Identification

Two of the largest National Wildlife Refuges in Nevada contain agency-recommended Wilderness, the Sheldon Refuge (341,500 acres) and Desert Refuge with (1.3 million acres). Friends of Nevada Wilderness is working to ensure Wilderness designation for both of these refuges.

The USDA Forest Service also works to spot potential Wilderness. The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (largely in Nevada) has identified roughly 3 million acres of roadless areas, many of which deserve wilderness protection.

In 1976, Congress passed the Federal Land and Policy Management Act (FLPMA-pronounced “Flipma”), requiring the Bureau of Land Management to inventory all lands for suitability as Wilderness. The BLM ultimately identified 110 Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) in Nevada, totaling 5.1 million acres, that the agency felt met the criteria for wilderness established by the Wilderness Act. Congress directed the BLM to preserve wilderness values in WSAs until Congress decides whether to designate them as Wilderness. Friends of Nevada Wilderness has worked hard to get numerous WSAs converted to Wilderness over the years. There are still 59 WSAs waiting for action.

Community Input

Often, the agencies responsible for identifying lands with Wilderness character miss some. That’s why it’s important for ordinary folks to go out on public lands in Nevada and inventory their wildlands, work together to find common sense boundaries, then convince Congress to designate them as Wilderness. Citizens’ Wilderness proposals have been successfully designated in Nevada, and more are being proposed to Congress.

Legislation

Whether identified by BLM, the Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, or ordinary citizens, getting areas designated as Wilderness by Congress requires a lot of champions and hard work. Once these bills are passed by Congress and signed by the President, they become law and new Wilderness is created!