2023 NPS Wilderness Report

From National Park Service Management Policies 2006 - Chapter 6: Wilderness Preservation and Management:
The National Park Service will manage wilderness areas for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness. Management will include the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness. The purpose of wilderness in the national parks includes the preservation of wilderness character and wilderness resources in an unimpaired condition and, in accordance with the Wilderness Act, wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use.

As I mark my ninth year of service as the NPS Wilderness Stewardship Program Manager, I am pleased to introduce the 2023 NPS Wilderness Program Report. This annual report is identified as a responsibility for my position in NPS Director’s Order 41: Wilderness Stewardship and provides a means of disseminating information regarding Servicewide wilderness stewardship accomplishments and issues during the 2023 calendar year.

The Wilderness Act of 1964 will mark its 60^th anniversary on September 3, 2024. This remarkable law, unlike any other in the world, established the National Wilderness Preservation System “for the permanent good of the whole people” and I’m honored to work with a talented group of wilderness stewards and champions across the service and at the interagency level who are dedicated to that purpose.

The principal mandate of the Wilderness Act is to “preserve wilderness character” which is the combination of biophysical, experiential, and symbolic ideals that distinguishes wilderness from other lands. Achieving this mandate requires a commitment from all NPS divisions and programs that play important roles in wilderness stewardship. The annual NPS Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Awards provide an important means of recognizing that commitment, and I congratulate the 2023 recipients in the Individual, Team, and External Partner award categories.

This annual report also provides a platform to recognize our small, but extremely productive Wilderness Stewardship Division staff, including Erin Drake, Quinn Brett (who moved on to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in early 2023), and Rob Burrows (our newest staff member who joined in early 2024). More information about the Wilderness Stewardship Division is available in Appendix A of this report.

The National Wilderness Leadership Council is also worthy of recognition for committing time from their regular duties to serve as an advisory body to the Visitor and Resource Protection Directorate on all matters pertaining to wilderness in the national park system and enhance the ability of the agency to address critical wilderness stewardship issues.

As I look at 2024 and beyond, I think it’s important for the NPS to address two significant priorities, both required in accordance with NPS wilderness stewardship policy; 1) completion of park wilderness stewardship plans to guide management actions to preserve wilderness character, and 2) completion of park wilderness character baseline assessments so that we can properly monitor changes and trends in wilderness character over time.

Wilderness is a holistic concept and a resource into itself that crosscuts almost every program within the NPS. Each of us can play a role in securing the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness and I ask for your commitment to that end.

In closing, I encourage all NPS employees to enrich your body, mind, and spirit by taking an hour, a day, or a week, to immerse yourself in the tangible and intangible qualities of wilderness character that make these lands so special.

Sincerely, 
Roger L. Semler

The NPS Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Awards are the agency’s annual recognition of outstanding contributions to wilderness stewardship by an individual, team, and external partner, including any program or discipline that influences the preservation of wilderness character in the NPS. Award recipients are nominated by fellow NPS staff and selected by an interdisciplinary panel established through the National Wilderness Leadership Council. The award recipients were recognized during a virtual awards ceremony hosted by the National Parks Foundation in August 2023.

Note: Award recipients are recognized for accomplishments from the prior year, meaning awardees highlighted in this report are based on 2022 accomplishments.

2022 National Wilderness Stewardship Award Recipients include Jane Rodgers, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and Keep Big Bend Wild. NPS photo.

2022 Individual Award: Jane Rodgers

Jane Rodgers has been a tireless advocate for supporting wilderness both at Joshua Tree National Park (JOTR) and throughout the network and region. As Chief of Science and Resource Stewardship, Jane has led a robust campaign to train the broadest range of employees as Resource Advisors (READ), working closely with the interagency fire team to ensure that READs were on site and available to help protect wilderness resources in the park, on adjacent public lands, and in other park units. The recent train disaster in Mojave and Jane’s immediate response in sending READs to address wilderness is just one example. It is this worldview perspective that makes Jane such a powerful protector for wilderness. Due to her leadership, JOTR READs have been used throughout the southland as the first line of defense in helping to protect wilderness character during busy fire seasons and other disasters.

Another key to Jane’s advocacy has come with her work over the last four years in creating an effective minimum requirements analysis process for quickly and efficiently creating tools to allow for the approval of permanent installations in wilderness. Recognizing that climbing is a legal and important recreational activity in wilderness, Jane’s current minimum tool process streamlines approval and is now serving as a model for other parks to allow for the legal and appropriate use of installations to support climbing activities in wilderness. She did this collaboratively by working with a variety of subject matter experts from other NPS wilderness parks and public lands. As a result, JOTR now has an effective tool that protects both climbers and wilderness.

Finally, Jane has created a long-term strategy to protect wilderness areas from offroad vehicle use by implementing educational campaigns, appropriate and effective signage, boundary demarcation, and immediate and expedited mitigation efforts to clean up illegal OHV trespass.

Jane has a lifetime of commitment to protecting wilderness and she's doing it in a way that motivates a wide array of persons to support her efforts.

Team Award: Guadalupe Mountains National Park

In 2022, Guadalupe Mountains National Park implemented new human waste policies park-wide. In the previous year a pilot restriction requiring use of commercial toilet bags at the Guadalupe Peak Wilderness Campsite was implemented. By the spring of 2022, this pilot had succeeded so well in improving the visitor experience and protecting the natural environment, that field-level staff asked to make these restrictions a park-wide requirement.

