CDT, Continental Divide National Scenic Trail News--Wilderness Act

Continental Divide Trail540 miles of established Continental Divide National Scenic Trail pass through these 20 wilderness areas — Great Bear, Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, Anaconda-Pintler, Teton-Bridger, Huston Park, Mount Zirkel, Indian Peaks, James Peak, Vazquez Peak, Holy Cross, Mount Massive, La Garita, Weminuche, South San Juan, Chama River Canyon, San Pedro Parks, Aldo Leopold, Gila — all managed by the USDA-Forest Service. Another 660 miles of the Trail is projected to pass through wilderness areas.
During the 1960s a foresighted Congress created a splendid array of important Federal programs to preserve lands and waters of the United States. These include the National Trails System Act (1968), Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968), establishment of the Land & Water Conservation Fund (1964) and the Wilderness Act (1964). The bold systems of resource preservation authorized by the Congress in the 1960s invigorated many grassroots conservation projects throughout the United States and changed the way we understand and appreciate key components of America’s landscape. As we know very well, the National Trails System is still a "work in progress." So are the Wild Rivers and Wilderness Systems of the United States.The year2004 marked the 40th Anniversary of America’s Wilderness System. On September 3, 1964 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act passed by Congress that established the National Wilderness Preservation System by designating 54 wilderness areas covering 9.1 million acres in 13 states. Today the Wilderness Preservation System includes 662 areas covering about 105.7 million acres in 44 states — about 4.67% of the land in the United States. The National Park Service manages 43.6 million acres of wilderness in national parks, the Forest Service manages 406 federal wilderness areas comprising about 34.8 million acres, and the Bureau of Land Management manages 6.5 million acres of wilderness."More than half, or 57.5 million acres, of all designated wilderness is in the huge national parks, wildlife refuges, and forests of Alaska; more than one-third is in the 11 western-most contiguous 48 states. Less than 5% lies east of the 100th meridian, and almost half of that is in just two areas — Everglades National Park in Florida and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. The nation’s largest wilderness area covers nine million acres in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska. The smallest wilderness area, comprising just five acres, is at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, located in the broad lagoon of the Indian River on the eastern coast of Florida."Components of the National Trails System pass through at least 92 wilderness areas. At least 1700 miles of five of the national scenic trails and 114 miles of five national historic trails are located in or along the boundary of wilderness areas. Another 660 miles of yet to be completed trail are projected to cross wilderness areas.