Owyhee Desert
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The Owyhee Desert is an arid region of rolling sage and grass, approximately 14000 sq mi (36000 sq km) in area, in northern Nevada, southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon in the United States. It is located on the south edge of the Columbia Plateau southwest of Boise, Idaho, stretching east from the Santa Rosa Range with a mean elevation of approximately 5300 ft (1600 m). It is primarily drained by the tributaries of the Owyhee River, itself a tributary of the Snake River.
Most of the land in the desert is owned by the federal government and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It is largely used as ranchland, resulting in ongoing controversies regarding federal mismanagement and environmental degradation resulting from overgrazing.
External links
- FocustWest: Owyhee Desert (http://www.focuswest.org/lands/owyhee.cfm)
- Owyhee-Bruneau Canyonlands (http://www.owyheecanyonlands.org/)