A Wilderness Study Area is an area of public land that is a candidate for official Wilderness Area designation by the United States Government. Federally recognized Wilderness Areas, created by Congress and included in the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS), are legally protected from development, road building, motorized access, and most resource exploitation as dictated by the Wilderness Act of 1964.

The process of identifying, defining, and confirming the areas included in the NWPS is, however, long and slow. In preparation for Wilderness Area designation, states survey their public lands and identify Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs). These areas are parcels of undeveloped and undisturbed land that meet wilderness qualifications and on which Congress can later vote for inclusion in the NWPS. Out of over 300 million acres (121.4 million ha) of federally held roadless areas, about 23 million acres (9.3 million ha), comprising 861 different study areas, were identified as...