Sierra Estrella Wilderness
Area Management
The Sierra Estrella Wilderness is part of the 110 million acre National Wilderness Preservation System. This System of lands provides clean air, water, and habitat critical for rare and endangered plants and animals. In wilderness, you can enjoy challenging recreational activities like hiking, backpacking, climbing, kayaking, canoeing, rafting, horse packing, bird watching, stargazing, and extraordinary opportunities for solitude. You play an important role in helping to "secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness" as called for by the Congress of the United States through the Wilderness Act of 1964. Please follow the requirements outlined below and use Leave No Trace techniques when visiting the Sierra Estrella Wilderness to ensure protection of this unique area.Objective 1: Maintain or enhance the natural character of the wilderness by rehabilitating former vehicle ways, controlling unauthorized use, coordinating search and rescue response protocal with state, county, municipal agencies, and volunteer organizations. Prohibiting campfires, charcoal fires, wood gathering, woodcutting and the displacement or disturbance of rocks. Campstoves will be allowed along with the the casual surface collection of rocks.
Objective 2: Provide a diversity of primitive recreational opportunities and a high degree of of solitude for visitors by establishing and/or maintaining Quartz Peak Trail and Trailhead, distributing appropriate visitor information, adopting low-incidence visitor encounter standards, and encouraging private air services to reduce low-level flights.
Objective 3: Maintain the present plant communities by resting impacted areas from livestock, encouraging Arizona Game and Fish Dept to manage big game populations, and suppressing all wildfires.
Objective 4: Provide habitat and water for diversity of fauna by increasing wildlife water catchments capacities, allowing mechanized transport of water and conduct population censuses, and sanctioning desert bighorn sheep transplants.
