Zahniser, author of the bill, to promote passage of the act, and she attended the signing ceremony. Statistics As of 2014, the National Wilderness Preservation System comprised over 109 million acres (441,000 km²), involving federal lands administered by four agencies: Subsequent legislation The Wilderness Act has created a foundation that allows for many new additions of American land to be designated as wilderness. Congress considers additional proposals every year, some recommended by federal agencies and many proposed by grassroots conservation and sportsmen's organizations. Additional laws adding areas to the NWPS include: Eastern Wilderness Areas Act of 1975 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978 Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 Great Bear Wilderness Act of 1978 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 National Forest Wilderness Act of 1980 New Mexico Wilderness Act of 1980 Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 New Hampshire Wilderness Act of 1984 California Wilderness Act of 1984 Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 Arizona Wilderness Act 1984 North Carolina Wilderness Act of 1984 Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act of 2006 New England Wilderness Act of 2006 Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Conservation and Recreation Act of 2014 John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 Congressional bills are pending to designate new wilderness areas in Utah, Colorado, Washington, California, Virginia, Idaho, West Virginia, Montana and New Hampshire. Grassroots coalitions are working with local congressional delegations on legislative proposals for additional wilderness areas, including Vermont, southern Arizona, national grasslands in South Dakota, Rocky Mountain peaks of Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. The U.S. Forest Service has recommended new wilderness designations, which citizen groups may propose to expand. 50th anniversary of Wilderness Act In 2014, America celebrated "50 Years of Wilderness", and Wilderness50, a growing coalition of federal agencies, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and other wilderness user groups has been created to document this historical commemoration honoring America's "True American Legacy of Wilderness." A series of projects and events were held to commemorate the 50th year of the Wilderness Act, including community museum, airport and visitor center displays; National website and social media campaign; Smithsonian photography exhibition; Washington D.C. Wilderness Week in September, and the National Wilderness Conference. See also List of U.S. Wilderness Areas Conservation refugee Natural heritage National Wilderness Preservation System References Notes Bibliography Dant, Sara. "Making Wilderness Work: