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-{{Infobox Protected area
-| name = Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area
-| iucn_category = Ib
-| map = US_Locator_Blank.svg
-| map_caption =
-| locator_x = 70
-| locator_y = 28
-| location = [[Montana]], [[United States|U.S.]]
-| nearest_city = [[Helena, Montana]]
-| lat_d = 46
-| lat_m = 55
-| lat_s = 56
-| lat_NS = N
-| long_d = 112
-| long_m = 02
-| long_s = 50
-| long_EW = W
-| area = {{convert|6666|acre}}
-| established = January 1993
-| visitation_num =
-| visitation_year =
-| governing_body = [[Bureau of Land Management]]
-}}
-'''Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area''' is a protected [[wilderness]] area located about 30 miles north of [[Helena, Montana|Helena]], the capital city of the state of [[Montana]] in the [[United States]]. Designated a [[wilderness study area]] in 1981,<ref name="Draft295">[http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/butte_field_office/rmp/draft.html Butte Office, ''DRAFT Butte Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement,'' June 2007], p. 295.</ref> the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area contains approximately {{convert|6666|acre}} of nearly roadless land.<ref name="Draft295" /><ref name="NLCSStudy">
-[http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/Law_Enforcement/nlcs/wilderness.Par.98208.File.dat/National%20Landscape%20Conservation%20System%20_%20WSAs_December%202009.pdf "National Landscape Conservation System – Wilderness Study Areas,"] [[Bureau of Land Management]], December 2009.</ref> A portion of the [[Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail]] is contained inside the study area.<ref name="Draft295" /><ref name="SleepingGiant" />
-==Definition of a wilderness study area==
-Wilderness study areas are authorized by the [[Federal Land Policy and Management Act]] of 1976.<ref name="WildernessStudyArea">[http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/NLCS/wilderness_study_areas.html 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]] to inventory and study all federally-owned roadless areas for possible designation as a Wilderness Area.<ref name="WildernessStudyArea" /> To qualify as a wilderness study area, the land must be a roadless area of at least {{convert|5000|acre}} (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.<ref name="WildernessStudyArea" /> Until the [[United States Congress]] makes a final determination on the status of a wilderness study area, the BLM must manage the area as a wilderness.<ref name="WildernessStudyArea" />
-==The Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area==
-===Description of the Sleeping Giant area===
-[[File:Mountain Goat Mount Massive.JPG|thumb|The Sleeping Giant wilderness is an important habitat for mountain goats.]]
-The Sleeping Giant region is a roughly rectangular area bounded by [[Interstate 15]] in the west, [[Holter Lake]] in the east, the Hilger Valley to the Ming Bar in Holter Lake in the south, and an east-west line extending from the northern edge of the Oxbow Bend of Holter Lake to Interstate 15.
-The WSA contains an important and well-known geological formation and is an important wildlife habitat.  The Sleeping Giant rock formation (formally designated Beartooth Mountain, elevation {{convert|6792|ft}}) is a historic and noted natural landmark contained within the wilderness area.<ref name="SleepingGiant">[http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/butte_field_office/recreation/sleeping_giant.html "Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area," Bureau of Land Management, June 17, 2009.]</ref><ref name="Kilmer" /> The "Sleeping Giant" outline is a widely used marekting tool by local Montana businesses.<ref name="Byron" /> The mountains in the WSA range from {{convert|3600|ft}} to {{convert|6800|ft}} in elevation.<ref name="Draft295" /><ref name="SleepingGiant" /> About half the WSA is forested, and roughly 20 creeks and streams drain the area.<ref name="Draft295" /><ref name="SleepingGiant" /> The Sleeping Giant study area is a critical [[mountain goat]] habitat in the state of Montana, and also contains significant populations of [[bald eagles]], [[bighorn sheep]], [[black bear]], [[brook trout]], [[cutthroat trout]], [[elk]], [[golden eagles]], [[mule deer]], [[osprey]], and [[peregrine falcons]].<ref name="SleepingGiant" /><ref name="Kilmer" />
-Human development within the study area is minimal. 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) pass through the far western part of the wilderness study area. The Sleeping Giant area also includes {{convert|7|mi}} of horse riding and hiking trails, and 40 primitive camping sites at Holter Lake.<ref name="Draft295" /><ref name="SleepingGiant" /> Several abandoned structures built by early white settlers near the lake also still exist but are not maintained for use.<ref name="Draft295" /><ref name="SleepingGiant" /><ref name="Byron" />
-The {{convert|3801|acre}} Sheep Creek Wilderness Study Area is located immediately west of and adjacent to the Sleeping Giant WSA.<ref name="Draft269">[http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/butte_field_office/rmp/draft.html Butte Office, ''DRAFT Butte Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement,'' June 2007], p. 269.</ref> Both WSAs are surrounded by a BLM-designated {{convert|11609|acre}} "Area of Critical Environmental Concern" (ACEC), and another {{convert|6691|acre}} of BLM land where wheeled vehicle use is managed to protect the environment.<ref name="Draft269" /> This area's travel management plan was updated in 2003.<ref name="Kilmer">[http://www.queencitynews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1290 Kilmer, "Sleeping Giant Comments Due June 22,"] ''Queen City News,'' June 19, 2003.</ref>
-===History of the Sleeping Giant area===
-[[File:Sleeping Giant - Montana.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The "head" of the Sleeping Giant, the well-known and historic geological feature which gives the area its name.]]
