Figure 29—Congress has dedicated some 89 million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation 
System. 
State agencies manage over 2.6 million 
acres of State-designated wilderness. 
More than 88 percent is on State forest 
lands of the Northeast; most of the rest 
is in State parks along the Pacific coast. 
Local governments and private 
organizations, such as the Nature 
Conservancy, currently manage over 
1.3 million acres of protected natural 
areas. Over 40 percent of these acres 
are in the Northeast; about 30 percent 
more are in the Southeast. 
In addition to formally protected 
wilderness, there remains extensive 
land acreage (over 300 million acres) 
under Federal and State jurisdictions. 
These lands provide primitive, 
dispersed recreational experiences 
similar to those that can be enjoyed in 
designated wilderness. 
Major future growth of the National 
Wilderness Preservation System is not 
expected. Preservation of natural areas 
by State and local governments and by 
private sector organizations, however, 
appears to be growing. Total acreage 
will be small, however. 
Wilderness Uses 
The number of visits to national forest 
wilderness areas grew rapidly in the 
1960' and 1970's. More recently, 
growth in wilderness visits has slowed 
to about 4.5 percent per year, and some 
declines have recently occurred in 
specific areas. Much of the increase 
over the past 10 years was due to 
additions to the National Wilderness 
Preservation System on National Forest 
System lands and not growth of 
visitation per area. After rising quickly 
during the 1970's, overnight use of 
national park backcountry, which 
includes designated wilderness, entered 
a period of decline about 1980. These 
trends are indicative of the shift from 
the less frequent, multiple-day trips of 
the past to the shorter, more frequent 
trips of the 1980’s. More trips to 
wilderness areas now are for day use, 
rather than for overnight and multiday 
visits. In addition, total time spent in 
wilderness areas has been relatively 
stable in recent years. Wilderness use 
accounts for 5 percent of national forest 
recreation use and less than | percent 
of all outdoor recreation. 
Onsite recreation is only one of the 
ways in which wilderness resources are 
important. Some people value knowing 
that wilderness exists, whether or not 
they personally make a visit. Also, 
maintenance of species diversity, 
protection of habitat for threatened and 
endangered species, and preservation 
of social and spiritual values are ways 
that the wilderness resource is 
important. Wilderness areas also serve 
a number of scientific and research 
needs, especially for studying 
undisturbed natural processes. Some 
areas also support commercial uses 
such as mining, grazing, and 
subsistence living, and many are 
important for watershed protection. 
