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7337203
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Fact Sheet for President's Proposals for Additions to National Wilderness Preservation System
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7337203
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document
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Fact Sheet for President's Proposals for Additions to National Wilderness Preservation System
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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1974-12-04
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1974
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Digitized from Box 5 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 4, 1974
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
FACT SHEET
The President is today transmitting to Congress proposals for 37 new
additions to our National Wilderness Preservation System. These
additions comprise more than 9 million acres -- with the submission of
these recommendations, the basic analytical portion of the original
Wilderness Act is complete.
BACKGROUND
The Wilderness Act of 1964 established the National Wilderness Preservation
System to be composed of Federally-owned areas designated by the Congress
as "wilderness areas" to be kept indefinitely in a wild, unspoiled condition.
The Act set aside certain specified lands as the initial components of the
System and required that the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior review
certain additional land under their administration for suitability for later
inclusion in the System. The President, on the basis of recommendations
of the Secretaries, is then required to make recommendations to the
Congress with respect to proposed additions.
The Administration has previously proposed the following additions to the
Wilderness System:
The Wilderness Act (1964) set aside 911 million acres
covering 54 areas in the National Forest System as
the initial components of the System.
Congress has subsequently enacted 40 areas into
the Wilderness System comprising about 3. 8 million
acres.
--
Wilderness proposals pending before Congress:
6 areas comprising 0.7 million acres as proposed
by the Johnson Administration.
75 areas comprising over 13. 6 million acres as
proposed by the Nixon Administration.
16 areas comprising 184, 000 acres of eastern forest
land was proposed by the Nixon Administration in
September 1973; this legislation would also designate
37 eastern national forest areas for review as to their
suitability for wilderness designation.
TODAY'S PROPOSED WILDERNESS AREAS
The proposals for 37 additions to the National Wilderness Preservation
System being transmitted to Congress today include:
(1) Mount Rainier Wilderness, Mount Rainier National
Park, Washington -- 210, 700 acres.
(2) Kenai Wilderness, Kenai National Moose Range,
Alaska -- 829, acres.
-MORE-
(OVER)
-2-
(3) Cloud Peak Wilderness, Bighorn National Forest,
Wyoming -- 150, 490 acres.
(4) Agassiz Wilderness, Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge,
Minnesota -- 4,000 acres.
(5) Sheldon Wilderness, Sheldon National Antelope Refuge,
Nevada -- 20,100 acres.
(6) Monarch Wilderness, Sequoia and Sierra National Forests,
California -- 30,689 acres.
(7) Santee Wilderness, Santee National Wildlife Refuge,
South Carolina -- 163 acres.
(8) Everglades Wilderness, Everglades National Park,
Florida -- 1, 1896, 500 acres at the southernmost tip.
of the Florida mainland.
(9) Salmon River and Idaho Wildernesses, Boise, Challis,
Payette, Salmon, Bitterroot, and Nezperce National
Forests, Idaho -- 1,143,487 acres.
(10) Parker River Wilderness, Parker River National
Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts -- 3,110 acres.
(11) Hawaii Volcanoes Wilderness, Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park, Hawaii -- 123,100 acres.
(12) Big Lake Wilderness, Big Lake National Wildlife
Refuge, Arkansas -- 1,818 acres.
(13) Aleutian Islands, Wilderness, Aleutian Islands
National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska -- 1,395,357 acres.
(14) Beartooth Wilderness, Custer, and Gallatin National
Forests, Montana -- 542,437 acres.
(15) Swanquarter Wilderness, Swanquarter National
Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina -- 9,000 acres
on various islands.
(16) Dinosaur Wilderness, Dinosaur National Monument,
Utah and Colorado -- 165, 341 acres.
(17) Lacassine Wilderness, Lacassine National Wildlife
Refuge, Louisiana -- 2,854 acres.
(18) Popo Agie Wilderness, Shoshone National Forest,
Wyoming -- 81, 820 acres.
(19) Mattamuskeet Wilderness, Mattamuskeet National
Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina -- 590 acres.
(20) Organ Pipe Cactus Wilderness, Organ Pipe Cactus
National Monument, Arizona -- 299,600 acres of
Sonoran Desert lands.
(21) J.N. "Ding" Darling Wilderness, J.N. "Ding" Darling
National Wildlife Refuge, Florida -- 2,735 acres.
(22) Trinity Alps Wilderness, Klamath, Shasta-Trinity, and
Six Rivers National Forests, California -- 267, acres.
-MORE-
-30
(23) Assateague Island Wilderness, Chincoteague National
Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island National
Seashore, Maryland and Virginia -- 1, 740 acres.
(24) Death Valley Wilderness, Death Valley National
Monument, California and Nevada -- 1,908,000 acres.
(25) Cedar Island Wilderness, Cedar Island National
Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina 180 acres.
(26) Fort Niobrara Wilderness, Fort Niobrara National
Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska -- 4,635 acres.
(27) Medicine Lake Wilderness, Medicine Lake National
Wildlife Refuge, Montana -- 11, 366 acres.
(28) Great Smoky Mountains Wilderness, Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee --
390, 500 acres.
(29) Big Blue, Courthouse Mountain, Dolores Peak,
Mount Sneffels and Mount Wilson Wildernesses,
San Juan and Uncompaghre National Forests, Colorado --
80,130 acres.
(30) Lake Woodruff Wilderness, Lake Woodruff National
Wildlife Refuge, Flerida 1,106 acres.
(31) Anaho Island Wilderness, Anaho Island National Wildlife
Refuge, Nevada - 747. 73 acrea.
(32) Noxubee Wilderness, Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge,
Mississippi - 1, 200 acres.
(33) UL Bend Wilderness, UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge,
Montana -- 19, 693 acres.
(34) Pea Island Wilderness, Pea Island National Wildlife
Refuge, North Carolina -- 180 acres.
(35) Bombay Hook Wilderness, Bombay Hook National
Wildlife Refuge, Delaware -- 2,000 acres.
(36) Back Bay Wilderness, Back Bay National Wildlife
Refuge, Virginia - 2,165 acres.
(37) In addition, one existing wilderness -- the Gila
Wilderness would be altered by a proposal transmitted
today with the addition of 115, 648 acres to that area,
# # #