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<br />\J~~}'97 <br /> <br />A NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM <br /> <br />Public Law 88.577, of September 3, 1964, establishing a National <br />Wilderness Preservation System, provides, in part, as follows: <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />POLICY <br /> <br />"It is... the policy qf the Congress to secure for the American <br />people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring <br />resource of wilderness." <br /> <br />AREAS FOR STUDY <br /> <br />"Within ten years after the effective date of this Act the Secretary of <br />the Interior shall review every roadless area of five thousand <br />contiguous acres or more in the national parks, monuments and <br />other units of the national park system. . . , under his jurisdiction of <br />the effective date of this Act and shall report to the President his <br />recommendation as to the suitability or nonsuitability of each such <br />area. . . for preservation as wilderness." <br /> <br />SYSTEM <br /> <br />" ... . there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preservation <br />System to be composed .of federally owned areas designated by <br />Congress as 'wilderness areas' . . . ." <br /> <br />DEFINITION <br /> <br />"A wilderness, . . . is . . . an area where the earth and its community <br />of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who <br />does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to <br />mean. . . an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval <br />character and influence, without permanent improvements or human <br />habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its <br />natural conditions and which: 11) generally appears to have been <br />affected primarily by the forces of nature. with the imprint of man's <br />work substantially unnoticeable; 12) has outstanding opportunities <br />for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has <br />at least 5,000 acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make <br />practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and <br />(4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of <br />scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value." <br />