[2] It was created in 1980 by the United States Congress and renamed in 1984 as the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area in honor of U.S.

At 2.367 million acres (9,580 km2), it is the largest contiguous federally managed wilderness in the United States outside of Alaska.

The Death Valley Wilderness is the largest single designated area but consists of numerous disconnected units.

President Carter had taken his family on a three-day float trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in August 1978, accompanied by Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus,[9] the former (and future) Idaho governor.

The administration forwarded a central Idaho wilderness proposal to Congress later that year[10] and Carter signed the final act on July 23, 1980.

[11] In January 1984, Congress honored Senator Church, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, by renaming the area The Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness.

[18] In 1995, wolves from Canada were reintroduced here due to the remote location, the availability of prey and the area being under federal jurisdiction.

[22] On August 7, 2013, a retired sheriff and three other horseback riders in the rugged back country encountered Hannah Anderson and her abductor, James DiMaggio.