REFERENCE SOURCES AND DATABASES FOR WILDERNESS AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS

Geoscientists, land resource managers, and students often require literature pertaining to wilderness and other protected areas. Identifying and locating these areas, their management category, usage restrictions, and summary characterizations are important components of this research. Several handbooks and databases consolidate wilderness classifications, descriptions, and data, and provide rudimentary cartographic portrayal. Brief descriptions of major international, U.S., Canadian, and Australian sources are presented. In addition, websites of several environmental advocacy organizations that add substantially to these sources are noted.