The Wilderness Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Helena, MT, whose mission is to acquire private lands (inholdings) in current and proposed wilderness areas and transfer them to the federal government so that they will be kept forever wild as wilderness. Since the Trust was founded in 1992 it has purchased 531 private parcels, totaling nearly 56000 acre in 114 wilderness areas.

Private land inside wilderness areas

About 400000 acre of inholdings remain within the National Wilderness Preservation System, mostly the legacy of 19th-century land disposal practices such as the General Mining Act of 1872, the Homestead Act, and Railroad Land Grants. Under the Wilderness Act of 1964, private land inside wilderness areas may be mined, logged, and otherwise developed. In some cases roads and utilities may be extended through surrounding wilderness, and houses may be constructed. By acquiring inholdings as they become available, and transferring them to public ownership, the Trust keeps these areas free from development.

Reasoning

According to the Wilderness Land Trust, the development of wilderness inholdings has the following adverse impacts: