The term wilderness is an administrative designation created under the Wilderness Act of 1964 applied to specific parcels of public lands. Wilderness designation enables preservation and protection of “Federal lands retaining primeval character and influence” and as such severely limits consumptive, motorized, and mechanized uses [1]. To qualify for wilderness designation, lands must be at least 5,000 acres of contiguous roadless area, primarily natural in character with human impacts substantially unnoticeable, provide opportunities for solitude, and after the first three criteria are met, may contain other supplemental values such as ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic or historical values.
Other federal lands, not officially designated as wilderness, may be managed under similarly restrictive objectives. These include lands recommended for wilderness designation by the US Forest Service (USFS) as Recommended Wilderness Areas and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as Wilderness Study Areas (WSA). Other non-wilderness designations which have restrictive management objectives include USFS Roadless Areas and BLM wilderness character areas, natural areas, and Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and Special Recreation Management Areas (SRMA).
Pertinent planning documents
- BLM Price Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (2008)
- BLM Monticello Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (2008)
- BLM Moab Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (2008)
- Manti-La Sal National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan.
Two Congressionally designated wilderness areas exist in the SEUALG region:
- Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Area, administered by the BLM is 75,580 acres in size but only 5,200 acres is in Utah.
- Dark Canyon Wilderness Area, administered by the Manti-La Sal National Forest is 45,000 acres in San Juan County. Another 62,000 acres is managed by the BLM as Primitive Area.
Wilderness qualifications include [2]:
- Size. At least 5,000 acres of contiguous roadless lands.*
- Naturalness. Minimal human impacts exist within the area (natural processes dominate).
- Opportunities for solitude. Primitive recreation and opportunities to avoid other people.
- Supplemental values. After the first three criteria are met, areas with ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic or historical values can be considered
*Minimum size can be smaller if it connects existing Wilderness Areas or Wilderness Study Areas.
Lands which appear to qualify as wilderness are designated as Recommended Wilderness areas (USFS) or Wilderness Study Areas (BLM) in planning documents. The NEPA process is followed to assess potential impacts of land use decisions, including wilderness designation. Plans are adopted after consultation with local governments, residents, Native American tribes and other interested parties. Proposed Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas are then managed as default wilderness until Congress either designates the wilderness or returns the land to the agency for other management purposes.
Wilderness study areas and other restrictive land use designations in the SEUALG
- Monticello BLM
- Cedar Mesa Primitive Special Recreation Management Area
- Dark Canyon Special Recreation Management Area/ Wilderness Study Area
- Grand Gulch Wilderness Study Area
- San Juan River Special Recreation Management Area
- Moab BLM
- Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study Area
- Coal Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Desolation Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Floy Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Flume Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Lost Spring Wilderness Study Area
- Mill Creek Wilderness Study Area
- Negro Bill Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Spruce Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Westwater Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Price BLM (2008 RMP)
- Crack Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Desolation Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Devils Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Horseshoe Canyon (North) Wilderness Study Area
- Jack Canyon Wilderness Study Area
- Links Flat Wilderness Study Area
- Mexican Mountain Wilderness Study Area
- Muddy Creek Wilderness Study Area
- San Rafael Reef Wilderness Study Area
- Sids Mountain/Sids Cabin Wilderness Study Area
- Turtle Canyon Wilderness Study Area
Lands officially designated as Wilderness become part of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS), which currently contains 765 wilderness areas encompassing an area of 109,129,657 acres [3]. The BLM Wilderness is also included in the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS).
| County | BLM ACEC | USFS Roadless |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon | 26,214 | 17,516 |
| Emery | 184,199 | 13,698 |
| Grand | 51,705 | 0 |
| San Juan | 85,598 | 16,966 |
Use the data layers to identify areas of the county that are designated as wilderness or that have wilderness characteristics.
