Order Code RL31447
Wilderness: Overview and Statistics
Updated March 10, 2008
Ross W. Gorte
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division

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Wilderness: Overview and Statistics
Summary
Congress enacted the Wilderness Act in 1964. This Act created the National
Wilderness Preservation System, reserved to Congress the authority to designate
wilderness areas, and directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior to
review certain lands for their wilderness potential. The Act also designated 54
wilderness areas with 9 million acres of federal land. Congress began expanding the
Wilderness System in 1968, and today, there are 708 wilderness areas, totaling more
than 107 million acres, in 44 states. Numerous bills to designate additional areas and
to expand existing ones are introduced and considered in every Congress.
The Wilderness Act defined wilderness as an area of generally undisturbed
federal land, but did not establish criteria or standards to determine whether an area
should be designated, because of differing perceptions of wilderness and because of
the varying purposes of wilderness. In general, wilderness areas are undeveloped,
and commercial activities, motorized access, and roads, structures, and facilities are
generally prohibited in wilderness areas. However, in response to conflicting
demands, Congress has granted both general exemptions and specific exceptions to
the general standards and prohibitions.
The federal government owns about 29% of the land in the United States,
although the proportion in each state varies widely. Four federal agencies — the
Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service
in the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service in the Department of
Agriculture — manage most of the federal lands. These agencies manage the 107
million acres of designated wilderness, as well as many other lands. They are also
protecting lands as possible additions to the Wilderness System, and are reviewing
the wilderness potential of additional lands.
In total, more than 17% of all federal land, and nearly 5% of all land in the
United States, has been designated as wilderness. Alaska, because of its size and
relatively pristine condition, dominates wilderness statistics — more than 53% of
designated wilderness is in Alaska. In total, nearly 16% of all land (federal, state,
private, and other) in Alaska has been designated as wilderness. In contrast, 3% of
all land in the United States outside Alaska has been designated as wilderness.

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Contents
History of Wilderness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
What Is Wilderness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Prohibited and Permitted Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Data on Wilderness Designations as of February 29, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Agency Land Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Wilderness Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
List of Tables
Table 1. Additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System . . . . . . . . . . 3
Table 2. Total Area Managed by Federal LandManagement Agencies . . . . . . . 10
Table 3. Federal Designated Wilderness Acreage, by State and by Agency . . . . 11

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Wilderness: Overview and Statistics
In 1964, the Wilderness Act established a national system of congressionally
designated areas to be preserved in a wilderness condition. The National Wilderness
Preservation System was created with 9 million acres of Forest Service lands.
Congress has since expanded the Wilderness System to more than 107 million acres
(see Table 1) among some 623 million acres of land managed by the federal land
management agencies — the Forest Service (FS) in the Department of Agriculture,
and the National Park Service (NPS), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) in the Department of the Interior. (See Table 2.)
Federal agencies, Members of Congress, and interest groups have recommended
more lands for inclusion in the System. Furthermore, at the direction of Congress,
agencies have studied, or are studying, the wilderness potential of their lands. This
report provides a brief history of wilderness, describes what wilderness is, identifies
permitted and prohibited uses in wilderness areas, and provides data on wilderness
designations as of February 29, 2008.
History of Wilderness
The federal government acquired 1.8 billion acres of land through purchases,
treaties, and other agreements. Initial federal policy was generally to transfer
ownership to states and private ownership, but Congress has also provided for
reserving certain lands for federal purposes, and over time has reserved or withdrawn
increasing acreage for national parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, etc.1 The
general policy of federal lands disposal was changed to a general policy of retaining
the remaining lands in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.2
Beginning in 1897, management of the national forests emphasized conservation
— protecting and developing the lands. It did not take long for some FS leaders to
recognize the need to preserve some areas in a natural state. Acting at its own
discretion, and at the behest of an employee named Aldo Leopold, the FS created the
first wilderness area in the Gila National Forest (NM) in 1924. In the succeeding
decades, the agency’s system of wilderness, wild, and primitive areas grew to 14.6
million acres. However, in the 1950s, increasing timber harvests and recreation use
of the national forests led to public concerns about the permanence of this purely
administrative system. The FS had relied on its administrative authority in making
these designations; there was no law guaranteeing the future of wilderness.
1 See CRS Report RL34267, Federal Land Ownership: Constitutional Authority and the
History of Acquisition, Disposal, and Retention, by Kristina Alexander and Ross W. Gorte.
2 FLPMA, Act of October 21, 1976; P.L. 94-579. 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701, et seq.