While the 1995 Wilderness Management Plan called for the installation of pit toilets at “high use campgrounds,” no action was taken to do so. The 2012 General Management Plan preferred alternative steps away from this by stating, “primitive sanitary facilities could be provided if needed to protect resources.” Since the mid-2000’s, use of high-traffic areas in designated or eligible wilderness lands within the park have significantly increased. In the fall of 2020, toilet paper on wilderness surfaces and surface waste was observable throughout the park. Human waste management was suddenly a crisis.

Field staff, including members of the park’s Wilderness Committee proposed the commercial toilet bag requirement as a solution to this challenge that involved the visitor in active co-stewardship. The management team and Wilderness Committee fleshed out the proposal. The primary enforcement mechanism is that for permitted overnight use of the wilderness, visitors must physically show that they possess one toilet bag per person, per night; without the bags in hand, the permit will not be issued. Before implementation park staff approached the Western National Parks Association site manager, as it would be necessary for the park store to stock these items for those visitors who did not arrive prepared.

In April 2022, the park added these new requirements into the Superintendent’s Compendium and issued a news release that provided two months’ notice before the requirement was implemented. The park-wide requirement became officially enforced on the summer solstice in June 2022. Nearly a year later, there is an observable improvement of the condition at all wilderness campsites and along all trails. The park continues to work to improve its messaging to reach day hikers and encourage them to think about their impacts on the landscape and their responsibility as a user.

This initiative has been successful because it rose from the field, received field employee input, and continues to have wide field employee support - all of which helps to support and strengthen collaborative wilderness stewardship at Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

External Partner Award: Keep Big Bend Wild

About two-thirds of Big Bend National Park’s (BIBE) 800,000 acres was recommended for wilderness designation in the 1970s but Congress never acted; the park has managed in accordance with policy ever since, but the awareness and significance of wilderness has faded at BIBE – until recently.

Keep Big Bend Wild (KBBW) is a diverse grassroots group of citizens with shared interest in BIBE and wilderness. Working collaboratively with BIBE park leadership, KBBW has successfully brought the wilderness issue back to the forefront in Texas. They have focused on building a coalition of local and regional governments, government officials, businesses, tribes, NGOs, and “ordinary Texans” who support wilderness designation at BIBE. KBBW leaders Evelyn Merz and Bob Krumenaker (BIBE Superintendent) agreed at the beginning on several principles that they have not wavered on:

• The group needs to clearly define its message and stick with it
• Focus on how wilderness protects the values people care about at BIBE, rather than on a map
• Building a broad-based coalition of supporters beyond the environmental community is essential
• Engage with people, listening and being responsive to their concerns, rather than try to “educate” them
• As wilderness designation is an inherently political process, the group needs to be willing to compromise on boundaries where small changes would make a difference
• No one lobbies Congress until the group agrees the coalition has reached critical mass

Working closely with the NPS, KBBW built their website that makes the case for wilderness and addresses key issues (such as border security, economic impact, effects on private land, etc.). The website has a list of supporters which shows the growing breadth of the coalition.

KBBW members, usually along with the BIBE superintendent, made presentations resulting in commitments of support in 2022 to multiple county commissioners and city councils, chambers of commerce, and NGOs. They met with river outfitters and local businesses. Every former BIBE superintendent still alive, and many former NPS directors and deputy directors, have endorsed KBBW’s efforts.

Not everyone, of course, immediately embraces wilderness at BIBE. KBBW makes a point to listen and engage, to try to understand, and if possible, reduce the concerns. This group’s comprehensive knowledge of wilderness, and their skills at community outreach, have enabled them to find common ground amongst a diverse and inclusive coalition of supporters. This has made them effective advocates, if not role models, for wilderness advocacy at BIBE and beyond.

Status of Wilderness in the NPS

The NPS is responsible for the stewardship of 61 designated wilderness areas, totaling over 44 million acres. Additionally, the NPS administers over 26 million acres of land that have been identified as eligible, proposed, recommended, and potential wilderness. These categories of wilderness were determined through processes outlined in NPS Management Policies 2006, Section 6.2 and have not yet advanced through the designation process. NPS wilderness stewardship policies require these lands to be managed to preserve wilderness character until wilderness legislation (or a decision to not designate lands) has been completed. Management decisions affecting these areas will be made in expectation of eventual wilderness designation.

National Wilderness Leadership Council Updates

The NPS Wilderness Leadership Council (NWLC) serves as an advisory council to the Director on all matters pertaining to wilderness. The NWLC strives to enhance the agency’s ability to address critical wilderness stewardship issues. The NWLC maintained four work groups in 2023:

• Climate Change and Wilderness - Developing strategies and guidance related to the effects of climate change in wilderness, with an emphasis on fire management in wilderness and the concepts of refugia and assisted migration.
• Nexus Between Minimum Requirement Analysis and NEPA - Updating guidance related to preparing NEPA documents for actions in wilderness and their relationship with Minimum Requirement Analyses. 
• Programmatic Minimum Requirements Analysis – Developing guidance that will provide information on when to develop a programmatic minimum requirements analysis (pMRA), positive and negative aspects of a pMRA, and what makes the analysis effective.
• Research Permits in Wilderness – Developing guidance for researchers who wish to conduct scientific activities in NPS wilderness.

