ABSTRACT
The law serves only as a starting point for determining—or discovering—what wilderness really is, what it does, and whom it serves. The principles of wilderness are based on the completeness of all life, rather than on the dominion of man alone. Wilderness gives America the quality of spaciousness, the touch of frontier and far horizons that are rooted in the national conscience. Wilderness is a recreational resource affording the enjoyment of hardy outdoor sports—canoeing, hiking, climbing, riding, hunting, and fishing. Wilderness is a humanitarian resource, the basis of a more healthy social structure, a banner of hope to the ghetto dweller deprived of human dignity and boxed in by crowds, noise, litter, and concrete. Wilderness is a learning laboratory, a classroom in biology, botany, and natural wonders, with examples and lessons on the relationship of living things to their environment.