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CRS-2
In response to these concerns, Congress enacted the Wilderness Act3 in 1964.
The Act defines wilderness, and prohibits or restricts certain activities in wilderness
areas, while permitting other activities to occur. The Act also reserves to Congress
the authority to designate areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation
System.
The Wilderness System was initially endowed with the 9.1 million acres of
national forest lands that had been identified administratively as wilderness areas or
wild areas. The Wilderness Act also directed the Agriculture Secretary to review the
agency’s 5.5 million acres of primitive areas, and the Secretary of the Interior to
evaluate the wilderness potential of National Park System and National Wildlife
Refuge System lands. The Secretaries were to report their recommendations to the
President and to Congress within 10 years (i.e., by 1974). Separate recommendations
were made for each area; many areas recommended for wilderness have been
designated, although some of the recommendations are still pending. FLPMA
directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a similar review of the public lands
administered by the BLM within 15 years (i.e., by 1991). The BLM submitted its
recommendations to the President, and presidential recommendations have been
submitted to Congress.
The 90th Congress began expanding the Wilderness System in 1968, as shown
in Table 1. Five laws were enacted, creating five new wilderness areas with 792,750
acres in four states. Wilderness designations generally increased in each succeeding
Congress, rising to a peak of 60.8 million acres designated during the 96th Congress
(1979-1980). The largest was 56.4 million acres of wilderness designated in the
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.4
In 1977, the FS began a review (RARE II)5 of 62 million acres of national forest
roadless areas, as an acceleration of part of the land management planning process
mandated by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974
and the National Forest Management Act of 1976.6 The RARE II Final
Environmental Statement was issued in January 1979, recommending more than 15
million acres (24.3% of the study area) for addition to the Wilderness System. In
addition, nearly 11 million acres (17.4%) were to be studied further in the ongoing
FS planning process under NFMA. The remaining 36 million acres (58.3% of the
RARE II area) were to be available for other uses — such as logging, energy and
mineral developments, and motorized recreation — which might be incompatible
with preserving wilderness characteristics. In April 1979, President Jimmy Carter
presented the recommendations to Congress with minor changes.
3 Act of September 3, 1964; P.L. 88-577. 16 U.S.C. §§ 1131-1136.
4 ANILCA, Act of December 2, 1980; P.L. 96-487.
5 The first Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE) was begun under the agency’s
administrative authority in 1970, but was abandoned in 1972 because of a lawsuit asserting
the review had been restricted in ways that violated the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 (NEPA, Act of January 1, 1970; P.L. 91-190; 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4347).
6 Respectively: RPA, Act of August 17, 1974; P.L. 93-378; and NFMA, Act of October 22,
1976; P.L. 94-588. 16 U.S.C. §§ 1600-1614, et al.

