Gis Applications To Wilderness Management

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly being used in all areas of natural resource management. This paper first presents a brief primer on GIS, and then discusses potential applications of GIS to wilderness management in the areas of inventorying, monitoring, analysis, planning, and communication. Outlined are the limitations and pitfalls that could compromise the effectiveness of a wilderness GIS, and several suggestions are included for improving the chances of successfully using GIS in wilderness management.