Peter Landres, Leopold Institute Research Ecologist, co-chairs the Forest Service's Wilderness Monitoring Committee. This Committee is charged with developing a program of monitoring to improve the management of Forest Service wildernesses nationwide.

Executive Summary

One of the central mandates of the 1964 Wilderness Act is that "each agency administering any area designated as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving the wilderness character of the area." Although wilderness comprises about 20 percent of National Forest System lands (over 35 million acres), the agency lacks a way to evaluate progress in fulfilling this mandate. This Framework document lays the conceptual foundation for selecting and monitoring indicators of conditions and actions related to wilderness character. Information on wilderness character that is consistently gathered and reported offers managers a powerful tool to evaluate if wilderness character is stable, degrading, or improving over time, and to communicate progress towards fulfilling this central mandate of the Wilderness Act.

Why This National Wilderness Monitoring is Being Developed

The purpose of this monitoring is to improve wilderness stewardship by providing a tool managers can use to evaluate how selected actions and conditions related to wilderness character are changing over time. Many wilderness field and program managers perceive a steady erosion of wilderness character, yet there is no consistent means for describing this loss or positive stewardship outcomes. A national set of core indicators allows compilation of information at local, regional, and national levels. Improvement in wilderness stewardship must occur at the local level but the ability to compile information at regional and national levels provides a powerful communication tool essential to make the case for wilderness stewardship needs. This monitoring framework also improves wilderness stewardship by more clearly articulating what wilderness character means, which may help managers evaluate proposed actions and improve agency performance measurement and policy review.

Turnover in wilderness managers with field knowledge also contributes to the lack of understanding about how wilderness character is changing over time. Integrating this Framework into agency-wide monitoring programs and using consistent indicators can make data available to a succession of managers. This information legacy is one of the strongest defenses against the erosion of wilderness character and for the showing positive outcomes of stewardship.

How This Monitoring Defines Wilderness Character

Although wilderness character is not defined in the Wilderness Act or its meaning discussed in the legislative history of this Act, it may be described as the combination of biophysical, experiential, and symbolic ideals that distinguish wilderness from all other lands. These ideals form a complex set of relationships between the land, its management, and the meanings people associate with wilderness.

This Framework uses the Definition of Wilderness from Section 2(c) of the 1964 Wilderness Act to identify four qualities of wilderness related to wilderness character. All wildernesses, regardless of size, location, or any other feature, are unified by this statutory definition of wilderness. These four qualities of wilderness are:

• Untrammeled - wilderness is essentially unhindered and free from modern human control or manipulation.

• Natural - wilderness ecological systems are substantially free from the effects of modern civilization.

• Undeveloped - wilderness is essentially without permanent improvements or modern human occupation.

• Outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation - Wilderness provides outstanding opportunities for people to experience solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation, including the values of inspiration and physical and mental challenge.

Specific monitoring questions under each of these qualities, and indicators under each question, are identified in this Framework. While these indicators are based on best professional judgment combined with the available scientific literature, they will undoubtedly be refined and improved over time.

Limitations of this National Wilderness Monitoring

While the indicators were selected to be useful to local wilderness managers, this Framework is not intended to monitor all aspects of the wilderness resource or actions needed to manage wilderness. In addition, this national program does not monitor the full range of ecological and social conditions inside wilderness, aspects of wilderness character unique to a particular wilderness, societal values of wilderness character, or the experiences of visitors.

How This National Wilderness Monitoring Will Be Implemented

This monitoring will be implemented in several phases. The first phase was completing this Framework that develops the conceptual foundation for this monitoring. The second phase is developing the Technical Guide for Monitoring Selected Conditions Related to Wilderness Character, which will give detailed procedures for collecting, storing, analyzing, reporting, and using the data. The third phase is testing and revising the Technical Guide. National implementation of this monitoring on every National Forest System wilderness is targeted to begin in the winter of 2006-2007.

For this national monitoring, every effort has been made to minimize impact on local staff and funding needed by using data that are already being collected or available from national datasets. For example, data will be used from the Forest Service's Infra-WILD and Natural Resource Information System. Existing national data sets will also be used to estimate conditions within a wilderness. The use of standard templates for queries and analysis will further reduce required staff time.

Most wildernesses lack detailed information on conditions since the time of designation, and although appropriate historical data may be used, the first time this Framework is applied will likely become the baseline for evaluating change over time. Change is evaluated only within a single wilderness and the information resulting from this monitoring cannot be used to compare different wildernesses. Such comparisons are inappropriate because there are aspects of wilderness character that are unique to each wilderness, determined by the area's legislative, administrative, biophysical, and social setting. This monitoring does not establish national standards for indicators, which would need to be developed through formal planning processes.

The Forest Service is currently developing a coordinated, agency-wide program for the design, collection, and use of monitoring data, and the Framework described here fits within this program. In addition, all wildernesses are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and representatives from the other three wilderness managing agencies have been an integral part of the team developing this Framework. This participation allows ongoing interagency communication and lays the foundation for monitoring that could be applied across the entire wilderness system.

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