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Table 1. Additions to the National Wilderness Preservation
System
Number of
Number of
Number of Areas New
Acres
Congress
Lawsa
States
(Additions)
Designatedb
88th
1
13
54
( 0)
9,125,721
89th
0
0
0
( 0)
0
90th
5
4
5
( 1)
792,750
91st
3
13
25
( 0)
303,612
92nd
9
7
8
( 1)
913,337
93rd
4
22
35
( 0)
1,271,535
94th
8
23
35
( 0)
2,428,327
95th
7
18
28
( 5)
4,680,519
96th
7
10
71
(11)
60,753,605
97th
6
6
7
( 0)
83,309
98th
21
21
177
(49)
8,530,657
99th
5
5
11
( 2)
99,153
100th
7
8
22
( 4)
1,422,730
101st
5
5
68
( 3)
3,501,160
102nd
2
2
6
( 4)
426,290
103rd
2
2
79
(14)
8,272,871
104th
2
2
1
( 2)
29,970
105th
1
1
0
( 1)
160
106th
8
7
18
( 1)
1,081,465
107th
5
5
18
(13)
529,590
108th
2
2
15
( 0)
801,784
109th 6
7
25
(11)
1,030,748
Total
116
44
708
(122)
107,443,325
a. Excludes laws with minor boundary and acreage adjustments (less than 10 acres of net change).
b. This total differs from the total of the column because of acreage revisions.

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CRS-4
In 1980, the state of California successfully challenged the FS RARE II
recommendations for 44 areas allocated to nonwilderness uses, with the court
decision substantially upheld on appeal in 1982.7 The Reagan Administration
responded in 1983 by directing a re-evaluation of all RARE II recommendations,
except in states with wilderness laws containing certain provisions known as release
language.8 Tensions between the Administration and Congress, and among interest
groups, led to a particularly intense debate during the 98th Congress (1983-1984). A
compromise version of release language, achieved in May 1984, led the 98th
Congress to enact 21 wilderness laws designating 8.5 million acres of wilderness in
21 states — more laws and more acres (outside of Alaska) than any Congress since
the Wilderness System was created.
Since the Wilderness Act created the National Wilderness Preservation System
in 1964, Congress has enacted 115 additional laws designating new wilderness areas
or adding to existing ones, as shown in Table 1. The Wilderness System now
contains 708 wilderness areas with more than 107 million acres in 44 states, managed
by the four federal land management agencies, as shown in Table 3. The agencies
have recommended additional lands be added to the Wilderness System; these lands
are generally managed to protect their wilderness character while Congress considers
adding them to the Wilderness System. Additional lands are being studied by the
agencies, to determine if they should be added to the System. However, data on
lands recommended and being reviewed for wilderness potential are not available.
Questions and discussions persist over the protection and management of areas
that some believe should be designated as wilderness and others believe should be
available for development. The Clinton Administration moved to protect many of
the remaining national forest areas that could be designated as wilderness, initially
in January 1998 with a temporary moratorium on road construction in roadless areas,
and finally with a rule that prohibited most road construction and many other
activities in inventoried roadless areas (i.e., the remaining undesignated RARE II
areas). The Clinton rule was enjoined twice, and the Bush Administration
promulgated a new rule that has also been enjoined. The status of roadless area
protection rules continues to be disputed.9
Questions also persist over BLM wilderness study areas (WSAs). These WSAs
are the areas the BLM studied as potential wilderness under § 603 of FLPMA. Under
§ 603(b), the BLM is required to protect the wilderness characteristics of all WSAs
(including areas not recommended for wilderness) “until Congress determines
7 California v. Bergland, 483 F. Supp. 465 (E.D.Cal. 1980), aff’d in part, rev’d in part, 690
F.2d 753 (9th Cir. 1982).
8 Release language provides direction on the timing of future wilderness review and of the
management of areas not designated as wilderness until the next review. For a history of
the debate over release language provisions, see CRS Report 93-280 ENR, Wilderness
Legislation: History of Release Language, 1979-1992, by Ross W. Gorte and Pamela
Baldwin (archived, available from the author).
9 For more background information on and the current status of these rules, see CRS Report
RL30647, The National Forest System Roadless Areas Initiative, by Kristina Alexander and
Ross W. Gorte.

