The document summarizes the Wilderness Act of 1964 which established the National Wilderness Preservation System to protect certain federal lands. It discusses the necessity of the act due to expanding development, outlines the 8 year debate process involving key figures, and notes that the act initially protected 9.1 million acres across several federal agencies and now protects over 109.5 million acres. It also notes there was conflicting definitions of wilderness between being uninhabited versus areas for primitive recreation and historical presence of aboriginal people.