Federal agencies unveil 2020 wilderness vision

Federal land managers say they want complete wilderness area inventories develop climate-change vulnerability and adaptation studies across 110 million acres of wilderness lands in the U.S. in the next five years as part of an interagency wilderness vision for 2020. The plan is aimed at ensuring continued preservation of the lands that make up the National Wilderness Preservation System across the jurisdictions of various agencies that manage wilderness lands, including the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The document also outlines how partnerships with non-government organizations are important for the management of wilderness, emphasizes three broad themes: protecting wilderness resources, connecting people to their wilderness heritage, and fostering excellence in wilderness leadership and coordination. The 758 wilderness areas in 44 states and Puerto Rico showcase some of America’s most pristine landscapes, including forested mountains, alpine meadows, rock peaks above timberline, tundra, lava beds, deserts, swamps, coastal lands, and islands. “Our responsibility for administering wilderness came late, compared to other Federal agencies,” said BLM Director Neil Kornze, “but BLM lands are now, and will remain, absolutely central to the nation’s conservation vision.” Kornze said nearly two-thirds of the wilderness that has been designated since 2000 has been on BLM-managed lands and that the BLM has more than 500 wilderness study areas under its management. “Many of us have experienced the majesty of being out on Western landscapes that have remained largely unchanged for thousands of years,” Kornze said. “With that same sense of wonder, the BLM looks forward to continuing its protection of wilderness in cooperation with all who care about the effective stewardship of these lands.”...more