Land Ownership
The ownership of the land a long distance hiker is crossing may influence the experience in many ways. With different owners come different rules for hikers, and variations in how many uses are allowed which degrade the hiking experience. These degrading uses may include vehicles on the trail, mining, grazing, and clearcutting.
These maps illustrate points made in this chapter:
Land Management Agencies
Designated Wilderness Areas
National Park Service
The National Park Service administers about 78 million acres. The NPS prides itself on maintaining the integrity of its scenic and historic sites while enabling people to visit. Protecting the resources often means having many rules which might not cause many problems for visitors arriving by car, but often are problematic for long distance hikers. In addition, the visitors themselves have negative impacts on the wildlife and on the hiking experience.
| Type, 2003 | Number | Acres | Visitors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military & Battlefield Parks | 25 | 71,502 | 8,360,261 |
| Historical Parks | 125 | 228,261 | 34,407,217 |
| National Lakeshores | 4 | 228,995 | 3,728,821 |
| National Memorials | 29 | 10,588 | 30,559,258 |
| National Monuments | 78 | 2,027,865 | 22,646,428 |
| National Parks | 59 | 52,095,046 | 62,950,968 |
| National Parkways | 4 | 177,340 | 29,948,911 |
| National Preserves & Reserves | 20 | 24,191,312 | 2,956,325 |
| National Recreation Areas | 18 | 3,700,277 | 50,645,414 |
| Rivers, Wild and Scenic Rivers, etc. | 15 | 746,263 | 5,999,161 |
| National Scenic Trails | 3 | 239,659 | |
| National Seashores | 10 | 595,014 | 17,920,507 |
| Others (White House, Mall, etc.) | 11 | 36,827 | 11,156,670 |
| Totals | 401 | 84,331,948 | 320,309,151 |
Often, National Parks require permits for dayhiking or camping in backcountry areas. For a dayhiker who parks at a visitor center, obtaining a permit may be simple. However, a long distance hiker who enters at a park boundary and hikes to a visitor center is in violation of the permit rule until he arrives at the visitor center.
The problem is much worse if the section of trail in the park is long enough to require more than one day of hiking, and camping permits or reservations are required. It's not difficult for someone who takes a vacation from work and backpacks for a few days to plan the exact day they will arrive at the park and the exact campsites they will use each day. So those hikers can obtain reservations and advance permits easily. But most long distance hikers walk for most of the day. With good weather, health, and trail conditions, they may walk 25 miles in a day with time left over for relaxation. But a hurt ankle or muddy, snowy conditions may mean that covering 15 miles in a day is quite a challenge. And severe storms may keep a hiker from walking at all for hours or days. So a long distance hiker really doesn't know what day he'll get to the park, nor does he know how far he can walk each day in the park. Obviously, one could plan short days and be better able to stick to the plan. But shorter walking days mean more days between resupply towns, and it may not be possible to carry the extra weight of the additional food required. Also, long distance hikers are often in a race with the seasons, with a need to finish the trail before the early winter snows come. The occasional low mileage day due to hardship is planned for, but many days of hiking less than all day may ruin the hiker's chance of finishing.
Nuisance Animals
National Parks draw visitors who do not spend a lot of time in the wild and may not understand that certain actions change the behavior of the wild animals. In particular, they may directly feed animals or the animals may eat garbage that is not placed in secure receptacles. If an animal finds human food only once a year, as might be the case deep in the back country of little visited areas, the animal will not start to seek out human food to eat. But in popular National Park areas, animals come to understand that human food is easier to get than natural foods. They lose their fear of humans, and learn to chew through packs to access a hiker's food. A hiker covering a couple of hundred miles between resupply points cannot afford the lost food or damaged gear. So the food must be guarded or made inaccessible to animals at all times. The hiker may need to carry his pack on side trips to peaks, viewpoints, and water sources, making the hiking day tougher and longer. Or the park may require the use of bear proof containers for food. Since these containers are heavy and totally unnecessary outside of the parks, the hiker will have to arrange to get the container before entering the park and get rid of it after leaving. A park may have permanent food storage boxes at only a few back country camp sites. If the hiker cannot make it to the next campsite before sundown, he must camp long before the day ends, delaying his arrival at the next resupply point.
