Monitoring Selected Conditions Related to Wilderness Character: A National Framework

area designated as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving the wilderness character of the area. ” Although wilderness comprises about 20 percent of National Forest System lands (over 35 million acres), the agency lacks a way to evaluate progress in fulfilling this mandate. This document, developed by the Forest Service Wilderness Monitoring Committee, lays the con-ceptual foundation for a national assessment of how wilderness character is changing over time. The purpose of this monitoring is to provide managers a tool they can use to answer key questions about wilderness character and wilderness stewardship: • What is the current state of wilderness character? • How is wilderness character changing over time? • How are stewardship actions affecting wilderness character? • What stewardship priorities and decisions would best preserve wilderness character? This monitoring uses the Section 2(c) Definition of Wilderness from the 1964 Wilderness Act to identify four statutory qualities of wilderness, from which specific monitoring questions and key monitoring indicators are derived. The status and trends of these national indicators are monitored, allowing managers to evaluate how selected conditions and stewardship actions related t