Editor's note: As the Traveler has noted in the past, there are many areas of the National Park System that are deserving of official wilderness designation but which have yet to receive it. The following updated, prepared January 30, 2010, by Frank Buono, a former National Park Service administrator, summarizes the current state of wilderness in the system and offers suggestions for filling the voids.

The Wilderness Act was enacted in 1964. After nearly a half-century, the wilderness edifice of the National Park System is only half complete. Ten years ago, Wes Henry, the NPS Wilderness Coordinator, directed that a report document the unfinished wilderness agenda of the parks. Some progress has since been made. The year ahead may be a good year. Much remains to be done.

Summary

The National Park Service administers more wilderness than any other federal land-managing agency. The nearly 45 million acres of designated park wilderness comprise well over 50 percent of all the lands within the National Park System and over 40 percent of all federal lands within the national wilderness preservation system.

The NPS is a wilderness-managing agency! But, for a variety of reasons, some historical and others organizational, the NPS has ignored some fundamental wilderness responsibilities imposed both by law and policy. This report lists the measures that the NPS may take to improve its performance. The report titles them “The Steps Ahead.”

In a perfect world, citizens, NPS retirees, and conservation organizations would not need to prod to fulfill the promise of wilderness in our National Park System. Inertia, political opposition, lack of sufficient system-wide oversight led to these lapses. This report aims to eliminate at least one impediment – the NPS’ own lack of a comprehensive review.

In the decade since this report first appeared, the NPS has made some progress in implementing “The Steps Ahead.” That progress has been, in some cases, grudging and forced. In other cases, progress has resulted from the diligence of NPS personnel at all levels.

No one person or group can keep abreast of all the events involving wilderness throughout the national park system. This report may contain inaccurate, outdated or partial information. We invite any NPS employee, retiree, or public citizen who has knowledge about park wilderness – designated, recommended, proposed, or about an ignored and forgotten roadless area, to contact us to correct or add any information to this Report. My number is (520) 803-0870 and e-mail is [email protected].

Frank Buono
NPS Retiree
THE STEPS AHEAD
For National Park System Wilderness

Step 1. Compose Legal Descriptions and Maps of Wilderness Boundaries.

Nearly every statute designating wilderness in an area of the National Park System requires that the NPS prepare a written legal description of the wilderness boundary accompanied by an official map. Some parks have not yet met this legal requirement. Director’s Order No. 41 of August 2, 1999, directed that all parks with wilderness meet this goal within 18 months, i.e. by February 2, 2001.

The following parks have prepared neither a legal description nor an official map of their wilderness boundaries:

[Note: The date in parentheses is the date wilderness was designated.]

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (1978)

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (1978)
Documents are now in final but await transmittal to WASO and Congress.

Death Valley National Park (1994)
Documents are in Pacific West Regional Office but await transmittal to WASO and Congress.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area (2002)
Documents undergoing final review but await transmittal to Region, WASO and Congress.

The following parks lack either the legal description, or the map:

Congaree Swamp National Monument (1988)

Haleakala National Park (1976)

Lassen Volcanic National Park (1972)

Mount Rainier National Park (1988)

North Cascades National Park (1988)

Shenandoah National Park (1976)

Congress designated wilderness in the following parks so recently that the preparation of legal documents may not yet be underway:

Joshua Tree National Park (2009)

Rocky Mountain National Park (2009)

Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks(2009)

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (2009)

Zion National Park (2009)

Two parks with designated wilderness should rewrite their current legal descriptions and redraw the maps of their designated wilderness. The parks are Craters of the Moon and Petrified Forest.

Craters of the Moon - In October 1970 Congress designated wilderness in the national monument. Congress cited map #131-91,000 of March 1970 when creating the Craters of the Moon wilderness. That NPS map, like all early NPS proposals, created an administrative management exclusion zone between the park boundary and the wilderness boundary. Although the NPS abandoned this approach in 1973, the Craters of the Moon wilderness was enacted before that change.

In Craters of the Moon, where the borders of the park and the wilderness were parallel, the buffer zone was 5 chains in some places and 13 chains in others (i.e. 330’ or 858’). The NPS filed the above-cited map and a December 1970 legal description with Congress. Once filed, that legal description has the force of law. Only one other NPS wilderness (Petrified Forest) has this characteristic. In hearings on May 5, 1972, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Nathaniel Reed committed to Senator Frank Church of Idaho to redescribe the wilderness boundaries to eliminate the management buffer zone. Thirty-eight years later, the NPS has yet to do so.

