In 1976, Congress passed the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act, which required the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)  to inventory roadless lands for wilderness protection.  Roadless areas that were inventoried and found to have wilderness characteristics, but have not yet designated by Congress are managed as Wildernes Study Areas (WSA).  Until Congress makes a formal decision whether or not to designate them Wilderness, WSAs are managed to protect their wilderness characteristics. 

Like Wilderness areas, WSAs must also be roadless areas of at least 5,000 acres in size, they must be in a pimarily natural state,  without permanent improvements or human habitation, and must provide outstanding opportunities for solitude and recreation.  WSAs may also contain additional ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, or historical value.

 Some Wilderness Study Areas are managed exactly like Wilderness areas, while others may allow mountain bikes or off-road vehicles, where use existed prior to WSA designation.  Individual BLM districts make decisions about how to manage WSAs in their care, but all must be managed in a way that will not impair their suitability for perservation as wilderness.  Wilderness Study Areas are part of the National Landscape Conservation System, a network of the most prized BLM managed lands across the American West that are protected to sustain the health of public lands for present and future generations.