-The Sleeping Giant landform was well-known to [[Native Americans in the United States]].<ref name="More">"Learn More About the Sleeping Giant Tonight," ''Great Falls Tribune,'' June 12, 2008.</ref> Members of Native American tribes as far away as present-day [[Minnesota]] knew of the landmark, and told the leaders of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] about it.<ref name="More" /> 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.<ref name="More" />
-The Sleeping Giant region was designated a wilderness study area (WSA) in 1981.<ref name="Draft295" /> In late 1982, [[United States Secretary of the Interior]] [[James G. Watt]] 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]] in the area were owned by private citizens or companies.<ref>"Wilderness Society Attacks Watt Over Protected Land," ''Associated Press,'' August 10, 1983.</ref> The Sleeping Giant region was granted WSA status again in 1985, and the WSA enlarged in 1988.<ref name="Draft295" /><ref name="Byron">[http://helenair.com/news/local/article_47744f1a-65d6-511c-b92f-6992262a67e1.html Byron, "Group Seeks Wilderness Status for Sleeping Giant, Adjacent Lands,"] ''Helena Independent Record,'' March 17, 2007.</ref> In 1991, BLM recommended to Congress that the Sleeping Giant area be formally designated a wilderness.<ref name="Draft295" /><ref name="Kilmer" />
-In 1991, BLM estimated that about 40 percent of the Sleeping Giant WSA contained privately-owned oil and natural gas mineral rights.<ref name="Bradley">Bradley, "Oil, Gas Companies Say They're Fed Up With Waiting Game," ''Great Falls Tribune,'' May 30, 2001.</ref> In 1997, [[Lewis and Clark National Forest]] 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.<ref name="BradleyFront" /> [[Petroleum industry]] interests sued to overturn the decision, but [[United States district court|U.S. district]] and [[United States courts of appeals|appellate]] courts refused to to do.<ref name="BradleyFront" /> 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.<ref name="Bradley" /><ref name="BradleyFront">Bradley, "Rocky Mountain Front," ''Great Falls Tribune,'' May 30, 2001.</ref> BLM did grant a drilling request for non-WSA land north of the Sleeping Giant WSA.<ref name="Bradley" />
-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.<ref>"BLM Wants to Close 'User-Created' Trails in Southwestern Montana," ''Associated Press,'' June 21, 2007.</ref> The same year, the [[Montana Wilderness Association]] began meeting with local residents in a long-term effort to build public support for formally designating the Sleeping Giant WSA a wilderness.<ref name="Byron" />
-==Footnotes==
-{{reflist}}
-==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]].'' May 30, 2001.
-*Bradley, Carol. "Rocky Mountain Front." ''Great Falls Tribune.'' May 30, 2001.
-*[http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/butte_field_office/rmp/draft.html 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.
-*[http://helenair.com/news/local/article_47744f1a-65d6-511c-b92f-6992262a67e1.html Byron, Eve. "Group Seeks Wilderness Status for Sleeping Giant, Adjacent Lands."] ''[[Helena Independent Record]].'' March 17, 2007.
-*[http://www.queencitynews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1290 Kilmer, Tom. "Sleeping Giant Comments Due June 22."] ''Queen City News.'' June 19, 2003.
-*[http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/Law_Enforcement/nlcs/wilderness.Par.98208.File.dat/National%20Landscape%20Conservation%20System%20_%20WSAs_December%202009.pdf "National Landscape Conservation System – Wilderness Study Areas." Bureau of Land Management. United States Department of the Interior. December 2009.] Accessed 2010-06-30.
-*[http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/butte_field_office/recreation/sleeping_giant.html "Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area." Butte Field Office. Bureau of Land Management. United States Department of the Interior. June 17, 2009.] Accessed 2010-06-30.
-*"Wilderness Society Attacks Watt Over Protected Land." ''[[Associated Press]].'' August 10, 1983.
-*[http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/NLCS/wilderness_study_areas.html 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/mt/st/en/fo/butte_field_office/recreation/sleeping_giant.html Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area. Bureau of Land Management. U.S. Department of the Interior]
-[[Category:Geology of Montana]]
-[[Category:Protected areas of Montana]]
-[[Category:Lewis and Clark County, Montana]]
-[[Category:Federal lands in Montana]]
-[[Category:Landmarks in Montana]]

Revision as of 00:21, 3 July 2010