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CRS-5
otherwise.” Congress has designated some BLM WSAs as wilderness (included in
Table 3), and generally in the same statutes, Congress has released the BLM from
the requirement to protect the wilderness characteristics of certain other areas.
However, release language in BLM wilderness statutes has generally been more
controversial than for national forest areas.10
What Is Wilderness?
The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as an area of generally undisturbed
federal land. Specifically, §2(c) states:
A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his works dominate the
landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of
life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not
remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean .... an area of
undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without
permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed
so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have
been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work
substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a
primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres
of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in
an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or
other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.
This definition provides some general guidelines for determining which areas
should, or should not, be designated wilderness, but there are no specific criteria in
the law. The phrases “untrammeled by man,” “retaining its primeval character,” and
“man’s work substantially unnoticeable” are far from precise. Even the numerical
standard — 5,000 acres — is not absolute; smaller areas can be designated, if they
can be protected, and the smallest wilderness area — Wisconsin Islands Wilderness
in the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge — is only 2 acres.
One reason for the imprecise criteria for wilderness is differing perceptions of
what constitutes wilderness. To some, a “wilderness” is an area where there is
absolutely no sign of human presence: no traffic can be heard (including aircraft);
no roads, structures, or litter can be seen. To others, sleeping in a van or camper in
a 400-site campground in Yellowstone National Park is a “wilderness experience.”
Complicating these differing perceptions is the wide-ranging ability to “get away
from it all” in various areas; in a densely wooded area, “getting away” might be
measured in yards, while in mountainous or desert terrain, human developments can
sometimes be seen for miles.
In an attempt to accommodate these contrasting views of wilderness, the
Wilderness Act provided certain exemptions and delayed implementation of
restrictions for wilderness areas, as will be discussed below. At times, Congress has
also responded to the conflicting demands of various interest groups by allowing
10 See CRS Report RS21917, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness Review
Issues, by Ross W. Gorte and Pamela Baldwin.

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CRS-6
additional exemptions for certain uses (especially for existing activities) in particular
wilderness designations. Ultimately, “wilderness areas” are whatever Congress
designates as wilderness, regardless of developments or activities which some might
argue conflict with the definition of wilderness.
Prohibited and Permitted Uses
In general, the Wilderness Act prohibits commercial activities, motorized
access, and roads, structures, and facilities in wilderness areas. Specifically, §4(c)
states:
Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing private
rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any
wilderness area designated by this Act and, except as necessary to meet
minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this
Act (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety
of persons within the area), there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor
vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other
form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such
area.
This section prohibits most commercial resource exploitation (such as timber
harvesting) and motorized entry (via cars, trucks, off-road vehicles, aircraft, or
motorboats) except in emergencies. However, §4(d) provides numerous exceptions,
including (a) possible continued use of motorboats and aircraft; (b) fire, insect, and
disease control measures; (c) mineral prospecting conducted “in a manner compatible
with the preservation of the wilderness environment;” (d) water projects; (e)
continued livestock grazing; and (f) commercial recreation activities.
In addition to these exemptions, the Wilderness Act extended the mining and
mineral leasing laws for wilderness areas in national forests for 20 years, through
1983. New mining claims and mineral leases were permitted for many wilderness
areas, and exploration and development were authorized “subject, however, to such
reasonable regulations governing ingress and egress as may be prescribed by the
Secretary of Agriculture.”11 Despite this authority, no permits for on-site exploration
were considered until James Watt became the Secretary of the Interior in 1981.12
Litigation halted a drilling application in Montana that year, and Congress enacted
a moratorium on wilderness area leasing and exploration in the Department of the
Interior appropriations laws for FY1983 and FY1984 (P.L. 97-394 and P.L. 98-146,
respectively). However, mineral rights existing on or before December 31, 1983 (or
before the area was designated), remain valid, and can be developed if the right-
11 Most lands in the National Park System and the National Wildlife Refuge System have
been withdrawn from access under the mining and mineral leasing laws, while extensive
BLM wilderness designations were apparently not contemplated until FLPMA was enacted
in 1976. Thus, the Wilderness Act addressed mining and mineral leasing only in the
national forests.
12 Although national forests are managed by the FS in the Department of Agriculture, mining
claims and mineral leases on most federal lands, including the national forests, are
administered by the BLM in the Department of the Interior.

