Wilderness Act

THE WILDERNESS ACT
Public Law 88-577 (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136)
88th Congress, Second Session
September 3, 1964
(As amended)
AN ACT
To establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent
good of the whole people, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SHORT TITLE
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Wilderness Act".
WILDERNESS SYSTEM ESTABLISHED STATEMENT OF POLICY
SECTION 2. (a) In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied
by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify
all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated
for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to
be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and
future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For this
purpose there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preservation System to
be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as "wilderness
areas", and these shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American
people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and
enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the
preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination
of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness; and no Federal
lands shall be designated as "wilderness areas" except as provided for in this Act
or by a subsequent Act.
(b) The inclusion of an area in the National Wilderness Preservation System
notwithstanding, the area shall continue to be managed by the Department and
agency having jurisdiction thereover immediately before its inclusion in the
National Wilderness Preservation System unless otherwise provided by Act of
Congress. No appropriation shall be available for the payment of expenses or
salaries for the administration of the National Wilderness Preservation System as
a separate unit nor shall any appropriations be available for additional personnel
stated as being required solely for the purpose of managing or administering areas
solely because they are included within the National Wilderness Preservation
System.

DEFINITION OF WILDERNESS
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(c) A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his works
dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its
community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who
does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this Act an
area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence,
without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and
managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears
to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's
work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or
a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres
of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an
unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other
features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.
NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEMEXTENT OF SYSTEM
SECTION 3. (a) All areas within the national forests classified at least 30 days
before the effective date of this Act by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Chief of
the Forest Service as "wilderness", "wild", or "canoe" are hereby designated as
wilderness areas. The Secretary of Agriculture shall–
(1) Within one year after the effective date of this Act, file a map and legal
description of each wilderness area with the Interior and Insular Affairs
Committees of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, and
such descriptions shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act:
Provided, however, That correction of clerical and typographical errors in such
legal descriptions and maps may be made.
(2) Maintain, available to the public, records pertaining to said wilderness
areas, including maps and legal descriptions, copies of regulations governing
them, copies of public notices of, and reports submitted to Congress regarding
pending additions, eliminations, or modifications. Maps, legal descriptions, and
regulations pertaining to wilderness areas within their respective jurisdictions also
shall be available to the public in the offices of regional foresters, national forest
supervisors, and forest rangers.
(b) (Classification) The Secretary of Agriculture shall, within ten years after
the enactment of this Act, review, as to its suitability or nonsuitability for
preservation as wilderness, each area in the national forests classified on the
effective date of this Act by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Chief of the Forest
Service as "primitive" and report his findings to the President. (Presidential
recommendation to Congress) The President shall advise the United States
Senate and House of Representatives of his recommendations with respect to the
designation as "wilderness" or other reclassification of each area on which review
has been completed, together with maps and a definition of boundaries. Such
advice shall be given with respect to not less than one-third of all the areas now
classified as "primitive" within three years after the enactment of this Act, and the
remaining areas within ten years after the enactment of this Act. (Congressional
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approval) Each recommendation of the President for designation as "wilderness"
shall become effective only if so provided by an Act of Congress. Areas
classified as "primitive" on the effective date of this Act shall continue to be
administered under the rules and regulations affecting such areas on the effective
date of this Act until Congress has determined otherwise. Any such area may be
increased in size by the President at the time he submits his recommendations to
the Congress by not more than five thousand acres with no more than one
thousand two hundred and eighty acres of such increase in any one compact unit;
if it is proposed to increase the size of any such area by more than five thousand
acres or by more than one thousand two hundred and eighty acres in any one
compact unit the increase in size shall not become effective until acted upon by
Congress. Nothing herein contained shall limit the President in proposing, as part
of his recommendations to Congress, the alteration of existing boundaries of
primitive areas or recommending the addition of any contiguous area of national
forest lands predominantly of wilderness value. Notwithstanding any other
provisions of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture may complete his review and
delete such areas as may be necessary, but not to exceed seven thousand acres,
from the southern tip of the Gore Range-Eagles Nest Primitive Area, Colorado, if
the Secretary determines that such action is in the public interest.
(c) (Report to President) Within ten years after the effective date of this Act
the Secretary of the Interior shall review every roadless area of five thousand
contiguous acres or more in the national parks, monuments, and other units of the
national park system and every such area of, and every roadless island within, the
national wildlife refuges and game ranges, under his jurisdiction on the effective
date of this Act and shall report to the President his recommendation as to the
suitability or nonsuitability of each such area or island for preservation as
wilderness. (Presidential recommendation to Congress) The President shall
advise the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives of his recommendation with respect to the designation as
wilderness of each such area or island on which review has been completed,
together with a map thereof and a definition of its boundaries. Such advice shall
be given with respect to not less than one-third of the areas and islands to be
reviewed under this subsection within three years after enactment of this Act, not
less than two-thirds within seven years of enactment of this Act, and the
remainder within ten years of enactment of this Act. (Congressional approval) A
recommendation of the President for designation as wilderness shall become
effective only if so provided by an Act of Congress. Nothing contained herein
shall, by implication or otherwise, be construed to lessen the present statutory
authority of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the maintenance of
roadless areas within units of the national park system.
(d)(1) (Suitability) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the
Interior shall, prior to submitting any recommendations to the President with
respect to the suitability of any area for preservation as wilderness—
(A) (Publication in Federal Register) give such public notice of the
proposed action as they deem appropriate, including publication in the Federal
Register and in a newspaper having general circulation in the area or areas in the
vicinity of the affected land;
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(B) (Hearings) hold a public hearing or hearings at a location or locations
convenient to the area affected. The hearings shall be announced through such
means as the respective Secretaries involved deem appropriate, including notices
in the Federal Register and in newspapers of general circulation in the area:
Provided, That if the lands involved are located in more than one State, at least
one hearing shall be held in each State in which a portion of the land lies;
(C) at least thirty days before the date of a hearing advise the Governor of
each State and the governing board of each county, or in Alaska the borough, in
which the lands are located, and Federal departments and agencies concerned, and
invite such officials and Federal agencies to submit their views on the proposed
action at the hearing or by no later than thirty days following the date of the
hearing.
(2) Any views submitted to the appropriate Secretary under the provisions of
(1) of this subsection with respect to any area shall be included with any
recommendations to the President and to Congress with respect to such area
(e) (Proposed modification) Any modification or adjustment of boundaries of
any wilderness area shall be recommended by the appropriate Secretary after
public notice of such proposal and public hearing or hearings as provided in
subsection (d) of this section. The proposed modification or adjustment shall then
be recommended with map and description thereof to the President. The
President shall advise the United States Senate and the House of Representatives
of his recommendations with respect to such modification or adjustment and such
recommendations shall become effective only in the same manner as provided for
in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.

