Wilderness and wild lands in the Northern Appalachian Region of North America: An ecological perspective

Abstract

The ecological context of the Northern Appalachian region of North America is reviewed and general patterns of ownership and protection status of land discussed. Although there is wide variability among the states and provinces in the proportion of their land that is publicly owned, only a very small proportion, ranging from 0.1 percent to 8.0 percent, anywhere is managed as wilderness. However, a recent analysis of the Human Footprint in the region identifies a larger amount of land (35 percent) that is as yet relatively little modified by human disturbance, indicating that the amount of wild lands in the region is much higher than the amount of designated wilderness. Six challenges for wilderness and wild lands protection are identified: continuing public land acquisition; increasing the protection status of land to prioritize ecological integrity; improving incentives for private ownership of lands managed as wilderness; developing an integrated view of conservation strategies that increasingly sees wilderness protection as part of a suite of conservation tools; assessing the contribution of wilderness to the region’s long-term ecological integrity; and actively using wilderness areas as ecological controls against which to compare the consequences of more manipulative land-use practices.

Parent Publication

• Science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values: Eighth World Wilderness Congress symposium

Citation

Trombulak, Stephen C. 2007. Wilderness and wild lands in the Northern Appalachian Region of North America: An ecological perspective. In: Watson, Alan; Sproull, Janet; Dean, Liese, comps. Science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values: Eighth World Wilderness Congress symposium; September 30-October 6, 2005; Anchorage, AK. Proceedings RMRS-P-49. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 510-514