Petrified Forest - On October 23, 1970 Congress designated wilderness in the park, becoming the first NPS wilderness along with Craters of the Moon. Congress enacted the NPS’ recommendation for Petrified Forest as depicted on NPS map #NP-PF-3320-C, dated November 1967. (The statute designating wilderness describes the map as #NP-PF-3320-O; the use of the letter “O” appears to be a typographical error). That NPS proposal, like all early NPS proposals, created an administrative management exclusion zone between the park boundary and the wilderness boundary. The NPS abandoned this approach in 1973.

In Petrified Forest, where the borders of the park and the wilderness were parallel, the zone was 1/8th of a mile wide (660 feet or ten chains). The NPS referenced map #NP-PF3320-O as the legal wilderness boundary map. The NPS prepared a legal description dated December 1970 that describes such a boundary. The date that the NPS filed the map and description with Congress is undetermined. Once filed, that legal description has the force of law. Only one other NPS wilderness (Craters of the Moon) has this characteristic. In hearings on May 5, 1972, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Nathaniel Reed committed to redescribe the wilderness boundaries to eliminate the management buffer zone. The NPS has yet to do so.

STEP 2. Redesignate “potential wilderness” as full wilderness.

Congress has designated nearly 250,000 acres of lands in 22 parks as “potential wilderness.” Eight of the 22 parks have acted over the last thirty years to redesignate 40,539 acres of potential wilderness as wilderness. Over 205,000 acres of potential wilderness remain in 20 parks. Director’s Order No. 41 requires that every park with potential wilderness must inventory such lands within two years (i.e. by August 2, 2001) and publish redesignation notices where appropriate.

Potential wilderness is not to be confused with recommended or “possible” wilderness. Rather, potential wilderness is land that Congress has specifically designated as qualifying for wilderness as soon as certain uses prohibited by the Wilderness Act have ceased. Upon such cessation, Congress authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to redesignate such lands as full wilderness by publication of a notice in the Federal Register.

Until recently, the NPS was unique among wilderness-managing agencies in possessing designated “potential wilderness.” The Wilderness Act of 1964 never uses the term. The origins of “potential wilderness” lie in early NPS efforts to craft wilderness recommendations for Congress. NPS wilderness proposals grappled with issues of non-federal lands, or federal lands with grazing and similar uses, within the boundaries of the agency’s wilderness proposal.

At first, the NPS applied the term “wilderness reserve” to such lands, presuming that Congress could place the lands in a half-way-house on the way to wilderness. Finally, the NPS settled on the term “potential wilderness.” The term began to appear in NPS wilderness recommendations to Congress with Colorado National Monument in early 1972. Congress accepted the term and adopted it for the first time when enacting wilderness laws for several parks on October 20, 1976.

Potential wilderness appears to be an unnecessary designation. In national forests, Bureau of Land Management public lands and in some parks (such as Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree additions of 1994) Congress designated areas as wilderness even though they contained non-federal lands. The nonfederal lands within a wilderness boundary are not wilderness by definition of the Wilderness Act. When such lands become Federal the lands immediately become wilderness without any further action.

Parks that published Federal Register notices to redesignate “potential wilderness” as wilderness (acres shown in parentheses):

Buffalo River (24,464 acres)

Fire Island (17 acres)

Great Sand Dunes (2,505 - all)

Gulf Islands (two separate notices) (2,290 acres)

Haleakala (5,449 acres)

Joshua Tree (3,502 acres)

Point Reyes (1,752 acres)

Shenandoah (560 acres - all)

The 20 parks with remaining designated potential wilderness are:

Buffalo River (1,007 acres)

Carlsbad Caverns (320 acres)

Chiricahua (2 acres)

Congaree Swamp (6,840 acres)

Cumberland Island (10,500 acres)

Death Valley (6,840 acres)

Everglades (81,900)

Fire Island (1 acre)

Gulf Islands (520 acres)

Haleakala (51 acres)

Hawaii Volcanoes (7,850 acres)

Isle Royale (231 acres)

Joshua Tree (70,538 acres - 27,238 acres remain from 1976, and 43,300 from 2009)

North Cascades (5,226 acres)

Olympic (378 acres)

Organ Pipe Cactus (1,240 acres)

Pinnacles (1,005 acres)

Point Reyes (6,778 acres)

Sequoia-Kings Canyon (230 acres - 100 acres from 1984 and 130 acres in John Krebs Wilderness in 2009)

Yosemite (3,550 acres)

In many of the above parks the potential wilderness has become federal lands and/or all prohibited uses have ceased. These lands need to be redesignated.

