Michigan has recently enacted a statute for the protection of state wildernesses, wildlands, and natural areas. The Wilderness and Natural Areas Act of 1972 (ELR 43003), House Bill No. 4881, was signed by the governor on August 3, 1972. The Act defines a wilderness area as a tract of undeveloped state land or water that is either 3,000 acres or more in size or is an island of any size which:

generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable . . . [which] has outstadning opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation . . . [and which] contains ecological, geological or other features of scientific, scenic or historical value. Section 2(d).