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CRS-7
holder chooses, under “reasonable regulations” determined by the Secretary of
Agriculture, and some mineral exploration has occurred in designated wilderness
areas under such regulations.13
The Wilderness Act also directs that the Act not alter existing federal-state
relationships with respect to state water laws or state fish and wildlife
responsibilities. Specifically, §4(d) (as codified at 16 U.S.C. §1133) states:
(7) Nothing in this Act shall constitute an express or implied claim or denial on
the part of the Federal Government as to exemption from State water laws.
(8) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or
responsibilities of the several States with respect to wildlife and fish in the
national forests.
However, the extent and nature of federal water rights that might arise from
wilderness designations continue to be an important issue for Congress.14
Finally, as noted above, Congress has also enacted numerous exemptions to the
Wilderness Act’s standard prohibitions on activities and developments.15 These
exemptions typically apply to one or a few areas and typically authorize a particular
activity (that might not be permitted under the Wilderness Act’s management
guidance) to be allowed to continue in the area at the level or intensity that occurred
prior to the area’s designation as wilderness.
Data on Wilderness Designations as of February 29, 2008
The following tables present data on the federal lands managed by the four
principal federal land management agencies and on the acreage designated as
wilderness and recommended by the agencies for wilderness. The data were gathered
from several agency sources, as described below. This section describes the agency
land data shown in Table 2 and the wilderness data shown in Table 3.
Agency Land Data. Table 2 shows the area managed by the four major
federal land management agencies.16 The data are not directly comparable across
agencies, however, because of differences in accounting practices. The agency data
also differ from the data maintained by the U.S. General Services Administration
13 Olen Paul Mathews, Amy Haak, and Kathryn Toffenetti, “Mining and Wilderness:
Incompatible Uses or Justifiable Compromise?” Environment, v. 27 (April 1985): 12-17, 30-
36.
14 For a more thorough discussion of this issue, see CRS Report 89-11 A, Wilderness Areas
and Federal Water Rights, by Pamela Baldwin (archived, available from the author of this
report, Ross W. Gorte).
15 See CRS Report RL33827, Wilderness Laws: Permitted and Prohibited Uses, by Ross W.
Gorte.
16 Other federal agencies, such as the Department of Defense, administer some federal land,
but land and resource management is not their primary mission.

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CRS-8
(GSA).17 Differences occur in part because official ownership status often differs
from managerial responsibility; for example, the FS administers 462,678 acres in
Oregon that are officially BLM lands. Another complication is partial ownership,
such as split estates, with the federal government owning only the surface (or the
subsurface), and another owner for the subsurface (or surface) rights; similarly, some
lands are managed by the federal government under easements and long-term leases,
without federal ownership. Thus, the agency acreage statistics in Table 2 may
overstate actual federal land ownership.
The data in Table 2 are from agency sources; agency data (rather than GSA
data) were used because they most closely match the agency wilderness data. The
acreage shown in Table 2 is generally limited to the lands owned by the federal
government (i.e., excluding easements and long-term leases) and administered by the
agency or for which the agency has primary management responsibility. The
following list identifies the land area data source for each of the agencies.
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Land Areas Report — as of Sept 30, 2007, at
[http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/lar/2007/TABLE_4.htm].
U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, National Park System Listing of Acreage
by State as of 12/31/2007; personal communication with Mike Walsh, NPS Land
Resources Division, Washington, DC, on March 7, 2008.
U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Realty, Annual Report of
Lands Under Control of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as of September 30, 2006,
Table 2 — Summary by States, Associated Governments and Possessions, at
[http://www.fws.gov/realty/pdf_files/2006LandsReport.pdf].
U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Public Land Statistics 2005, at
[http://www.blm.gov/natacq/pls05/pls1-4_05.pdf].18