USE OF WILDERNESS AREAS
SECTION 4. (a) The purposes of this Act are hereby declared to be within and
supplemental to the purposes for which national forests and units of the national
park and wildlife refuge systems are established and administered and-(1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to be in interference with the purpose
for which national forests are established as set forth in the Act of June 4, 1897
(30 Stat.11), and the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of June 12, 1960 (74 Stat.
215).
(2) Nothing in this Act shall modify the restrictions and
provisions of the Shipstead-Nolan Act (Public Law 539, Seventy-first Congress,
July 10, 1930; 46 Stat. 1020), the Thye-Blatnik Act (Public Law 733, Eightieth
Congress, June 2, 1948; 62 Stat. 568), and the Humphrey-Thye-Blatnik-Andersen
Act (Public Law 607, Eighty-fourth Congress, June 22, 1956; 70 Stat. 326), as
applying to the Superior National Forest or the regulations of the Secretary of
Agriculture.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall modify the statutory authority under which units
of the national park system are created. Further, the designation of any area of
any park, monument, or other unit of the national park system as a wilderness area
pursuant to this Act shall in no manner lower the standards evolved for the use
and preservation of such park, monument, or other unit of the national park
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system in accordance with section 100101(b)(1), chapter 1003, and sections
100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of title 54, United States Code, the
statutory authority under which the area was created, or any other Act of Congress
which might pertain to or affect such area, including, but not limited to, section
3(2) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796(2)); and chapters 3201 and 3203 of
title 54, United States Code.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, each agency administering any
area designated as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving the wilderness
character of the area and shall so administer such area for such other purposes for
which it may have been established as also to preserve its wilderness character.
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, wilderness areas shall be devoted to the
public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and
historical use.
PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES
(c) Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing
private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road
within any wilderness area designated by this Act and except as necessary to meet
minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this
Act (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety
of persons within the area), there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor
vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other
form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such
area.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS
(d) The following special provisions are hereby made:
(1) Within wilderness areas designated by this Act the use of aircraft or
motorboats, where these uses have already become established, may be permitted
to continue subject to such restrictions as the Secretary of Agriculture deems
desirable. In addition, such measure may be taken as may be necessary in the
control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such conditions as the Secretary
deems desirable.
(2) Nothing in this Act shall prevent within national forest wilderness areas
any activity, including prospecting, for the purpose of gathering information about
mineral or other resources, if such activity is carried on in a manner compatible
with the preservation of the wilderness environment. Furthermore, in accordance
with such program as the Secretary of the Interior shall develop and conduct in
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, such areas shall be surveyed on a
planned, recurring basis consistent with the concept of wilderness preservation by
the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines to determine the mineral values, if
any, that may be present; and the results of such surveys shall be made available to
the public and submitted to the President and Congress.
(3) (Mineral leases, claims, etc) Notwithstanding any other provisions of
this Act, until midnight December 31, 1983, the United States mining laws and all
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laws pertaining to mineral leasing shall, to the same extent as applicable prior to
the effective date of this Act, extend to those national forest lands designated by
this Act as "wilderness areas"; subject, however, to such reasonable regulations
governing ingress and egress as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture
consistent with the use of the land for mineral location and development and
exploration, drilling, and production, and use of land for transmission lines,
waterlines, telephone lines, or facilities necessary in exploring, drilling,
production, mining, and processing operations, including where essential the use
of mechanized ground or air equipment and restoration as near as practicable of
the surface of the land disturbed in performing prospecting, location, and, in oil
and gas leasing, discovery work, exploration, drilling, and production, as soon as
they have served their purpose. Mining locations lying within the boundaries of
said wilderness areas shall be held and used solely for mining or processing
operations and uses reasonably incident thereto; and hereafter, subject to valid
existing rights, all patents issued under the mining laws of the United States
affecting national forest lands designated by this Act as wilderness areas shall
convey title to the mineral deposits within the claim, together with the right to cut
and use so much of the mature timber therefrom as may be needed in the
extraction, removal, and beneficiation of the mineral deposits, if needed timber is
not otherwise reasonably available, and if the timber is cut under sound principles
of forest management as defined by the national forest rules and regulations, but
each such patent shall reserve to the United States all title in or to the surface of
the lands and products thereof, and no use of the surface of the claim or the
resources therefrom not reasonably required for carrying on mining or prospecting
shall be allowed except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act: Provided,
That, unless hereafter specifically authorized, no patent within wilderness areas
designated by this Act shall issue after December 31, 1983, except for the valid
claims existing on or before December 31, 1983. Mining claims located after the
effective date of this Act within the boundaries of wilderness areas designated by
this Act shall create no rights in excess of those rights which may be patented
under the provisions of this subsection. Mineral leases, permits, and licenses
covering lands within national forest wilderness areas designated by this Act shall
contain such reasonable stipulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of
Agriculture for the protection of the wilderness character of the land consistent
with the use of the land for the purposes for which they are leased, permitted, or
licensed. Subject to valid rights then existing, effective January 1, 1984, the
minerals in lands designated by this Act as wilderness areas are withdrawn from
all forms of appropriation under the mining laws and from disposition under all
laws pertaining to mineral leasing and all amendments thereto.
(4) (Water resources and grazing) Within wilderness areas in the national
forests designated by this Act, (1) the President may, within a specific area and in
accordance with such regulations as he may deem desirable, authorize prospecting
for water resources, the establishment and maintenance of reservoirs, waterconservation works, power projects, transmission lines, and other facilities needed
in the public interest, including the road construction and maintenance essential to
development and use thereof, upon his determination that such use or uses in the
specific area will better serve the interests of the United States and the people
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thereof than will its denial; and (2) the grazing of livestock, where established
prior to the effective date of this Act, shall be permitted to continue subject to
such reasonable regulations as are deemed necessary by the Secretary of
Agriculture.
(5) Commercial services may be performed within the wilderness areas
designated by this Act to the extent necessary for activities which are proper for
realizing the recreational or other wilderness purposes of the areas.
(6) Nothing in this Act shall constitute an express or implied claim or
denial on the part of the Federal Government as to exemption from State water
laws.
(7) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or
responsibilities of the several States with respect to wildlife and fish in the
national forests.
STATE AND PRIVATE LANDS WITHIN WILDERNESS AREAS
SECTION 5. (a) In any case where State-owned or privately owned land is
completely surrounded by national forest lands within areas designated by this
Act as wilderness, such State or private owner shall be given such rights as may
be necessary to assure adequate access to such State-owned or privately owned
land by such State or private owner and their successors in interest, or the Stateowned land or privately owned land shall be exchanged for federally owned land
in the same State of approximately equal value under authorities available to the
Secretary of Agriculture: (Transfers, restriction) Provided, however, That the
United States shall not transfer to a State or private owner any mineral interests
unless the State or private owner relinquishes or causes to be relinquished to the
United States the mineral interest in the surrounded land.
(b) In any case where valid mining claims or other valid occupancies are
wholly within a designated national forest wilderness area, the Secretary of
Agriculture shall, by reasonable regulations consistent with the preservation of the
area as wilderness, permit ingress and egress to such surrounded areas by means
which have been or are being customarily enjoyed with respect to other such areas
similarly situated.
(c) (Acquisition) Subject to the appropriation of funds by Congress, the
Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to acquire privately owned land within the
perimeter of any area designated by this Act as wilderness if (1) the owner
concurs in such acquisition or (2) the acquisition is specifically authorized by
Congress.

