Does wilderness designation lock natural forests into single use opportunities?
Not at all. The five prime uses designated for national forests are water conservation, wildlife, recreation, grazing and timber. Of these five uses, wilderness serves the first three and accommodates the fourth through a grandfather provision. Only timber harvest is prohibited. The accommodation of multiple use is well stated in a 1980 Virginia Wilderness Committee article, authored by Ernie Dickerman: Some people, because commercial logging is prohibited in wilderness, claim that wilderness is “single use” rather than “multiple use and without looking into the matter further , oppose wilderness. As a matter of fact, wilderness is recognized as one of the multiple uses in the Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act. Further, of the principal multiple uses enumerated in that Act, wilderness very effectively serves the conservation of water and soil; provides undisturbed habitat for many species of wildlife; recreation is a prime use; and grazing (also called “forage”) may be permitted und
