The BLM owns much of the range, including the 11,580-acre Wales Creek Wilderness Study Area.

[4] Wales Creek WSA also hosts a thriving moose herd, goshawk nesting sites, a native cutthroat trout fishery, and four hot springs used in the past by miners and now by skiers and hunters.

[4] Another BLM Wilderness Study Area is in the eastern Garnets: the 11,380-acre Hoodoo Mountain WSA.

This WSA is separated from unprotected BLM land in the Gallagher Creek drainage by a dirt road.

[4] On the southern slope of the Garnets near the town of Drummond, the BLM's Rattler Gulch Area of Critical Environmental Concern protects 20 acres of exposed Madison Group limestone cliffs.