Response to the letter regarding “Guardians and gardeners: Managing wilderness for the twenty-first century”

Abstract

Human actions, whether deliberate (e.g., fire suppression) or indeliberate (e.g., anthropogenic climate change), have and will continue to detrimentally impact wilderness ecosystems. These human-induced stressors are significantly degrading and even imperil the natural qualities of many wilderness areas (see Shive et al. 2026 ). Yet contemporary wilderness management philosophies, which arose in an era that predated rapid and ubiquitous environmental stressors such as climate change, may limit our ability to protect the natural conditions of these places.<br><br> Original publication: https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/80235.

Citation

Boerigter, Clare E.; Parks, Sean A.; Long, Jonathan W.; Coop, Jonathan D.; Armstrong, Melanie; Hankins, Don L.; Hoagland, Serra. 2026. Response to the letter regarding “Guardians and gardeners: Managing wilderness for the twenty-first century”. BioScience. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biag101.