Step 3. Evaluate all parks in existence on September 3, 1964 with roadless areas for wilderness eligibility and make appropriate recommendation to Congress.

Section 3(c) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1132(c)) required the Secretary of the Interior to study all roadless areas in the National Park System on the date the Wilderness Act became law on September 3, 1964 for wilderness suitability.

The NPS has yet to conduct full studies for at least four parks in existence on September 3, 1964:

Acadia – no eligibility evaluation, no study, no recommendation;

Cape Cod – yes for eligibility evaluation but no for full study or recommendation;

Ozark Riverways – no eligibility evaluation, no study, no recommendation;

Wind Cave – no recommendation.

For Cape Cod National Seashore, the process has begun. On January 10, 2005, U.S. District Court for District of Columbia ordered the NPS to prepare a wilderness suitability assessment for Cape Cod. The NPS prepared a suitability assessment for Cape Cod on January 6, 2006. The assessment found that the areas zoned as “Natural” in the park's current General Management Plan were suitable for further study. In a letter of December 8, 2005 to the NPS director, the regional director committed to study these areas for a wilderness recommendation. The study has not yet begun.

Wind Cave – At the time that Congress passed the Wilderness Act, Wind Cave was a small national park of 28,000 acres. There is no record that the NPS ever conducted a formal study of the park, or that the Interior Secretary ever transmitted to Congress a recommendation that none of the park was suitable as wilderness. In the 1994 General Management Plan for Wind Cave, the NPS states that none of the lands of the park are suitable. The 1994 GMP states that because of “public and administrative roads that intersect the park, there were no contiguous sections that met all of the criteria for wilderness designation.” In 2005, Congress added 5,675 acres to the park. The NPS has yet to revisit the issue to determine if the addition alters its 1994 conclusion.

For all four parks, the Wilderness Act requires that the NPS must ultimately make a recommendation to Congress, even if the recommendation is that no acres are suitable for wilderness.

Step 4. Evaluate parks created AFTER the Wilderness Act for wilderness eligibility and further study.

Congress has created many parks after the Wilderness Act in1964. Some but not all of the laws creating the parks required the Secretary to review the lands for wilderness. Reference Manual 41 (page 11) and Director’s Order No. 41 require that the NPS conduct suitability studies of roadless areas within all parks, not just those in existence on September 3, 1964. NPS Management Policies 2006 also require such a review: “[A]ll lands administered by the National Park Service, including new units…since 1964, will be evaluated for their eligibility for inclusion in the national wilderness preservation system.” Management Policies 2006, 6.2.1., p. 120.

The NPS has not evaluated the eligibility for at least the following 14 parks created after 1964 that contain significant roadless areas. Others may be too small for any viable wilderness. Date in parentheses is date of establishment.

Amistad (1990)

Big South Fork (1990)

Curecanti (1965; administered under Agreement with BuRec)

Delaware Water Gap (1965)

Dry Tortugas (1992)

Golden Gate (1972)

Great Basin (1986)

John D. Rockefeller (1972)

Little River Canyon (1992)

New River Gorge (1978)

Santa Monica Mountains (1978)

St. Croix Riverway 1968)

Timucuan (1988)

Whiskeytown (1972)

Until recently, Channel Islands was among these park areas. However, in April 2009, the NPS initiated a full wilderness study for Channel Islands National Park. In 1980 Congress mandated that the Secretary review and report to the President a wilderness recommendation for Channel Islands (16 U.S.C. 410ff-5). The recommendation was due by October 1, 1983. The NPS never conducted the study and never developed a proposal or recommendation. However, on April 24, 2002, then-NPS Regional Director John Reynolds sent a wilderness suitability assessment memo to the NPS Director. On April 8, 2009, the NPS announced the expansion of the scope of the General Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for Channel Islands to include a full study of wilderness.

Step 5. Evaluate parks with significant additions AFTER 1964 for wilderness eligibility and further study.

NPS Management Policies 2006 also require that “[A]ll lands administered by the National Park Service, including…additions to existing units since 1964, will be evaluated for their eligibility for inclusion in the national wilderness preservation system.” Management Policies 2006, 6.2.1., p. 120.

