Over the Hill: The Wilderness Act Turns 50

“Once our natural splendor is destroyed, it can never be recaptured. And once man can no longer walk with beauty or wonder at nature, his spirit will wither and his sustenance be wasted.” —Lyndon B. Johnson

With that philosophy, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law on September 3, 1964, protecting 9.1 million acres as The National Wilderness Preservation System. This year marks the Wilderness Act’s 50^th anniversary, which means 50 years of undeveloped, unmechanized and untracked terrain.

Since the Act passed, federally protected Wilderness Areas have grown to comprise about five percent of the country, or more than 109 million acres. The National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management (the four federal agencies responsible for land management under the Act) restrict the construction of roads, ban motorized vehicle and bicycle use and must adhere to specific boundaries that can only be changed by Congress. The Act also manages mining claims and grazing ranges and regulates low-impact commercial activities, like guiding. Wilderness Areas encompass some famous mountain ranges, too, like Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Montana’s Flathead Range, and Wyoming’s Teton Range.

“It’s kind of a pinnacle for backcountry skiing,” says Henry Worobec, the director of Land of No Use, a short film (see below) detailing backcountry skiing in Montana’s Wilderness Areas. “You’re working harder for it, so the rewards are greater, but you’re also out there and exposed, and nobody’s poaching your line.”

The Wilderness Act has implications for guiding and education, too. Group size is generally limited to fewer than 15 people and conducting business in Wilderness Areas requires a commercial guiding permit, which regulates an outfit’s number of guided user days. This permitting process, however, varies depending on what agency regulates the land.

“The Forest Service and the Parks Service manage land very differently in terms of the whole permit process,” says Josh Baruch, owner of Colorado Wilderness Rides and Guides. “Rocky Mountain Park Service is historically easy to work with and has less barriers to entry. A lot of time the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service have more barriers of entry.

For companies like Colorado Wilderness Rides and Guides, teaching avy course in Wilderness Areas, like those in Roosevelt National Forest, means smaller classes, which Baruch appreciates. “Course sizes could be as big as 28,” he mentions, “but when they go out they’re going to have to be divided into smaller groups, generally of seven or less, including guides.”

To celebrate, Wilderness50, an awareness and educational campaign for the Act’s 50^th anniversary, has sponsored 750 community events and three national events—including the National Wilderness Conference in October in Albuquerque, N.M. And backcountry skiers can celebrate, too.

“We’ve been working on a stewardship project [in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness Area, W.Y.], talking about wilderness values and what’s appropriate and what’s allowed in wilderness,” says Mark Menlove, Executive Director of Winter Wildlands Alliance. “We believe that we need big winter landscapes where people can go out and truly experience the winter landscape on its own terms.”