In 1964, Congress passed the Wilderness Act, thereby establishing a national system of lands for the purpose of preserving a representative sample of ecosystems in a natural condition for the benefit of future generations. Until 1976, the National Park Service and the USFS managed most land considered for and designated as wilderness. With the passage of FLPMA in 1976, Congress directed the BLM to inventory, study, and recommend which public lands under its administration should be designated as wilderness. Areas identified under this direction are WSAs. To be designated as wilderness, an area must have the following characteristics:

WSAs also often have special qualities such as ecological, geological, educational, historical, scientific, and scenic values. There are no Congressionally designated wilderness areas in the Planning Area.

There are 10 WSAs in the Planning Area (Map 72 and Table 3–52). These areas contain important natural resources, special features, naturalness, and primitiveness to support eco-based tourism. With the increase in demand for consumptive and non-consumptive resources, and an increase in development in natural and primitive areas, the WSAs have natural recreational resources that provide unique niches that are still preserved. The following paragraphs identify the locations, important features, and original inventory numbers (assigned at the time of the BLM wilderness inventory) of the WSAs in the Planning Area.

Alkali Creek Wilderness Study Area

The Alkali Creek WSA (WY-010-241) includes 9,475 acres of BLM-administered public lands surrounding private lands totaling 680 acres. The WSA is in Big Horn County, 7 miles north of Hyattville, Wyoming, along the west slope of the Big Horn Mountains. The WSA boundaries follow Alkali and Red Gulch Roads on the east and north, and a two-track trail along the western boundary. The southern boundary follows state and private property lines and Alkali Road.

The WSA is in and represents a rare pristine example of the transition zone between the lower west slopes of the Big Horn Mountains and the floor of the Bighorn Basin. Visual and geologic resource values enhance the wilderness characteristics of Alkali Creek WSA. On the rims of the canyons, scenic vistas provide an unencumbered view of the basin floor and the majestic mountains. The WSA is known to contain pictographs, rock shelters, and other important cultural values of early occupation.

Bobcat Draw Badlands Wilderness Study Area

The Bobcat Draw Badlands WSA (WY-010-126) includes 16,967 acres of BLM-administered public land and 640 acres of state-owned land. The WSA is in Washakie and Big Horn counties, approximately 25 miles west of Worland, Wyoming. The southern, western, and eastern boundaries of the WSA follow primitive roads. The northeast boundary follows a road and then detours around a state-owned section and continues along a road to the southeast to a two-track trail, which was used as a boundary to exclude an area lacking wilderness characteristics.

The western portion of the WSA is dominated by broad, grass-covered benches or ridges separated by deep, wide drainages running into the Big Draw drainage to the north or the Fifteenmile drainage to the east. Bare, rugged desert pockets of colorful badland scenery and geologic formations like hoodoos, spires, and mushrooms are predominant in the central and southern portions of the WSA and offer interesting attractions to recreationists. The variable terrain and the rugged, colorful badland topography offer a unique and interesting wilderness and primitive recreation setting. Human intrusions in the Bobcat Draw Badlands WSA are minor and do not have an important impact on the natural character of the area.

Cedar Mountain Wilderness Study Area

The Cedar Mountain WSA (WY-010-222) includes 20,407 acres of BLM-administered public lands with no private or state in-holdings. The WSA is in Washakie County, 2 miles east of Kirby along the east side of the Bighorn River. Part of the eastern boundary is along a natural gas pipeline ROW, roads, and state lands property lines. The southern boundary is mainly along a road and private property boundary.

The WSA is an area of rugged topography characterized by deep, steep-sided drainages flowing north or west toward the Bighorn River. The abrupt elevation difference in the area (from 4,200 to 5,500 feet amsl), combined with the belt of junipers on the top and sides of Cedar Mountain, creates a scenic and contrasting element against the other natural elements. Cedar Mountain is the dominant visual feature of the unit. The area is unusual because of its elevation, the vegetation growing on it, and the imposing rock escarpment that forms its southern side. Visual, paleontological, and geographic resource values enhance the wilderness characteristics of Cedar Mountain WSA. The soil, rock, and vegetation colors and the area’s topography contribute to the visual features. Petrified wood and reptilian fossils are found in the southern portion of the area. Mammalian fossils are found north of Cedar Mountain.

