The Four Cornerstones of Wilderness Stewardship

The Four Cornerstones of Wilderness Stewardship

The Four Cornerstones were developed by the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center to help implement law and agency policy and to repackage the management principles to address the evolving issues of wilderness management. They represent the essence of wilderness management by reflecting the types of decisions that managers commonly have to make.

1. Manage wilderness as a whole.

AnneMarie LaRosa, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, AK: USFWS

2. Preserve wildness and natural conditions.

Jim Kenna, Palm Springs Field Office, CA: BLM

3. Protect wilderness benefits.

Jim Bedwell, Mt. Evans Wilderness, CO: USFS

4. Provide and use the minimum necessary.

Maureen Finnerty, Marjory Stoneman Dougles Wilderness (Everglades NP), FL: NPS


This information is excerpted from a document contained within Wilderness Fundamentals Toolbox on Wilderness.net. Since other related resources found in this toolbox may be of interest, you can visit this toolbox by visiting the following URL: http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=toolboxes&sec=awareness. All toolboxes are products of the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center.

Climate Change Hits Alaskan Wilderness

National Parks in Alaska, many of which include significant chunks of wilderness, are being reshaped by climate changes. In many ways, this could fundamentally change the way that parks, and the wilderness areas in those parks, are managed. A recent article in Reuters looks at how the National Park Service is monitoring climate change in Alaskan national parks.

From the article:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Thawing permafrost triggers mudslides on a road traveled by busloads of sightseers. Tall bushes on the tundra block panoramic views and the rapid melting of glaciers poses new flood risks.

These are just a few of the ways a rapidly warming climate is reshaping Denali, Kenai Fjords and other national parks -- the crown jewels of Alaska's heritage as America's last frontier.

These and some better-known impacts -- proliferation of invasive plants and fish, greater frequency and intensity of wildfires, and declines in wildlife populations that depend on sea ice and glaciers -- are outlined in a recent National Park Service report.
Since the mid-1970s, Alaska has warmed at three times the rate of the Lower 48 states, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And with nearly two-thirds of U.S. national parkland located in Alaska, the issue of climate change is especially pressing there, officials say.

In some far northern parks such as Gates of the Arctic, average temperatures are expected to shift in coming years from below freezing to above freezing, crossing a crucial threshold, said Bob Winfree, Alaska science adviser for the Park Service.

Read the full article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_alaska_climate

USDA Forest Service Chief on Sustainable Recreation

For more information, visit: http://prdp2fs.ess.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5270170.pdf

Wilderness Manager's Meeting for the Intermountian Region - USFS Region 4

Prior to the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance National Meeting, wilderness managers from the Intermountain Region (R4) will be meeting in Las Vegas, March 8th - 10th, 2011. This meeting will cover a variety of wilderness stewardship issues as well as program information useful for agency employees and wilderness stewards. Wilderness Stewardship groups are invited to send a representative or drop in for any topics of interest on the agenda. For planning purposes, please contact Randy Welsh, 801-625-5250 or rwelsh@fs.fed.us to let him know of your possible attendance.

Death by GPS

As the use of handheld global positioning system (GPS) units has exploded over the past several years, so to have the number of wilderness visitors who've gotten themselves into serious trouble as a result of incorrect directions. Add this to the list of issues that wilderness managers are dealing with on a sometimes daily basis. An article on Foxnews.com explored how these issues are affecting managers at both Death Valley National Park and Joshua Tree National Park. It has reached a point at Death Valley where managers had to add a disclaimer to their website regarding the use of GPS units:



While GPS technology and the availability of handheld units has increased recreational opportunities, it's also given less experienced outdoor enthusiasts a false sense of security. Couple that with cell phones (or the belief that one can get out of trouble with a quick phone call to 911) and it's a recipe for trouble.

To read the full article, visit: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/04/death-gps-rise/

Wilderness vs. wilderness study area - what's the difference?

