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The Rocky Mountains are home to millions of acres of wilderness and other protected areas. Wilderness has a
variety of functions, including providing opportunities for solitude and primitive and unconfined forms of recreation, preservation of biological diversity, and opportunities for research in relatively undisturbed ecosystems. However, wilderness often is controversial, and study of it and its
uses and the study of conflicts surrounding it are important. Knowledgeable managers and citizens are needed to sustain wilderness and its many values.

Research and education related to wilderness ecosystems
and values occur at the interagency Aldo Leopold
Wilderness Research Institute and Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center, and the wilderness centers
at the universities of Idaho and Montana. The RM-CESU
offers the expertise of these partners in providing the
science, education, and training necessary for
wilderness stewardship, both regionally and nationally.

 
RM-CESU research, technical assistance, and education activities focus
on issues necessary to sustain wilderness and wilderness values.
 

 
RM-CESU "Wilderness" Expertise  

Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute
The Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute is the only Federal research group in the United States dedicated to the development and dissemination of knowledge needed to improve management of wilderness, parks and similarly protected areas. Click here.

Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center
 Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training Center missions is to preserve the values and benefits of wilderness for present and future generations by connecting agency employees and the public with their wilderness heritage through training, information and education. Click here.

Wilderness Research Center, University of Idaho
The mission of the Wilderness Research Center is to study the human dimensions of wilderness ecosystems. The WRC conducts research and teaches courses on the use of wilderness for personal growth, therapy, educations and leadership development. Click here.

Wilderness Institute, University of Montana
The Wilderness Institute provides students, agencies and the public with information, education and an understanding of he issues and social and ecological values of wilderness. Click here.

Wilderness Management Distance Education Program
The Wilderness Management Distance Education Program offers accredited university courses for a comprehensive study of wilderness management. WMDEP is a valuable too for understanding the wilderness resource and the issues surrounding its management. Click here.

Project "Spotlight"

Managing the Unexpected in Public
Outreach for Fire and Fuels Management

Prepared by: Katie Knotek, Social Science Analyst,
Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute,
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
What's New
 

Meetings

November 6-13, 2009: 9th World Wilderness Congress: Symposium on Science and Stewardship to Protect and Sustain Wilderness Values, Mérida , Mexico. Abstracts due April 1, 2009.

March 2-6, 2009: Rethinking Protected Areas in a Changing World The 2009 George Wright Society Biennial Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites, Portland, OR Call for Proposals Deadline: Octonber 3, 2008.
Every two years, the George Wright Society organizes Rethinking Protected Areas in a Changing World, the USA’s premier interdisciplinary professional meeting on parks, protected areas, and cultural sites. By these three overlapping terms we mean a broad array of places, both “cultural” and “natural,” managed by different entities under a variety of designations: parks at all levels; historic, archaeological, and other cultural sites; cultural landscapes; research areas and designated wilderness within national and state forests, grasslands, wildlife refuges, and other protected public lands; tribal reserves; marine, estuarine, freshwater, and other aquatic sanctuaries; private land-trust reserves; and similarly designated areas. The GWS Conference also encompasses disciplines and activities that support the work of parks, protected areas, and cultural sites, such as ethnography, GIS, and museum work.

March 25-27, 2008 “Wilderness Stewardship in the Rockies 2008," Glacier National Park, MT. RM-CESU: The University of Montana, Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center and the National Park Service, Intermountain Region provided the organization and support for the fifth annual Wilderness Workshop.  This meeting, held over three days at Glacier NP, was attended by wilderness professionals from the USDA-Forest Service, Parks Canada, the University of Montana, and park staff from Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Great Sand Dunes, Dinosaur, Olympic, Rocky Mountain and Saguaro.   This informal workshop covered topics from “Risk and Safety in Wilderness” to “What is Wilderness Worth?”, and focused on exchange of information among the managers from different agencies.  Agenda; Notes

The next Wilderens Stewardship in the Rockies Workshop will take place in 2010.

Links to Past Wilderness Stewardship in the Rockies: Let's Talk 2007; 2005; 2004; 2003

April 3-5, 2007: Beyond Naturalness: Desired Future Conditions for Protected Area Ecosystems Given Irreversible Human Impact, University of Montana’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest, MT. The Leopold Institute collaborated with the University of Montana's Wilderness Institute and the Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit in the workshop entitled, "Beyond Naturalness? Defining Desired Future Conditions for Protected Area Ecosystems." Leopold Institute scientists David Cole, Dave Parsons and Peter Landres were joined by 13 scientists from the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, Parks Canada, The Nature Conservancy, The Wilderness Society and Universities in Alaska, California, Montana, North Carolina, British Columbia and Western Australia. Presentations and discussions dealt with challenges in using the concept of naturalness to guide park and wilderness stewardship, particularly given rapid climate change, and explored alternatives such as ecological integrity and resilience.
The consensus of the group was that, while the workshop barely scratched the surface, substantial progress was made in articulating the need for and sketching out some trajectories for a plurality of goals for parks and wilderness. The group agreed to work together to produce an edited book on the topic. Article published in The George Wright Forum

