The US Wilderness Managers Survey: Charting a Path for the Future

Abstract

The Wilderness Manager Survey (WMS) was developed in 2014 to support interagency strategic planning for the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) and asked managers about their perceived threats to the NWPS, the need for science information to support decisionmaking, the need for education and training, and the most important problems for managers in the future. The WMS was administered during Feb. 24 to May 19, 2014, to wilderness managers in the four federal agencies who manage the lands of the NWPS, and 368 wilderness managers responded. The important external and internal threats as perceived by managers for the NWPS for the next 20 years were the following: the lack of political and financial support for wilderness protection and management, invasive exotic plant or animal species, disconnected urban audiences unaware of wilderness, adjacent land management and incompatible uses, and legislation designating wilderness that included compromised natural conditions or incompatible special provisions for management.