Wilderness Act

890 PUBLIC LAW 88-577-SEPT. 3, 1964 [78 STAT. Short title. SEC. 109. No part of the funds provided in this Act shall be used for purchase of land or land easements in excess of 100 per centum of the value as determined by the Corps of Engineers or the Bureau of Yards and Docks, except: (a) where there is a determination of value by a Federal court, (b) purchases negotiated by the Attorney General or his designee, and (c) where the estimated value is less than $25,000. SEC. 110. None of the funds appropriated in this Act may be used to make payments under contracts for any project in a foreign country unless the Secretary of Defense or his designee, after consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury or his designee, certifies to the Congress that the use, by purchase from the Treasury, of currencies of such country acquired pursuant to law is not feasible for the purpose, stating the reason therefor. SEC. 111. This Act may be cited as the Military Construction Appro- priation Act, 1965. Approved September 2, 1964. Public Law 88-577 AN ACT September 3, 1964 [£; f] To establish a National Wilderness Preservation System for the permanent good of the whole people, and for other purposes. Wilderness Act. Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representathes of the United States of America in Congress assembled^ SHORT TITLE SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Wilderness Act". WILDERNESS SYSTEM E8TAELISHED STATEMENT OF POLICY SEC. 2. (a) In order to assure that an increasing population, accom- panied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its posses- sions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For this purpose there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preser- vation System to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as "wilderness areas", and these shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness; and no Federal lands shall be designated as "wilderness areas" except as pro- vided for in this Act or by a subsequent Act. (b) The inclusion of an area in the National Wilderness Preservation System notwithstanding, the area shall continue to be managed by the Department and agency having jurisdiction thereover immediately before its inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System unless otherwise provided by Act of Congress. No appropriation shall be available for the payment of expenses or salaries for the adminis- tration of the National Wilderness Preservation System as a separate unit nor shall any appropriations be available for additional personnel 78 STAT. ] PUBLIC LAW 88-577-SEPT. 3, 1964 891 stated as being required solely for the purpose of managing or administering areas solely because they are included within the National Wilderness Preservation System. DEFINITION OF WIIJ)ERNESS (c) 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. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this Act an area of unde- veloi>ed Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is pro- tected and mansiged so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have been af