"Undeveloped recreation" is a name given to a wide variety of outdoor activities enjoyed by many enthusiasts, including backcountry skiers, hikers, bird-watchers, mountaineers, stream fisherman and many others. Unlike recreational activities dependent upon trails, campgrounds, roads and other man-made "improvements", undeveloped recreation is most enjoyable if experienced in a more natural setting. As interest in all forms of recreation grows, competition for land resources becomes ever more intense. Without adequate support, undeveloped recreation stands little chance against the onslaught of those who seek maximal development and exploitation of our land resources.
Our mission is to advocate for the protection and enhancement of those recreational activities most dependent upon what are commonly known as "wilderness values", namely: naturalness, solitude, challenge and inspiration. We strive to ensure that Wilderness areas, roadless areas and other areas now substantially free of development will continue to provide outstanding opportunities for high quality, non-motorized, recreation.
"It is clear without further discussion that mass-use involves a direct dilution of the opportunity for solitude; that when we speak of roads, campgrounds, trails, and toilets as 'development' of recreational resources, we speak falsely in respect to this component. Such accommodations for the crowd are not developing (in the sense of adding or creating) anything. On the contrary, they are merely water poured into the already-thin soup."
"How much wilderness does it take to fulfill the needs of civilization? That really isn't the key question. What counts more is whether each succeeding generation must settle for an increasingly degraded world and know the experience of the past from books and pictures only. Must the future be satisfied with mediocrity because nothing better will be known?"