Wilderness
"Wilderness areas are among the few places on earth
where we have agreed to allow nature, for the most part, to operate on her
own terms. Desirable behavior is more likely to occur if people understand
how their actions affect the way nature operates."
-- Dr. George Wallace
The
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The
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Welcome to Wilderness!
Welcome
to your National Forest Wilderness. If you are planning a backcountry trip
into wilderness you are about to enjoy one of our nation's greatest treasures.
The very concept of wilderness is the stuff that dreams are made of. The word
itself conjures up visions of adventure, challenge, and romance with just a
bit of mystery. These wildlands hold great significance in our country as they
are the only designated lands where nature is allowed to operate freely, where
man is a visitor who does not remain. Wilderness is important for those like
yourself who visit it, but it is equally important for many who only dream
about it. There are other important aspects of wilderness such as the scientific
and educational values associated with having large areas where nature is allowed
a free reign.
Designated wilderness areas were created by congress with passage of the Wilderness
Act in 1964. The Act established the National Wilderness Preservation System
which gave federal land management agencies responsibility for administering
wilderness to benefit the nation as a whole. This landmark conservation legislation
established for the American people an enduring resource of wilderness. The
Act defined wilderness as areas:
- affected primarily by the forces of nature, where man is a visitor who
does not remain;
- possessing outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined
type of recreation;
- federally owned, undeveloped, and generally over 5,000 acres of size;
- protected and managed to allow natural ecological processes to operate
freely;
- containing ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational,
scenic, or historic value;
- formally designated by Congress as Wilderness
The Wilderness Act itself makes allowances for certain activities that were
taking place before the Act came into play. While you are recreating in wilderness
you may encounter some of these activities. They are: grazing by cattle and
sheep through a permitted allotment, old airstrips that are still in use, mining,
and dams that were created for agricultural irrigation. These activities are
permitted in wilderness as historical practices as described in the Wilderness
Act.
Within the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, visitors will discover four wilderness
areas: Eagle Cap, Hells
Canyon, Monument Rock,
and North Fork John Day Wildernesses.
Each area holds a unique beauty of its own from high alpine lakes and meadows
to sheer rock bluffs that jet into rambling rivers. Hiking, horseback riding,
fishing, hunting, sightseeing, and camping are popular recreation uses among
these wild lands.
Upon entering the wilderness visitors are taken back to a time when travel
was without automobiles or bicycles and before the luxury of mechanized equipment.
In addition, wilderness is closed to motorized equipment requiring all trails
to be constructed and maintained by hand, using primitive skills, with cross
cut saws, pulaskis, and shovels.
Recreationists
can choose from hundreds of miles of trail in these wilderness areas. Trailheads
are located on all sides of each area, and location information can be found
on the page describing each wilderness.
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