These are self-paced, continuous enrollment courses offered through the UM Wilderness Institute.
This course provides the definition of wilderness character, including its qualities and what degrades them, the basics of why we preserve wilderness character, and how to integrate wilderness character into planning, monitoring, management, operations, and more. Preserving wilderness character is mandated by the Wilderness Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-577) and agency policy. Wilderness character is our way of putting language to these unique and important places by describing what is meaningful and beneficial about them.
It is strongly recommended that you complete the free The Wilderness Act of 1964 e-course before beginning this course. Without foundational knowledge of the Wilderness Act, you will not be able to get the most out of this course and could find the content confusing.
After completing all course content and activities, you will complete a final quiz to demonstrate your understanding of key course concepts. Upon successful completion of the quiz, you will be awarded a certificate of completion.
Please Note: After successfully registering for this course, login information for the online learning platform, Canvas, will be emailed to you at the address used for your account creation. This process could take up to 2 hours. If you do not receive the login information by the end of the day you registered, please email for assistance.