The NWLC conducted their annual meeting in October 2023 in Joshua Tree National Park. This meeting provided members with opportunities to share program and work group updates, discuss emerging topics in wilderness stewardship, and develop the 2024 annual work plan.

Updates to NPS Wilderness Policy

In 2023, the Wilderness Stewardship Division (WSD), in collaboration with the NWLC and several interdisciplinary work groups, finalized two technical guidance documents for inclusion as level three policy in NPS Reference Manual 41: Wilderness Stewardship (RM41):

• NPS Wilderness Character Monitoring Technical Guide
• NPS Wilderness Interpretation and Education Strategy

The WSD also continued development of a draft policy entitled “Evaluation and Authorization Procedures for Fixed Anchors and Fixed Equipment in NPS Wilderness Areas” in 2023. The primary purpose of this policy is to clarify the procedures regarding management of fixed anchors initially established in Director’s Order 41: Wilderness Stewardship in 2013. The draft policy was released for public review and comment in November 2023, with over 12,000 comments received in total. The WSD, supported by a work group of wilderness and climbing manager subject matter experts, analyzed the public comments and continue to work on refining the policy in 2024.
Together, these guidance documents expand on concepts, principles, and management requirements originally referenced in law and/or higher-level policy with the goal of equipping users with increased detail and support to successfully implement.

NPS Wilderness Character Monitoring Technical Guide is Released

The Wilderness Act mandates the preservation of wilderness character but does not describe the process to do so. In 2015, an interagency team developed Keeping It Wild 2 (KIW2) which outlines a framework to monitor and track changes in wilderness character over time in wilderness areas. KIW2 describes broad interagency guidance but defers to agency-specific instruction for wilderness character monitoring (WCM) implementation details. In 2018, the NWLC formed an interdisciplinary work group to develop the NPS Wilderness Character Monitoring Technical Guide. The Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Forest Service developed similar agency-specific guidance and where appropriate, the NPS borrowed content from their documents to promote interagency consistency. 

Finalized in 2023, the NPS Wilderness Character Monitoring Technical Guide provides national guidance on how to monitor and assess trends in wilderness character for NPS wilderness areas. The Guide supports the NPS policy requirement that every wilderness park “will conduct a wilderness character assessment, which includes identifying what should be measured, establishing baseline data, and conducting ongoing monitoring of trends” (Director’s Order 41, Section 6.2). This guidance applies to all areas in which the NPS has been directed by Congress and/or NPS policy to preserve the wilderness character of the area.   

2023 Wilderness Character Interns

The WSD partnered with the NPS Scientists-in-Parks Program (SIP) and the Regional Office for Regions 6/7/8 in 2023, hiring two interns to assist parks with their wilderness character integration efforts. The 20-week SIP Program provides NPS conservation experience and developmental opportunities for college students and recent graduates, culminating in eligibility for the Public Land Corps hiring authority. Mojave National Preserve received the help of Michael Bowers-Dean, who helped draft the preserve’s Wilderness Character Building Blocks Report. This report documents the wilderness character baseline assessment and the framework the preserve will use for future wilderness character monitoring. Chris Egyed worked with Capitol Reef National Park to complete the park’s first five-year monitoring interval for wilderness character. This work also included researching and improving geospatial depictions of the park’s wilderness boundary to ensure current boundaries are as accurate as possible. Both parks will continue this work into 2024.

Wilderness Stewardship Planning projects in process

A Wilderness Stewardship Plan is required of all wilderness parks to guide management actions to preserve wilderness character in accordance with Director's Order 41, Section 6.3. In 2023, the following parks were engaged in wilderness stewardship planning efforts: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (completed), Channel Islands National Park, Everglades National Park, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (completed), Isle Royale National Park, and Katmai National Park and Preserve. In addition, Wupatki National Monument continued working on a Wilderness Study in accordance with Management Policies 2006, Section 6.2.2.

Interagency Wilderness Research

The Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute (ALWRI) is an interagency, national research facility located on campus at the University of Montana. Administered by the US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, ALWRI is the only federal research group in the United States dedicated to development and dissemination of knowledge needed to steward the nearly 112-million-acre National Wilderness Preservation System. ALWRI has a long history of conducting and sharing science with the NPS in support of stewarding wilderness, as well as collaborating with other management, academic, non-profit, tribal, community, and other partners within the US and internationally. In 2023, ALWRI staff collaborated on roughly 40 projects related to conservation science and wilderness stewardship, many in conjunction with NPS partners. Read the ALWRI Fiscal Year 2023 Accomplishments Report for a full accounting of accomplishments, where highlights include: 

Evaluating a RAD decision‐making framework to address climate change in wilderness 

The resist, accept, direct (RAD) framework may provide a decision-making space for managers, partners, and researchers to respond to and prepare for uncertainty in future environmental conditions. The RAD in Wilderness Project engages interagency managers, partners, and scientists in evaluating a RAD decision-making framework for use in wilderness.  In 2023, the RAD team selected four case studies with interagency partners, identified management challenges, and developed biological and social science research protocols for each study.  Our NPS case study focuses on Isle Royale National Park. Scientists at ALWRI have connected with NPS staff and rightsholders to better understand the threats posed by climate change as well as the perceived limitations and opportunities in responding to these threats on ISRO. Additionally, ALWRI biologists and external partners have begun to investigate how forest composition on ISRO may change in response to climate change, moose browse pressure, spruce budworm, and wildfire by using a dynamic forest simulation model. These results will be used to inform a RAD decision space with project partners from the NPS and Grand Portage tribal rightsholders scheduled for this spring (2024). 

