Federal Land Managers Agree To Collaborate On National Wilderness Preservation System

A unified approach to managing the country's wilderness areas has been agreed to by the land management agencies under the Interior and Agriculture departments, with goals of connecting more people to wilderness areas and completing wilderness inventories of lands that might be suitable for inclusion in the wilderness system. The 2020 Vision: Interagency stewardship priorities for America’s National Wilderness Preservation System was signed this past weekend in Albuquerque, where a conference was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Wilderness Act. As envisioned, the agreement is to guide the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Geological Survey, all under the U.S. Department of Interior; and the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The document outlines interagency work and partnerships with non-government organizations for the management of wilderness. The plan emphasizes three broad themes: * Protect wilderness resources. * Connect people to their wilderness heritage. * Foster excellence in wilderness leadership and coordination During the next five years, the agencies will focus on four priorities: * Completing wilderness character inventories across the National Wilderness Preservation System using standardized interagency protocols and institutionalizing ongoing monitoring. * Fostering relevancy of wilderness to contemporary society by inspiring and nurturing life-long connections between people of diverse cultures and wilderness. * Strengthening commitment to and support of the interagency Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute to foster excellence in interagency leadership and coordination. * Conducting climate vulnerability and adaptation assessments across the National Wilderness Preservation System to improved ecological resiliency across broad landscapes...more