Keeping wilderness wild: increasing effectiveness with limited resources

Abstract

Wilderness managers are forced to make increasingly difficult decisions about where to focus limited resources. Traditionally, areas of high visitor use and high impact are prioritized over areas of light use and light impact. However, areas that contain little to no human impact and contain the qualities that lead to the area’s designation as wilderness are most precious and have the greatest potential to be responsive to management. We mapped attributes of the Gros Ventre Wilderness in Wyoming to demonstrate how the most precious, vulnerable and responsive areas can be identified and prioritized. This information shows how on-theground management attention can be shifted to more effectively retain the area’s wilderness character.

Parent Publication

• Wilderness science in a time of change conference-Volume 4: Wilderness visitors, experiences, and visitor management; 1999 May 23-27; Missoula, MT

Citation

Merigliano, Linda; Smith, Bryan. 2000. Keeping wilderness wild: increasing effectiveness with limited resources. In: Cole, David N.; McCool, Stephen F.; Borrie, William T.; O’Loughlin, Jennifer, comps. 2000. Wilderness science in a time of change conference—Volume 4: Wilderness visitors, experiences, and visitor management; 1999 May 23–27; Missoula, MT. Proceedings RMRS-P-15-VOL-4. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 236-242