KIW2 Critique and Rebuttal

The critique and rebuttal that appear below were originally intended as companion articles to be published in the December 2015 issue of the International Journal of Wilderness as part of a larger set of articles on wilderness character monitoring.  After several rounds of substantive changes the critique was withdrawn by its authors at the August 2015 publication deadline.  At that point, the Journal editor asked the KIW2 team if we wished to publish our rebuttal anyway, and we declined because the rebuttal was written to directly address the critique and without the critique there would be no context for the rebuttal.  Since that time, a revised critique was distributed at the National Wilderness Workshop held in Missoula, MT in October 2015, and a further revised critique was posted on the Wilderness Watch website sometime in the Fall of 2016.  Our rebuttal was not previously released but with the posting of the critique on the internet, we felt it was important for anyone who is interested in the definition of wilderness character and its application to wilderness stewardship and the future of the National Wilderness Preservation System to see both the critique and our rebuttal.