Developing a system‐level survey to support visitor use management and wilderness stewardship planning in wilderness areas 

In 2023, ALWRI social scientists worked in collaboration with the University of Montana and NPS planners and managers to support visitor use management within wilderness areas inside NPS units.  This work included a visitor survey to support wilderness stewardship planning, with an initial pilot test at Everglades National Park (EVER), and preparations for a second pilot test at North Cascades National Park (NOCA). Additionally, in support of EVER, the research team conducted qualitative interviews with organizations representing underrepresented communities to understand barriers and perspectives related to visiting EVER, and more broadly, general relationships between underrepresented communities and the NPS. The team surveyed nearly 400 people at EVER. They then prepared and delivered a summary report on the survey results, with two corresponding presentations - one to the NPS Denver Service Center and other close collaborators on the project, and a second to EVER leadership. Based on feedback during both presentations, the research team conducted additional analyses and is nearing finalization of the project report. Meanwhile, the team is awaiting notice of approval from the Office of Management and Budget, for use of the NOCA survey. 

Exploring African American wilderness heritage to increase wilderness relevancy and access 

ALWRI is working in collaboration with colleagues at Clemson University and American Rivers to advance an understanding of how wilderness is relevant to African American communities in midlands and coastal South Carolina.  In early 2023, the research team held a meeting with federal managers to understand research priorities and management goals. With a co-developed research project in hand, the team outlined a timeline of historical land ownership policies and practices and collected oral histories with federal managers across three study sites, including Congaree National Park. The team recently recruited a full-time PhD student, who will begin in Fall 2024 and will focus work on understanding more about African American communities that neighbor federal public lands, their relationships with wilderness, and opportunities to strengthen land retention for cultural and environmental conservation.

Shared stewardship for wilderness management in Alaska 

This project is broadly focused on the unique approach to managing wilderness in Alaska, particularly as it relates to ANILCA. ALWRI is seeking to understand the importance of wilderness in Alaska, as well as challenges and opportunities to adopting an inhabited wilderness management approach to wilderness in this unique state. In 2023, after engaging with Denali National Park and Preserve (DENA) and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST) and Copper River‐Ahtna Inter‐Tribal Resource Conservation District representatives at a meeting hosted at WRST, the team developed a research proposal. The team visited DENA and WRST to share the proposal with in-park staff, gauge support and potential funding resources, and collect preliminary data. The first interviews were conducted in Winter of 2023, with more scheduled for 2024.  

Wilderness webinars

The Widerness Stewardship Division (WSD) partnered with the Stephen Mather Training Center for a two-part webinar series in 2023. As part of the larger Visitor and Resource Protection Directorate’s Superintendents Training Series, the wilderness webinars focused on describing the mechanics of wilderness integration in the NPS. Part one of this series, ‘Wilderness character preservation and the NPS Wilderness Character Monitoring Technical Guide’ provided an overview of the laws, polices, and guidance associated with preserving wilderness character, with an emphasis on wilderness character monitoring. This session highlighted the newly released NPS Wilderness Character Monitoring Technical Guide (Technical Guide), national guidance on how to monitor and assess changes and trends in wilderness character for NPS wilderness areas.

Part two of the series, ‘Preserving wilderness character through the minimum requirements analysis (MRA) process’ described the two-step process used to determine and document if a proposed action which involves a prohibited use (as established in Section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act) is necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of wilderness. Legal, policy, and park operation implications of the MRA were discussed alongside an introduction to the Minimum Requirements Analysis Framework (MRAF). The MRAF is a revised MRA worksheet and instructions developed by an interagency work group established through the Interagency Wilderness Coordination Committee and is available for optional use by the NPS.

Each webinar was offered two times in 2023 to park superintendents, interdisciplinary park staff, and regional and national program staff.

Wilderness Character Building Blocks Training

Preservation of wilderness character is the central mandate of the Wilderness Act. Accordingly, trainings like the Wilderness Character Building Blocks Training can help wilderness managers and practitioners interpret and successfully fulfill this mandate. In October 2023, 15 staff from across the country, representing various disciplines, attended the Wilderness Character Building Blocks Training held at the Aldo Leopold Foundation in Wisconsin. The training was hosted by the WSD with support by the NPS Mather Training Center’s Learning and Development Program. Participants received information and tools to complete the wilderness character building blocks, including the wilderness basics and wilderness character baseline assessment. Director’s Order 41, Section 6.2 requires national parks with wilderness to complete a baseline assessment and continue with long-term monitoring to help understand and track changes in wilderness character over time. Upon returning home, participants can facilitate further discussion around wilderness character preservation and integration with fellow NPS staff - of all disciplines - as well as partners and the public. As one participant commented, this training was “very practical - I feel like I'll be able to put this into practice right away at my park.”

Wilderness Trainings for Individual National Parks

The WSD facilitated several individual national park wilderness trainings in 2023, with sessions conducted at Bandelier National Monument, Big Bend National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Mesa Verde National Park, and Wupatki National Monument. These trainings focus on the Wilderness Act, NPS wilderness stewardship policies, the wilderness character concept, and the minimum requirements analysis process, as well as other park-specific wilderness stewardship issues.

