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63. Wilderness Act 

 16 f/.S.C. 1131-1136 



§1131. National Wilderness Preservation System. 



(a) Establishment; Congressional declaration of pol- 

 icy; wilderness areas; administration for public 

 use and enjoyment, protection, preservation, and 

 gathering and dissemination of information; pro- 

 visions for designation as wilderness areas. 



In order to assure that an increasing population, 

 accompanied by expanding settlement and growing 

 mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas 

 within the United States and its possessions, leaving 

 no lands designated for preservation and protection 

 in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be 

 the policy of the Congress to secure for the Amer- 

 ican people of present and future generations the 

 benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For 

 this purpose there is hereby established a National 

 Wilderness Preservation System to be composed of 

 federally owned areas designated by Congress as 

 "wilderness areas", and these shall be administered 

 for the use and enjoyment of the American people 

 in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for 

 future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as 

 to provide for the protection of these areas, the 

 preservation of their wilderness character, and for 

 the gathering and dissemination of information re- 

 garding their use and enjoyment as wilderness; and 

 no Federal lands shall be designated as "wilderness 

 areas" except as provided for In this chapter or by 

 a subsequent Act. 



(b) Management of area included in System; appro- 

 priations. 



The inclusion of an area in the National Wilder- 

 ness Preservation System notwithstanding, the area 

 shall continue to be managed by the Department 

 and agency having jurisdiction thereover immediate- 

 ly before its inclusion in the National Wilderness 

 Preservation System unless otherwise provided by 

 Act of Congress. No appropriation shall be avail- 

 able for the payment of expenses or salaries for the 

 administration of the National Wilderness Preserva- 

 tion System as a separate unit nor shall any appro- 

 priations be available for additional personnel stated 

 as being required solely for the purpose of managing 

 or administering areas solely because they are In- 

 cluded within the National Wilderness Preservation 

 System. 



(c) Definition of wilderness. 



A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where 

 man and his own works dominate the landscape, is 

 hereby recognized as an area where the earth and 

 Its community of life are untrammeled by man, 

 where man himself Is a visitor who does not remain. 

 An area of wilderness is further defined to mean 

 in this chapter an area of undeveloped Federal 

 land retaining its primeval character and influence, 

 without permanent improvements or human habita- 

 tion, which is protected and managed so as to pre- 

 serve Its natural conditions and which (1) generally 

 appears to have been affected primarily by the 



forces of nattire, with the imprint of man's work 

 substantially unnoticeable ; (2) has outstanding op- 

 portunities for solitude or a primitive and uncon- 

 flned type of recreation; (3) has at least five thou- 

 sand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make 

 practicable its preservation and use in an unim- 

 paired condition; and (4) may also contain ecologi- 

 cal, geological, or other features of scientific, 

 educational, scenic, or historical value. (Pub. L. 88- 

 577, § 2, Sept. 3, 1964. 78 Stat. 890.) 

 Short Trnjc 

 Section 1 of Pub. L. 88-577 provided that: "This Act 

 [which enacted this chapterl may be cited as the 'Wilder- 

 ness Act'." 



§ 1132. Extent of System. 



(a) Designation of wilderness areas; filing of maps 

 and descriptions with congressional committees; 

 correction of errors; public records; availability 

 of records in regional offices. 



All areas within the national forests classified at 

 least 30 days before September 3, 1964 by the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest Serv- 

 ice as "wilderness", "wild", or "canoe" are hereby 

 designated as wilderness areas. The Secretary of 

 Agriculture shall — 



(1) Within one year after September 3, 1964, 

 file a map and legal description of each wilder- 

 ness area with the Interior and Insular Affairs 

 Committees of the United States Senate and the 

 House of Representatives, and such descriptions 

 shall have the same force and effect as if included 

 in this chapter: Provided, however. That correc- 

 tion of clerical and typographical errors In such 

 legal descriptions and maps may be made. 



(2) Maintain, available to the public, records 

 pertaining to said wilderness areas, including 

 maps and legal descriptions, copies of regulations 

 governing them, copies of public notices of, and 

 reports submitted to Congress regarding pending 

 additions, eliminations, or modifications. Maps, 

 legal descriptions, and regulations pertaining to 

 wilderness areas within their respective jurisdic- 

 tions also shall be available to the public in the 

 offices of regional foresters, national forest super- 

 visors, and forest rangers. 



(b) Review by Secretary of Agriculture of classifica- 

 tions as primitive areas ; Presidential recommenda- 

 tions to Congress; approval of Congress; size of 

 primitive areas; Gore Range-Eagles Nest Primi- 

 tive Area, Colorado. 



The Secretary of Agriculture shall, within ten 

 years after September 3, 1964, review, as to its suit- 

 ability or nonsuitabillty for preservation as wilder- 

 ness, each area in the national forests classified on 

 September 3, 1964 by the Secretary of Agriculture or 

 the Chief of the Forest Service as "primitive" and 

 report his findings to the President. The President 

 shall advise the United States Senate and House of 

 Representatives of his recommendations with 

 respect to the designation as "wilderness" or other 

 reclassification of each area on which review has 