Wilderness Statistics. The wilderness statistics presented in Table 3 are the
current acreage estimates by the agencies. Acreages are estimates, since few (if any)
of the areas have been precisely surveyed. Table 3 is the acreage for areas that have
been designated by Congress. In addition, the agencies have recommended areas for
addition to the National Wilderness Preservation System, and continue to review the
wilderness potential of other lands under their jurisdiction, both of congressionally
designated wilderness study areas and under congressionally directed land
management planning efforts. However, statistics on acreage in pending
recommendations and being studied, particularly in the planning efforts, are
unavailable.
17 U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Governmentwide Policy, Overview of the
United States Government’s Owned and Leased Real Property: Federal Real Property
Profile as of September 30, 2004, at [http://www.gsa.gov/gsa/cm_attachments/GSA_
DOCUMENT/Annual%20Report%20%20FY2004%20Final_R2M-n11_0Z5RDZ-i3
4k-pR.pdf].
18 Public Land Statistics 2006 is available, but BLM-administered acreage by state is
rounded off to the nearest 100,000 acres.

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CRS-9
For the FS, the same report as for general land statistics (listed above) provides
wilderness data, at [http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/lar/2007/TABLE_9.htm]. The
BLM’s Public Land Statistics, 2006 shows designated wilderness, at [http://www.
blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/Business_and_Fiscal_Resources/2006_
pls.PAR.36087.File.dat/Part_5.pdf]. NPS data on designated wilderness areas are
available on an NPS website, at [http://wilderness.nps.gov/maplocator.cfm]. FWS
designated wilderness data are in Table 8 of the agency’s general lands report, listed
above. The data have been updated to reflect wilderness designations enacted since
the agencies’ tables or lists were prepared.
As of February 29, 2008, Congress had designated 107.4 million acres of federal
land in units of the National Wilderness Preservation System, as shown in Table 3.
Nearly 54% of this land — 57.6 million acres — is in Alaska, and includes most of
the wilderness areas managed by the NPS (76%) and by the FWS (90%). About a
third of the Wilderness System is managed by the FS, but 84% of FS wilderness area
is outside Alaska. Wilderness areas have been designated in 44 states plus Puerto
Rico; only Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, and Rhode Island have
no federal lands designated as wilderness.

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Table 2. Total Area Managed by Federal LandManagement Agencies
(in acres)
USDA Forest
National Park Fish & Wildlife Bureau of Land 4-Agency Total
Service
Service
Service
Management
Alabama
668,947
16,715
31,904
111,369
828,935
Alaska
21,972,605
51,084,827
76,607,085
85,553,261
235,217,778
Arizona
11,262,527
2,618,735
1,678,394
12,229,583
27,789,239
Arkansas
2,598,417
98,404
367,151
295,185
3,359,157
California
20,802,641
7,560,432
286,772
15,208,002
43,857,847
Colorado
14,519,030
609,625
137,094
8,362,619
23,628,368
Connecticut
24
5,719
956
0
6,699
Delaware
0
0
25,220
0
25,220
Florida
1,160,324
2,436,995
277,287
26,899
3,901,505
Georgia
866,024
39,645
480,889
0
1,386,558
Hawaii
1
353,661
298,596
0
652,258
Idaho
20,466,617
507,425
48,507
11,995,125
33,017,674
Illinois
297,077
12
83,530
224
380,843
Indiana
201,467
10,516
14,045
0
226,028
Iowa
0
2,708
68,349
378
71,435
Kansas
108,175
461
29,509
0
138,145
Kentucky
814,045
94,382
10,359
0
918,786
Louisiana
604,373
14,536
550,407
321,734
1,491,050
Maine
53,042
66,768
61,166
0
180,976
Maryland
0
39,508
45,658
0
85,166
Massachusetts
0
32,946
21,829
0
54,775
Michigan
2,872,833
631,716
113,998
74,807
3,693,354
Minnesota
2,840,746
139,509
470,331
146,658
3,597,244
Mississippi
1,174,079
103,698
207,865
56,212
1,541,854
Missouri
1,491,811
54,338
59,797
2,094
1,608,040
Montana
16,962,737
1,214,184
629,725
7,959,097
26,765,743
Nebraska
352,289
5,650
173,104
6,354
537,397
Nevada
5,853,963
774,509
2,333,819
47,847,657
56,809,948
New Hampshire
734,798
8,362
21,309
0
764,469
New Jersey
0
35,216
70,207
0
105,423
New Mexico
9,413,211
376,528
326,664
13,371,737
23,488,140
New York
16,211
33,475
27,241
0
76,927
North Carolina
1,255,167
362,741
418,309
0
2,036,217
North Dakota
1,111,177
71,252
482,676
58,837
1,723,942
Ohio
238,984
19,403
8,483
0
266,870
Oklahoma
400,768
10,008
105,612
2,136
518,524
Oregon
15,667,657
192,015
562,923
16,135,459
32,558,054
Pennsylvania
513,428
48,427
10,026
0
571,881
Rhode Island
0
5
2,299
0
2,304
South Carolina
629,565
30,131
124,279
0
783,975
South Dakota
2,016,889
141,317
204,450
274,450
2,637,106
Tennessee
707,387
352,962
51,214
0
1,111,563
Texas
755,365
1,191,216
513,462
11,833
2,471,876
Utah
8,200,161
2,097,106
107,263
22,869,246
33,273,776
Vermont
398,529
8,830
33,233
0
440,592
Virginia
1,664,306
306,884
130,254
805
2,102,249
Washington
9,282,376
1,832,279
148,360
403,316
11,666,331
West Virginia
1,043,028
63,802
19,399
0
1,126,229
Wisconsin
1,530,686
61,742
198,257
159,982
1,950,667
Wyoming
9,241,187
2,343,697
70,674
18,362,513
30,018,071
Territories/Other
28,149
21,995
1,720,584
0
1,770,728
U.S. Total
192,794,673
78,127,018
90,474,521
261,848,120
623,244,332

