Integrating wilderness within broader landscapes: the U.S. public land experience

Abstract

Statutory wilderness is circumscribed by politically defined boundaries, but such boundaries do not necessarily ensure that wilderness characteristics will be preserved if activities and conditions on surrounding lands are incompatible with wilderness. Methods of coordinating resource management across boundaries is currently an area of intense study. The wilderness resource has received minimal attention, however. Due to ongoing, intense political controversy, transboundary wilderness issues in the U.S. have remained firmly under Congressional control rather than being delegated to agency discretion. Wilderness is arguably the most tightly controlled resource represented on U.S. public lands.