Wilderness Facts

Wade · Jun 26, 2009

These numbers are just approximate.

There are 756 wilderness areas.

There is a total of 109.5 Million Acres of Wilderness.
That's about 54 times larger than Yellowstone.

52% of Wilderness is in Alaska. 48% in the lower 48.

There are 643 million acres of federal land ( US Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Game, National Parks)

That means 17% of all federal land is wilderness.

Another 43 million acres are designated as Wilderness Study Areas.
They are just waiting for congressional vote, to become full wilderness.

In 2009 52 new wilderness areas were created, and 26 existing wildernesses expanded, consuming another 2.1 million acres of federal land.

MtnMasher · Jun 27, 2009

Thank god we have SAWS, Blue Ribbon, ect. to fight for open land. I just want to know what kind of animal lives in those 14,000 ft wilderness areas in the winter? Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesen't wilderness mean its off limits to horse back riders, mountian bikers, and hunters? If so why don't we all get together and form one big coalition? It would be a heavy hitter and open up alot of "wilderness" areas. My .02, MM

DOO DAWG · Jun 28, 2009

MtnMasher said:
Thank god we have SAWS, Blue Ribbon, ect. to fight for open land. I just want to know what kind of animal lives in those 14,000 ft wilderness areas in the winter? Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesen't wilderness mean its off limits to horse back riders, mountian bikers, and hunters? If so why don't we all get together and form one big coalition? It would be a heavy hitter and open up alot of "wilderness" areas. My .02, MM

only off limits to Mountain bikers, horses and hunters limited to 12 heartbeat rule. National Parks off limits to hunters,of which TOO MANY of them think wilderness is great. NOT this one!

swampwater · Jun 29, 2009

12 heartbeat rule only applies to Pack animals not hunters and I saw many trains with more than 12 they just split up while on the trail. As for wilderness while I don't believe we need any more wilderness areas The original ones in compliance with the 64 wilderness act are fine with me as it was sure nice to have areas to pack and not worry about dirt bikes and hordes of greenies to ruin the experience, and believe me I seldom saw any granola crunchers in the wilderness areas I packed. They talk a good line but when it comes to hiking over two passes , 4,000 foot plus elevation climb each and 18 to 30 miles forget it they couldn't pack enough granola. Swampy

:beer;

Quote:
Originally Posted by MtnMasher
Thank god we have SAWS, Blue Ribbon, ect. to fight for open land. I just want to know what kind of animal lives in those 14,000 ft wilderness areas in the winter? Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesen't wilderness mean its off limits to horse back riders, mountian bikers, and hunters? If so why don't we all get together and form one big coalition? It would be a heavy hitter and open up alot of "wilderness" areas. My .02, MM

only off limits to Mountain bikers, horses and hunters limited to 12 heartbeat rule. National Parks off limits to hunters,of which TOO MANY of them think wilderness is great. NOT this one!

Wade · Jun 29, 2009

Let's see, wilderness is off limits to anything with a motor, or a wheel. And, a bunch of stuff I still can't figure out.

No chainsaws, wheel barrows, game carts, wagons, bikes, parachutes, airplanes, helicopters, para-sail snowboarding, gliders. But, somehow plastic explosives can be used to make trails?????? There are some wheelchairs allowed also.

I can't figure out how skiers get by, but they do.

Personally, I think wilderness is fine in limited quantity. I'd be happy if they just quit creating more every year. The original wilderness bill, even allowed for some snowmobiles, to groom skate-ski trails, and to get to land locked cabins, and a few wilderness runways are still in use. I'm not against wilderness, I'm against more wilderness. And, I think a lot of wilderness should be opened up to snowmobilers in the winter. Not all, just the parts no one else is/can use.

Rprecision · Jun 30, 2009

Thanks for all the info...........

I would love to see a break down by states (Western)

I usally throw up a little everytime I really look at it.......

FSJ · Jun 30, 2009

Washington state:

Size of state: 44.6 million acres
Wilderness: 4.4 million acres
% of total US wilderness: 4% (Alaska has over 50%)

Snowlover · Jul 1, 2009

12 Heartbeat rule applies to Boy Scouts, so I expect it applies to hunters, but is not observed.

We were required, by Mr Ranger @ the Fish Lake campground to split our group into two groups to hike from Tucquala lake to Paddy Go Easy pass. We had 10 souts and 3 leaders so there was no way we could go with everyone and still meet the 2 leader scout requirment and the 12 heartbeat rule.

newtrout · Jul 1, 2009

Speaking of scout troops, we passed a group of scouts near Thorp Lake last weekend. 48 people in the group. Glad to see the kids getting out, but holy sh!t! I was not impressed that the scout leaders chose to take a group that large.

DOO DAWG · Jul 2, 2009

Thank god the Reagan Administration did THIS, since it put these people in our camp. THANK YOU Ronnie!

The Wilderness Act was reinterpreted by the Administration in 1986 to ban bicycles from Wilderness areas, which led to the current vocal opposition from mountain bikers to the opening of new Wilderness areas.

Wade · Jul 3, 2009

Rprecision said:
Thanks for all the info...........

I would love to see a break down by states (Western)

I usally throw up a little everytime I really look at it.......

http://www.snowmobile-alliance.org/Facts_and_Friends.html

These numbers are a year old, there has been 2.1 million acres added since then. 1/2 a million in Idaho.

Alaska has 48 wildernesses that contain a total of 57,425,569 acres of designated wilderness

California has 138 wildernesses that contain a total of 14,335,878 acres of designated wilderness

Colorado has 41 wildernesses that contain a total of 3,390,635 acres of designated wilderness

Idaho has 6 wildernesses that contain a total of 4,005,754 acres of designated wilderness

Montana has 15 wildernesses that contain a total of 3,443,038 acres of designated wilderness

Nevada has 68 wildernesses that contain a total of 3,450,986 acres of designated wilderness

Oregon has 40 wildernesses that contain a total of 2,273,614 acres of designated wilderness

Utah has 16 wildernesses that contain a total of 900,614 acres of designated wilderness

Washington has 30 wildernesses that contain a total of 4,317,099 acres of designated wilderness

Wyoming has 15 wildernesses that contain a total of 3,111,232 acres of designated wildernesses

NOTE: Current state acreages above are the sum of acreage measurements reported by each administrative unit for each Wilderness. Last updated on 3/28/08.

The actual numbers are still a little in flux.

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Wilderness Facts

Wade

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MtnMasher

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DOO DAWG

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swampwater

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Wade

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Rprecision

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FSJ

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Wade

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