The Wilderness Society (TWS) has developed a national map of “wildness” showing the degree to which regions of the United States are influenced by human infrastructure and influence. In the South, growing cities are increasing the influence of humans on the landscape, but many relatively remote and unaltered areas remain, especially in the Southern Appalachians, southwestern Florida, and in the swamps and wetlands of the coastal plain.
Wildness is an attribute of the land reflecting its naturalness and its freedom from human influence. As such, wildness captures not only important elements of ecological integrity, but aspects of the land relating to the human experience of a place, such as its remoteness and its provision of solitude. This map depicts an index of wildness created by combining information representing this naturalness and freedom: population density, distance from roads, pollution, as well as ecosystem composition, structure, and function.