Popo Agie Wilderness
Encyclopedia
Popo Agie Wilderness is located within Shoshone National Forest
, Wyoming
, United States
. The wilderness consists of 101,870 acres (412 km2) on the east side of the continental divide
in the Wind River Range
. Originally set aside as a primitive area in 1932, in 1984 the Wyoming Wilderness Act was passed securing a more permanent protection status for the wilderness. The wilderness is a part of the 20 million acre (81,000 km2) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
.
U.S. Wilderness Areas do not allow motorized or mechanized
vehicles, including bicycle
s. Although camping
and fishing
are allowed with proper permit, no roads or buildings are constructed and there is also no logging
or mining
, in compliance with the 1964 Wilderness Act
. Wilderness areas within National Forests and Bureau of Land Management
areas also allow hunting
in season.
The Popo Agie Wilderness is a primarily sub-alpine
and alpine
region with the minimum elevation being 8,400 feet (2,600 m). Twenty mountain
s exceed 12,000 feet (3,660 m) with the highest being Wind River Peak
at 13,192 feet (4,021 m). Perhaps the most visited area within the wilderness and the entire Wind River Range is the Cirque of the Towers
due to the impressive granitic mountains and sheer cliffs which attract climbers from all over the world. Overuse has led to camping
restrictions within the wilderness, especially in the proximity of Lonesone Lake which is located in the Cirque of the Towers. The wilderness spans a 25 mile (40 km) section of the southern Wind River Range.
Over 300 lake
s and several tributaries of the Wind River
are located in the wilderness. Rare reports of wolves have been documented and are considered to be from the Wolf Recovery efforts commenced in the late 20th century in Yellowstone National Park
to the north. Additionally, reports of
grizzly
bears have been documented but they too are rare. Black bears
, moose
, elk
, and pronghorn
are the more commonly sighted megafauna
. Trumpeter swan
s, bald eagles, hawk
s, and falcon
s inhabit the wilderness, especially near lakes and streams. Eight species and subspecies of trout, including a few found only in the Yellowstone region exist as well. The forest is dominated by lodgepole pine
and Douglas fir, Engelmann Spruce
, and subalpine fir
at higher elevations up to the timberline.
The closest town is Lander, Wyoming
. Access into the wilderness from the north via the Wind River Indian Reservation requires obtaining a permit before entering.
Shoshone National Forest
Shoshone National Forest is the first federally protected National Forest in the United States and covers nearly 2.5 million acres in the state of Wyoming. Originally a part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, the forest was created by an act of Congress and signed into law by U.S....
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The wilderness consists of 101,870 acres (412 km2) on the east side of the continental divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
in the Wind River Range
Wind River Range
The Wind River Range , is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW-SE for approximately 100 miles . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Gannett Peak, which at 13,804 feet , is the highest peak...
. Originally set aside as a primitive area in 1932, in 1984 the Wyoming Wilderness Act was passed securing a more permanent protection status for the wilderness. The wilderness is a part of the 20 million acre (81,000 km2) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the last remaining large, nearly intact ecosystems in the northern temperate zone of the Earth and is partly located in Yellowstone National Park. Conflict over management has been controversial, and the area is a flagship site among conservation groups...
.
U.S. Wilderness Areas do not allow motorized or mechanized
Mechanization
Mechanization or mechanisation is providing human operators with machinery that assists them with the muscular requirements of work or displaces muscular work. In some fields, mechanization includes the use of hand tools...
vehicles, including bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s. Although camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
are allowed with proper permit, no roads or buildings are constructed and there is also no logging
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
or mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, in compliance with the 1964 Wilderness Act
Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act of 1964 was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected some 9 million acres of federal land. The result of a long effort to protect federal wilderness, the Wilderness Act was signed...
. Wilderness areas within National Forests and Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
areas also allow hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
in season.
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
and alpine
Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
region with the minimum elevation being 8,400 feet (2,600 m). Twenty mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s exceed 12,000 feet (3,660 m) with the highest being Wind River Peak
Wind River Peak
Wind River Peak is the highest point in the southern end of the Wind River Range that is located in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The peak straddles the Continental Divide and is surrounded by National Forest lands...
at 13,192 feet (4,021 m). Perhaps the most visited area within the wilderness and the entire Wind River Range is the Cirque of the Towers
Cirque of the Towers
The Cirque of the Towers is located in the Wind River Range Wyoming, U.S., part of which is in the Bridger Wilderness in Bridger-Teton National Forest, while the remainder is in the Popo Agie Wilderness in Shoshone National Forest. Located in the southern section of the Wind River Range , the...
due to the impressive granitic mountains and sheer cliffs which attract climbers from all over the world. Overuse has led to camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
restrictions within the wilderness, especially in the proximity of Lonesone Lake which is located in the Cirque of the Towers. The wilderness spans a 25 mile (40 km) section of the southern Wind River Range.
Over 300 lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s and several tributaries of the Wind River
Wind River (Wyoming)
The Wind River is the name applied to the upper reaches of the Bighorn River in Wyoming in the United States. The Wind River is long. The two rivers are sometimes referred to as the Wind/Bighorn.-Course:...
are located in the wilderness. Rare reports of wolves have been documented and are considered to be from the Wolf Recovery efforts commenced in the late 20th century in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
to the north. Additionally, reports of
grizzly
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
bears have been documented but they too are rare. Black bears
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, and pronghorn
Pronghorn
The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal endemic to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope, as it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and...
are the more commonly sighted megafauna
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
. Trumpeter swan
Trumpeter Swan
The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, is the largest native North American bird, if measured in terms of weight and length, and is the largest living waterfowl species on earth. It is the North American counterpart of the European Whooper Swan.-Description:Males typically measure from and weigh...
s, bald eagles, hawk
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
s, and falcon
Falcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
s inhabit the wilderness, especially near lakes and streams. Eight species and subspecies of trout, including a few found only in the Yellowstone region exist as well. The forest is dominated by lodgepole pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
and Douglas fir, Engelmann Spruce
Engelmann Spruce
Picea engelmannii is a species of spruce native to western North America, from central British Columbia and southwest Alberta, southwest to northern California and southeast to Arizona and New Mexico; there are also two isolated populations in northern Mexico...
, and subalpine fir
Fir
Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...
at higher elevations up to the timberline.
The closest town is Lander, Wyoming
Lander, Wyoming
Lander is a city in, and the county seat of, Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. Named for transcontinental explorer Frederick W. Lander, Lander is located in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River. A tourism center with several dude ranches nearby, Lander is located just...
. Access into the wilderness from the north via the Wind River Indian Reservation requires obtaining a permit before entering.