Wilderness,
the USDA Forest Service and the National Forest
Foundation
The NFF's new grant program aims at caring for our
nation's Wilderness Areas.
America's wilderness is borne of our unique landscape
and visionary Forest Service leadership, and is protected
thanks to dedicated elected officials who saw fit to
preserve these marvelous lands. Following the foresight
of such Forest Service leaders as Aldo Leopold, Bob
Marshall and Arthur Carhart, the idea that "pristine" or "primeval" federal
land in its natural state could be set aside as wilderness
for all to enjoy entered into the American mind.
In 1964, Congress established the National Wilderness
Preservation System under The Wilderness Act. The legislation
allows certain federal lands to be set aside as Wilderness
Areas. The Wilderness Act describes these areas as
places "...where the
earth and its community of life are untrammeled by
man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness
Act, the NFF has developed, in conjunction with Forest
Service leaders, criteria for a new grant program specifically
tailored for stewardship of our Wilderness Areas. The
special Wilderness grants support the NFF's mission
as well as the Chief of the Forest Service's recently
released "10-year Wilderness Stewardship Challenge," which
aims to improve the health of Wilderness Areas within
the National Forest System. To learn more about wilderness
in our National Forest and how to apply for a grant,
please read below. To
read the grant criteria, click here. >>
Why Wilderness Areas are
crucial to the National Forest System
The Forest Service is one of four federal agencies
charged with management of the National Wilderness
Preservation System, with responsibility for 35 million
acres of wilderness areas, or 33% of the overall wilderness
system and 20% of Forest Service land. Forest Service
Wilderness Areas are crucial sources of clean air,
clean water, wildlife habitat, species diversity and
extraordinary non-motorized backcountry recreational
opportunities. But the ecosystems in many of these
areas are at risk due to both natural and human-caused
stresses.
The Forest Service Wilderness
Stewardship Challenge
The Forest Service has established a set of standards
that measure the effectiveness of current wilderness
management. A recent study by the Forest Service showed
that only a small number of Forest Service Wilderness
Areas meet the baseline, or minimum requirements. In
response, Dale Bosworth, chief of the Forest Service,
established the Wilderness Stewardship Challenge to
make 100 percent of all Forest Service Wilderness Areas
meet those baseline standards within 10 years. The
challenge is set up in a way that allows wilderness
managers and Forest Service leaders to measure their
progress toward meeting this goal. The criteria look
at such things as:
- Whether there is an implementable fire plan in place that includes a full range of management options and adequate personnel.
- What type of noxious weeds are present and whether an effective weed management plan is in place.
- Air quality data that looks at visibility, odor and the effects of pollution on flora and fauna.
- Wilderness education plans.
- Recreational site inventories; quality of recreational experiences in terms of solitude and primitive surroundings; and the effectiveness of outfitter permitting programs.
- Whether adequate workforces with adequately skilled staff are in place to perform necessary management duties.
The NFF's Wilderness Stewardship
Grants
The NFF, as the official nonprofit partner of the Forest
Service, has initiated a matching awards grant program
that, together with the agency's Wilderness Stewardship
Challenge, works to improve the health of our Wilderness
Areas. NFF Wilderness Stewardship Grants provide matching
funds of up to $50,000 to nonprofit organizations to
implement on-the-ground projects that directly benefit
Wilderness Areas within our National Forests and Grasslands.
To learn
more about applying for a grant, please read our grant
criteria. >> |