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area

The Honeycombs WSA (WY-010-221) contains 20,156 acres of BLM-administered public lands, and 260 acres of split-estate lands. The WSA is located in Washakie County, 16 miles southeast of Worland, Wyoming. The north and east boundaries are the BLM’s Blue Bank Road, state, and private lands. The southern and western boundaries are two-track trails, one section of state lands, and Nowater Creek.

The WSA consists of two land forms. A central core area is comprised of sharply eroded, strongly dissected badlands. The area around the core is rolling to steep hills. The exposures of the Willwood Formation provide opportunities to study scenic erosion patterns. The soil colors vary from reds, pinks, and purples to numerous shades of browns to tans. The Honeycombs WSA is also known to have the potential for deposits of large mammalian fossils from the Tertiary period.

McCullough Peaks Wilderness Study Area

The McCullough Peaks WSA (WY-010-335) includes 24,531 acres of BLM-administered public land and a 640 acre in-holding of state land. The WSA is in Park County, 10 miles northeast of Cody, Wyoming, and 6 miles south of Powell, Wyoming. The boundary consists primarily of roads, property lines, and a powerline ROW.

The WSA consists of the badlands that form the north slope of the McCullough Peaks. The terrain is characterized by sharp ridges and deeply eroded drainages. There also are large expanses of open, gentle terrain. The area is scenic and provides opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation. The topography, scenic vistas, and wildlife attract visitors. Nationally important paleontological resources and cultural resources are present in the area. Locals use the area for a variety of recreational activities.

Medicine Lodge Wilderness Study Area

The Medicine Lodge WSA (WY-010-240) includes 7,182 acres of BLM-administered public lands with no private or state in-holdings. The WSA is in Big Horn County, 5 miles northeast of Hyattville, Wyoming, along the west slope of the Big Horn Mountains. The WSA is bounded mainly by Cold Springs Road on the south, Black Butte Road on the north and the west, and the Bighorn National Forest on the east.

The WSA consists of canyon walls towering 1,000 feet above Medicine Lodge Creek. The remainder of the WSA consists of steeply sloping shrub-steppe and broken rugged areas with shallow canyons and unusual knobby rock outcrops. Bighorn sheep, which were reintroduced in the Paint Rock Canyon area several years ago but no longer inhabit the area, used the Medicine Lodge WSA as summer range. Outstanding ecological values include vegetative and wildlife communities that are essentially unaffected by human activity. Exposed geologic features provide the opportunity to study the geologic history of the area. The Madison Formation is a storehouse of fossils such as branchiopods, corals, bryozoans, and crinoid stems. Medicine Lodge Canyon rates extremely high in scenic value based on its rich color combinations, and the vertical or nearly vertical cliffs, spires and formations.

The Spanish Point Karst ACEC, which maintains and protects the cave and karst system, sinking stream segments, and groundwater quantity and quality, includes portions of the Medicine Lodge WSA. The extra management efforts to maintain the ACEC, cave systems, and travel management designations greatly enhance the efforts to maintain the wilderness characteristics of the Medicine Lodge WSA.

Owl Creek Wilderness Study Area

The Owl Creek WSA (WY-010-104 a, b, c) consists of three tracts totaling 668 acres. The WSA is in Hot Springs County in the upper foothills of the Absaroka Range near a peak called Washakie Needles. The boundary of Tract a is formed by the Washakie Wilderness to the north, the South Fork of Owl Creek and the Wind River Indian Reservation to the west, Klicker Creek to the south, and private land to the east. Tract b is adjacent to the Washakie Wilderness, which forms the north boundary, and private land surrounds the rest of the tract. The east boundary of Tract c extends along Rock Creek and the Washakie Wilderness on the west. The north boundary is formed by a short segment of private property and the south boundary is along the south section line of section 31.

