Improving wilderness stewardship through searchable databases of U.S. legislative history and legislated special provisions

Abstract

The online resource Wilderness.net currently provides quick access to the text of every public law designating wilderness in the U.S. National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS). This article describes two new searchable databases recently completed and added to the information available on Wilderness.net to help wilderness managers and others understand and interpret these laws. The first database provides access to a legislative history library and reference guide, and the second database provides access to legislated special provisions. Each database is described below in terms of how it may be used to inform decisions concerning wilderness stewardship, along with basic information about organization and content. We conclude with a brief discussion of research questions that may be more readily explored now that these databases are available.

Citation

Craig, David R.; Landres, Peter; Yung, Laurie. 2010. Improving wilderness stewardship through searchable databases of U.S. legislative history and legislated special provisions. International Journal of Wilderness 16(2): 27-31.