Wilderness Fast Facts
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Click on one of the topics below to explore these other important aspects of Wilderness:
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Facts at a Glance: Click on the graph icons below () to view system-wide statistics reports.
- Number of Wilderness Areas
704 wilderness areas
- Total Wilderness Acreage
107,514,938 acres
- Smallest Wilderness
Rocks and Islands Wilderness, northern California (5 acres)
- Largest Wilderness
Wrangell-Saint Elias Wilderness, Alaska (9,078,675 acres)
- Largest Wilderness complex (contiguous Wilderness acreage)
Noatak and Gates of the Arctic Wildernesses, Alaska (12,743,329 acres)
- Largest Wilderness complex (contiguous Wilderness acreage) in the contiguous United States
Frank Church-River of No Return and Gospel-Hump Wildernesses, Idaho (2,572,553 acres)
- Second largest Wilderness complex (contiguous Wilderness acreage) in the contiguous United States
Wildernesses in central California consisting of the southern half of the Yosemite Wilderness and the Ansel Adams, Dinkey Lakes, John Muir, Monarch, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Golden Trout, and South Sierra Wildernesses (2,241,439 acres)
- States with the most Wildernesses
California, Arizona, Nevada, Alaska, Colorado
- States with the most Wilderness acres
Alaska, California, Arizona, Washington, Idaho
- States with no Wildernesses
Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Rhode Island
- Agency managing the most Wildernesses
Forest Service
- Agency managing the most Wilderness acres
National Park Service
- Newest Wildernesses
On 5/8/08 President Bush signed into law the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008. This law designates the 106,577 acre Wild Sky Wilderness in Washington's east Snohomish County, which lies in the front range of the Cascades, north of the U.S. 2 Stevens Pass highway and the towns of Index and Skykomish. The area straddles the Beckler River and North Fork Skykomish River within the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
- Trivia Question
How many designated Wildernesses does the Appalachian National Scenic Trail traverse? Answer: 21
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Growth of the National Wilderness Preservation System
When the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, 54 areas (9.1 million acres) in 13 states were designated as Wilderness. These areas established the National Wilderness Preservation System. Since 1964, the System has grown almost every year and now includes 704 areas (107,514,938 acres) in 44 states. In 1980, the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) added over 56 million acres of wilderness to the system, the largest single addition . 1984 marks the year when the most new wilderness areas were added .
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Wilderness Area Database
Information about all of the 704 units that make up the National Wilderness Preservation System is available in a searchable format. Use the search engine to locate Wilderness areas by name, agency, size and state, and year of enacting legislation.
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NOTE: Current acreages above are the sum of acreage measurements reported by each administrative unit for each Wilderness.
Data last updated on 6/12/07. Read our data disclaimer. * Percentage derived using current reported acreage measurements and total state acreages. Acreage figures for total state land area are taken from Major Uses of Land in the United States. 1997. Economic Research Service, USDA, Statistical Bulletin No. 973 (Appendix table 1, pages 32, 33).
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OTHER RESOURCES
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Wilderness Research
Learn about organizations that conduct wilderness research. Search graduate research on wilderness.
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K-12 Education
Learn about K-12 wilderness education resources and curricula.
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University Education
Learn about university wilderness education programs and resources.
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Image Library
Search for wilderness images donated by the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, National Park Service and the public.
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Wilderness Law Library
Search public laws that affect wilderness.
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Audio and Video
View wilderness-related multimedia clips.
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Links
Link to other wilderness-related websites.
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Quotes
Read quotes about wilderness.
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Community
Search for a resource or join the wilderness community.
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