A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 475 



As regards area, no absolute limits can be set. Americans who want 

 wildernesses of the sort which existed in frontier days will need to 

 retreat to the more remote expanses of northern Canada and Alaska. 

 Some semblance of pioneer conditions might be obtained in tracts of 

 more than a million acres, of which several still remain uninvaded by 

 roads. For those wishing to spend one or two weeks in wilderness 

 travel without retracing their routes, 200,000 acres (about 300 square 

 miles) is the least area that would generally prove satisfactory. In 

 this report that acreage has been adopted as the minimum size for a 

 wilderness. In many cases smaller units have a great recreational 

 value, but it is not the value of wilderness travel, and consequently 

 such tracts will not be considered as wilderness areas. 



There remain today in the United States only 9 areas of 1,000,000 

 acres or more, 18 areas of 500,000 acres or more, and 38 areas of 200,000 

 acres or more which could still be set aside as wilderness tracts without 

 involving any serious sacrifice of commercial values, any great risk 

 to adequate fire protection, or any major changes in existing highway 

 plans. These tracts total about 26,950,000 acres. Approximately 

 8,425,000 acres in the East is almost entirely covered by forest. The 

 18,525,000 acres in the West includes at least 7 million acres of non- 

 forested land. This leaves about 20 million acres of wilderness in a 

 forested condition. As has been explained, almost no sacrifice of 

 economic values would result from preserving these forest areas as 

 wilderness. The only sacrifice involved would be in barring tourists. 

 In view of the fact that 486 million acres of forest land in the country 

 would remain subject to highway development, it would not seem 

 unreasonable to bar mechanized development from 20 million acres. 



The wilderness journey is still relatively unusual, both because for 

 full enjoyment it requires considerable facility and training, and be- 

 cause it is expensive. Only a strong and experienced woodsman can 

 pack on his back the necessary equipment for more than a week of 

 wilderness travel. The great majority of wilderness travelers must 

 buy or hire pack horses or boats, or employ back-packers. Unless 

 they have had considerable experience in the woods they must also 

 employ guides. Consequently, although a competent man can take 

 a 2-week wilderness journey with one pack horse for $30, most people 

 would require a couple of horses and a guide at a cost of at least 

 $125, even if they do not have to buy special clothing and camp 

 equipment. A month's trip with an elaborate outfit in especially 

 inaccessible country ma} 7 easily cost one man $1,000. 



In the future, however, as more and more people learn how to care 

 for themselves in the woods, and above all as wilderness journeying 

 becomes recognized as an important and exceptionally virile form of 

 recreation, a decrease in cost of participation may be expected similar 

 to that which has accompanied the development of other popular 

 pastimes. Furthermore, the heightened standard of living which it 

 is reasonable to predict for the future may be expected to make 

 travel in the wilderness a possibility for tens of thousands who today 

 yearn futilely for such adventure. 



In consequence, a greatly increased amount of journeying in the 

 wilderness may fairly be expected. It would seem reasonable, there- 

 fore, to establish as wilderness areas all tracts for which no definitely 

 higher present utility exists. If in the future the use of these tracts 

 does not justify their retention as wilderness areas, it will always be 