GIFTS, BEQUESTS, AND CONTRIBUTIONS
SECTION 6. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture may accept gifts or bequests of
land within wilderness areas designated by this Act for preservation as wilderness.
The Secretary of Agriculture may also accept gifts or bequests of land adjacent to
wilderness areas designated by this Act for preservation as wilderness if he has
given sixty days advance notice thereof to the President of the Senate and the
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Speaker of the House of Representatives. Land accepted by the Secretary of
Agriculture under this section shall become part of the wilderness area involved.
Regulations with regard to any such land may be in accordance with such
agreements, consistent with the policy of this Act, as are made at the time of such
gift, or such conditions, consistent with such policy, as may be included in, and
accepted with, such bequest.
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to
accept private contributions and gifts to be used to further the purposes of this
Act.
ANNUAL REPORTS
SECTION 7. At the opening of each session of Congress, the Secretaries of
Agriculture and Interior shall jointly report to the President for transmission to
Congress on the status of the wilderness system including a list and descriptions
of the areas in the system, regulations in effect, and other pertinent information,
together with any recommendations they may care to make.
(Termination of Reporting Requirements)
For termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions of this section relating to
transmission to Congress of annual report on status of wilderness system, see
section 3003 of Pub. L. 104-66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113
of Title 31, Money and Finance, and pages 48, 110, and 149 of House Document
No. 103-7.
Approved September 3, 1964.
_________________________________________________
Legislative History:
House Reports: No. 1538 accompanying H.R. 9070 (Committee on Interior &
Insular Affairs) and No. 1829 (Committee of Conference).
Senate Report: No. 109 (Committee on Interior & Insular Affairs).
Congressional Record: Vol. 109 (1963): April 4, 8, considered in Senate. April
9, considered and passed Senate. Vol. 110 (1964): July 28, considered in House.
July 30, considered and passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 9070. August 20,
House and Senate agreed to conference report.

