West Virginia has
some of the most spectacular protected and unprotected wild places in the
not only the east, but in the entire United States. The series of
graphs below tell a story about wilderness and how much of the National
Wilderness Preservation System we have here in the Mountain State.
WILDERNESS IN THE UNITED STATES
Less than 5% of the United States is protected as wilderness and over
half of this is in Alaska
Only 4% of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) is
East of the Mississippi River
WILDERNESS ACRES VS. POPULATION
In the East we have over 60% of the population but only 4% of the NWPS
WILDERNESS IN THE EAST
Of the 4% of the NWPS we have in the East, only 3% is in West
Virginia
WILDERNESS IN WEST VIRGINIA
Only 0.5% of West Virginia is currently protected as wilderness
WEST VIRGINIA LAND DISTRIBUTION
Federal land makes up only about 6% of West Virginia, most of this is the
Monongahela National Forest
MONONGAHELA NATIONAL FOREST LAND DISTRIBUTION
Less then 9% of the Mon is protected as wilderness, well below the
national average (and below average specifically for eastern national
forests)