Using ecological criteria to evaluate wilderness planning options in Idaho |
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Authors: | Troy Merrill R Gerald Wright J Michael Scott |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, University of Idaho, 83843 Moscow, Idaho, USA;(2) Cooperative Park Studies Unit Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, 83843 Moscow, Idaho, USA;(3) Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, 83843 Moscow, Idaho, USA |
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Abstract: | Legally designated wilderness areas are acknowledged to be an important element in strategies to conserve biological diversity
in United States. However, because of the restrictions on consumptive uses in wilderness, their establishment is normally
contentious. Criteria for establishment have typically been associated with opportunity and aesthetic and experiential values.
Biological data have not normally played a major role in guiding wilderness establishment. We present four wilderness allocation
options for those public lands considered suitable for wilderness designation in Idaho. These options cover the span of choices
presently available to wilderness planners in the state and range from not establishing any new wilderness areas to the inclusion
of all suitable lands in wilderness. All options are evaluated using spatial biological data from the National Biological
Survey's Gap Analysis Project. A conservation strategy that would protect a minimum of 10% of the area occupied by each of
113 native vegetation types and at a minimum 10% of the distribution of each of 368 vertebrate species was evaluated for each
option. Only the inclusion of all suitable lands in wilderness, creating a system of 5.1 million ha came close to achieving
these goals, protecting 65% of the vegetation types and 56% of the vertebrate species. We feel this approach, which allows
planners to evaluate the ecological merits of proposed widerness units along with other values, can provide a means to resolve
the impasse over additional wilderness designation in Idaho. |
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Keywords: | Biodiversity Wilderness Planning GIS Gap analysis |
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