WILDERNESS AND WILD AREAS

In the national forests are many of the last remaining parts of the country that are still in much the same primitive state as when the first settlers reached their vicinity. They include many of the mountain ranges and peaks that the pioneers saw as landmarks and as spiritual symbols of a new world and a new life.

Most of the Nation's wild areas have been tamed by highways, automobiles, and the other devices of a mechanical civilization. But as modern developments continue, the interests of recreation, public education, and science have made it increasingly desirable to preserve representative areas of our original wilderness.

To contribute toward the satisfaction of this need, 77 areas have been designated to be preserved as wilderness. They cover 14 million acres on 73 national forests in 11 States. Of the 77 established areas, 28 exceed 100,000 acres and are known as wilderness areas. Forty-six, containing at least 5,000 acres, are called wild areas. Three, on which restriction of commercial use is less rigid, are known as roadless areas.

Their uses are limited to those consistent with their values. Most are still classified under regulation L-20 as primitive areas: other are classified under the later wilderness and wild area regulations (U-1 and U-2), established by the Secretary of Agriculture in 1939. For convenience, all areas, whether actually classified as primitive or wilderness, are now referred to as wilderness or wild areas, because their management is identical in nearly all instances.

The total acreage reserved is approximately 8 percent of that of the national forests. The areas are usually the least productive of commercially valuable timber; considerable portions are above the timber line or have only noncommercial timber growth. Most of the timber stands on the remaining parts are inaccessible because of location. The public is thus assured of preservation of the wilderness without material sacrifice of usable timber or of other values important to the economic welfare of the region.

Many of the areas have outstanding scenic values, but they were established for another reason. They were selected as typical of the Rockies, Sierras, Cascades, and other regions where people can enjoy unspoiled and unmodified nature. Similar tracts exist in the East, but they are too Small to be formally classified as wild or wilderness areas. A number of these smaller remnants of primitive forests are in the Appalachians, Alleghenies, and in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains.

Wilderness areas are designated by the Secretary of Agriculture upon recommendation of the Chief of the Forest Service. To come under this category, the lands must have no roads or other provision for motorized transportation, no commercial timber cutting, and no occupancy under special-use permit for hotels, stores, resorts, summer homes, organization camps, or for hunting and fishing lodges.

Grazing of domestic livestock and improvements necessary for fire protection may be permitted on wilderness areas, subject to restrictions made by the Chief of the Forest Service. Within designated wildernesses, the landing of airplanes on national forest land or water and the use of motorboats on national forest waters are prohibited, except where such use has already become well established or is required for administrative needs and emergencies.

Regulations further provide that wilderness areas will not be modified or eliminated except by order of the Secretary of Agriculture. Notice of every proposed establishment, modification, or elimination will be published or publicly posted by the Forest Service for at least 90 days before the approval of the contemplated order; if there is any demand for a public hearing, the regional forester will hold a hearing and report fully on it to the Chief of the Forest Service, who will submit it with his recommendation to the Secretary. It is the policy of the Department of Agriculture to allow modifications of established wilderness areas only when it is clearly in the public interest to sacrifice wilderness values in favor of other public needs.

Similar regulations apply to the establishment and maintenance of the smaller wild areas, except that decision is by the Chief of the Forest Service instead of the Secretary of Agriculture.

Wilderness areas are open to the public without restrictions except those essential for protection from fire. Hunting and fishing are permitted in wilderness areas in accordance with State laws.

The canoe country of the Superior Road-less Areas in Minnesota is unique. Many lakes and miles of connecting rivers make a canoe country without parallel. The canoe camper, the wilderness enthusiast, or the fisherman can spend weeks exploring its many bays and islands or can travel from lake to lake by connecting streams or by short, well-marked portages. The timbered shores offer excellent camp sites. Vacation trips in this area may be made at low cost $1.50 a day for a canoe is the whole cost except for food. Only persons physically unable to paddle or unable to swim need a guide and most parties go without one.

In the western mountain wilderness areas travel is by foot, horseback, or burro. Anyone accustomed to the woods can travel the trails with safety, but handling horses and pack animals is a job only for experienced persons. A packer is needed by most wilderness travelers. Packer-guides may be hired and riding horses and pack animals may be rented in the vicinity of most of the wilderness areas.

Trail travel with back pack or with camp outfit on a single burro is quite popular, especially along the Cascades and Sierras. Long, continuous trips can be made through Washington, Oregon, and California, along well-maintained trails, such as the Cascade Crest, the Oregon Skyline, Tahoe-Yosemite, Sierra, and John Muir trails. The Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs and the Pacific Trail Conference are local organizations that sponsor trail travel. In the East, Appalachian Trail stretches from Maine to Georgia, traversing a number of national forests and passes through the wildest remaining parts of the Appalachians.

Dude ranches operate near many of the wilderness areas in the West, and feature trips for their guests. Information on dude ranches can be obtained from railroad companies, chambers of commerce, or from the Dude Ranchers' Association, 21 1/2 Broadway, Billings, Mont.

The Trail Riders of the Wilderness, organized in 1933 by the American Forestry Association, 919 Seventeenth Street NW., Washington, D. C., conducts expeditions each summer to several western wilderness areas.