Through the planning process, primarily development of park General Management Plans, the NPS has or may be undertaking a further review of wilderness in a number of parks that contain significant additions. The NPS needs to complete the evaluations, studies and public hearings preparatory to development of a wilderness proposal to the Secretary of the Interior.

Big Cypress Addition - Congress added 146,000 acres to Big Cypress National Preserve in 1988 with a mandated wilderness review of the Addition due by 1993. The NPS did not conduct the review. On January 17, 2006, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the 1988 statutory requirement for a wilderness study remains a binding legal obligation upon the NPS (though one not enforceable by the plaintiff in that case - The Wilderness Society). In June 2006 the NPS agreed to study the Big Cypress Addition for wilderness as part of the general management planning process for that area. In 2001, the NPS concluded that 128,000 acres of the Addition were eligible for wilderness. In 2007, the NPS then concluded that only 109,000 of the Addition were eligible for wilderness. In 2009, the Draft General Management Plan adopted an alternative that would propose only 85,862 of the eligible acres as wilderness, in order to foster more ORV routes and use. GMP not yet final. No public hearings held.

Everglades - Congress added 108,000 acres in 1989 (the “East Everglades Addition”). On August 7, 2006, the NPS announced that a general management plan revision will analyze wilderness suitability of the East Everglades Addition.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve – On November 22, 2000, Congress added over 69,000 acres (42,000 acres of Forest Service, a small amount of Bureau of Land Management lands) to a renamed Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. As part of the General Management Plan, adopted in April 2007, the NPS conducted a formal wilderness study of the lands added to the Park and Preserve in 2000, other than the lands that were already part of the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness. The NPS held formal public hearings, in conformity with the Wilderness Act review process. The NPS study proposed that 53,013 acres be recommended as wilderness (4,556 acres of wilderness and 48,457 acres of potential wilderness due to nonfederal lands or interests in lands).

Guadalupe Mountains – Congress added over 10,000 acres on the west boundary of the park in 1988. In 2002, the NPS Regional Director prepared a wilderness suitability memo for the 1988 additions that also reviewed nonwilderness lands in the original park. The suitability memo, finding 35,000 suitable acres, was approved by the NPS Director on April 1, 2003. However, the review process then died, apparently in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Interior. The NPS is now studying Guadalupe National Park lands, both in the 1988 addition and the original park, for wilderness.

Petrified Forest -- In 2004 Congress added significant new lands to Petrified Forest National Park of 125,000 acres. Most of the lands were State or other nonfederally-owned lands. In 2005, the NPS announced its intent to conduct a wilderness review when more lands are in Federal ownership.

Saguaro - In 1991 Congress added 3,540 acres of the Rincon Valley to the south side of the Rincon Mountain Unit (east of Tucson, Arizona). The NPS has not studied the added lands (which adjoin existing wilderness) for wilderness suitability. The NPS wrote in a letter October 3, 2005 that they have completed a wilderness suitability review for the added lands and found some to be suitable for further study.

Step 6 – Develop Recommendations for Parks with Designated Wilderness where the NPS Studies or Congressional Directives Indicate

Lassen Volcanic - In 2002, the NPS adopted a new general management plan for the park, calling for expansion of the existing park wilderness by 25,000 acres. Subsequent park documents from January 2005 provided a more precise figure of acres as 13,151. The NPS has not conducted a formal public hearing under the Wilderness Act, nor developed a subsequent wilderness proposal to the Secretary of the Interior.

Mesa Verde – Congress designated approximately 8,100 acres as wilderness in 1976. However, the Senate Report for the act (S.R. No. 94-1357 of September 29, 1976) states “The Committee adopted the acreage figure recommended by the National Park Service, although it recognizes that substantial additional acreage within the park qualifies as wilderness. The Committee expects that at some future time the National Park Service will make further recommendations for wilderness designation.” The House Report (H.R. 94-1417 of August 13, 1976) expressed similar expectations. The NPS never prepared further recommendations.

Step 7. Review determinations of parks with “no suitable acres.”

Besides the five parks in the previous category where the NPS determined that zero acres were suitable for wilderness (Big Cypress original, Big Thicket, Chaco Canyon, White Sands and Wupatki) there are four others. The NPS needs to review the suitability conclusions in the four parks:

Big Cypress - The NPS 1979 study concluded that zero acres of the original Preserve were suitable for wilderness. The study committed the NPS to restudy the park in five years. But the NPS never did do. Nor did the NPS transmit its recommendation of zero suitable acres to Congress.

