| North Fork Owyhee Wilderness | |
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IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area)
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| Location | Owyhee County, Idaho, USA |
| Nearest city | Boise, Idaho |
| Area | 43,413 acres (17,569 ha) |
| Established | 2009 |
| Governing body | Bureau of Land Management |
The North Fork Owyhee Wilderness is located on the high basalt plateaus of Owyhee County in southwestern Idaho in the western United States.[1][2][3] The rivers within it offer whitewater rapids up to Class IV.[2] About 15 miles (24 km) miles of North Fork of the Owyhee River is classified as a wild river.[4]
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The North Fork Owyhee Wilderness has canyons over 1,000 feet (300 m) deep, sagebrush, and grassland plateaus. These canyons in Owyhee County have been called "the largest concentration of sheer-walled volcanic rhyolite and basalt canyons in the western United States".[1][5]
The North Fork Owyhee Wilderness was created by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 30, 2009. Also created in the Omnibus Land Act were five additional southwestern Idaho wilderness areas in Owyhee County, collectively known as the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Areas:[6][7]
The Act of 2009 added 517,025 acres (209,233 ha) of wilderness within the state of Idaho.[6][7]
Wilderness areas do not allow motorized or mechanical equipment including bicycles. Although camping and fishing are allowed with proper permit, no roads or buildings are constructed and there is also no logging or mining, in compliance with the 1964 Wilderness Act. Wilderness areas within National Forests and Bureau of Land Management areas also allow hunting in season.[8][9]
The North Fork Owhyhee Wilderness lies within the Owyhee Desert, part of the northern Basin and Range ecoregion, although hydrologically the wilderness area is within the Snake River – Columbia River drainage.[1][10] The area is home to mule deer, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, sage grouse, hawks, eagles, falcons, plus many songbirds, as well as numerous rare plants.[1]
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