Wilderness areas are important because they provide long-term protection to the last of our nation's wild landscapes — places that possess spectacular beauty, offer outstanding solitude, support native plants and animals, protect valuable water resources, shelter ancient cultural artifacts, provide opportunities for ...
Why do we need wilderness?
Wilderness protects watersheds that provide clean drinking water to surrounding communities . Wilderness filters and cleans the air we breathe. ... People depend on wilderness for their favorite recreation opportunities, such as: nature walking, wildlife watching, hiking, hunting, fishing, canoeing and camping.
What is the value of wilderness?
The Act suggests wilderness is valuable for its “ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical/cultural value .” Wilderness is often said to represent a “baseline”: a landscape with a mosaic of ecosystems that function with as little influence from human beings as any on ...
How does wilderness help the environment?
Wilderness areas usually lack roads, buildings, and other artificial structures. They provide a natural environment for plant and animal species, and allow scientists to study healthy ecosystems . ... There are wilderness areas in every ecosystem, on every continent.
Why are wilderness areas worth protecting?
Why should wilderness areas be protected? ... There is a global moral responsibility to protect wilderness areas . Scientists need to access unspoilt environments to conduct research into global processes. Valuable research into climate change has been conducted in Antarctica.
What is the concept of wilderness?
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation . ... Even less wilderness remains in the ocean, with only 13.2% free from intense human activity.
What do we mean by wilderness?
Broadly speaking, The WILD Foundation defines wilderness areas as: The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet – those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with roads, pipelines or other industrial infrastructure. ...
What is the spiritual meaning of wilderness?
The wilderness is a locale for intense experiences —of stark need for food and water (manna and quails), of isolation (Elijah and the still small voice), of danger and divine deliverance (Hagar and Ishmael), of renewal, of encounters with God (Moses, the burning bush, the revelation of the divine name, Mount Sinai).
What is a wilderness in the Bible?
In the exodus story, the wilderness was a special place where the Israelites established their identity as the people of God by witnessing God's grace, punishment, and power .
What makes a wilderness area?
An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this Act an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have been ...
How is global warming affecting wilderness areas?
SPECIES IMPACTS
Across the globe, climate change will impact wildlife in different ways. ... Climate change also brings rising sea levels, higher tides and more extreme weather events which can destroy turtle nesting sites. The loss of plants will have damaging knock-on effects for many other species.
Does the wilderness Society support hunting?
WSPA's policy on wild animals is clearly against hunting , and they advocate non-lethal methods of controlling “pest” or “invasive” species whenever possible.
How are wilderness areas managed?
Who manages wilderness? Four agencies manage the National Wilderness Preservation System including the National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management . Wilderness, designated by Congress, is a layer of protection placed on top of the original federal land designation.
Where is most of the US wilderness?
What states have the most wilderness acres? Alaska (57,757,130 acres), California (15,348,149 acres), Idaho (4,795,700 acres), Arizona (4,512,066 acres), and Washington (4,484,466 acres).
What are national parks and wilderness areas designed for?
The Wilderness Act of 1964 allows Congress to designate wilderness areas to ensure that America's pristine wild lands will not disappear . Wilderness areas can be part of national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests or public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Why is wilderness a problematic concept?
This, then, is the central paradox: wilderness embodies a dualistic vision in which the human is entirely outside the natural . If we allow ourselves to believe that nature, to be true, must also be wild, then our very presence in nature represents its fall. The place where we are is the place where nature is not.
