September is National Wilderness Month. What better time to focus on public lands that should be federally designated as wilderness under the Wilderness Act?

Here are 5 places that particularly deserve to become official wilderness. But first,what does it actually mean to be officially classified as wilderness under the Wilderness Act?

The Wilderness Act, which became law in 1964,recognized 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.

The Wilderness Act created a National Wilderness Preservation System that now includes more than 106 million acres of federal public lands as wilderness, 44 million acres of whichare in 47 parks. Fifty-three percent of the lands in our national parks are also classified as wilderness.

Designated wilderness is the highest level of conservation protection for federal lands. Wilderness areas are supposed to be regions left to the forces of nature, though the Wilderness Act does acknowledge the need to provide for human health and safety, protect private property, control insect infestations and fight fires within the area.

Congress may designate wilderness or change the status of wilderness areas, which is why, given this era of political gridlock, so few public lands have been designated as wilderness in the last couple of decades. Conservationists, environmentalists, biologists and ecologists usually favor protecting wild public lands as wilderness. The coal, oil, natural gas and mineral extraction industries do not.

The President of the United States can protect public lands by giving them National Monument status when Congress won’t protect them as wilderness. However, national monument status may still allow mining, grazing and road development if these things were occurring at the time the area was designated. Wilderness designation prevents these activities from occurring on pristine public lands so they remain in their natural state.

Here are 5 proposed regions of the United States that environmentalists are working to get Congress to protect as federal wilderness.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Udall-Eisenhower Wilderness Act would protect the birthing ground for thousands of caribou, migratory and resident birds and polar bearsan area of unmatched ecological importance for the human inhabitants and wildlife of the region. The region faces continual threats from oil drilling.

Photo Credit:The Armchair Explorer

Maine Coastal Islands

The Maine Coastal Islands Wilderness Actwould protect13 remote, uninhabited islands off the coast of Maine, especially the nesting habitat they provide for a variety of sea birds. Wilderness preservation would also enable kayakers and boaters to continue to enjoy the ocean and beaches there.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Rocky Mountain Front

The Rocky Mountain Front forms the eastern edge of the already existingBob Marshall wilderness. It provides habitat for elk and native trout and is one of the last places in America where grizzly bears still roam the plains. The Front is a world-class destination for hunting, wildlife viewing, birding, backpacking and horseback riding. The Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act will provide permanent protection for this ecosystem.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Cerros del Norte in New Mexico

The Cerros del Norte Conservation Act would expand protection of lands northwest of Taos, New Mexico to safeguard what the

Campaign for America’s Wilderness

calls “one of the world’s great avian migratory routes.” The areas are also home to elk, deer, turkeys, golden eagles, and other wildlife.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Devil’s Staircase, Oregon

The Devils Staircase Wilderness Actwould permanently protect 30,000 acres of forest close to the southern coast of Oregon as wilderness. It would also place stretches of Wasson and Franklin Creeks into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Theproposed wildernessis characterizedby rare old-growth forest and an abundance of wildlife,including elk, deer, river otters, black bears and spotted owls.

Related:

President Obama Creates Three New National Monuments
Support Tennessee Wilderness and Protect Our Wildlife and Outdoor Heritage

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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Wilderness Areas Worth Protecting Now