What activities are allowed in Wilderness?
You can hunt, fish, walk, backpack, climb, ride a horse, hire a mountain guide or packer, photograph, ski, snow board and camp in Wilderness. One of the express purposes of the Wilderness Act is to ensure that current and future generations will continue to have wild lands to do just these things. Does Wilderness benefit our local economy? Yes. Wilderness Areas, like the current John Muir Wilderness, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness and the Yosemite National Park Wilderness attract tourists from around the world to the Eastern Sierra. These visitors come to hike, backpack, fish, hunt, horseback ride, climb, camp, back country ski, photograph or simply view the beautiful scenery. Wilderness preserves what draws people to the Eastern Sierra and provides many other benefits to local communities, including: preservation of our scenic view shed, a continuing supply of clean water from protected watersheds, undisturbed ecosystems for scientific research,
A. Wilderness is managed to protect the primitive character and natural condition of the area. Hiking and equestrian use are allowed, while motorized use and mechanized activities such as mountain bicycles are not permitted. Developments such as power lines, pipelines, and other utilities are generally not permitted. Fire suppression in Wilderness is allowed and protocols exist to quickly obtain approval for the use of equipment and aircraft to fight fires in Wilderness areas. Fears of lack of fire suppression capability in Wilderness, especially near communities, is mitigated in part by the adoption of a Wilderness fire strategy in the new Forest Plans that allows for prescribed burning in designated Wilderness to maintain Wilderness values or to provide for community protection.
Non-motorized recreation including horseback riding, herb gathering, hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting are allowed. Agencies may maintain and construct trails in wilderness. The use of wheelchairs, including motorized wheelchairs, is permitted in wilderness areas when the wheelchair is a medical necessity. Grazing is allowed to continue at levels consistent with sound resource management if it existed prior to the designation of the area as a wilderness. Activities are encouraged that allow the public to experience wilderness without harming this resource for future enjoyment.