---

CRS-11
Table 3. Federal Designated Wilderness Acreage, by State and by Agency
(in acres and percentage of agency/federal land)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Bureau of Land
Share of
USDA Forest Service
National Park Service
Total Designated Area
Service
Management
NWPS
Alabama
41,367
6.2%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
41,367
5.0%
0.04%
Alaska
5,789,288
26.3% 33,079,611
64.8% 18,691,495
24.4%
0
0.0% 57,560,394
24.5%
53.57%
Arizona
1,345,008
11.9%
444,055
17.0%
1,343,444
80.0%
1,396,466
11.4%
4,528,973
16.3%
4.22%
Arkansas
116,578
4.5%
34,933
35.5%
2,144
0.6%
0
0.0%
153,655
4.6%
0.14%
California
4,707,195
22.6%
5,997,045
79.3%
9,172
3.2%
3,595,250
23.6% 14,308,662
32.6%
13.32%
Colorado
3,147,420
21.7%
60,466
9.9%
2,560
1.9%
139,524
1.7%
3,349,970
14.2%
3.12%
Connecticut
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0.00%
Delaware
0
n.r.
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0.00%
Florida
74,495
6.4%
1,296,500
53.2%
51,252
18.5%
0
0.0%
1,422,247
36.5%
1.32%
Georgia
114,537
13.2%
8,840
22.3%
362,107
75.3%
0
n.r.
485,484
35.0%
0.45%
Hawaii
0
0.0%
155,509
44.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
155,509
23.8%
0.14%
Idaho
3,961,709
19.4%
43,243
8.5%
0
0.0%
802
0.01%
4,005,754
12.1%
3.73%
Illinois
28,732
9.7%
0
0.0%
4,050
4.8%
0
0.0%
32,782
8.6%
0.03%
Indiana
12,945
6.4%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
12,945
5.7%
0.01%
Iowa
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0.00%
Kansas
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0.00%
Kentucky
18,132
2.2%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
18,132
2.0%
0.02%
Louisiana
8,679
1.4%
0
0.0%
8,346
1.5%
0
0.0%
17,025
1.1%
0.02%
Maine
12,000
22.6%
0
0.0%
7,392
12.1%
0
n.r.
19,392
10.7%
0.02%
Maryland
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0.00%
Massachusetts
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
3,244
14.9%
0
n.r.
3,244
5.9%
0.003%
Michigan
92,650
3.2%
132,018
20.9%
25,310
22.2%
0
0.0%
249,978
6.8%
0.23%
Minnesota
810,088
28.5%
0
0.0%
6,180
1.3%
0
0.0%
816,268
22.7%
0.76%
Mississippi
6,046
0.5%
4,080
4.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
10,126
0.7%
0.01%
Missouri
63,423
4.3%
0
0.0%
7,730
12.9%
0
0.0%
71,153
4.4%
0.07%
Montana
3,372,503
19.9%
0
0.0%
64,535
10.2%
6,000
0.1%
3,443,038
12.9%
3.20%
Nebraska
7,794
2.2%
0
0.0%
4,635
2.7%
0
0.0%
12,429
2.3%
0.01%
Nevada
1,105,124
18.9%
309,539
40.0%
0
0.0%
2,036,779
4.3%
3,451,442
6.1%
3.21%

