchically organized
• Trend is assessed from
change within a wilderness
because every wilderness
is unique
• Balances local flexibility
and relevance with national
consistency because every
wilderness is part of the
National Wilderness
Preservation System
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BALANCING NATIONAL CONSISTENCY
WITH LOCAL FLEXIBILITY
National Consistency: every wilderness uses the same
• 5 qualities
• 8 monitoring questions
• 12 indicators
• Process for synthesizing trends of the measures to
assess trend at levels higher than the measure
Local Flexibility: every wilderness uses one of the
recommended measures OR a locally derived measure
that has an established protocol
Applying wilderness
character to stewardship,
planning, and monitoring:
• Is relatively new yet simple
• Allows discussion about the
tradeoffs in proposed actions
• Allows transparent and
defensible decisions
• Provides the language to
improve internal and external
communication
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Wilderness.net > Management Tools >
Toolboxes > Wilderness Character
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YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS WEBINAR
• Learn more about wilderness character
• What is it?
• How do I describe it?
• How do I preserve it?
• Applying wilderness character to monitoring
• What are the current monitoring efforts?
• How do I identify indicators to monitor?
• Applying wilderness character to planning
• How does wilderness character impact management ability?
• Applying wilderness character to stewardship of small eastern
wildernesses
• How can I use wilderness character to foster better
communication about wilderness?
Using wilderness character to help solve YOUR
stewardship problems and challenges
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