Note: italicized words in parentheses are editorial additions inserted for reader’s
convenience.

Amendments to the Wilderness Act of 1964
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Public Law 95-495, October 21, 1978
Section 4(b): Paragraph (5) of section 4(d) of the Wilderness Act of 1964 is hereby
repealed and paragraphs (6), (7), and (8) of such section 4(d) are hereby redesignated as
paragraphs (5), (6), and (7).
Original text of the Wilderness Act of 1964 which was repealed:
4(d)(5) Other provisions of this Act to the contrary notwithstanding, the
management of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, formerly designated as the
Superior, Little Indian Sioux, and Caribou Roadless Areas, in the Superior
National Forest, Minnesota, shall be in accordance with regulations established
by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with the general purpose of
maintaining, without unnecessary restrictions on other uses, including that of
timber, the primitive character of the area, particularly in the vicinity of lakes,
streams, and portages: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall preclude the
continuance within the area of any already established use of motorboats.
Public Law 113-287, December 19, 2014
Section 5(d)(21): Section 4(a)(3) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(a)(3)) is
amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘the Act of August 25, 1916’’ and substituting ‘‘section 100101(b)(1),
chapter 1003, and sections 100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of title 54, United
States Code’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225; 16 U.S.C. 432 et seq); section 3(2)
of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796(2)); and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat.
666; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)’’ and substituting ‘‘section 3(2) of the Federal Power Act (16
U.S.C. 796(2)); and chapters 3201 and 3203 of title 54, United States Code’’.
Original text of the Wilderness Act of 1964 which was amended:
4(a)(3) Nothing in this Act shall modify the statutory authority under which units
of the national park system are created. Further, the designation of any area of
any park, monument, or other unit of the national park system as a wilderness
area pursuant to this Act shall in no manner lower the standards evolved for the
use and preservation of such park, monument, or other unit of the national park
system in accordance with the Act of August 25, 1916, the statutory authority
under which the area was created, or any other Act of Congress which might
pertain to or affect such area, including, but not limited to, the Act of June 8,
1906 (34 Stat. 225; 16 U.S.C. 432 et seq.); section 3(2) of the Federal Power Act
(16 U.S.C. 796 (2)); and the Act of August 21,1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461
et seq.).

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