The BLM Montana/Dakotas is revising its Lands With Wilderness Characteristics (LWC) Inventories in several areas. Federal Law requires that resource inventories on public lands be maintained, including land with wilderness characteristics. These lands typically have one or many the following characteristics. 

• Size - The area must be over 5,000 acres of roadless, contiguous BLM-managed lands. Areas smaller than 5,000 acres may qualify if it is practical to preserve and use them without damaging their current condition. In addition, roadless areas less than 5,000 acres that are connecting with lands that have been formally determined to have wilderness or potential wilderness values, or any federal lands already managed for the protection of wilderness characteristics (e.g. Wilderness Areas or Study Areas) may also qualify.

• Naturalness - Must appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature and any work of human beings in the area must be substantially unnoticeable. Minor human impacts such as a water trough or fences may often be considered substantially unnoticeable.