Big Thicket - NPS 1980 wilderness study concluded zero suitable acres but described a “wilderness objective area” of 60,000 acres. The NPS never transmitted its recommendation to Congress. Congress added 11,000 acres in 1992

Biscayne - NPS wilderness study of July 1983 found zero acres suitable as wilderness. Reasons given were the impacts of external activities including the Turkey Point Power Plant, overhead jets based at Homestead Air Force Base and oceangoing vessels. However, there are several undeveloped islands in the park that are roadless. The determination was never submitted to Congress.

Canaveral - NPS wilderness study of September 1981 found zero suitable acres. The determination was never submitted to Congress.

Chaco Culture - The first NPS wilderness recommendation to Congress (March 1968) found zero suitable acres at Chaco. However, in 1980 Congress added significant new roadless lands to that park. On September 26, 2000, the NPS gained title to over 1700 acres of State of New Mexico lands, thus removing another possible obstacle to wilderness consideration. In 2004, the park superintendent sent a wilderness suitability assessment for Chaco to the Regional Office. The assessment found 19,800 acres as suitable for designation as wilderness. The Regional Office did not forward the assessment to the Washington Office.

Mammoth Cave - NPS wilderness study found zero suitable acres although the park contains 39,000 acres of roadless lands in four units. The study cited the remains of past human occupancy from the 1930’s, as the reason. The Secretary of the Interior committed to the President to restudy Mammoth Cave and “report back to the Congress at a later date.” (letter of August 23, 1974). The President made a similar commitment to Congress in a message dated December 4, 1974. No restudy was ever conducted.

Padre Island - NPS wilderness study concluded zero acres suitable for wilderness in the 130,000 acre seashore. The President transmitted the zero-acre recommendation to Congress in September 1972. The basis for non-suitability was the presence of subsurface nonfederally owned oil and gas rights.

White Sands – In 1972, the NPS recommended zero suitable acres in a 143,000-acre park because of missile overflights and possible falling debris from the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. At least 130,000 acres of this park are “roadless.” The Director pledged at the time to conduct a restudy of the area; a study that has never been done.

Wupatki – In 1972, NPS recommended zero acres suitable for wilderness in the 35,000-acre park, largely due to grazing. The grazing permit to the Babbitt’s CO Bar Ranch expired in 1988 and is now gone. Moreover, grazing of livestock per se does not disqualify lands from wilderness.

Step 8. Review wilderness recommendations that have been submitted to Congress for 17 parks and on which Congress has not acted.

There are 17 parks for which the Secretary or the President has submitted recommendations to Congress and on which Congress has not acted. The extant recommendations for the parks were transmitted to Congress between 1974 and 2002 and encompass over six million acres. The following list of the 17 parks shows the date of the latest and governing recommendation.

In the interim decades, land status and other factors have changed for several parks that would alter the contours of the original recommendation. Former nonfederal lands are now Federal. Congress has expanded some park boundaries. Thus, the acreage numbers for several parks with recommended wilderness require technical adjustment and reformulation.

Arches - Recommendation May 11, 1978. The NPS recommended over 8,000 acres of potential wilderness because they were State of Utah lands. Those lands are now Federal due to a land exchange of October 1, 1993. (P.L. 103-93, 107 Stat. 996). Boundary change in 1998.

Assateague Island – Recommendation December 4, 1974.

Big Bend – Recommendation May 11, 1978. Congress added over 100,000 acres to Big Bend in 1980 and 1987. These lands were not subject to the original wilderness study or the 1978 NPS recommendation to Congress. In a memo of September 14, 2002, the NPS determined that 62,700 acres of the North Rosillos Ranch Addition (the 1987 addition) were suitable for wilderness.

Bryce Canyon – Recommendation May 11, 1978.

Canyonlands - Recommendation May 23, 1977. The NPS recommended over 18,000 acres as potential wilderness because they were State of Utah lands. Those lands are now Federal due to land exchange in August 1993. See note under Arches.

Capitol Reef – Recommendation May 23, 1977. The NPS recommended over 4,000 acres as potential wilderness because they were State of Utah lands. See note under Arches.

Cedar Breaks – Recommendation November 12, 1976.

Colorado Monument – Recommendation May 11, 1978

Crater Lake – Recommendation May 11, 1978. In 1980 Congress added nearly 23,000 acres to the park, most of which is roadless.

