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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Leave the Cascades and Olympic Wildernesses Be
On August 27, 2018, Wilderness Watch submitted a formal Objection to the Forest Service on its draft Record of Decision Mountain Goat Management Plan/EIS for Olympic National Park and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Our Objection was denied,…
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A Good Decision for the Charles C. Deam Wilderness
Wilderness Watch helped support a good Forest Service (FS) decision dealing with road access to old cemeteries in the 12,472-acre Charles C. Deam Wilderness in Indiana…Under a 1999 policy, the FS not only allowed public access, but allowed public motor…
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Wilderness and Mining Don’t Mix
Wilderness isn’t about celebrating mining. But in one of the most baffling proposals we’ve seen, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to denigrate the Inyo Mountains Wilderness in order to perpetuate the scars of past mining. And it claims to be doing…
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WW Opposes Structures and Helicopter Intrusions in Wildernesses
In June 22, despite an Objection filed by Wilderness Watch, the Forest Service (FS) approved four new seismic monitoring stations in the Glacier Peak Wilderness in Washington, along with upgrades to an existing station, and up to 20 helicopter…
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No Permanent Firebreaks in the Ventana Wilderness
Wilderness Watch has filed a formal Objection with Los Padres ForestWatch to stop the Forest Service from building permanent, artificial firelines inside the Ventana Wilderness and allow the Wilderness to restore its wilderness character. The 237,000-acre Ventana Wilderness straddles the Santa Lucia…
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Wilderness Community Unites to Keep Bike Ban in Wilderness
The wilderness community has united to head off efforts by some mountain bikers to open Wilderness to their machines. In a June 2018 letter, 150 organizations from across the country urged Congress to oppose attempts to amend and weaken…
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Time to Close Airstrips in River of No Return Wilderness
Wilderness Watch and other groups have sent the Chief of the Forest Service a letter urging him to permanently close four backcountry airstrips located in the Big Creek drainage within the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho.…
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Let the Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness Be
Wilderness Watch recently urged the Forest Service to let the Pine Valley Wilderness “be” rather than conduct its proposed significant new manipulation project on the Dixie National Forest in southern Utah. The Forest Service is planning the “Grass Valley…
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Remove Pemigewasset Wilderness Bridge
In a good decision for Wilderness, the Forest Service (FS) has removed an unsafe log bridge over the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River in the Pemigewasset Wilderness in New Hampshire. In keeping with the spirit of the Wilderness…
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Wilderness Watch Opposes Human Meddling in Boundary Waters
Wilderness Watch filed a formal Objection against human meddling inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). In the Hi Lo Project, the Forest Service proposes to intentionally ignite 1,314 acres of forest inside the BWCAW.
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Commercial Rocket Launches Threaten Cumberland Island Wilderness
Wilderness Watch is concerned over a proposal to launch commercial rockets over the Cumberland Island Wilderness off the coast of southern Georgia. Camden County’s commercial space launch site would be less than five miles from Cumberland Island National Seashore.…
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We Vote for Nature’s Way
The National Park Service is moving ahead with its ill-advised plan for heavy-handed manipulation of the Isle Royale Wilderness in Michigan. The Park Service has captured wolves from other places in the region, and released them on Isle Royale…
Photo: Desolation Wilderness, Utah by Bob Wick/BLM