Issues in Wilderness Management

The Wilderness Act of 1964 defines wilderness 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”. It goes on to limit acceptable activities in designated wilderness areas to those associated with leisure, scenic viewing, education, and scientific inquiry. These precepts are the basis for federal wilderness management in national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. They are derived from the interests and values held by the early environmental movement's predominantly white middle and upper class patrons, and imposed on diverse groups who may not hold the same views. This study examined how the imposition of wilderness management at Congaree National Park greatly restricted local African Americans' traditional fishing practices and how fishers made meaning of their displacement. Participants' experience of alienation is a result of their perceptions of racial discrimination in the park's preferential treatment of white visitors. This study argues that African American presence in the Great Outdoors is erased both materially and symbolically by racial bias in the Wilderness Act, a general lack of attention to black outdoor spaces, and the use of white outdoor values and pursuits as the criterion for which to assess African American outdoor ethos.

Download Full-text

Biocentricity in Wilderness Management

BioScience ◽

10.2307/1296482 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 23 (9) ◽

pp. 535-538 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

John C. Hendee ◽

George H. Stankey

Keyword(s):

Wilderness Management

Download Full-text

Wilderness Management in the Southern Appalachians

Southern Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/sjaf/6.3.147 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 147-152 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Joseph W. Roggenbuck ◽

Alan E. Watson ◽

George H. Stankey

Keyword(s):

Management Strategies ◽

Southern Appalachians ◽

Wilderness Management ◽

Lack Of Information ◽

Visitor Preferences ◽

And Behavior ◽

Large Groups ◽

Direct Regulation ◽

Wilderness Experiences

Abstract Wilderness managers need information about visitor preferences and behavior if they are to protect wilderness experiences and resources. Linville Gorge, Shining Rock, and Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock wilderness users have somewhat different perceptions of wilderness problems, but too many people in certain places, a lack of information about use, litter, and destruction of vegetation are commonly mentioned. Wilderness users expect few contacts with other groups, especially with large groups and at campsites. Use controls are generally supported, and visitors favor unobtrusive management strategies over direct regulation.

Download Full-text