Wilderness Character Monitoring

Interagency Strategy
Landres, Peter; Barns, Chris; Dennis, John G.; Devine, Tim; Geissler, Paul; McCasland, Curtis S.; Merigliano, Linda; Seastrand, Justin; Swain, Ralph. 2008. Keeping It Wild: An Interagency Strategy to Monitor Trends in Wilderness Character Across the National Wilderness Preservation System Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-212. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 85 p.

Tables of Indicators and Measures for the Interagency Strategy
Tables from the Interagency Strategy publication listing the management questions, indicators, possible measures, and data sources for each of the four qualities of wilderness character.

Presentation on Preserving Wilderness Character: Why, What, and How
A presentation with notes that describes why it is important to preserve wilderness character, what wilderness character is, and how it would be used to help wilderness stewardship.

Applying the Concept of Wilderness Character to Wilderness Planning, Monitoring, and Management
This publication shows planners, wilderness and resource staff, and project leaders how the concept of wilderness character could be directly applied at the local level to develop management plans, fulfill NEPA compliance, develop monitoring, and be used in several other wilderness management tasks. A fully developed hypothetical example of a Decision Memo is provided. Although the title states that it is written for National Forests, the publication is written generally and would directly apply to all four wilderness managing agencies.

Forest Service National Framework
Landres, Peter; Boutcher, Steve; Merigliano, Linda; Barns, Chris; Davis, Denis; Hall, Troy; Henry, Steve; Hunter, Brad; Janiga, Patrice; Laker, Mark; McPherson, Al; Powell, Douglas S.; Rowan, Mike; Sater, Susan. 2005. Monitoring selected conditions related to wilderness character: a national framework. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-151. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 38 p.

FAQs for the Forest Service National Framework
Frequency asked questions about the Forest Service national framework for monitoring trends in wilderness character.

Forest Service Technical Guide of Monitoring Protocols
Coming soon!

More information about wilderness character monitoring can be found on the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute's Wilderness Character Monitoring website.