Definition of wilderness area
: an often large tract of public land maintained essentially in its natural state and protected against introduction of intrusive artifacts (such as roads and buildings)
Examples of wilderness area in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Murmurs of dread floated through this old art colony recently when the Silverado wildfire erupted 20 miles away, on the other side of the 900-foot-high wilderness area that isolates the 6-mile-long beach town from the rest of Orange County.
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Clara Germani, The Christian Science Monitor, "Want to prevent wildfires? Try getting someone's goat.," 4 Nov. 2020 An online fundraiser last week netted $140,000 in donations for the Boundary Waters Action Fund, a group opposed to proposals for mining near the wilderness area.
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Star Tribune, "Minnesota briefs: Boundary Waters fundraiser with Julia Louis-Dreyfus nets $140,000," 10 Oct. 2020 The drilling is moving ahead; last week, the BLM issued a draft environmental analysis that would allow a well pad with a 15-foot-high drill rig within the wilderness area or right by it.
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Anchorage Daily News, "President Trump rolled back more than 125 environmental safeguards. Here’s how.," 31 Oct. 2020 One-fifth of the forest was already designated for commercial development, and a third was protected as a national wilderness area.
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Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine, "Tongass National Forest Loses Restrictions on Logging and Road Development," 29 Oct. 2020 The company plans to initially drill two horizontal well bores from the pad, one reaching a state lease and the other reaching the federal lease deeper into the wilderness area, according to the EA.
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Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Feds looks to approve helium well inside new wilderness area as opponents decry political ‘mischief’," 28 Oct. 2020 The 202,000-acre wilderness area blankets the top of the Black Range.
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Alex Ulam, WSJ, "5 Fall Camping Getaways—From Effortless to Truly Adventurous," 14 Oct. 2020 The Forest Service rarely authorizes commercial filming in the wilderness area, but officials granted the duo a permit to shoot video on federal land nearby.
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Katie Galioto, Star Tribune, "Chance meeting leads to Minnesota man's 'love letter to the Boundary Waters' film," 2 Oct. 2020 The Boundary Waters first received protection as a roadless wilderness area in 1926 at the recommendation of the Forest Service’s first landscape architect, Arthur Carhart.
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Char Miller, The Conversation, "A proposed mine threatens Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, the most popular wilderness in the US," 5 Oct. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wilderness area.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for wilderness area
The first known use of wilderness area was in 1928
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