Wild Issues
For over 35 years, Wilderness Watch has been the leading national organization whose sole focus is the preservation and proper stewardship of lands and rivers included in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Learn more about current Wilderness issues we’re working on.
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Foolhardy construction project proposed in the Mount Timpanogos Wilderness
The Forest Service (FS) is proposing to replace a useless, dilapidated, sheet metal Quonset hut in the Mount Timpanogos Wilderness in Utah. The hut was damaged by snow during the winter of 2021-2022. While the FS has sold this…
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Forest Service should not increase visitor fees for the Boundary Waters
Wilderness Watch is pushing back against the Forest Service’s (FS) proposal to more than double visitor fees for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in Minnesota, one of the most visited in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
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Commercial outfitter permits renewed in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex
Despite the concerns raised by Wilderness Watch, our members and supporters, and other conservation groups, the Forest Service recently renewed 62 existing outfitter permits in the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, and Great Bear Wildernesses in Montana without any environmental analysis…
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Wilderness Watch objects to burning the Boundary Waters
In August 2025, Wilderness Watch submitted a formal objection to the Forest Service (FS) over its massive manipulation project that would set fire to as many as 84,000 acres of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in Minnesota.…
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Helicopter roundup threatens Goshute Canyon and Becky Peak Wildernesses
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to potentially land helicopters in the Goshute Canyon and Becky Peak Wildernesses in Nevada to remove wild horses as part of its Antelope-Triple B Gather project. Wilderness Watch appreciates that the…
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Cattle once again grazing a long-closed area of the Superstition Wilderness
This spring, Wilderness Watch was alarmed to learn that the Forest Service recently and quietly allowed a long-vacant grazing allotment in the Superstition Wilderness in Arizona to once again be grazed by domestic cattle.
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A better plan needed to remove microwave reflector in the Roaring River Wilderness
Wilderness Watch commends the Forest Service (FS) for its goal of restoring part of the Roaring River Wilderness in Oregon by removing a microwave reflector, though we’re concerned about the agency’s proposal to complete this. The reflector was installed…
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Forest Service needs to manage Wilderness in the Northwest as Wilderness
Wilderness Watch is concerned about proposed amendments to the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) that could harm Wilderness, specifically by manipulating Wilderness with tree cutting and lighting fires, potentially via motorized and mechanized means. The plan covers 3.7 million acres…
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Great news for the Okefenokee Wilderness and National Wildlife Refuge
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has finalized a decision to expand the acquisition boundary of the 407,000-acre Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Georgia by 22,000 acres. This means the agency can now negotiate to purchase lands…
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Grizzly bears need Endangered Species Act protection
On January 8, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected petitions from the states of Montana and Wyoming to strip grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies of their important federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections. Unfortunately, on January…
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Taking steps to protect the Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness
The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to amend its Forest Plan for the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) to relocate part of the Webster Cliff Trail in the Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness in New Hampshire. The WMNF has trailless…
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Cabinet Mountains Wilderness threatened by one of the world’s largest proposed copper and silver mines
Wilderness Watch is urging the Forest Service to protect the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in northwest Montana by rejecting the latest mine proposal by HECLA Mining. Conservationists have long worked to protect this Wilderness from one of the world’s largest…
Photo: Desolation Wilderness, Utah by Bob Wick/BLM