Near Keystone in Pennington County, South Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Wilderness
A Special Place
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 18, 2023
1. Wilderness Marker
Uniquely American, the National Wilderness Preservation System was established by Congress under the Wilderness Act of 1964. It was created, in the words of the Wilderness Act, to “secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.” Congress originally set aside 9 million acres of National Forest as wilderness.
Why Wilderness?
Wilderness areas provide clean water and air, naturalness, critical habitat for endangered and non-endangered plants and animals, solitude, and scenic beauty. Wilderness is a benchmark for determining our nation's environmental health.
The Wilderness Act mandates that wildernesses be “protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions which generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable.” In general, this designation prohibits:
• New road, dam, or permanent structure construction,
• Timber cutting,
• Motorized equipment,
• New mining claims or mineral leasing.
“In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by the expanding
this page online
~The Wilderness Act of 1964
Erected by Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Environment • Parks & Recreational Areas. A significant historical year for this entry is 1964.
Location. 43° 55.83′ N, 103° 27.022′ W. Marker is near Keystone, South Dakota, in Pennington County. It is on U.S. 16 just west of Calumet Road, on the right when traveling west. The marker is in a pull-out and parking area on the north side of US Highway 16. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Keystone SD 57751, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in West River, in the Badlands, and in Greater Rapid City. It is also in the American Black Hills, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, on the prairies, and on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 18, 2023
2. Wilderness Marker
Looking north from the US Highway 16 wayside. This marker is the rightmost of two panels in the interpretive kiosk at this location.
Also see . . . The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: A federal land management statute meant to protect federal wilderness and to create a formal mechanism for designating wilderness. It was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. After over sixty drafts and eight years of work, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law on September 3, 1964, creating the legal definition of wilderness in the United States and protecting 9.1 million acres of federal land.(Submitted on October 3, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
The Wilderness Act is well known for its succinct and poetic definition of wilderness:“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” – Howard ZahniserWhen Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act on September 3, 1964, it created the National Wilderness Preservation System. The current amount of areas designated by the NWPS as wilderness totals 757 areas encompassing 109.5 million acres of federally owned land in 44 states and Puerto Rico (5% of the land in the United States).
Credits. This page was last revised on October 3, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 3, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 6 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 3, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
