List of U.S. Wilderness Areas

List Of U.S. Wilderness Areas

Four federal agencies of the United States government administer the U.S. Wildernesses, which includes 756 Wildernesses and 109,478,939 acres (443,045.55 km2). These agencies are:

  • United States Forest Service
  • United States National Park Service
  • United States Bureau of Land Management
  • United States Fish and Wildlife Service

This is an area larger than Iraq or the state of California. In Alaska, there are 57,425,569 acres (232,393.03 km2) of wilderness. This represents about 52% of the wilderness area in the United States. The National Park Service (NPS) has oversight of 43,890,500 acres (177,619 km2) of wilderness at 60 locations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has responsibility for 20,702,350 acres (83,779.4 km2) in 71 areas. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees 8,726,011 acres (35,312.91 km2) at 221 unique sites. The Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service oversees 36,160,078 acres (146,334.64 km2) of wilderness areas in 439 areas. Some wilderness areas are managed by multiple agencies, so the above totals exceed the actual number of units (756) in the system. In addition, some of the 60 NPS areas with wilderness have multiple units designated as such (for example, Lake Mead National Recreation Area).

Some areas are designated wilderness by state or tribal governments. These are not governed by the Federal National Wilderness Preservation System.

Read more about List Of U.S. Wilderness Areas:  Wilderness By State, Wilderness Alphabetically

Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, wilderness and/or areas:

    “I made a list of things I have
    to remember and a list
    of things I want to forget,
    but I see they are the same list.”
    —Linda Pastan (b. 1932)

    “Every morning I woke in dread, waiting for the day nurse to go on her rounds and announce from the list of names in her hand whether or not I was for shock treatment, the new and fashionable means of quieting people and of making them realize that orders are to be obeyed and floors are to be polished without anyone protesting and faces are to be made to be fixed into smiles and weeping is a crime.”
    —Janet Frame (b. 1924)

    “The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.”
    —Bible: New Testament, Luke 1:80.

    “Adults understandably assume that the level of verbal proficiency a five-year-old displays represents his level of proficiency in all areas of functioning—if he talks like an adult, he must think and feel like one. However, five-year-olds,... belie the promise of adult-like behavior with their child-like, impulsive actions.”
    —Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)