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An organizing framework for wilderness values

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Scientists, philosophers, poets, and politicians have defined wilderness in various physical, biological, and metaphysical terms. Following a metaphysical line of thought, wilderness has been described as a subjective "idea" in the mind of the beholder (Oelschlaeger, 1991). The Wilderness Act uses many physical and biological terms to define statutory wilderness as a land area "without permanent improvements or human habitation ... .which generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature" and "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" (Wilderness Institute, 2004). Thus, according to the Wilderness Act, statutory wilderness is clearly a physical place and not just a metaphysical idea.

Citation

Bergstrom, John C.; Bowker, J. Michael; Cordell, H. Ken. 2005. An organizing framework for wilderness values. In: The Multiple Values of Wilderness: 47-55
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/25129