Collaboration with the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center 

The NPS supports the interagency Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center (Carhart) by providing a wilderness training specialist along with financial support for Carhart operations. Carhart provides a variety of interagency wilderness trainings, including face-to-face classroom instruction, online courses, blended learning opportunities, and webinars. A variety of training opportunities and resources are available on Wilderness Connect.

Interagency Trainings

In 2023, Carhart offered both in-person and virtual training courses to help address wilderness stewardship throughout the interagency National Wilderness Preservation System.

• National Wilderness Leadership Training (Montana)
• National Wilderness Interpretation and Education Training (New Mexico)
• Regional Wilderness Stewardship Courses (California and Washington)
• Sunbelt Hybrid Regional Wilderness Course (virtual with local field trips)
• Exploring wilderness benefits in an evolving, multicultural society (Webinar)

Wilderness Blended Learning Opportunities

The Carhart Center offers 38 online courses from individual courses such as the Wilderness Act of 1964 and wilderness planning to suites of courses in Natural Resources, Cultural Resources, and Visitor Use Management. The Wilderness Management Distance Education Program (WMDEP) is offered by the University of Montana in partnership with the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center. WMDEP offers the only accredited undergraduate and graduate Certificates university courses for a comprehensive study of wilderness management in the country. WMDEP is a valuable tool for understanding the wilderness resource and the issues surrounding its management-includes topics from philosophy and ecology to recreation and planning.

NPS Wilderness Interpretation and Education Strategy is Finalized

The concept of federal wilderness can mean many different things because it is an idea created by people. Successful wilderness stewardship means that individual, cultural, and communal connections to wilderness are recognized. Integrating the diverse ways that people relate to, value, and use wilderness into communications cultivates belonging and connection to NPS wilderness.

In 2018, the NPS National Wilderness Leadership Council (NWLC) identified the need to update the 2002 Wilderness Education and Partnership Plan. This plan, while available to use for more than 15 years, was not well known, distributed, or used in the NPS. Accordingly, an update to this plan was needed and an interdisciplinary work group was established. 

In 2023, the NPS Wilderness Interpretation and Education Strategy was finalized and released to help national parks meaningfully communicate about wilderness with the public, partners, and their staff. The Strategy provides a consistent, national foundation for NPS wilderness interpretation and education programs and products. From this foundation, parks and support offices can create meaningful, place-based content that supports equitable and inclusive wilderness interpretation and education. The Strategy is a broad, overarching framework that prompts each wilderness park to consider their specific context, communities, cultures, and needs prior to implementing.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Wilderness

The NPS Wilderness Stewardship Program continued to support Servicewide conversations related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in NPS wilderness. In collaboration with the NWLC’s DEI Work Group, the Wilderness Stewardship Division (WSD) developed the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Wilderness tile on the NPS Wilderness Stewardship Program Sharepoint Site. This tile provides easy access for anyone in the NPS to view and explore various DEI materials collected by the work group and WSD, including trainings, tools, and best practices from across the agency and Department of Interior. And importantly, the tile’s introduction contextualizes these materials by recognizing that lands now managed as wilderness are the homelands are Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. Expanding on this idea, concepts of land dispossession, exclusion, and varying perspectives on wilderness are acknowledged. Together, the context and accompanying resources in this tile present opportunities to implement more inclusive wilderness stewardship in the NPS.

A second addition to the NPS Wilderness Stewardship Program Sharepoint Site in 2023 were the NPS wilderness communication best practices. Rooted in DEI, these best practices help staff communicate about wilderness in ways that foster a sense of belonging for all. The best practices are organized into four categories:

• Critically assess the language we use to describe wilderness.
• Build relationships and co-create messaging where possible.
• Use photos that feature people in wilderness.
• External and internal communications are essential to successful wilderness communications.

Integration of the best practices into digital communications (including internal and external websites, social media, etc.), interpretive materials, park planning processes, staff trainings, and casual conversation between co-workers (or with the public) will have long-lasting positive impacts for everyone and wilderness as a concept.In the spirit of collaboration, Alaska Region Wilderness Program Coordinator, Adrienne Lindholm, participated in the Imago Initiative Arctic Partners Trip in July 2023 in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Hosted by The Wilderness Society, the purpose of the gathering was to reimagine our approach to protecting federal lands by transforming partnerships and finding opportunities to develop holistic land protections through an Indigenous worldview. Through place-based dialogue with Indigenous and conservation partners, the team held brainstorming sessions, connected with the land, engaged in healing and trust-building activities, and learned from stories told by Indigenous elders and other participants. Adrienne learned valuable lessons in listening with an intent to understand other cultures’ perspectives on wilderness, the importance of taking time to build trusting and enduring relationships, and the importance of connecting with the land in a respectful and humble way. The power of living in community with each other and with the land was a reminder of how interconnected we are, and how crucial it is to preserve healthy Homelands and wilderness in perpetuity.

These highlights are some of the many efforts happening servicewide to engage with the intersection of diversity, equity, inclusion, and wilderness. The NPS Wilderness Program recognizes that much work remains to ensure wilderness reflects the experiences, connections, and identities of our country and world, and we are committed to continuing this work.

