Owyhee Desert

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The Owyhee Desert is an arid region of canyons, volcanic rock, sagebrush and grass, approximately 14,000 square miles (36,260 km²) in area, in northern Nevada, southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon in the western 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.