34 



Where's the 

 Wilderness? 



majority of the nation's 

 wilderness. 62 3% of ihe 

 sysiem or 56 5 million 

 acres, is in Alaska 



Most of TTie rest, one-third of the 

 entire wilderness system, is in the 

 western slates. Thus. 9S 3% of all 

 the protected wilderness in the 

 United States is in the 1 1 western 

 states or Alaska Only 4 7% of 

 the nation's wilderness lies east 

 of the 100th meridian, and 

 almost half of it con be found in 

 just two areas: Everglades 

 National Park in Florida — the 

 second largest wilderness orea in 

 the lower 48 states — and 

 Minnesota's Boundary Waters 

 Canoe Area. 



The Northeast has the smallest 

 amount of wilderness. In the 11 

 states from Maine to Mary- 

 land, where nearly one-quarter 

 of the nation's population 

 resides, there is a total of only 

 192,686 acres of wilderness. 



This represents |ust two-tenths of 

 one percent of the wilderness 

 system and less than rwo-hun- 

 dredths of one percent of the 

 land area of those states 



Nationwide, there are some 474 

 wilderness areas — 43 in Alaska 

 and 431 in the rest of the United 

 States Federal wilderness areas 

 are found in every state except 

 Connecticut. Rhode Island. 

 Delaware. Maryland. Kansas 

 and Iowa. 



The notion's largest wilderness 

 area, 8 7 million ocres, is in 

 Wrongell-Sl Elias Notional Park 

 in Alaska. The largest wilderness 

 area in the lower 48 states is Ihe 

 Frank Church - River of No 

 Return Wilderness in Idaho, 

 which totals 2.3 million acres. 

 The nation's smallest wilderness 

 area, just six acres, can be found 

 on the Pelican Island National 

 Wildlife Refuge in Florida, the 

 first nationol wildlife refuge in 

 Amenca established in 1903. 

 Outside of Alaska, California hos 

 the most wilderness. 



the wilderness socim 



1-100 Es Sinn. MV 

 Wam ■■<■■-■ DC 20005 