Hunting, mining, and lumbering are not usually allowed on NPS lands.
United States Forest Service
The Forest Service typically manages land that is valuable as a water shed or for its timber. Its priorities are shared between recreational users, like long distance hikers, and exploitation, like mining and timber harvests. The USFS manages over 192.4 million acres.
| National Forest System, 2005 | Units | Acres | Inholdings Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Forests (Further Breakdown Below) |
155 | 187,811,680 | 37,654,870 |
| Purchase Units | 59 | 361,688 | 1,879,606 |
| National Grasslands | 20 | 3,839,174 | 425,489 |
| Land Utilization Projects | 6 | 1,876 | |
| Research and Experimental Areas | 20 | 64,871 | 8,283 |
| National Preserves | 1 | 89,716 | |
| Other Areas | 34 | 295,814 | 592 |
| Total | 295 | 192,464,819 | 39,968,840 |
| Special Designated Areas Within National Forests (above) |
Units | Acres | Inholdings Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilderness Areas | 420 | 34,752,767 | 452,200 |
| National Primitive Area | 1 | 173,762 | 1,350 |
| National Scenic Areas | 4 | 130,435 | 166,600 |
| National Wild, Scenic and Recreation Rivers | 45 | 946,321 | 251,530 |
| Total | 470 | 36,003,285 | 871,680 |
As compared to NPS lands, hikers on USFS lands are much more likely to walk past clearcuts and mines, to meet off road motorists and hunters, and to see other large human impacts.
Most national forest areas do not require hiking or camping permits, so long as the time spent in one National Forest is less than a couple of weeks. Long distance hikers usually pass through a National Forest in much less than 2 weeks, so the 2 week limit is not an issue. In some wildernesses and high impact areas, hiking, camping, or fire permits are required.
Bureau of Land Management
The BLM manages federal land that was never sold and isn't assigned to some other agency. BLM lands are about 1/8 of the land area of the US, about 262 million acres. To some extent, it's the land no one else wanted. Like the USFS, its priorities are shared between recreational users and exploitation.
| BLM Special Management Area, 2005 | Units | Area / Distance |
|---|---|---|
| National Monuments | 15 | 4,806,947 acres |
| National Conservation Areas | 13 | 13,976,146 acres |
| Wilderness Areas | 161 | 6,515,287 acres |
| Wilderness Study Areas | 604 | 15,566,656 acres |
| National Wild & Scenic Rivers | 38 | 1,005,652 acres |
| ACEC Areas | 907 | 12,939,368 acres |
| National Natural Landmarks | 45 | 417,429 acres |
| Research Natural Areas | 184 | 426,566 acres |
| Herd Management Areas | 206 | 29,649,100 acres |
| National Historic Trails | 10 | 4,563 miles |
| National Scenic Trails | 2 | 640 miles |
| National Recreation Trails | 29 | 441 miles |
| National Backcountry Byways | 56 | 3,028 miles |
Hikers on BLM lands are likely to walk past clearcuts and mines, to meet off road motorists and hunters, to pass through massive cattle grazing areas, and to see many other impacts.
Like the National Forests, the BLM does not typically require hiking or camping permits, so long as the time spent in one area is less than a couple of weeks. Long distance hikers usually pass through these areas in much less than 2 weeks, so the 2 week limit is not an issue. In some wildernesses and high impact areas, hiking, camping, or fire permits are required.
Fish and Wildlife Service
The FWS manages refuges for fish and wildlife totaling about 96 million acres. Many areas are closed to hiking, and camping requires permits. Areas are open to commercial grazing, and environmental damage may predate the management of the land by FWS.
State, Private, Indian, and Other Lands
All of these lands vary greatly in what rules must be followed and in what permits are required to pass through or camp in them. The level of environmental damage and exploitation also vary.