Courses

UM offers online wilderness management course in the fall
RECM/FOR 407 Management of Recreation Resources (3 credits Undergraduate) /RECM/FOR 562 Managing Recreation Resources in Wilderness Settings (3 credits Graduate) offered online this fall through the University of Montana’s Wilderness Management Distance Education Program.  Dr. Kari Gunderson will lead a facilitated discussion group online with guest instructors.  The course allows students to access the lesson materials and the discussion group at their own convenience. RECM/FOR 407 and RECM/FOR 562 deals with the people aspect of wilderness by focusing on managing wilderness for visitor use and enjoyment, and by representing ways to solve problems associated with visitors' expectations and their impacts.The course will run October 5, 2009 thru January 24, 2010.  Registration deadline is Wednesday, September 30th, 2009For more information Click here!

FOR 562 Managing Recreation Resources in Wilderness Settings (3 credits Graduate) counts toward UM’s Online Graduate Certificate in Wilderness Management.  To learn more about the graduate certificate, visit this web link.

Online Wilderness Training Courses from Carhart Wilderness Training Center
Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training Center is offering 4 wilderness training courses. The courses are open for enrollment by all federal employees (free of Charge. Non-employees may also take the training courses.  All courses are designed to benefit wilderness managers, resource specialists, managers and others involved or interested in wilderness stewardship. More information, including registration procedures, can be found at http://carhart.eppley.org/ or www.carhart/wilderness.net. Brief descriptions of the courses are shown below:

The Wilderness Act: A 2-hour foundational training, developed by the Carhart Center staff, to provide an understanding of the Wilderness Act.

Minimum Requirements Decisions: A comprehensive 2-hour session providing the tools and skills necessary for anyone involved in determining whether use of motorized equipment, mechanical transport, aircraft, structures, or installations are necessary in wilderness. Completion of the Wilderness Act training is required before taking this course.

Wilderness Stewardship Planning Framework: This is a 6-hour course divided into 9 modules to address common components of the wilderness planning process. The course is instructed by Jim Hammett and Linda Merigliano.  Students can enhance their training by completing work products for each module that begin development of a wilderness plan.

Wilderness Visitor Use Management: New this year is an 8-hour, 12 module course encompassing the principles and practices for managing visitor use and impacts. The course benefits from contributions by four highly qualified instructors: David Cole, Troy Hall, Jeff Marion, and Connie Myers. Like the Planning course, this training offers practical exercises that help students produce work products using information and issues from the wilderness they are most familiar with.

 

Announcements

What’s Protected, What’s Not: New Protected Areas Database for United States’ Land Now Available
Getting a picture of the status of conservation efforts in the United States has just been made easier thanks to a just-released database that allows wildlife and conservation professionals to visit a single place to find comprehensive information on protected areas. PAD-US, released in April 2009, is a national inventory of protected lands. In addition to providing comprehensive information about public lands in the United States, this geodatabase includes information that allows it to be incorporated into the United Nations' World Protected Areas Database (WDPA), thereby aiding a new perspective on conservation efforts worldwide. PAD-US was prepared in collaboration with the PAD-US Partnership, a public-private planning consortium comprised of federal, state, and non-governmental organizations interested in the inventory and management of protected lands. A map of the stewardship data is available online

Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute just published an annotated reading list on backcountry recreation impacts to wildlife. If you're interested, you can retrieve the .pdf at (http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr079_5.html), and the hard copy will be available the week of Oct. 6th, 2008.

Spanish Translation of Wilderness Website Now Available; Traducción al Español del Sitio de Internet sobre Zonas Naturales Disponible Ahora
A new Spanish language website launched by the National Park Service showcases the beauty and importance of America’s wilderness areas. The interactive site, http://www.nature.nps.gov/views/index_wilderness_sp.htm, explores wild places through activities, maps, information, videos, and interviews. It was developed in partnership with the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center and the University of Montana’s Wilderness Institute.

The "Views of the National Parks" Wilderness module is available on Wilderness.net at http://www2.nature.nps.gov/views/Index_wilderness.htm#

NPS National Wilderness Steering Committee Guidance Papers
#4 Embracing the Distinction Between Wilderness and Backcountry in theNational Park System
#3 Minimum Requirements Decision Process
#2: Conservation and Restoration in Wilderness
#1: Cultural Resource Management in Wilderness

 
Wilderness Links  

Mollie Beattie Wilderness

 

Research

Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute

UIdaho Wilderness Research Center

Education/Training

Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training Center

UMT Wilderness Institute

Wilderness Management Distance Education Program

Wilderness Resources

Wilderness Information Network

International Journal of Wilderness

Park Science (NPS Journal)

George Wright Society

George Wright Forum - special issue on the "The Challenge of Wilderness"

Science and Management of
Protected Areas Association

 
 
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