Intermountain Region

Natural Resources

The Intermountain Region includes all of Nevada and Utah, southern Idaho, western Wyoming and much smaller proportions of California and Colorado.  This area is very complex and has great variability in topography, climate, geology and subsequent biota.  For example, it includes portions of 10 Physiographic Sections and 8 Ecoregions.  Even these classifications belie the actual complexity, because elevation differences are not shown at the scale of the maps, of the Physiographic Sections and Ecoregions. 

Most National Forests within the Region are on mountains and plateaus that stand well above the surrounding lowlands, valleys and plains.  These are sometimes referred to as “mountain islands”.  Because of this, and differences in geology, soils, climate and geography, the plants on one mountain area may be very different from those found on another nearby mountain .  Roughly 60% of the Intermountain Regions lands are forest and woodland vegetation with the other 40% mainly in shrubby and herbaceous vegetation.

Research Natural Areas

Research Natural Areas (RNA's) are lands within the National Forest System that are permanently protected as baseline areas to allow attainment of Potential Natural Condition (PNC) for that location, conduct monitoring to measure changes from PNC on surrounding managed lands, monitor rate of changes from PNC, maintain biological diversity and foster education.

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