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This polygons dataset displays the areas recommended for wilderness designation for the Chugach National Forest's 2019 Revised Land Management Plan.
The forest supervisor for the Chugach National Forest is required by the planning rule (36 CFR 219.7 (v)) to “identify and evaluate lands that may be suitable for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and determine whether to recommend any such lands for wilderness designation.” Any lands the forest supervisor recommends for wilderness area designation through forest plan revision would be a preliminary administrative recommendation and are referred to here as recommended wilderness areas. Designation of wilderness is reserved to Congress.
Nearly 99 percent of the Chugach National Forest was included in the inventory as suitable for wilderness area designation. The national forest has ecosystems generally appearing to be affected primarily by the forces of nature; outstanding opportunities for solitude or for a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; areas of sufficient size to make preservation and use in an unimpaired condition practicable; and areas that can be managed to preserve wilderness characteristics. Additionally, many areas of the national forest contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. The national forest does not have any designated wilderness areas. The Nellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area in Prince William Sound, designated in 1980 by Congress through ANILCA, has been managed to maintain the area’s presently existing character and potential for designation into the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Forest Supervisor exercised their discretion and chose which areas to analyze for wilderness recommendation within the NEPA process resulting in alternatives for recommended wilderness of differing acreage levels. All recommended wilderness acreages for all alternatives are located within the wilderness study area boundary. This dataset contains the areas recommended for wilderness designation under the selected alternative.
This dataset was used for geospatial analysis and/or cartographic production during the revision process of the USDA Forest Service, Chugach National Forest’s Land Management Plan. The data were compiled from multiple sources and the USFS makes no guarantees about the accuracy or completeness of the data.