The landscape is dominated by a ridge line that divides the main drainages of Rock Creek and the South Fork of Owl Creek. Several steep, rugged spur ridges extend laterally from the main ridge, and are sharply separated by a number of deep side-draws that drain into the relatively wide, flat bottoms of the main drainages. Evidence of modern human activity is virtually nonexistent in the WSA. The WSA is also influenced by Upper Owl Creek Area ACEC management, which protects overlapping and important big game habitats and migration corridors, fisheries habitat, shallow soils, alpine vegetation and rare plants, diverse cultural resources and Native American traditional values, primitive recreational opportunities, and high scenic quality.

Red Butte Wilderness Study Area

The Red Butte WSA (WY-010-131) is on 10,805 acres of BLM-administered public land and is in Big Horn County, approximately 15 miles northwest of Worland, Wyoming. All boundaries, except for approximately 1.5 miles of section on the west side of the WSA, are along improved dirt roads on BLM-administered land.

The WSA contains bare, rugged badlands created by peaks and ridges broken by irregular, sharply cut drainages radiating from the central portion of the area that is dominated by Red Butte. The bare, red-hued soils of this area are highly eroded, creating a dissected, rugged landform. The northeastern portion exhibits less rugged badlands intermixed with a series of small bench-like terraces overlooking the flat drainage bottom of Fivemile Creek. The western portion of the unit consists of badlands opening up to broad, shallow drainages and flat-to-rolling plains along the drainages of Reservoir Creek and the North Fork of Fifteenmile Creek.

Sheep Mountain Wilderness Study Area

The Sheep Mountain WSA (WY-010-130) includes 23,258 acres of BLM-administered public lands and 640 acres of split-estate lands. The WSA is located in Big Horn County approximately 20 to 25 miles northwest of Worland, Wyoming, and 18 to 20 miles west of Greybull and Basin, Wyoming. State and private lands and the Burlington Pass Road form the western boundary of the WSA. The eastern boundary is along a major oil pipeline ROW and the Dorsey Creek Road. The southern boundary is located along the township line to exclude areas lacking the wilderness characteristic of naturalness and a finger of land created by roads accessing livestock management facilities. The northern boundary follows a road and an oil pipeline.

The WSA contains bare, rugged badlands created by peaks and ridges broken by irregular, sharply cut drainages radiating from the central portion of the area that is dominated by Sheep Mountain. The bare, red-hued soils of this area are highly eroded, creating a dissected, rugged landform. Sheep Mountain and the eastern-most portion of Tatman Mountain are the dominant topographic features. Sharply incised drainages radiate from these mountains and combine to form moderately broad, flat, grassy bottoms separated by rounded badland ridges along the perimeter of the unit.

Trapper Creek Wilderness Study Area

The Trapper Creek WSA (WY-010-242) includes 7,475 acres of BLM-administered public lands with no private or state in-holdings. The WSA is in Big Horn County, 5 miles southeast of Shell, Wyoming, along the west slope of the Big Horn Mountains. The boundary along the western and northern portions follows Black Mountain Road, physical boundaries, and state and private lands. The eastern and southern boundaries are Trapper Rim Road, private land, and legal boundaries.

Trapper Creek canyon contains some of the most valuable scenery on the west slope of the Big Horn Mountains. The canyon is characterized by the dramatic vertical relief of the cliffs, with a total depth of more than 1,200 feet from the rim to the creek. Other features include spires, and massive rock outcrops of the canyon walls, a rich variety of vegetation, a clear cascading stream, and rich color combinations. There is a riparian plant community along the length of Trapper Creek. The lower entrance to Great X Cave is in the WSA. Trapper Creek landscape has scenery of exceptional quality. The Spanish Point Karst ACEC includes portions of the WSA, which maintains and protects the cave and karst system, the sinking stream segments, and groundwater quantity and quality.

Other Wilderness Study Areas

The BLM Billings Field Office in Montana also manages two WSAs that lie predominately in Montana, but include some acreage in Wyoming. Neither the CYFO nor the WFO addresses management of these WSAs.