"In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not оссur and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in the natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of Wilderness."

These words, enacted by law in 1964 as part of the Wilderness Act, were proof that our nation had turned a corner. The very landscape that had challenged and shaped our culture was now threatened by our growing population. Our challenge as a modern nation was to decide how to protect areas to preserve their natural processes and values, as wildlife habitat and as places for people to pursue solitude and primitive recreation.

The Wilderness Act empowered Congress to set aside areas as designated Wilderness, and the Wilderness Act requires that all Wilderness areas be “administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as Wilderness.”

The Wilderness Act of 1964 included the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. It would be 12 years until the Wilderness Act was applied to the Bureau of Land Management in 1976.

What Qualifies as Wilderness?

• The area must be federally-managed land. Wilderness cannot be designated on state, county or private lands.
• It has outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation, and appears to be affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprints of man’s work largely unnoticeable.
• The area may contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic or historical value.
• The area is at least 5,000 acres or is manageable as Wilderness (islands and other areas of less than 5,000 acres, with clearly defined and manageable boundaries, have been designated Wilderness).

The Path to Wilderness

Explore Wilderness Areas in Nevada

Care For Wilderness

Join Us On A Volunteer Stewardship Trip
Give back to our public lands with your own two hands! We have a variety of projects to fit most skill levels and schedules - visit our Calendar of Events: www.nevadawilderness.org/calendar_of_events.

Become A Member
Your donation helps us advocate for protection and sound management for our wildlands and helps get our volunteers and crews out to maintain trails and restore wildlife habitat across the state.

Begin A Career In Conservation
We offer paid positions and AmeriCorps service opportunities.

Join Our Legacy Circle
Consider Friends in your estate planning to keep Nevada forever wild.