What is a ‘Wilderness’? You may have your own notion for what counts as wilderness—perhaps supported by good memories in the backcountry. Officially, ‘Wilderness’ areas are designated by Congress and, famously, are places where “…man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” Wyoming has 15 Wilderness areas totaling about 5% of the state land area.
Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) have many of the characteristics of official Wilderness areas, but have not been designated by congress. We have 45 WSAs in Wyoming and they make up about 1% of the state. There is much talk of shifting many WSAs back into multiple use management — legislation is currently pending before Congress. For more, see the About page.
Go out and explore!