Interagency Guidance

Despite differences in agency-specific policies, wilderness stewardship is grounded in a shared legal framework. The Wilderness Act of 1964 unites all four managing agencies under a common mandate to preserve wilderness character.

Over the decades, interagency collaboration has produced a suite of tools, guidance documents, training programs, and protocols that support consistent, high-quality stewardship across the National Wilderness Preservation System.

This page features key interagency resources developed jointly to support on-the-ground decision-making, reinforce core wilderness principles, and promote a unified approach to managing designated wilderness.

Guidance

Keeping It Wild 2 (KIWII) 

• Keeping It Wild 2: An Updated Interagency Strategy to Monitor Trends in Wilderness Character Across the National Wilderness Preservation System. 2015. Landres P. et al. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-340. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO.

MOUs

• Leave No Trace Memorandum of Understanding

• Border Patrol Memorandum of Understanding

• Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for Wilderness Conservation (federal agencies, United States; National Commission for Natural Protected Areas, Mexico; Parks Canada Agency, Canada)

Vision

• 2020 Interagency Vision

• 1995 Interagency Wilderness Strategic Plan