Craters of the Moon – Recommended to Congress October 13, 1991 as the BLM Great Rift Wilderness; subsequently included in Craters of the Moon by Presidential Proclamation 7373, November 9, 2000, and then Craters of the Moon National Preserve by P.L. 107-213 on August 21, 2002.

Cumberland Gap – Recommendation May 11, 1978. Lands recommended as potential wilderness due to nonfederal ownership are now Federal.

Dinosaur – Recommended May 11, 1978. The NPS recommended over 5,000 acres as potential wilderness because they were State of Utah lands. See note under Arches.

El Malpais - Recommendation April 2002.

Glacier – Recommendation June 13, 1974.

Grand Teton – Recommendation May 11, 1978.

Great Smoky Mountains – Recommendation February 2, 1974

Yellowstone – Recommendation May 11, 1978.

Step 9. Review wilderness recommendations that have NOT been submitted to Congress. Adjust to afford protection to roadless areas and submit to Congress.

The NPS has prepared wilderness studies and proposals, and in most, if not all, cases conducted public hearings for eight other parks outside of Alaska that have never been submitted to either the Secretary, the President or transmitted to Congress. The NPS needs to transmit these as proposals to the Secretary, and the Secretary recommend them to Congress. The eight parks and the acres proposed as wilderness in the latest NPS studies are:

Bighorn Canyon (8,108 acres/December 1981);

Cape Lookout (2,920 acres and 2 potential acres/August 1985);

Glen Canyon (588,055 acres and 48,995 potential acres/August 1980);

Grand Canyon (1,109,257 acres and 29,820 potential acres/August 1993);

Lake Mead (418,655 acres and 262,125 potential acres/January 1978; Congress designated wilderness in the Nevada portion of the park in 2002, leaving approximately 495,000 acres from the 1978 proposal undesignated in the Arizona portion);

Sleeping Bear Dunes (7,128 acres and 23,775 potential acres/January 1981). In 2008 the NPS concluded a new General Management Plan for the Lakeshore. A new Wilderness Study accompanied the GMP. The NPS conducted formal public hearings on the Wilderness Study. The NPS proposed 33,600 as wilderness, an increase of 2,967 acres, and Voyageurs (127,436 acres and 2,442 potential acres/July 1992)

This class of parks encompasses approximately 2,640,000 acres of wilderness or potential wilderness.

Before transmitting these proposals, the NPS needs to determine if they give adequate protection to roadless areas. Some of the proposals can be described as “minimalist” and leave out important roadless tracts. Among these, in particular, are Bighorn Canyon and Cape Lookout. The large area of potential wilderness in Glen Canyon is due to State of Utah lands in 1980; lands that are now Federal due a land exchange with Utah, authorized in 1993.

Step 10. Recommend wilderness in Alaska.

In the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA) Congress designated 32.9 million acres of wilderness in the national parks, preserves and monuments in Alaska. The act also required that the Secretary study an addition 21.8 million acres of park land for wilderness designation and make a recommendation to the President by December 1985 ((P.L. 96-487; 94 Stat. 2486).

In November 1988, the NPS prepared a final environmental impact statement on the studies for the 13 parks involved. The Draft EIS found nearly 16.9 million acres as qualified for wilderness. However, William Horn, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks directed that the preferred alternative in the DEIS show 7 million acres. In December 1988, acting Assistant Secretary Susan Reece reduced the preferred alternative acres to 4.6 million. The EIS is now outdated and of limited value or relevance.

The failure to act on the remaining wilderness qualified lands in Alaska parks is a deficiency of long-standing. Because of it, parks like Aniakchak, Bering Land Bridge, Cape Krusenstern, Kenai Fjords and Yukon-Charley have no wilderness at all.

The NPS has never held public hearings on the wilderness recommendations for Alaska. The NPS needs to do so and then formulate a recommendation to submit to the Secretary and the Congress. That recommendation could differ significantly from the preferred alternative in the EIS (4.7 million acres) and could be as large as 16.9 million acres.

