Utah, USA Photograph by John Morrison   Western North America: Western United States Temperate Coniferous Forests   16,000 square miles (41,500 square kilometers) -- about the size of New Hampshire and New Jersey combined Critical/Endangered

· Rain Shadow Forests
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Rain Shadow Forests

Don't like the rain? Try hiking the steep canyons and rugged terrain of the Wasatch and Uinta Montane Forests. These forests are among the driest in the Rocky Mountains because they grow in the rain shadow of mountains farther west and receive little rainfall. Despite the lack of rain, you might hike past waterfalls and wildflowers, and if you're lucky, you may spot a moose or a bighorn sheep.

Special Features

This ecoregion encompasses two different mountain ranges; the Wasatch Range runs from north to south, while the Uintas run from east to west. Unlike most of the Rocky Mountain ecoregions, this one is much drier as a result of the extensive rain shadow cast by the Sierra Nevada 500 miles (805 km) to the west, preventing the penetration of moist air from the south.

	Bighorn sheep are well adapted to dry conditions. They can survive 10 or more days in summer without drinking. Sometimes they get their water by eating cacti.

Wild Side

The forests of this ecoregion are filled with ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, subalpine fir, and Engelmann spruce. Unusual communities of gambrel oaks are also found here, and the ecoregion is home to numerous kinds of wildlife, including bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, black bears, cougars, moose, and Rocky Mountain goats.

Cause for Concern

Most of the Wasatch and Uinata Montane Forests ecoregion has been damaged by livestock grazing, logging, mining, and recreational uses such as downhill skiing. Large predators (such as wolves) have been wiped out, and large ungulates like bighorn sheep are now in decline. Off-road vehicles crush vegetation and disturb streams.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.