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Owl Creek/Castle Rocks

Written in collaboration with Gretchen Hurley
(010‑104 a, b, c, & 010-unnumbered)

Summary

Citizens' Proposal:
Intensive Inventory:
Wilderness Study Area:
BLM Recommendation:

8,985 acres
750 acres
710 acres
710 acres

Location and Access
This area is comprised of three separate tracts in Owl Creek and two larger areas in the Castle Rocks area located at the southeast end of the Absaroka Mountains. The area is landlocked by private ranches and access is difficult. Access to Owl Creek/Castle Rocks can be from the National Forest trail system to the northern boundary or from the south of Owl Creek by paying access fees to the Wind River Indian Reservation to use their trails.

Highlights
Geologically, this site is known as the Castle Rocks Chaos. It is a jumble of volcanic debris representing a unique geologic event which occurred during the Eocene period (Sundell 1982). Both the Owl Creek section and the Castle Rocks are distinguished by high (elevation of 9,000 to 10,900 feet) alpine tundra with windswept slopes and mountainous cliffs scattered with erratic dense patches of conifer, and aspen. The bare rocky soil along lower draws and ridges and sagebrush grasslands along wide creek bottoms enhance this mountain transition area. All tracts border the Washakie Wilderness Area of the Shoshone National Forest. These wild areas are logical extensions of the Washakie Wilderness.

Wilderness Qualities
The Owl Creek/Castle Rocks proposed Wilderness area features similar primitive recreation opportunities, such as hiking, backpacking, and study of alpine ecology. The local geology offers excellent opportunities for studies of tertiary volcanics, and two archaeologic sites in the area are important for the study of native peoples who once lived at high altitudes.

Two of the area's streams are important fisheries for rainbow, brook, and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. The area also provides crucial habitat for bighorn sheep, moose and mule deer, crucial winter range and calving grounds for elk, and migration routes for elk and bighorn sheep (WG&F, 1992). Raptors, pronghorn antelope, mountain lions, and black bears use the area, and grizzly bears have been observed nearby. A high priority in this area is the occurrence of the harlequin duck a category two candidate for federal listing (WNDD, 1993). Dwarf shrews and montane vole‑‑two state Priority Species in Need of Special Management‑‑may inhabit Owl Creek's grasslands and conifer forests (Luce 1991; WNDD, 1993).

Several rare plant species have been found in the area - Evert's waferparsnip, shoshoea, Rocky Mountain twinpod, yellow spring-beauty, sweet-flowered rock jasmine, and the nuttall townsend-daisy (WNDD,1993).