Sawtooth Wilderness

For the wilderness area in California, see Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness. For the wilderness area in Washington, see Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness.
Sawtooth Wilderness
Alice Lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness
Map showing the location of Sawtooth Wilderness
Map showing the location of Sawtooth Wilderness
LocationBlaine, Boise, Custer, and Elmore counties, Idaho, United States
Nearest cityStanley, ID
Coordinates43°59′59″N 115°03′57″W / 43.999626°N 115.0659167°W / 43.999626; -115.0659167[1]
Area217,088 acres (878.52 km2)[2]
EstablishedAugust 22, 1972
Visitors32,500[3] (in 2005)
Governing bodyU.S. Forest Service
Official website

The Sawtooth Wilderness is a federally-protected wilderness area that covers 217,088 acres (87,852 ha) of the state of Idaho.[2][4] Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was designated the Sawtooth Primitive Area in 1937 to preserve the scenic beauty of the Sawtooth Mountains.[5] On August 22, 1972 Public Law 92-400 designated the Primitive Area as the Sawtooth Wilderness and part of the newly created Sawtooth National Recreation Area. As part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, the Sawtooth Wilderness is an area where human development and use are restricted and people are to remain only visitors.[6] According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Sawtooth Wilderness has some of the clearest air in the lower 48 states.[7][8]

  1. ^ "Sawtooth Wilderness". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ a b "Land Areas of the National Forest System". U.S. Forest Service. January 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  3. ^ "National Visitor Use Monitoring Results for Sawtooth National Forest". U.S. Forest Service. September 2006. Archived from the original on October 29, 2008. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  4. ^ "Sawtooth National Forest". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  5. ^ Osborn, John (1979). "Creating the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Protecting Wilderness". Archived from the original on July 18, 2005. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference WildBill was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Control of Emissions from Marine SI and Small SI Engines, Vessels, and Equipment" (PDF). United States Environmental Protection Agency. September 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 7, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  8. ^ "Sawtooth Wilderness". Wilderness.net. Archived from the original on December 26, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2012.