The parks involved in Alaska are:

Aniakchak

Bering Land Bridge

Cape Krusenstern

Denali

Gates of the Arctic

Glacier Bay

Katmai

Kenai Fjords

Kobuk Valley

Lake Clark

Noatak

Wrangell-St. Elias

Yukon-Charley

Step 11. Revise the NPS Wilderness Acreage Summary to accurately reflect the number of acres of:

Category 1 – Parks with Designated Wilderness (53)
a. designated wilderness
b. designated potential wilderness (20 of the above parks)

Category 2 - Parks with recommended Wilderness (17)
a. recommended wilderness
b. recommended potential wilderness

Category 3 - Parks with Proposed Wilderness (7)
proposed wilderness
proposed potential wilderness

Category 4 – Alaska Parks with Proposed Wilderness (13)
a. proposed wilderness
b. proposed potential wilderness
APPENDIX - The National Park System Wilderness Laws
A. Laws establishing wilderness, in chronological order:

Statute #1
Craters of the Moon NM – Public Law 91-504 - 84 Stat. 1105 - 10/23/70

Petrified Forest NP - Public Law 91-504 - 84 Stat. 1106 - 10/23/70

Statute #2
Lava Beds NM - Public Law 92-493 - 86 Stat. 811 - 10/13/72

Statute #3
Lassen Volcanic NP - Public Law 92-510 - 86 Stat. 918 - 10/19/72

Statute #4
Point Reyes NS - Public Law 94-544 - 90 Stat. 2515 - 10/18/76
Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2693 - 10/20/76

Statute # 5
Bandelier NM - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2692 - 10/20/76

Black Canyon of the
Gunnison NM - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2692 - 10/20/76
(1)

Chiricahua NM - Public Law 94-567 – 90 Stat. 2692 - 10/20/76
(1)

Great Sand Dunes NM - Public Law 94-567 – 90 Stat. 2692 - 10/20/76

Haleakala NP - Public Law 94-567 – 90 Stat. 2692 - 10/20/76

Isle Royale NP - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2692 - 10/20/76

Joshua Tree NM - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2692 - 10/20/76
(1)

Mesa Verde NP - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2693 - 10/20/76

Pinnacles NM - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2693 - 10/20/76

Saguaro NM - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2693 - 10/20/76

Badlands NM - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2693 - 10/20/76

Shenandoah NP - Public Law 94-567 - 90 Stat. 2693 - 10/20/76

Statute #6
Buffalo NR - Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3489 - 11/10/78

Carlsbad Caverns NP - Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3489 - 11/10/78

Everglades NP - Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3490 - 11/10/78

Guadalupe NP - Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3490 - 11/10/78

Gulf Islands NS - Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3490 - 11/10/78

Hawaii Volcanoes NP - Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3490 - 11/10/78

Organ Pipe Cactus NM - Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3490 - 11/10/78

Theodore Roosevelt NP- Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3490 - 11/10/78

Statute #7
Denali NP - Public Law 96-487 - 94 Stat. 2417 - 12/02/80

Gates of the Arctic NP - Public Law 96-487 - 94 Stat. 2417 - 12/02/80

Glacier Bay NP - Public Law 96-487 - 94 Stat. 2417 - 12/02/80

Katmai NP - Public Law 96-487 - 94 Stat. 2417 - 12/02/80

Kobuk Valley NP - Public Law 96-487 - 94 Stat. 2417 - 12/02/80

Lake Clark NP - Public Law 96-487 - 94 Stat. 2417 - 12/02/80

Noatak NPres - Public Law 96-487 - 94 Stat. 2417 - 12/02/80

Wrangell-St.Elias NP - Public Law 96-487 - 94 Stat. 2417 - 12/02/80

Statute #8
Rocky Mountain NP - Public Law 96-560 - 94 Stat. 3271 - 12/22/80

Statute #9
Fire Island NS - Public Law 96-585 - 94 Stat. 3379 - 12/23/80
Statute #10
Cumberland Island NS- Public Law 97-250 - 96 Stat. 709 - 9/8/82
Statute #11
Chiricahua NM - Public Law 98-406 - 98 Stat. 1491 - 8/28/84
(2)

Statute #12
Devils Postpile NM - Public Law 98-425 - 98 Stat. 1622 - 9/28/84

Yosemite NP - Public Law 98-425 - 98 Stat. 1627 - 9/28/84

Sequoia-Kings Canyon
NPs - Public Law 98-425- 98 Stat. 1627 - 9/28/84

Statute #13
Mt. Rainier NP - Public Law 100-668- 102 Stat. 3965 - 11/16/88

Congaree Swamp NM- Public Law 100-524- 102 Stat. 2606 - 10/24/88

Statute #14
Olympic NP - Public Law 100-668- 102 Stat. 3961 - 11/16/88

North Cascades NP
Lake Chelan NRA
Ross Lake NRA - Public Law 100-668- 102 Stat. 3963 - 11/16/88