The economic effect of wilderness designation is the subject of ongoing debate. For example, when several proposals were made in the early 1990s to increase acres of wilderness in Utah, a 1992 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study investigated a claim that designating 3.2 million acres of land as wilderness in Utah would cost the state $9.2 billion annually in future earnings [6]. The GAO study countered claim by a 1990 study that had cited adverse economic effects of wilderness designation in Utah [7]. The debate over the economic impact of designating wilderness areas continues in Utah. A 2010 Utah State University report investigated contradictory claims about the economic impact of designating wilderness areas in Utah [8].
Economic considerations of wilderness designation should include discussion on:
- Mineral and energy development potential
- Logging and forest products
- Grazing restrictions – grazing is allowed in wilderness areas but must meet wilderness guidelines.
- Private and State land inholdings
- Land transfers
- Motorized recreational uses
Wilderness designation on public lands has positive effects on local economies.
- Non-motorized recreation
- Wildlife habitat
- Drinking water source protection
- Watershed protection
Wilderness designation is intended to preserve lands in a natural state and, therefore, the designation has profound impacts on the future uses of lands within the administrative boundary. Future resources development and motorized access is permanently and severely limited. This will affect local economies dependent on future development of those resources.
Economic impact considerations of wilderness designation should include discussion concerning:
- Mineral and energy development potential
- Logging and forest products
- Grazing restrictions (grazing is allowed in wilderness areas but must meet wilderness guidelines)
- Private and state land inholdings
- Land transfers
- Motorized recreational uses
Wilderness designation on public lands also has positive effects on local economies, possibly including the economic benefits related to other natural resources included in a county’s resource management plan such as:
- Nonmotorized recreation
- Tourism
- Wildlife habitat
- Drinking water source protection
- Watershed protection
| Data Name | Data Explanation | Publication Date | Spatial Accuracy | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land Ownership , | Surface Land Ownership; use Admin field to identify administrative agency | Updated Weekly | 1:24,000 | State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA). GIS Group |
| USFS Roadless Areas (2001) | 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (36 CFR 294, Subpart B) | 7/21/2000 | 1:100,000 | USDA Forest Service |
| BLM ACEC , | Areas of Critical Environmental Concern which require special management attention to protect areas of significant values | January 2010 | 1:24,000 | Bureau of Land Management in Utah |
| BLM NLCS , | National Landscape Conservation System contains wilderness areas, wilderness study areas and national conservation areas | 3/21/2014 | 1:24,000 | Bureau of Land Management in Utah |
| National Wild and Scenic River System | River segments from USFS, BLM, FWS, and NPS | 2009 | 1:24,000 | National Atlas of the United States |
| BLM RMP Layers Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas Wilderness Characteristics and Special Recreation Management Areas | Data layers from the 2008 RMP. Includes WSA and other lands administratively endorsed as wilderness in a report sent to the President and Congress. Also includes areas managed as WSA under congressional direction | 01/09/2014 | 1:24,000 | Utah BLM data published by the Utah Automated Geographic Reference Center (AGRC) |
| Wilderness Proposals , | BLM Wilderness Study Areas and Citizen's Red Rock Wilderness Proposal (2008) | Variable | 1:24,000 | AGRC/SITLA |
References
- Wilderness Act of 1964, as enacted September 3, 1964, and amended October 21, 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136).
- US Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management. n.d. Lands With Wilderness Characteristics in the Planning Process. Accessed: 1/13/16.
- Wilderness.net. n.d. Fast Facts About America’s Wildernesses. Accessed: 1/13/16.
- US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 2007. Forest Service Manual 2300 – Wilderness Management.
- US Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 2012. BLM Manual 6340 – Management of Designated Wilderness (Public).
- US General Accounting Office. 1992. Wilderness: Effects of Designation on Economy and Grazing in Utah. Report to the Honorable Wayne Owens, House of Representatives. December.
- Leaming, G. F. 1990. The Adverse Economic Impacts of Wilderness Land Withdrawals on Utah. Western Economic Analysis Center, Marana, AZ. January.
- Yonk, R., B.C. Steed, and R. Simmons. 2010. The Local Impact of Wilderness: An Overtime Analysis of Wilderness Designation. Working Draft.