What was the original BLM inventory?
In 1976 FLPMA directed the BLM to inventory all roadless areas and assess their potential for wilderness designation. This inventory was done on a state by state basis. In Utah the inventory began in the late 1970s and was completed in 1980. The purpose of the inventory was two-fold. First, it was to produce a list of Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) areas possessing wilderness characteristics as defined by the Wilderness Act, regardless of any other competing uses (such as mining claims, potential dam sites, etc.). These areas were to be managed as if they were designated wilderness until Congress passed a Utah wilderness bill, so that their wilderness characteristics would not be lost due to development in the interim. The second result of the inventory was a recommendation for designated wilderness. This was to be those areas that the BLM thought merited wilderness designation, all things considered. WSAs are significant in that they are managed as de facto wilderness until a wildernes