Mt. Rainier NP - Public Law 100-668- 102 Stat. 3965 - 11/16/88

Statute #15
Death Valley NP - Public Law 103-433- 108 Stat. 4496 - 10/31/94

Joshua Tree NP - Public Law 103-433- 108 Stat. 4496 - 10/31/94
(2)

Mojave NPres - Public Law 103-433- 108 Stat. 4496 - 10/31/94

Statute #16
Black Canyon of the
Gunnison NP - Public Law 106-76- 113 Stat. 1129 - 10/21/99
(2)

Statute #17
Great Sand Dunes
NP and Pres (2) - Public Law 106-530- 114 Stat. 2530 - 11/22/00
Statute #18
Lake Mead NRA - Public Law 107-282- 116 Stat. 1999 - 11/06/02
Statute #19
Pinnacles NM - Public Law 107-370- 116 Stat. 3072 - 12/19/02
(2)

Statute #20
Apostle Island NL - Public Law 108-447- 118 Stat. 3069 - 12/08/04

Statute #21
Pictured Rocks NL - Public Law 111-11 - 123 Stat. 1042 - 3/30/09

Joshua Tree NP - Public Law 111-11 - 123 Stat. 1063 - 3/30/09
(3)

Sequoia-Kings
Canyon NPs - Public Law 111-11 - 123 Stat. 1068 - 3/30/09
(2)

Rocky Mountain NP - Public Law 111-11 - 123 Stat. 1070 - 3/30/09
(2)

Zion NP - Public Law 111-11 - 123 Stat. 1080 - 3/30/09

B. Other laws modifying or affecting park wilderness, in chronological order:

1. Great Sand Dunes NM - Public Law 95-625 - 92 Stat. 3474 - 11/10/78
See also Technical Amendments of 10/12/79
P.L. 96-87 - 93 Stat. 665
Required the NPS to manage lands added by 1978 act in accordance with adjacent lands within the monument. The adjacent lands are wilderness.

2. Sleeping Bear Dunes
NL - Public Law 97-361 - 96 Stat. 1724 - 10/22/82
Required the NPS to manage areas recommended as wilderness and potential wilderness in a January 1981 report “to maintain their presently existing wilderness character” until Congress determines otherwise.

3. Gates of the Arctic NP&Pres
Noatak NPres - Public Law 104-333 - 110 Stat. 4118 - 11/12/96
Revised boundaries of Gates of the Arctic wilderness as part of the Anaktuvuk Pass land exchange. Restated and adjusted number of wilderness acres in Noatak.

4. Katmai NP - Public Law 105-277 - 112 Stat. 2681-264 – 10/21/98
Revised wilderness boundary in connection with a minor (10 acre) land exchange.

5. Everglades NP - Public Law 105-313 - 112 Stat. 2964 - 10/30/98
Established a Miccosukee Reserved Area of several hundred acres in the park. The Senate Report accompanying the act (SR 105-361) states that the land designated as the Reserved Area should be construed as released from wilderness.

6. Glacier Bay NP - Public Law 105-317 - 112 Stat. 3002 - 10/30/98
Revised wilderness boundaries in connection with a land exchange to enable a hydropower project for the town of Gustavus, Alaska.

7. Cumberland Is. NS - Public Law 108-447- 118 Stat. 3072 - 12/08/04
Adjusted wilderness boundaries to exclude certain dirt roads and historic sites to allow for motor vehicle tours on the excluded roads. In June 2004 the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that such tours by the NPS violated the Wilderness Act.

8. Denali NP - Public Law 110-229 - 122 Stat. 800 - 5/08/08
Grants an easement on parkland, not to exceed 25 acres, to Alaska Railroad. In exchange, Alaska Railroad relinquishes same amount of acres in an existing easement on park land. If the land with the relinquished easement is adjacent to designated wilderness, the land will become wilderness.

9. Point Reyes NS - Public Law 111-88 - 123 Stat. 2932 - 10/30/09 Section 124 of the Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to renew a permit for a commercial oyster farm in Drakes Bay, an area designated as potential wilderness in 1976, for a ten year period, beginning on November 30, 2012.

The fact that Congress established wilderness at Point Reyes twice in three days appears to have been an oversight.