Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness

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Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness

IUCN Category 1b -

The Middle Fork of the Salmon River

The Middle Fork of the Salmon River

location Idaho , United States
surface 9578.21
WDPA ID 11111184
Geographical location 45 ° 4 '  N , 114 ° 57'  W Coordinates: 45 ° 3 '55 "  N , 114 ° 57' 16"  W.
Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness (USA)
Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness
Setup date 1980
administration United States Forest Service ,
Bureau of Land Management
Map showing the extent within Idaho

The Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness Area is a wilderness area type sanctuary in Idaho , United States . It was created by the United States Congress in 1980 and renamed the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area in 1984 in honor of Senator Frank Church .

At 9,580 km², it is the largest contiguous, federally administered wilderness in the United States outside of Alaska and is behind New York- administered Adirondack Park in upstate New York , which accounts for around 46% of its state-administered area of ​​9,375 square miles ( 24,281 km²) as wilderness area, in second place. The Death Valley Wilderness is the largest individually designated area, but consists of numerous unrelated units. The sanctuary protects several mountain ranges, extensive wildlife and part of the Salmon River .

description

Together with the adjacent Gospel Hump Wilderness and the surrounding unprotected, roadless land administered by the Forest Service , it is the core of a 13,000 km² roadless area. The area is separated from the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in the north by a single unpaved road. The Wilderness Area includes parts of various mountain ranges, including the Salmon River Mountains , the Clearwater Mountains and the Bighorn Crags . The mountain ranges are separated by steep gorges of the Middle and Main Fork of the Salmon River. The Salmon River is popular for white water rafting and is colloquially referred to as the “ River of No Return ” because the fast current makes it difficult to ascend. Most of the area is covered by coniferous forests, with dry, open land along the rivers at lower elevations.

While designation as a wilderness area in the United States generally prohibits motorized machinery, the use of watercraft (on the main fork of the Salmon River) as well as several runways that were built prior to designation as a wilderness area are permitted.

National Forests

The Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness includes parts of six different national forests and a relatively small part of land administered by the Bureau of Land Management . In descending order of area, these are:

The Cabin Creek in reserve

history

In 1931 1,090,000 acres (4,400 km²) in central Idaho were declared an Idaho Primitive Area by the Forest Service . In 1963 the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness was divided into three parts: the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, the Salmon River Breaks Primitive Area and the Magruder Corridor , the land between the two areas.

Frank Church was a Senate sponsor for the Wilderness Act of 1964, which protected 9 million acres (36,000 km²) of United States land as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System . In 1968 he introduced the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act , which also included the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, so that the rivers "are preserved in a free-flowing state and they and their immediate surroundings are protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations" .

Church's environmental policy culminated in the passage of the Central Idaho Wilderness Act in 1980 . The plot created the River of No Return Wilderness by combining the Idaho Primitive Area, the Salmon River Breaks Primitive Area, and part of the Magruder Corridor. The law also added 200 km (125 miles) of the Salmon River to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. President Carter had taken his family on a three-day raft trip along the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in August 1978, accompanied by Secretary of the Interior Cecil Andrus , the former (and future) governor of Idaho. The government sent a key proposal for the Idaho wilderness to Congress later that year, and Carter signed the final ordinance on July 23, 1980.

renaming

In January 1984, Congress honored Senator Church by renaming the area The Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness. Idaho's Senator Jim McClure introduced the measure in the Senate in late February, and President Reagan signed the ordinance on March 14, less than four weeks before Church's death on April 7 at the age of 59.

Wildlife

Because of its size, the wilderness area provides a secluded habitat for a wide variety of mammal species, including some rare, endangered species. The wilderness is inhabited by a large population of pumas and gray wolves . The populations of black bears as well as lynx , coyote and red fox are distributed across the entire area. Other observable ruminants in the wild are bighorn sheep , mountain goats , elk , moose , mule deer and white-tailed deer . Although this area is considered one of the few remaining areas in the adjacent states with suitable habitat for grizzly bears , no established populations are known. The wild also provides some of the most important wolverine habitats in the 48 mainland states. Beavers , parachuted in 1948 , established a healthy colony here.

Canyon in the Wilderness Area

See also

Web links

Commons : Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maps | Data basin. In: databasin.org. Accessed July 31, 2019 .
  2. ^ Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness . US Forest Service. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ Wilderness.net search page . Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness . Wilderness.net. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  5. ^ Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness acreage breakdown . Wilderness.net. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  6. ↑ Carter: he may get wet, but he won't starve . In: Lewiston Morning Tribune , 23 Aug 1978, p. 1. 
  7. ^ Idaho wilderness area proposed . In: Tri-City Herald , December 21, 1978, p. 30. 
  8. ^ President signs bill establishing Idaho wilderness . In: Eugene Register-Guard , July 23, 1980, p. 5A. 
  9. ↑ Idaho acts to rename area after Frank Church . In: Deseret News , February 28, 1984, p. 10B. 
  10. ↑ Reagan signs bill naming area after Frank Church . In: Spokane Chronicle , March 25, 1984, p. 3. 
  11. ↑ Idaho ex-Sen. Frank Church dies of cancer . In: Spokesman Review , April 8, 1984, p. 1. 
  12. ^ Frank Church dies of cancer . In: Lewiston Morning Tribune , April 8, 1984, p. 1. 
  13. ↑ Parachuting Beavers Into Idaho's Wilderness? Yes, It Really Happened. Boise State Public Radio, accessed July 31, 2019 .