§ 1131. National Wilderness Preservation System
529 words·~2 min read·
/usc/title-16/section-1131A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
(a)Establishment; Congressional declaration of policy; wilderness areas; administration for public use and enjoyment, protection, preservation, and gathering and dissemination of information; provisions for designation as wilderness areas In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For this purpose there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preservation System to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as “wilderness areas”, and these shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness; and no Federal lands shall be designated as “wilderness areas” except as provided for in this chapter or by a subsequent Act.
(b)Management of area included in System; appropriations The inclusion of an area in the National Wilderness Preservation System notwithstanding, the area shall continue to be managed by the Department and agency having jurisdiction thereover immediately before its inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System unless otherwise provided by Act of Congress. No appropriation shall be available for the payment of expenses or salaries for the administration of the National Wilderness Preservation System as a separate unit nor shall any appropriations be available for additional personnel stated as being required solely for the purpose of managing or administering areas solely because they are included within the National Wilderness Preservation System.
(c)“Wilderness” defined A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this chapter 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 affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable;
(2)has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation;
(3)has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and
(4)may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.
(Pub. L. 88–577, § 2, Sept. 3, 1964, 78 Stat. 890.)
Connections2,937 cite this
Cited by 2,937 sections · top 60
U.S. Code
- § 1801Findings, purposes and policy
- § 1431Findings, purposes, and policies; establishment of system
- § 1702Definitions
- § 1782Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study
- § 1281Administration
- § 719ePresidential decision and report
- § 331Repealed. Pub. L. 106–462, title I, § 106(a)(1), Nov. 7, 2000, 114 Stat. 2007
- § 3102Definitions
- § 3150Alaska mineral resource assessment program
- § 7202Establishment of the National Landscape Conservation System
- § 2302Definitions
- § 410aaaFindings
- § 1203Transfer authorization
- § 460l–6dFilming and still photography
- § 12207Federal wilderness areas
- § 1784Lands in Alaska; designation as wilderness; management by Bureau of Land Management pending Congressional action
- § 545bOpal Creek Wilderness and Scenic Recreation Area
- § 460uuuMount Hood National Recreation Area
- § 539kKelly Butte Special Management Area
- § 539rRocky Mountain Front Conservation Management Area and wilderness additions
- § 460gggWilderness
- § 539qHermosa Creek watershed protection
- § 3203Wilderness management
- § 8422Protecting America’s rock climbing
- § 3199Navigation aids and other facilities
- § 8421Biking on long-distance trails
- § 459i–5Administration, protection, and development
- § 460ppp–6Wilderness
- § 410fff–6Designation of wilderness within the Conservation Area
- § 100905Filming and still photography in System units
public-private-law
register
statutes-at-large
- Public Law 94–199To establish the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in the States of Oregon and Idaho, and for other purposes
- Public Law 98–425Entitled the “California Wilderness Act of 1984”
- Public Law 96–199To establish the Channel Islands National Park, and for other purposes
- Public Law 90–543
- Public Law 94–352To designate the Eagles Nest Wilderness, Arapaho and White River National Forests, in the State of Colorado
- Public Law 94–544To designate certain lands in the Point Reyes National Seashore, California, as wilderness, amending the Act of September 13, 1962 (76 Stat. 538), as amended (16 U
- Public Law 92–395
- Public Law 92–400
- Public Law 91–547
- Public Law 93–631
- Public Law 92–493
- Public Law 98–324To designate certain public lands in North Carolina as additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System
- Public Law 93–550To designate certain lands in the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge, California, as wilderness; to add certain lands to the Point Reyes National Seashore; and for other purposes
- Public Law 92–476
- Public Law 92–591
- Public Law 109–382To designate certain land in New England as wilderness for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation system and certain land as a National Recreation Area, and for other purposes
- Public Law 92–528
- Public Law 92–510
- Public Law 94–268To provide for the modification of the boundaries of the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness Area
- Public Law 106–554Making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes
- Public Law 96–248To amend the Act of November 8, 1978 (92 Stat 3095), to designate certain Cibola National Forest lands as additions to the Sandia Mountain Wilderness, New Mexico
statute-compilations
3 references not yet in our index
- Pub. L. 88–577, § 2
- 78 Stat. 890
- Pub. L. 88–577, § 1
Citation graph
cites case law
§ 1131
National Wilderness Preservation System
Bills×2,280
Stat.×332
Fed. Reg.×122
U.S.C.×99
Pub. L.×59
Stat. Comp.×41
C.F.R.×4
Pub. L.Pub. L. 88–577, § 2
Stat.78 Stat. 890
Pub. L.Pub. L. 88–577, § 1
Cites 3Cited by 2,937 across 7 sources