User:IconRomano/Wilderness Act

Summary

[Save till the end, already has a decent summary just need to condense and edit it]

Background

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s there were growing concerns about the rapidly growing population in America after World War II, a period known as a baby boom. Additionally, American transportation systems grew in usage which made transportation easier and increased concerns regarding the state of the environment. A leading concern was that environmental degradation would have an impact on air and water quality, this was partly addressed by the initial passage of the Clean Air Act in 1963.

The problem of American wilderness available still persisted even after attempts to regulate pollutants. Part of America's identity was its vast untamed wilderness that was untouched by humans, which had fallen to about 2.5% of the total land in America by the 1960s. Previous efforts to conserve the nature had yielded public land designations and protections such as the National Parks System, National Forests, and primitive areas. Unfortunately many of of these protections came short of providing the necessary protections needed to keep the land preserved for future generations. The shortcomings of previous protractions was exclaimed by efforts to convert develop protected lands for mining and energy utilization, a prominent example is the Echo Park Dam controversy at Dinosaur National Monument. The encroachment on existing protected land motivated conservationist to lobby Congress to add additional protections to wilderness land, in particular Howard Zahniser wrote the first draft of the Wilderness Act.

[Discussion of growing population and increased industrialization made Americans conscientious of natural resources and environmental quality (water and air)]

[Include discussion of Echo Park Dam movement, and how that built momentum for a wilderness act federally, and how the movement was lead in part by the author of the Wilderness Act]

[Also include discussion of needing redrawing forests boundaries]

[Introduction to wilderness Society and Bills author]

Legislative History

The Wilderness Act of 1964 went through many discussions and debates before it finally passed both chambers of Congress and was signed in to law.

Before the 88th Congress

The concept of developing a federal Wilderness system through Congress began to be seriously explored when in 1948 a group of Congressional members requested a report data be compiled on the topic through the Legislative Reference Service within the Library of Congress. The report was completed a year later and released the data that had been compiled. In 1956, about seven years later, the first hearings began in House and Senate on the topic of protecting Wildlife Refuge areas[cite legislative insight page? or hearings]. The first drafts of the Wilderness Act were introduced in the House in January of 1957, where 6 bills were introduced over a span of four days. [cite legislative insight]. One month later the Senate also introduced a draft bill of the Wilderness Act.

President John F. Kennedy was a supporter of the Wilderness Act, he and his administration worked to rally Legislators to pass the bill. During the 87th Congressional session the Senate voted and passed a version of the Wilderness Act, however it never made it to a vote in the House. [https://www.proquest.com/docview/116427697] [unsure if this the the strongest source I should be citing]

88th Congress

Early in the 88th Congressional term the Senate debated and eventually passed the Wilderness Bill in April 1963. After President Kennedy's assassination, President Lyndon B Johnson continued the executive push for the Wilderness Act to be passed, he included the Wilderness bill as one of the 30 "musts" be passed pieces of legislation during a June 23, 1963 press conference.

[discussions of controversies and disputes between senate and house on specific amendments]

After its passage, the Wilderness Act was regarded as one of the two major conservation accomplishments by the 88th Congress. [485] [needs to be reworked as a sentence]

Provisions

The Wilderness Act of 1964 included 7 provisions, that covered different aspects of the bill.

Definition of a Wilderness

Section 2 of the Wilderness Act provides a justification for and definition of what constitutes as a Wilderness.

Wilderness Act land is chosen from existing federal land and by determining which areas are considered to have the following criteria:

• Minimal human imprint
• Opportunities for unconfined recreation
• At least five thousand acres
• Educational, scientific, scenic, or historical value
• Have no commercial enterprises within them or any motorized travel or other form of mechanical transport (e.g., vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles).

[include small bit about justification, although this will also be covered in background section]

The basics of the program set out in the Wilderness Act are straightforward:

• The lands protected as wilderness are areas of our public lands.
• Wilderness designation is a protective overlay Congress applies to selected portions of national forests, parks, wildlife refuges, and other public lands.
• Within wilderness areas, the Wilderness Act strives to restrain human influences so that ecosystems [the Wilderness Act, however, makes no specific mention of ecosystems] can change over time in their own way, free, as much as possible, from human manipulation. In these areas, as the Wilderness Act puts it, "the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man," untrammeled meaning that the forces of nature operate unrestrained and unaltered.
• Wilderness areas serve multiple uses but the law limits uses to those consistent with the Wilderness Act mandate that each wilderness area be administered to preserve the "wilderness character of the area." For example, these areas protect watersheds and clean-water supplies vital to downstream municipalities and agriculture, as well as habitats supporting diverse wildlife, including endangered species, but logging and oil and gas drilling are prohibited.
• Along with many other uses for the American people, wilderness areas are popular for diverse kinds of outdoor recreation but without motorized or mechanical vehicles or equipment except where specifically permitted. Scientific research is also allowed in wilderness areas as long as it is non-invasive.
• The Wilderness Act has been interpreted by the administrating agencies to ban bicycles from wilderness areas based on the statutory text prohibiting "other mechanical forms of transport." It is noteworthy that mountain bikes did not exist when the Wilderness Act was enacted, hence they were not explicitly identified in the statute. The prohibition on bicycles has led to opposition from mountain bikers to the opening of new wilderness areas.
• The Wilderness Act allows certain uses (resource extraction, grazing, etc.) that existed before the land became wilderness to be grandfathered in and so they may continue to take place although the area that was designated as wilderness typically would not concede such uses. Specifically, mining, grazing, water uses, or any other uses that do not significantly impact the majority of the area may remain in some degree.

[some of this is repetitive and not really sure how much should be included]

Creation of the National Wilderness Preservation System

Section 3 of the Act outlines the creation and regulation of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS). The

When Congress designates each wilderness area, it includes a very specific boundary line in statutory law. Once a wilderness area has been added to the system, its protection and boundary can be altered only by Congress.^{[citation needed]}

[include link to system wiki page and discussion of what the system is]

Expansion of the Program

Sections 4, 5, and 6 discuss how Congress shall handle acquisition of more land, gifts, and addition of new designated wilderness areas.

[add more specifics]

Uncertainties

When the Wilderness Act was passed, it ignored lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management because of uncertainty of policy makers surrounding the future of those areas. The uncertainty was clarified in 1976 with the passing of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which stated that land managed by the Bureau of Land Management would remain federally owned and, between March 1978 and November 1980, would be reviewed to possibly be classified as wilderness.

Criticisms

Some argue that the criteria to determine wilderness are vague and open to interpretation. For example, one criterion for wilderness is that it be roadless, and the act does not define the term roadless. Wilderness advocacy groups and some agency staff have attempted to use this standard: "the word 'roadless' refers to the absence of roads that have been improved and maintained by mechanical means." For more information, see Revised Statute 2477. [Considering removing all together]

Future Legislation

[Will copy over what already exists, and include links to future amendments/additions to the NWPS]

Article Evaluation (ignore)

Evaluate:

The Wilderness Act article has a good start, but is vague in several sections such as creation and criticisms. One area the article could use more help is in the sources that are cited which include wilderness.org, wilderness.net, and wilderness50th.org.

References