Communicating the Benefits of Wilderness

Ever wonder, ‘Why is wilderness necessary when national parks are already “protected”?’ The NWLC’s Communicating Benefits of Wilderness Work Group and the WSD created both a resource brief (for NPS internal communications) and a webpage on NPS.gov/wilderness (for public reference) to help address this question. While wilderness often amplifies existing benefits of national parks, wilderness also offers diverse and distinct social, cultural, and ecological benefits rooted in wilderness character preservation. The resource brief and webpage highlight wilderness-specific benefits, incorporating the previously mentioned NPS wilderness communication best practices. These benefits include:

• Ecosystem-scale preservation
• Prioritization of human-powered access
• Commitment to exercise restraint
• Protections for solitude, primitive, and unconfined recreation
• Protections for public purposes
• Cascading benefits for adjacent public lands
• Amplify benefits to national parks

NPS Articles Published in the International Journal of Wilderness

In the December 2023 edition of the International Journal of Wilderness, the NPS contributed two articles. Wheelchairs in Wilderness: One User’s Perspective on Ways to Improve Wilderness Accessibility for All gives a first-person account of navigating a first visit to a wilderness trail by a person who uses a wheelchair. This article helps dispel common misconceptions of what wheelchair use in wilderness can look like, and gives non-wheelchair users a sense of how their trail-going experience may be similar or different from someone using a wheelchair on the trail. Best practices to offer more inclusive wilderness recreation opportunities for all people are supplemented throughout the article, and are applicable to any trail and any user.

Reimagining the Wilderness Concept for a Diverse America: A case study of inclusive wilderness stewardship in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska shares work done by the NPS Alaska Region and specifically Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve to reimagine wilderness through the lens of plain language that more broadly resonates with more people and honestly and accurately depicts a fuller history of the area and the people who reside there. Using Glacier Bay’s Backcountry and Wilderness Stewardship Management Plan as a case study, the article explores how the planning process was informed by ongoing, informal and formal government-to-government consultation with the Hoonah Indian Association and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe. These groups identify as the original people and stewards of Glacier Bay, which yielded an important tone shift and focus for the wilderness narrative at the national park.

September is Proclaimed as National Wilderness Month

President Biden again proclaimed September 2023 as National Wilderness Month, stating, “When we conserve our country’s landscapes and wilderness, we do more than preserve their beauty for our own enjoyment. We safeguard the future of people who depend on and sustain the land as a way of life - Indigenous peoples, farmers and ranchers, recreation businesses, and rural communities. We enshrine landmarks that identify the places where the history of our Nation was made. We protect sacred spaces that have been stewarded by Tribal Nations since time immemorial. And we mitigate the impacts of climate change to help make our country more resilient.” To celebrate National Wilderness Month, the WSD developed communications guidance to help parks, regional offices, and support programs celebrate wilderness throughout September, organized around three communication themes:

• Wilderness Benefits
• This is Federal Wilderness
• My/Your Park Story

DOI Unified Region 1

In 2023, after concluding a successful two-year pilot program that decreased crowds and increased solitude, Shenandoah National Park implemented a long-term Visitor Use Management Strategy for the popular Old Rag Mountain area and associated trails. The management of Old Rag will closely follow the pilot program, requiring visitors to obtain a ticket. The majority of Old Rag Mountain is within the Shenandoah Wilderness.

The park also implemented changes to their backcountry camping system, moving to an online fee-based permit system in late 2023. These changes will improve visitor safety by having a real-time visitor use database available to emergency responders as well as provide management with valuable data to better understand backcountry and wilderness use volumes and patterns. The fees collected will be available to maintain backcountry and wilderness trails, hire additional staff for backcountry and wilderness patrols, and provide additional visitor support.

DOI Unified Region 2

After 21 years of service as an Environmental Protection Specialist and Regional Wilderness Coordinator, Mark Kinzer retired in December leaving behind a strong legacy of wilderness stewardship in Region 2. Among his many career accomplishments, Mark regularly assisted national parks in the Southeast with wilderness stewardship challenge and planning processes. He served as co-chair of the NWLC and received the NPS Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Award in 2021.

A wilderness visitor use survey was conducted at Everglades National Park in early 2023. The survey was a collaboration between the park, NPS Park Planning and Special Studies, the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute (ALWRI), the University of Montana (UM), and the Denver Service Center (DSC). A total of 419 surveys were completed which exceeded the expectations of the survey team. While representatives from UM, ALWRI, and DSC periodically traveled to the park to assist with the survey, this effort would not have been successful without the assistance of staff and volunteers offering up time to conduct surveys. Results revealed current wilderness visitor trends and will serve as a reference point to evaluate any long-term trends in visitor experiences, values, motivations, as well as opinions about management and information sources. Based on lessons learned from the successful implementation of this pilot study, the survey instrument will now be adapted and utilized in other wilderness areas.

DOI Unified Regions 3/4/5

In 2023, the NPS continued preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for a Wilderness Stewardship Plan for Isle Royale National Park. The purpose of this plan is to outline strategies for preserving wilderness character, including the treatment of cultural resources in wilderness, while also providing for the use and enjoyment of the park by current and future generations. When finalized, this plan will determine preservation and use of historic structures in potential and designated wilderness at Isle Royale National Park.