As stewards of wilderness, it's incumbent upon us to help tell the story of wilderness, why it exist and what it provides in terms of life-sustaining benefits. As someone who's been involved in wilderness conservation, stewardship, education and management for many years, I know firsthand just how few in the recreating public understand the differences in wilderness, wilderness study area or even backcountry. To many, these are all just "the outdoor" or "nature" - a place to escape the day to day grind. However, when you drill down into the specifics, things can get complicated.

The wilderness stewardship community simply has to do a better job of telling the story of wilderness in addition to supporting proper stewardship and management of existing wilderness.

A recent article in the Macon County News, based in Franklin, NC, explored the ramifications of moving from a wilderness study area designation to congressionally designated wilderness. From the article:

The issue will likely be raised again at the next meeting of the board on Tuesday, but at this point, commissioners say it is still unclear how the change in designation from Wilderness Study Area to Wilderness Area, which requires an act of Congress, would change the way the area is managed. Any resolution passed by the commissioners would be non-binding, but would be forwarded on to Congressman Heath Shuler (D) for his consideration.

The Overflow Wilderness Study Area is a 3,200 acre tract of land in Blue Valley, south of Highlands, N.C. Several conservation groups, as well as the Town of Highlands, are advocating that it be renamed and reassigned as the Bob Zahner Wilderness area.

The 3,200 acre tract of land in Blue Valley was first established as a Wilderness Study Area in 1984 with the passage of North Carolina’s last wilderness bill. Overflow Creek feeds into the headwaters of the Chattooga River. The study area includes areas of old-growth, hardwood forest, and is a rich, diverse habitat for the region’s flora and fauna.

Read the full article here: http://www.maconnews.com/outdoors/295-commissioners-unclear-on-significance-of-wilderness-designation

Lawsuit accuses Forest Service of ducking its own rules on off-road vehicles use

From the Colorado Independent:

Few things get Coloradans as riled up as access to our public lands. The debate tends to rage on numerous fronts, but by far the most contentious battles are fought over off-road vehicle access: where, when, how and when is enough enough?

Officials with the Pike-San Isabel National Forest in southern-central Colorado touched off a powder keg of controversy recently when they issued a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) that conservationists say includes more than 500 miles of illegal roads and tracks – or “rogue” trails – formed by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) or motorcycles over the years.

The groups filed suit last week in U.S. District Court alleging the U.S. Forest Service failed to properly vet the roads for environmental impacts, including their potential effect on endangered species and other recreational activities such as hiking and biking.

Represented by the environmental law firm Earthjustice, the groups include the Quiet Use Coalition, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Center for Native Ecosystems, Wildlands CPR and The Wilderness Society. The groups also say the roads were added without any public input.

Critics claim that the more than 800 trails, roads and tracks will only add to a USFS maintenance and upgrade backlog on the existing network in the Pike-San Isabel National Forest, which is in the top 10 most popular national forests in the United States. The Forest Service is currently $16 million behind in just maintaining existing roads, the groups claim.

“I’m really upset because this forest means so much to me and my family,” Quiet Use Coalition President Alan Heald said in a release “Everyone knows that this forest’s management and enforcement of [off-road vehicles] has been lackadaisical for decades. But now, instead of utilizing the new rules to rein it in, they are attempting to officially lock in the decades of illegal use without a public and environmental process.”

Heald is an avid hiker who says he has dealt with years of off-road vehicle trespass problems around his family’s mining claim in the Pike-San Isabel.

Off-road vehicle groups in other parts of the state have battled with lower-impact forest users over inclusion of new public lands in wilderness proposals in the White River National Forest, where the Hidden Gems proposal sparked heated debate in recent years.

A watered down version of that proposal was proposed by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, in the last session of Congress. Its fate remains uncertain in the current Republican-controlled House.

And for years now Colorado has been working through a laborious process to craft its own rules for managing federal public lands designated as “roadless” areas. The state is seeking certain exemptions for ski area expansion and extractive industries such as gas drilling and logging.