Description: Boundary line features depicting the Arizona BLM NLCS Wilderness Area Boundaries: Below is the updated list of Congressionally submitted and approved Arizona wilderness area boundaries as required by the legislation. All have been surveyed and/or have legal descriptions documented. The other wilderness area boundaries not included in this list, have not been submitted to Congress, and represent line work of the original mapping on 1:24,000 scale maps when the bills were originally submitted to Congress. We are continuing to work on the these other wilderness boundaries in the State. When their wilderness boundaries are finalized and approved by Congress, the new boundaries will be included in this data layer. Wilderness Area Serialized Case File Number
Aravaipa Canyon AZA 25467
Muggins Mountain AZA 25501
Eagletail Mountains AZA 25497
Mount Trumbull AZA 25618
South Maricopa Mountains AZA 25489
Dos Cabezas Mountains AZA 25470
Mount Nutt AZA 25482
Mount Tipton AZA 25483
North Maricopa Mountains AZA 25486
Peloncillo Mountains AZA 25473
Redfield Canyon AZA 25474
Cottonwood Point AZA 25614
Mt Logan AZA 25617
Baboquivari Peak AZA 25468
Coyote Mountains AZA 25469
Mount Wilson AZA 25484Aubery Peak AZA 25476
Fishooks AZA 25471
Harcuvar Mountains AZA 25500
White Canyon AZA 25495
North Santa Teresa AZA 25472
Tres Alamos AZA 25491
Hells Canyon AZA 25480
Copyright Text: Bureau of Land Management, Arizona
Description: This polygon feature class represents the spatial extent and boundaries of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) Wilderness Study Areas.
Wilderness Study Areas (commonly known as WSAs) are places that have wilderness characteristics; that is a minimum size, naturalness, and outstanding opportunities for recreation which make them eligible for designation as wilderness. A Wilderness is a special place where the earth and its community of life are essentially undisturbed; they retain a primeval character, without permanent improvements and generally appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature. In 1964, Congress established the National Wilderness Preservation System and designated the first Wilderness Areas in passing the Wilderness Act. The uniquely American idea of wilderness has become an increasingly significant tool to ensure long-term protection of natural landscapes. Wilderness protects the habitat of numerous wildlife species and serves as a biodiversity bank for many species of plants and animals. Wilderness is also a source of clean water.
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 directed the BLM to inventory and study its roadless areas for wilderness characteristics. To be designated as a WSA, an area has to have the following characteristics: Size - roadless areas of at least 5,000 acres of public lands or of a manageable size; Naturalness - generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature; Opportunities - provides outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined types of recreation, and Special Qualities- WSAs often have special qualities such as ecological, geological, educational, historical, scientific and scenic values.
In June 2000, the BLM responded to growing concern over the loss of open space by creating the NLCS. The NLCS brings into a single system some of the BLM's premier designations. By putting these lands into an organized system, the BLM hopes to increase public awareness of these areas' scientific, cultural, educational, ecological and other values.
As early as 1926, the earliest advocates of wilderness preservation had acknowledged the beauty and important ecological values of the desert lands under the BLM’s administration as candidates for wilderness protection. In 1976, Congress directed the BLM to evaluate all of its land for the presence of wilderness characteristics, and identified areas became WSAs. The establishment of a WSA served to identify areas for Congress to consider for addition to the National Wilderness Preservation System. Today, the BLM manages WSA that contain about 12.6 million acres of public land. Until Congress makes a decision to add or end consideration of a WSA, the BLM manages the area so as not impair its suitability for designation as wilderness.
Copyright Text: Bureau of Land Management, Arizona
Description: This polygon feature class represents the spatial extent and boundaries of BLM National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) Other Related Lands. These lands fall into one of two categories. The first category are lands with "wilderness value and characteristics". These are inventoried areas not in Wilderness or Wilderness Study Areas that have been determined to meet the size, naturalness, and the outstanding solitude and/or the outstanding primitive and unconfined recreation criteria. The second category are "wilderness characteristic protection areas". These are former lands with "wilderness value and characteristics" where a plan decision has been made to protect them.
Copyright Text: Bureau of Land Management, Arizona
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