NEW Missouri Wilderness for the 21st Century

NEW Missouri Wilderness for the 21st Century
by Caroline Pufalt

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Lower Rock Creek
Photo by Scott Merritt (www.mowild.org)

Think environmental issues for the 21st century and what likely comes to mind first may be global warming, greenhouse gas reduction, carbon footprints, renewable energy and other facets of climate change concern. It is proper that these daunting challenges command our attention.

However, we need to also remind ourselves of one of the earliest struggles that helped build the Sierra Club and, more importantly, preserved millions of acres of wild lands for us to enjoy and from which we reap vast ecological benefits. That effort, the establishment of federally designated Wilderness areas, continues today.

It's because of the hard work of Sierrans and other concerned citizens that our nation has preserved 106 million acres of protected forests, wetlands, deserts, beaches and high country. While that might sound like a lot, less than half that amount is in the lower 48 states and that total represents only about 2% of the country.

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain ..." The Wilderness Act, September 3, 1964

The Wilderness Act, passed in 1964, protects areas designated as “Wilderness” from roads, dams, or other permanent structures; from timber cutting and the operation of motorized vehicles and equipment; and, since 1984, from new mining claims and mineral leasing. With all the pressures for development, drilling, and motorized recreation that have changed so much of the landscape in the past 43 years, what more would we have lost had we not fought and won the battle for Wilderness preservation?

We owe those who fought for Wilderness in Missouri a debt of gratitude for protecting the Mingo Wilderness as part of our Wildlife Refuge system, preserving the untamed Irish Wilderness in the Mark Twain National Forest that helps to protect the watershed of the Eleven Point River, and for saving the special habitats found in Hercules Glades Wilderness for future generations. Would the hike up Bell Mountain and the view atop, still be as grand if it had not been protected all these years as Wilderness?

We appreciate the wilderness we have in Missouri, but the need for protection of additional special areas continues today. The pressures against good land stewardship are as great, if not stronger today than they were in 1964 when the Wilderness Act was established.

A Vision for NEW Missouri Wilderness in 2007
In the 1970s citizens groups, including many MO Sierrans, identified 13 areas in the Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF) as candidates for federally designated Wilderness. Several of those areas are now so designated. Seven areas were not preserved as Wilderness, but they did receive special recognition in the 1985 MTNF Management Plan as Sensitive Areas. This afforded them modest but meaningful protection from routine logging and other activities.

However, that protection was lost in the recent revised management plan for the Mark Twain National Forest (see accompanying article in this issue). Thus the Sierra Club and other concerned citizens and conservation groups are gearing up an effort to propose new Wilderness designation for the following five areas:

A Vision for NEW Missouri Wilderness Areas
Big Spring (7,600acres)
North Fork (7,200 acres)
Spring Creek (6,400 acres)
Swan Creek (9,200 acres)
Smith Creek (2,500 acres)

If you would like to help in the Missouri Sierra Club's effort to gain Wilderness protection for some of the finest areas of the Mark Twain National Forest, please contact Caroline Pufalt at cpufalt@sbcglobal.net, or leave a message indicating your interest and contact information at (800) 628-5333.

Big Spring (7,600acres), North Fork (7,200 acres), Spring Creek (6,400 acres), Swan Creek (9,200 acres) and Smith Creek (2,500 acres).

Lower Rock Creek (13.800 acres) and Van East Mountain (2,500 acres) are also candidates but require some boundary clarifications and may be presently considered for Wilderness Study areas.

Each of these areas currently meet the expectations for Wilderness in that they are wild in character, have minimal or no roads and provide the opportunity for solitude. Each of these areas has a history of recognition as “special” and worthy of preservation.

Wilderness areas are landscapes in which ecological forces unfold without the heavy influence of humankind. That is exactly what makes it so valued for recreation, study, and renewal.

The 1964 Wilderness Act states that:
“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain ...” The Wilderness Act, September 3, 1964.

Get Involved: These grand principles are as relevant today as they ever were.