USING ECOLOGICAL CRITERIA TO EVALUATE WILDERNESS PLANNING OPTIONS IN IDAHO

Legally designated wilderness areas are acknowledged to be an importan t element in strategies to conserve biological diversity in the United States. However, because of the restrictions on consumptive uses in w ilderness, their establishment is normally contentious. Criteria for e stablishment have typically been associated with opportunity and aesth etic and experiential values. Biological data have not normally played a major role in guiding wilderness establishment. We present four wil derness allocation options for those public lands considered suitable for wilderness designation in Idaho. These options cover the span of c hoices presently available to wilderness planners in the state and ran ge from not establishing any new wilderness areas to the inclusion of all suitable lands in wilderness. All options are evaluated using spat ial biological data from the National Biological Survey's Gap Analysis Project. A conservation strategy that would protect a minimum of 10% of the area occupied by each of 113 native vegetation types and at a m inimum 10% of the distribution of each of 368 vertebrate species was e valuated for each option. Only the inclusion of all suitable lands in wilderness, creating a system of 5.1 million ha came close to achievin g these goals, protecting 65% of the vegetation types and 56% of the v ertebrate species. We feel this approach, which allows planners to eva luate the ecological merits of proposed wilderness units along with ot her values, can provide a means to resolve the impasse over additional wilderness designation in Idaho.