Wilderness in Virginia

Virginia has 24 designated wilderness areas, one of which (purple) is managed by the National Park Service
Source: Wilderness Connect, Wilderness Areas of the United States

Virginia has over 215,000 acres officially designated as wilderness under the Wilderness Act of 1964. Nationwide, there are more than 800 units in the National Wilderness Preservation System managed by four Federal agencies - National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Forest Service.

In Virginia, 23 out of 24 wildeness areas are managed by the US Forest Service. The 79,579-acre Shenandoah Wilderness is managed by the National Park Service.¹

The 1964 law states:²

...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...

Links

• Dogwood Alliance
• Southern Environmental Law Center
• Additions Proposed to Two Virginia Wilderness Areas (October 24, 2017)
• Additions for two Wilderness Areas reintroduced (March 9, 2023)
• Celebrating 60 years of Wilderness in the South (August 30, 2024)
• US Department of Agriculture - Forest Service
• Beyond the campfire's light: Historical roots of the wilderness concept
• Wildland fire use: the dilemma of managing and restoring natural fire and fuels in United States wilderness
• George Washington & Jefferson National Forests
• Official Boundary Documentation, Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers & Wilderness Study Areas
• Wildernesses
• Virginia Wilderness Committee
• Wild Virginia
• Wilderness.net
• Virginia
• Wilderness Society
• • Virginia

References

areas in blue represent the top 30% wildest areas in the City of Roanoke
Source: The Wilderness Society, Find Wildness

bluer areas indicate areas with greater "wildness" (separate from designated wilderness areas)
Source: The Wilderness Society, Find Wildness