What is Wilderness?
It’s complicated. Wilderness is remote. Wilderness is solitude.
It’s far from any roads. Not near a town.
Not connected.
Image courtesy of Brendan Wiltse.
However, all these statements beg the questions: how remote? Do other hikers count? How far from roads or towns? If I can chat with mom 500 miles away, am I in the wilderness? How big does it have to be? Are all named wilderness areas truly wilderness? If there’s a cabin in the middle, is it still wilderness? How about a lodge? A lean-to? A tent? In other words, do structures affect its designation?
There are more than 800 wilderness areas in the U.S. National Wilderness Preservation system with a total of over 111 million acres. Signed into law in 1964, the Wilderness Preservation Act secured “an enduring resource of wilderness.” At 3 acres, the smallest is Pelican Island, 5 miles north of North Beach, Florida. The largest is Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska at 9.4 million acres. Alaska is home to 58 million acres, more than half the total federal wilderness lands.
These do not include wilderness reserves governed by 11 states. The state with the most designated areas is New York with well over a million acres, mostly in the Adirondacks.
That may seem like a lot but considering the U.S. comprises over 2 billion acres, it’s rare, indeed. Of course, the whole idea of wilderness is Euro-centric. To Indigenous peoples, wilderness, historically, wasn’t an exception, it was home.
The Hurricane Mountain Wilderness is a good example of the difficulty determining and designating wilderness in the Adirondacks. There were a number of non-conforming structures, the most visible and controversial of which was the iconic fire tower on top.
Vintage (c 1920) Photo (Bob Eckler Collection-courtesy Bill Starr)
Technically, it had to be removed to change the classification of Hurricane from Primitive Area to Wilderness. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recommended removal despite its designation as a National Historic Site. After a public outcry, the tower was eventually saved and the small parcel of land around it was declared a Historic Area and exempted from the State wilderness requirements.
The original plan was to combine the Hurricane Primitive Area with the Jay Mountain Wilderness, making almost 22,000 acres. One problem: there’s a rough but drivable, seasonal road through the middle. Once again, the decision was made to retain a manmade structure and divide the land into two wilderness areas.
The National Park Service describes the wilderness experience beautifully in its description of Wilderness Character:
Wilderness character is a holistic concept based on the interaction of (1) biophysical environments primarily free from modern human manipulation and impact, (2) personal experiences in natural environments relatively free from the encumbrances and signs of modern society, and (3) symbolic meanings of humility, restraint, and interdependence that inspire human connection with nature.
There are no hard and fast rules for what is wilderness. Perhaps we can draw an analogy to Wallace Stevens’ poem, Peter Quince at the Clavier: “Music is feeling, then, not sound….”
Wilderness is an experience, not a place.
Image courtesy of Brendan Wiltse.
