South Bull Canyon Research Natural Area

Vale District , BLM

Northern Basin and Range Ecoregion

Cell(s):

• Big sagebrush-bitterbrush/Idaho fescue

Access by the all-weather county road south of Juntura to the Shumway ranch.

The 320 ha South Bull Canyon RNA is located southeast of Juntura, Malheur County, Oregon, along the road that leads to Creston and Turnbull lakebeds south of the Malheur River. The landscape consists of gently rolling hills with a series of small drainages off a low north-south ridge. Soils are relatively deep loams over basalt, with large surface rocks. Winters are cold and moist; summers, hot and dry. Annual precipitation averages 20 to 25 cm. The gently sloping hills at about 1400 m are covered by a mixture of plant communities generally in late seral condition. The RNA protects a community of big sagebrush-antelope bitterbrush/Idaho fescue (Artemisia tridentata-Purshia tridentata/Festuca idahoensis). Several dirt roads, barbed wire and steel post fences, and reservoirs for livestock water occur within the RNA. Past and current disturbances include light grazing by cattle in spring and summer.