DOI Unified Regions 6/7/8

During 2023, Wupatki National Monument, in collaboration with the regional office and Denver Service Center, began the preparation of a pre-NEPA draft wilderness study to further evaluate eligible wilderness lands. Following several months of development and preparation, as well as a proposed identified preferred alternative, the draft document is being reviewed internally and is expected to be shared with Tribes and key partners in 2024. A preliminary document went out for civic engagement in Spring 2023, and the team’s goal is to conduct another civic engagement this Spring 2024, with NEPA to commence shortly thereafter. An interdisciplinary team of park, regional, and national staff worked on a Wilderness Eligibility Assessment at Valles Caldera National Monument in 2023. When tribal engagement and consultations are complete, the team will seek regional and Director approval of the eligibility findings. 

Regional Wilderness Executive Committee

The Regional Wilderness Executive Committee (WEC) supports the preservation and protection of wilderness areas and wilderness character within the region. In September 2023, the WEC held a three day in-person annual meeting at Bowman Lake in Glacier National Park. The meeting provided an opportunity for members to meet in a recommended wilderness setting to discuss wilderness challenges and brainstorm solutions on where WEC can help support the preservation and protection of wilderness areas and wilderness character within the region. The meeting also presented an opportunity to experience a national wilderness outlook and perspective from WSD Program Manager, Roger Semler, and provided an in-person opportunity to see wilderness management issues at Glacier National Park with members from the park wilderness program. Also, during this time, the committee welcomed new members, reflected on accomplishments for 2023, and made progress on establishing a collective work plan for 2024. 

DOI Unified Regions 8/9/10/12

2023 saw an emphasis on training and information sharing in the region, which held three regional interagency wilderness trainings (in Merced, CA, Vancouver, WA, and Ely, NV) and one unit training (at Point Reyes National Seashore). The Regional Wilderness Coordinators for both this region and Regions 6/7/8 teamed up to present wilderness background information to the NPS Five Needle Pine Working Group. Parks in the region participated in a Visitor Use Management workshop for the Pacific Crest Trail. Well-attended community of practice calls were a forum for several great speakers and lots of networking on behalf of wilderness stewardship. 

Several national parks engaged in wilderness stewardship activities that directly benefit not only wilderness areas but the staff and public that work and spend time in these areas. Yosemite National Park implemented an overnight permit for big wall climbers that will help climbing rangers better understand use patterns, increase compliance with existing regulations, and minimize impacts to wilderness character through improved education. Death Valley National Park installed an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant backcountry toilet that will provide relief to visitors and reduce the impacts on human waste in the adjacent wilderness. Mojave National Preserve hosted a wilderness character workshop and intern that drafted the Wilderness Character Building Blocks Report for the preserve.

DOI Unified Region 11  

In 2023, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve finalized a Backcountry and Wilderness Management Plan to provide tools for park managers to preserve its exceptional backcountry and wilderness visitor experiences and resources. The plan recognizes and honors the rich cultural tapestry of Indigenous use and occupation in the wilderness and supports the enduring connection between the Tlingit and their Homeland. The park also finalized its Wilderness Character Building Blocks Report, which includes a wilderness character baseline assessment with a monitoring framework to ensure that wilderness character desired conditions are achieved and maintained.

A Katmai National Park and Preserve Wilderness/Backcountry Management Plan and Alagnak Wild River Plan will address issues related to visitor experience and crowding, wilderness preservation, and commercial services. Work completed in 2023 included an in-person workshop in Anchorage with park, regional, Denver Service Center, and State of Alaska participants; the release of civic engagement materials; public meetings centered around the plan; site visits to highly-visited areas; and progress on an Extent Necessary Determination for commercial services.

In 2023, the Denali National Park and Preserve Sled Dog Kennels provided wilderness access and logistical support to a long-term ecological study on the McKinley River near Wonder Lake. This was the fifth year of support for this effort to monitor snow depth at historic vegetation plots (established in the 1950s) during the peak of the winter season. This study provides critical data towards understanding changes on the Denali Wilderness landscape, including how complex patterns in weather and climate may influence plant growth over time. The Denali Sled Dog Kennels also hosted a record-breaking 81,000 visitors for the popular 30-minute Dog Sled Demonstration education outreach. The "dog demos" highlight the traditional use of sled dogs in Denali, even today, as a minimum tool for wilderness access and management. Visitors learn how these special canine dogs help the NPS honor our wilderness stewardship promise to the American people.

Regional Backcountry and Wilderness Advisory Group

The Alaska Backcountry and Wilderness Advisory Group (BWAG) is a regional interdisciplinary team that advises on key wilderness stewardship issues across Alaska. Membership includes interdisciplinary representatives from all Alaska wilderness parks and regional office staff. In 2023, the BWAG supported parks developing park-specific Wilderness Character Building Blocks Reports, promoted consistency between parks on day-to-day stewardship efforts, rolled out a new wilderness training curriculum to meet the needs of present-day multicultural America, and commenced a year-long social media campaign and wilderness webpage revision to promote a more inclusive wilderness concept. 

NPS National Wilderness Leadership Council

The NPS National Wilderness Leadership Council (NWLC) serves an advisory council to the Director on all matters pertaining to wilderness. The council strives to enhance the agency’s ability to address critical wilderness stewardship issues. Comprised of park, regional, and national staff, this interdisciplinary council represents perspectives from a variety of positions and management levels. Each council member serves a three-year term, with staggered rotation occurring each year.

2023 Chair: David Smith, Superintendent - Golden Gate National Recreation Area
2023 Co-Chair: Dan van der Elst, Wilderness Coordinator - Mount Rainier National Park

Interagency Wilderness Coordination Committee (formerly Steering Committee)

The Interagency Wilderness Steering Committee (IWSC) works collaboratively to improve stewardship across the National Wilderness Preservation System. Comprised of wilderness program leads and USGS science/research support, the IWSC meets monthly to discuss high priority issues and initiatives for interagency wilderness stewardship. 

