Figure 2. — Wilderness 

 should provide the 

 visitor with soli- 

 tude, or primitive 

 and unoonfined re- 

 creation, conditions 

 enjoyed by this fish- 

 erman in the Peoos 

 Wilderness of New 

 Mexico . 



The extent of overuse varies within and between individual wildernesses (fig. 3). 

 While severe problems exist in some locations, others retain those pristine qualities 

 that originally led to their designation as wilderness. However, as we look ahead, and 

 as we consider the goals of ecosystem naturalness and the provision of a unique recrea- 

 tional experience in light of the supply and demand factors reviewed earlier, rationing 

 will certainly become an increasingly significant issue. In the face of continued in- 

 creases in use on a relatively fixed resource base, it is unlikely that goals set forth 

 in the Wilderness Act can be achieved unless some management action is taken. Guidelines 

 for regulating wilderness use consistent with physical, biological, and social standards 

 need to be developed (fig. 4). Unless this occurs, the quality of the wilderness ex- 

 perience will deteriorate and unacceptable levels of resource degradation will occur. 



Wilderness managers have a variety of tools for coping with excessive impacts (Lime 

 and Stankey 1971). Improving use distributions, providing information to improve user 

 behavior, and establishing regulations to control especially heavy impact, such as re- 

 strictions on stock in high mountain meadows, are examples. Direct control in the 

 numbers of users, or rationing, is yet another technique and, as we noted above, has 

 been already implemented on some areas. 



3 



