Wilderness Act. Wilderness Character Monitoring and the Saguaro Wilderness. Wilderness Character in Stewardship. Wilderness Character in Court

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1 Wilderness Character degraded improved Wilderness Character Monitoring and the Saguaro Wilderness Wilderness and Protected Area Management Jesse Engebretson The purpose of the Wilderness Act is to preserve the character of the areas to be included in the system, not to establish any particular use. Howard Zahniser Primary author of the Wilderness Act of Wilderness Act Section 2(a): a National Wilderness Preservation System shall be administered so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their character Section 4(b): each agency administering any area designated as shall be responsible for preserving the character of the area 3 Wilderness Character in Stewardship stable less Wilderness X at time of designation Modern Human Influence more 4 Why Should We Care? Fulfill purpose of the Wilderness Act & improve accountability Understand consequences of decisions and actions Integrate stewardship across all resource areas Provide enduring legacy information Guard against legal vulnerability Wilderness Character in Court an improper evaluation of the character of the area. Barnes v. Babbitt (D. Ariz.) (2004) conditions are part of the character to be preserved. Wilderness Soc. v. USFWS (9 th Cir. En banc) (2003) that action degrades the character. Izaak Walton League v. Kimbell (D. Minn.) (2007) [The decision] is in direct contradiction of the mandate to preserve the character. OLYM Park Assoc. v. Mainella (West. D. WA) (2005) 5 6 1

2 What is character? The primary management mandate Yet Not defined in the Wilderness Act What is Wilderness Character? Most would agree on general concepts: Wilderness is free-willed The signs of modern humans are minimal processes are allowed to flourish Wilderness recreational experiences should include solitude, primitive conditions, risk and selfexploration These lands are managed in contrast to the lands around them. 7 8 What is character? What is character? Scenic quality Experiential Symbolic vegetation The personal benefits and meanings people derive from their experiences in Experiential Symbolic Biophysical Biophysical Recreation and the use of primitive skills fire regimes The natural condition of the land, its wildlife, and ecological processes Native wildlife 9 Experience of nature, free from constraints of culture Personal challenge and self-discovery What is character? Interconnectedness Experiential Biophysical Symbolic Humility and restraint The meanings that individuals and society derive from the existence of es Part of something larger than the self 11 an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man affected primarily by the forces of nature Unmanipulated Free Uncontrolled Wild 12 2

3 Degraded by actions that manipulate, control, or hinder the community of life Spraying weeds Killing predators Collaring Suppressing / lighting fires Wilderness is essentially unhindered and free from modern human control or manipulation 14...protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions....protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions. : decisions or actions : effects : management decision : condition of the land protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions. Vegetation Wildlife Air, Water, Soil Ecological Processes 17 Degraded by effects (intended or unintended) of modern civilization Non-native species Extirpation Pollution Interference with ecological processes 18 3

4 Wilderness ecological systems are substantially free from the effects of modern civilization 19 undeveloped land retaining primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements...where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. 20 We stand without our In mechanisms order to assure that that growing make mechanization us immediate does not masters occupy and modify over all our areas environment. within the United States Howard Zahniser TheWilderness Act, 2(a) 21 Degraded by structures and tools that facilitate our ability to occupy or modify the environment Structures Installations Aircraft Motors Mechanical transport outstanding solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation Wilderness retains its primeval character and influence, and is essentially without permanent improvement or modern human occupation

5 Traditional / Primitive Skills Degraded by settings that reduce these opportunities Challenge & Selfdiscovery Connection & Freedom 25 Encounters Facilities Restrictions 26 Other features of value may also contain ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. Wilderness provides outstanding solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation Other features Wilderness may have unique qualities which must be protected consistent with a context Five distinct and equally important qualities that are inter-related Each may have unique aspects of all five qualities Wilderness character is affected by stewardship decisions to take action or not to take action 30 5

6 Implications for Management A single action may improve one Quality while degrading another Example: prescribed burning Prescribed burning may improve the quality Prescribed burning degrades the quality 31 Implications for Management A single decision or action may degrade more than one Quality Example: use of helicopters to spray herbicide to mitigate invasive plant infestation Decision to manipulate degrades the quality Herbicide application may degrade the quality Presence of the helicopters degrades the quality Mitigating invasive plants may improve the quality 32 How SAGU monitors How SAGU monitors Wilderness ecological systems are substantially free from the effects of modern civilization in terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric natural resources in terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric natural processes Plant and animal species and communities Physical resources Biophysical processes Acres of non-native invasive plant infestation Air quality (Visibility, Ozone, Total N, Total S) Departure from natural fire return interval 33 Wilderness is essentially unhindered and free from modern human control or manipulation What are the trends in actions that control or manipulate the earth and its community of life inside? Actions authorized by the Federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment Actions not authorized by the Federal land manager that manipulate the biophysical environment Acres of prescribed burning N/A at SAGU, but, examples include illegal fish stocking, poaching, etc. 34 How SAGU monitors Wilderness retains its primeval character and influence, and is essentially without permanent improvement or modern human occupation in non-recreational development inside? in mechanization Non-recreational structures, installations, and developments Inholdings Use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or mechanical transport Number and extent of built NPS infrastructure Acres of inholdings Index of administrative and nonemergency motor vehicles, motorized equipment and mechanized transport use 35 How SAGU monitors opportunities Solitude or Primitive and Unconfined Recreation Wilderness provide soutstanding solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation in outstanding solitude inside? in outstanding primitive and unconfined recreation inside? Remoteness from sights and sounds of people inside the Remoteness from occupied and modified areas outside the Facilities that decrease self-reliant recreation Management restrictions on visitor behavior Number of backcountry permits issued Miles of roads within ¼ mile of the boundary Number and extent of park maintained facilities Visitor restriction index 36 6

7 How SAGU monitors Other features Wilderness Character Other Features This quality is unique to a particular. These features typically include cultural resources, historical sites, paleontological localities, or any feature not in one of the other qualities that has scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. that promote urban community engagement with the? in structural or installations of historical importance Instances of community involvement with the Structures or installations of historical importance Number of youth in on curriculum based field trips Percentage of socio-economically disadvantaged youth in field trips Conditional index of all LCS structures We must then do two things: we must see that an adequate system of areas is designated for preservation; and then we must allow nothing to alter the character of the preserves. H. Zahniser, Wilderness Forever, 1961 in cultural resources Condition of statutorily protected cultural resources Conditional index of representative archeological sites Questions? THE WEDDING CAKE MODEL OF NATIONAL INDICATORS If you have any further questions, please contact: Jesse Engebretson PhD Student, University of Idaho, College of Resources, Department of Conservation Social Sciences Wilderness Fellow 2012 SAGU & CHIR jengebretson@uidaho.edu (612) Wilderness National Regional Forest X 39 X = National Indicators of Selected Conditions Related to Wilderness Character