---

CRS-12
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Bureau of Land
Share of
USDA Forest Service
National Park Service
Total Designated Area
Service
Management
NWPS
New Hampshire
137,432
18.7%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
137,432
18.0%
0.13%
New Jersey
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
10,341
14.7%
0
n.r.
10,341
9.8%
0.01%
New Mexico
1,388,262
14.7%
56,392
15.0%
39,908
12.2%
150,579
1.1%
1,635,141
7.0%
1.52%
New York
0
0.0%
1,363
4.1%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
1,363
1.8%
0.001%
North Carolina
102,634
8.2%
0
0.0%
8,785
2.1%
0
n.r.
111,419
5.5%
0.10%
North Dakota
0
0.0%
29,920
42.0%
9,732
2.0%
0
0.0%
39,652
2.3%
0.04%
Ohio
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
77
0.9%
0
n.r.
77
0.03%
0.0001%
Oklahoma
14,543
3.6%
0
0.0%
8,570
8.1%
0
0.0%
23,113
4.5%
0.02%
Oregon
2,086,504
13.3%
0
0.0%
940
0.2%
186,723
1.2%
2,274,167
7.0%
2.12%
Pennsylvania
9,031
1.8%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
9,031
1.6%
0.01%
Rhode Island
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
0
0.0%
0.00%
South Carolina
16,671
2.6%
15,010
49.5%
29,000
23.3%
0
n.r.
60,681
7.7%
0.06%
South Dakota
13,426
0.7%
64,144
45.4%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
77,570
2.9%
0.07%
Tennessee
66,349
9.4%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
66,349
6.0%
0.06%
Texas
38,483
5.1%
46,850
3.9%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
85,333
3.5%
0.08%
Utah
772,894
9.4%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
129,120
0.6%
902,014
2.7%
0.84%
Vermont
101,073
25.4%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
101,073
22.9%
0.09%
Virginia
97,635
5.9%
79,579
25.9%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
177,214
8.4%
0.16%
Washington
2,569,391
27.7%
1,739,763
95.0%
839
0.6%
7,140
1.8%
4,317,133
37.0%
4.02%
West Virginia
80,852
7.8%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
80,852
7.2%
0.08%
Wisconsin
44,108
2.9%
33,500
54.3%
29
0.01%
0
0.0%
77,637
4.0%
0.07%
Wyoming
3,111,232
33.7%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
3,111,232
10.4%
2.90%
Territories
10,000
35.5%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
n.r.
10,000
0.6%
0.01%
U.S. Total
35,460,766
18.4% 43,632,360
55.8% 20,701,816
22.9%
7,648,383
2.9% 107,443,325
17.2%
100.0%
Share of NWPS
33.0%
40.6%
19.3%
7.1%
100.0%
n.r. = not relevant; the agency owns no land within the state.

---