ABSTRACT
The wooded, rocky region bordering the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River first came into public attention in 1969. That was the year the Alabama Conservancy undertook its research for remaining natural areas that might contain virgin forest to propose for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. The wilderness represents only a small portion of the Bankhead National Forest and an even smaller portion of all private and public forest lands in the state, one two-thousandth of 22 million acres. The conservancy then undertook to survey the wildlife, plants, geology, speleology, and history, with the foremost authorities in these fields contributing their time and talent. Conservationists have nominated scores of potential additions to the wilderness system, but the Forest Service has turned them all down. The concept and spirit of wilderness are defined in the Act; two key phrases, "retaining its primeval character and influence" and "the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable," are used to describe wilderness.
