Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area is a non-motorized recreation area located on the west side of the Missouri River and

Holter Lake Holter Dam is a hydroelectric straight gravity dam on the Missouri River about northeast of Helena, Montana, in the United States.''Upper Missouri River Reservoir Fisheries Management Plan, 2010-2019,'' Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and ...

located about north of

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would b ...

. Designated as a wilderness study area in 1981,Butte Office, ''DRAFT Butte Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement,'' June 2007
p. 295. the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area contains approximately of nearly roadless land, about half of which is forested."National Landscape Conservation System – Wilderness Study Areas,"
Bureau of Land Management, December 2009. A portion of the

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is a route across the United States commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to 1806. It is part of the National Trails System of the United States. It extends for some from Pittsburgh, Pen ...

is contained inside the study area.

Definition of a wilderness study area

Wilderness study areas (WSAs) are authorized by the

Federal Land Policy and Management Act The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) is a United States federal law that governs the way in which the public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management are managed. The law was enacted in 1976 by the 94th Congress and is ...

of 1976.Wilderness Study Areas, National Landscape Conservation System, Bureau of Land Management, March 11, 2010.
/ref> The Act directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the m ...

to inventory and study all federally owned roadless areas for possible designation as a Wilderness Area. To qualify as a wilderness study area, the land must be a roadless area of at least (or be of "manageable size"), generally unaffected by human development, provide opportunities for primitive or unconfined recreation, and have special ecological, geological, educational, historical, scientific and/or scenic value. Until the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...

makes a final determination on the status of a wilderness study area, the BLM must manage the area as a wilderness.

The Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area

Description of the Sleeping Giant area

The Sleeping Giant region is a roughly rectangular area bounded by

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

on the west and

on the east, the south boundary runs from the Hilger Valley to the Ming Bar , and the north boundary runs from the northern edge of the Oxbow Bend of Holter Lake to Interstate 15. The

Gates of the Mountains Wilderness The Gates of the Mountains Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Montana. Created by an act of Congress in 1964, the wilderness is managed by Helena National Forest. A day use campground near the Gates of the Mountains, Meriwether Picnic si ...

is nearby, beginning on the opposite side of Holter Lake."Sleeping Giant Travel Management Area. Map. Bureau of Land Management, 2008. Accessed July 9, 2010
/ref> There is an airplane landing strip on the Ming Bar east of the study area. The wilderness study area (WSA) contains important wildlife habitat. It is named after the "Sleeping Giant" formation (part of which is formally designated Beartooth Mountain, elevation ), a historic and noted natural landmark contained within the proposed wilderness area.
/ref> The "Sleeping Giant" outline is a widely used marketing tool by area businesses. The mountains in the WSA range from to approximately in elevation. About half the WSA is forested, and roughly 20 creeks and streams drain the area. The Sleeping Giant study area is a critical

mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs a ...

habitat in the state of Montana, and also contains significant populations of

bald eagles The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche a ...

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspe ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations grou ...

, brook trout,

cutthroat trout The cutthroat trout is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus ''Oncorhynchus'', it is one of the Pacific ...

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The com ...

golden eagles The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds o ...

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

, and

peregrine falcons The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, ...

. Human development within the study area is minimal. The BLM maintains several seasonally accessible dirt roads (Bear Gulch Road, Bear Ridge Road, Powerline Road, Powerline Spar, and Woodsiding Road) in the WSA, and a single year-round accessible road (Medicine Gulch Road) in the western portion of the study area. Interstate 15 and Lyons Creek Road (a county access road) border the western part of the wilderness study area. The Sleeping Giant area also includes of horse riding and hiking trails, and 40 primitive camping sites at Holter Lake. Several abandoned structures built by early white settlers near the lake still exist but are not maintained for use. The Sheep Creek Wilderness Study Area is located immediately west of and adjacent to the Sleeping Giant WSA.Butte Office, ''DRAFT Butte Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement,'' June 2007
p. 269. Both WSAs are surrounded by a BLM-designated "Area of Critical Environmental Concern" (ACEC), and another of BLM land where wheeled vehicle use is managed to protect the environment. This area's travel management plan was updated in 2003.Kilmer, "Sleeping Giant Comments Due June 22,"
''Queen City News,'' June 19, 2003.

History of the Sleeping Giant area

The Sleeping Giant landform was well-known to

Native Americans in the United States Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States (Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United States are ...

."Learn More About the Sleeping Giant Tonight," ''Great Falls Tribune,'' June 12, 2008. Members of Native American tribes as far away as present-day

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

knew of the landmark, and told the leaders of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

about it. The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped below the Sleeping Giant and explored the area around it during their initial passage through the region in 1805. The Sleeping Giant region was designated a wilderness study area in 1981. In late 1982,

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...

