page_title: Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area
section_title: Definition of a wilderness study area
hierarchical_section_title: Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area / Definition of a wilderness study area
caption_attribution_description: English: The iconic "Sleeping Giant" mountain formation north of Helena, Montana in Lewis and Clark County. Taken from Gates of the Mountains Exit just off I-15.
context_page_description: Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area is a non-motorized recreation area located on the west side of the Missouri River and Holter Lake located about 30 miles north of Helena, Montana. Designated as a wilderness study area in 1981, the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area contains approximately 6,666 acres of nearly roadless land, about half of which is forested. A portion of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is contained inside the study area.
context_section_description: Wilderness study areas (WSAs) are authorized by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. 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. To qualify as a wilderness study area, the land must be a roadless area of at least 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) (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 makes a final determination on the status of a wilderness study area, the BLM must manage the area as a wilderness.
caption: The Sleeping Giant formation, image taken from the south, looking north
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