National Wilderness Preservation System - Laws and Policies

Laws and Policies

Thousands of laws and policies have helped shape and manage the National Wilderness Preservation System in the United States. The following Acts of Congress either directly affect the wilderness system or help influence wilderness management.

• General Mining Act of 1872 This Act declares public lands free and open for mineral exploration and occupancy. Procedures for mining claims and operations are established in this act as well as management of wilderness areas that contain minerals and other natural resources.
• Antiquities Act of 1906, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 These Acts help protect and manage heritage resources on federal lands. They also aid in conserving valuable public and natural areas in order to protect objects of historic and scientific interests.
• National Park Service Organic Act This Act was established in 1916 by the National Park Service and was enacted to conserve the scenery, wildlife, and both natural and historic objects for the enjoyment of the American Public.
• Wilderness Act This Act, which was passed in 1964, classified and protected 54 wilderness areas (about 9.1 million acres) and established a system of adding new lands to the National Wilderness Preservation System. It also allowed jurisdiction over these wilderness areas by the Forest Service, National Park Service, or Fish and Wildlife Service. The Act also set up prohibitions on motorized and mechanized vehicles, timber harvest, and other means of development in these areas.
• National Environmental Policy Act (1970,1975,1982) This Act required federal agencies to consider and evaluate the environmental impacts of proposed actions. It also requires agencies to identify environmental impacts that are unavoidable and to evaluate all resources in the area before committing to a proposed action. This Act directs federal agencies to prepare and submit Environmental Impact Statements before development on public lands.
• Clean Air Act (1963,1966,1973,1977,1990) This Act established human health and welfare standards. It established Class I areas to be wilderness land greater than 5000 acres and national parks that are greater than 6000 acres that existed in 1977. This designation gives these areas special protection from the degradation of air quality by human-caused air pollution. This Act also requires states to develop and implement plans to reduce haze to natural levels by the year 2064 and calls for extensive monitoring of air quality related values (visibility, flora, fauna, soil, and water) across the nation.
• Clean Water Act (1948, 1972, 1977, 1987) This Act aims at protecting healthy waters and restoring unhealthy ones. It establishes the structure of regulating pollutants that are discharged into water and for regulating quality standards of waters in the United States. It set up pollution control standards handmade it illegal to dump pollutants into waters around the U.S. without a permit.
• Endangered Species Act (1973,1978,1982) Establishes a program to protect plants and animals that are being threatened with extinction. The Act recognizes certain plants and animals and establishes specific procedures for adding a species to the endangered list under a protective status. It also sets up programs with states across the U.S. as well as civil penalties for violation of this Act.
• Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (1980) This Act specifically provided for the designation and conservation of public lands in Alaska. This added about 27 million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System along with several wild and scenic rivers. With this Act, Congress hoped to preserve the unaltered arctic areas as well as the tundra, boreal forests, and coastal rain forest ecosystems. It also helped to protect wildlife habitats for species who were dependent upon large undeveloped areas of land.