James G. Watt James Gaius Watt (born January 31, 1938) is a public servant who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1981 to 1983. He has been described as "anti-environmentalist", and was one of Ronald Reagan's most controversial cabinet appointment ...

removed the Sleeping Giant area from protection as a WSA, concluding that the area would never meet the definition of a wilderness area because it was too small and some

mineral rights Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below the Earth's surfa ...

in the area were owned by private citizens or companies. The Sleeping Giant region was granted WSA status again in 1985, and the WSA enlarged in 1988.Byron, "Group Seeks Wilderness Status for Sleeping Giant, Adjacent Lands,"
''Helena Independent Record,'' March 17, 2007. In 1991, the BLM recommended to Congress that the Sleeping Giant area be formally designated as wilderness. In 1991, BLM estimated that about 40 percent of the Sleeping Giant WSA contained privately owned oil and natural gas mineral rights.Bradley, "Oil, Gas Companies Say They're Fed Up With Waiting Game," ''Great Falls Tribune,'' May 30, 2001. In 1997,

Lewis and Clark National Forest Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning , the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "islan ...

Supervisor Gloria Flora exercised statutory authority to ban new oil and gas development leases in the forest east of the Sleeping Giant WSA for 15 years.

Petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (of ...

interests sued to overturn the decision, but U.S. district and

appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

courts refused to do. Oil and gas drilling companies asked for permission to drill exploratory wells and conduct seismic petroleum exploration in the Sleeping Giant WSA in the late 1990s, but BLM denied the request.Bradley, "Rocky Mountain Front," ''Great Falls Tribune,'' May 30, 2001. BLM did grant a drilling request for non-WSA land north of the Sleeping Giant WSA. In 2007, BLM proposed continuing to manage the Sleeping Giant region as a wilderness area, even though Congress had not yet acted on its 1991 recommendation to formally designate it as such."BLM Wants to Close 'User-Created' Trails in Southwestern Montana," ''Associated Press,'' June 21, 2007. The same year, the

Montana Wilderness Association Wild Montana (formerly Montana Wilderness Association) is a grassroots conservation organization founded by a group of Montana outfitters, ranchers, doctors, and friends."Wild Montana Special 60th Anniversary Newsletter" Wild Montana, November 29 ...

(MWA) began meeting with local residents in a long-term effort to build public support for formally designating the Sleeping Giant WSA a wilderness. At present, the MWA is concerned that oil and gas drilling proposals in the nearby Area of Critical Concern could have a negative impact on the wilderness character of the area."Waking the Giant." ''Montana Wilderness Association''. Accessed July 9, 2010

Footnotes

Bibliography

* "BLM Wants to Close 'User-Created' Trails in Southwestern Montana." ''Associated Press.'' June 21, 2007. * Bradley, Carol. "Oil, Gas Companies Say They're Fed Up With Waiting Game." ''

Great Falls Tribune The ''Great Falls Tribune'' is a daily morning newspaper printed in Helena, Montana. It is one of Montana's largest newspaper companies. History The first edition of the newspaper then called the ''Weekly Tribune'' was printed on May 14, 1885 ...

.'' May 30, 2001. * Bradley, Carol. "Rocky Mountain Front." ''Great Falls Tribune.'' May 30, 2001.
Butte Office. Bureau of Land Management. ''DRAFT Butte Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.'' Volume I. BLM/MT/PL-07/010+1610. Butte, Mont.: Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, June 2007.
Accessed 2010-07-02.

''

Helena Independent Record The ''Independent Record'' (often abbreviated to ''IR'') is a daily newspaper printed and distributed in Helena, Montana. The newspaper is part of the Lee Enterprises group. History The roots of the ''IR'' lie in two newspapers that were foun ...

.'' March 17, 2007.
Kilmer, Tom. "Sleeping Giant Comments Due June 22."
''Queen City News.'' June 19, 2003.
"National Landscape Conservation System – Wilderness Study Areas." Bureau of Land Management. United States Department of the Interior. December 2009.
Accessed 2010-06-30.

Accessed 2010-06-30. * "Wilderness Society Attacks Watt Over Protected Land." ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

.'' August 10, 1983.
Wilderness Study Areas. National Landscape Conservation System. Bureau of Land Management. United States Department of the Interior. March 11, 2010.
Accessed 2010-06-30.

External links

* [http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/mt/field_offices/butte/rec_maps.Par.49605.File.dat/SleepingGiant.pdf Map of the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area. Bureau of Land Management. U.S. Department of the Interior] {{authority control Nature reserves in Montana Protected areas of Lewis and Clark County, Montana Geology of Montana Landmarks in Montana IUCN Category Ib Protected areas established in 1993 Federal lands in Montana Bureau of Land Management areas in Montana