2023 Chair: Peter Keller, National Wilderness Program Lead - Bureau of Land Management

Interagency Wilderness Executive Council (former Policy Council)

The Interagency Wilderness Steering Committee (IWSC) works collaboratively to improve stewardship across the National Wilderness Preservation System. Comprised of wilderness program leads from the NPS, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Forest Service as well as the US Geological Survey science/research support, the IWSC meets monthly to discuss high priority issues and initiatives for interagency wilderness stewardship.

2023 Chair: Mark Lambrecht, Assistant Director for National Conservation Lands and Community Partnership - Bureau of Land Management

The Wilderness Stewardship Division (WSD) is one of seven divisions in the WASO Visitor and Resource Protection Directorate. The WSD assists the Director in implementing national wilderness policy and provides servicewide leadership and subject matter expertise in all aspects of wilderness stewardship and management, including wilderness law, policy, training, and communications.

Quinn Brett, Access and Recreation Specialist, moved onto a new job with the US Fish and Wildlife Service in February 2024. Her contributions to the Wilderness Stewardship Division are much appreciated!

At the time of publishing this report, Rob Burrows is now the Training Manager. He began this position in January 2024. Jennifer Flynn is now the superintendent at Cape Cod National Seashore, a position she began in November 2023. 

Acreages cited reflect best available information based on NPS records. For some national parks, wilderness acreages reference updated boundary mapping in GIS that may differ from acreages cited in the designating legislation.

National Park Unit	Wilderness Area	Acreage
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore	Gaylord Nelson Wilderness	33,500
Badlands National Park	Badlands Wilderness	64,250
Bandelier National Monument	Bandelier Wilderness	23,267
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park	Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness	15,599
Buffalo National River	Buffalo National River Wilderness	34,933
Carlsbad Caverns National Park	Carlsbad Caverns Wilderness	33,125
Chiricahua National Monument	Chiricahua Wilderness	10,290
Congaree National Park	Congaree National Park Wilderness	21,700
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve	Craters of the Moon National Wilderness Area	43,243
Cumberland Island National Seashore	Cumberland Island Wilderness	9,907
Death Valley National Park	Death Valley Wilderness	3,190,455
Denali National Park and Preserve	Denali Wilderness	2,146,000
Devils Postpile National Monument	Ansel Adams Wilderness	747
Everglades National Park	Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness	1,296,500
Fire Island National Seashore	Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness	1,381
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve	Gates of the Arctic Wilderness	7,154,000
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve	Glacier Bay Wilderness	2,664,876
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve	Great Sand Dunes Wilderness	32,643
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve	Sangre de Cristo Wilderness	40,595
Guadalupe Mountains National Park	Guadalupe Mountains Wilderness	46,850
Gulf Islands National Seashore	Gulf Islands Wilderness	4,630
Haleakalā Wilderness	Haleakalā Wilderness	24,710
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park	Hawai'i Volcanoes Wilderness	123,100
Isle Royale National Park	Isle Royale Wilderness	132,018
Joshua Tree National Park	Joshua Tree Wilderness	595,364
Katmai National Park and Preserve	Katmai Wilderness	3,323,000
Kobuk Valley National Park	Kobuk Valley Wilderness	176,000
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve	Jay S. Hammond Wilderness	2,592,000
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Black Canyon Wilderness	17,220
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Bridge Canyon Wilderness	7,761
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Eldorado Wilderness	26,250
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Ireteba Peaks Wilderness	29,299
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Jimbilnan Wilderness	18,879
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Muddy Mountains Wilderness	3,521
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Nellis Wash Wilderness	16,423
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Pinto Valley Wilderness	39,173
Lake Mead National Recreation Area	Spirit Mountain Wilderness	32,913
Lassen Volcanic National Park	Lassen Volcanic Wilderness	79,061
Lava Beds National Monument	Lava Beds Wilderness	28,460
Mesa Verde National Park	Mesa Verde Wilderness	8,500
Mojave National Preserve	Mojave Wilderness	695,200
Mount Rainier National Park	Mount Rainier Wilderness	228,480
Noatak National Preserve	Noatak Wilderness	5,814,000
North Cascades National Park	Stephen Mather Wilderness	638,173
Olympic National Park	Daniel J. Evans Wilderness	876,447
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument	Organ Pipe Cactus Wilderness	312,600
Petrified Forest National Park	Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area	50,260
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore	Beaver Basin Wilderness	11,740
Pinnacles National Park	Hain Wilderness	15,985
Point Reyes National Seashore	Phillip Burton Wilderness	27,315
Rocky Mountain National Park	Indian Peaks Wilderness	2,959
Rocky Mountain National Park	Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness	249,126
Saguaro National Park	Saguaro Wilderness	70,905
Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks	John Krebs Wilderness	39,740
Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks	Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness	768,222
Shenandoah National Park	Shenandoah Wilderness	79,579
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore	Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness	32,557
Theodore Roosevelt National Park	Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness	29,920
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve	Wrangell-St. Elias Wilderness	9,432,000
Yosemite National Park	Yosemite Wilderness	704,624
Zion National Park	Zion Wilderness	124,406