Based on the proceedings of the First National Wilderness Management Workshop, this book is designed to serve as a guide to understanding and implementing the 1964 Wilderness Act. The contributors examine the major issues involved in administering the eighty million acres of federal land that constitute the National Wilderness Preservation System,

The Wilderness Research Center -- Foreword -- Charting New Directions -- The Conditions of Wilderness -- Congressional Directives and Expectations -- Federal Lands- As Bureau Chiefs View Them -- National Parks, a World Class System -- BLM Wilderness-"The New Kid ..." -- Wilderness on Woldlife Refuges -- National Forest Dimensions and Dilemmas -- The Citizen Role in Management -- Professionals and the Public -- Volunteers at the Grass Roots -- Public Groups Turn to Management Issues -- How the Public Can Help -- Facing Competing Demands -- Realities of Resource Conflict -- Wilderness as a Special Resources -- The Livestock Industry's Viewpoint -- Timber Industry Concerns -- Cooperation and Compromise -- Managing Fire in Wilderness -- A Successful Program in the Parks -- Fire as Forest Wilderness Policy -- Fire and the Wilderness Purpose -- Wilderness and Wildlife -- A State Director Speaks -- Recognizing the Schism -- When a Bear Crosses the Trail -- One Wilderness System- East, West, Alaska -- To Dispel a Myth -- Wilderness in Alaska -- Diversity and Unity -- Wilderness in the East -- Challenges of Access, Development, Outfitting -- Biocentric versus Anthropocentric -- Communicating with the Tourist Industry -- Purity by Definition -- Outfitters and Ethics -- Controlling Use-And Paying for It -- Wilderness Research -- Research Update: What We Have Learned About Wilderness Management -- The Next Steps -- Moving to Action -- The Management Action Program -- Position Papers on Wilderness Management -- Ranking Management Priorities