Big Jacks Creek Wilderness

Big Jacks Creek Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)


Location	Owyhee County, Idaho, USA
Nearest city	Boise, Idaho
Coordinates	42°27′43″N 116°4′46″W / 42.46194°N 116.07944°W / 42.46194; -116.07944Coordinates: 42°27′43″N 116°4′46″W / 42.46194°N 116.07944°W / 42.46194; -116.07944
Area	52,826 acres (21,378 ha)
Established	2009
Governing body	Bureau of Land Management

The Big Jacks Creek Wilderness is located on the high basalt plateaus of Owyhee County in southwestern Idaho in the western United States.^[1]^[2] Little Jacks Creek Wilderness is on its northwest border.^[1] About 35 miles (56 km) miles of Big Jacks Creek is classified as a wild river.^[3]

Geography

Elevation varies from 2,808 to 5,872 ft (856–1,790 m) with canyons that are as much as 655 ft (200 m) deep that are covered in several varieties of sagebrush. The Creek flows north into the Bruneau River, which in turn flows into the Snake River.^[1]^[4]

Legislative history

The Big Jacks Creek 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:^[5]^[6]

Bruneau – Jarbidge Rivers Wilderness - 89,996 acres (36,420 ha)
Little Jacks Creek Wilderness - 50,929 acres (20,610 ha)
North Fork Owyhee Wilderness - 43,413 acres (17,569 ha)
Owyhee River Wilderness - 267,328 acres (108,184 ha)
Pole Creek Wilderness - 12,533 acres (5,072 ha)

The Act of 2009 added 517,025 acres (209,233 ha) of wilderness within the state of Idaho.^[5]^[6]

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.^[7]^[8]

Natural history

The Big Jacks Creek 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]^[9] The area is home to Columbia River redband trout, mountain quail, bighorn sheep, and two species of sensitive plants. Other plants found are black sagebrush, low sagebrush, Thurber needlegrass, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, bud sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, willow, rose, currant, and sedge.^[1]

References

1 2 3 4 5 "Big Jacks Creek Wilderness - General". Wilderness.net. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
↑ "Big Jacks Creek Wilderness, Idaho". Public Lands. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
↑ "Wild & Scenic Rivers". Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
↑ "Big Jacks Creek". Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
1 2 "Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Areas". Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
1 2 "Owhyhee Canyonlands Wilderness". Idaho Public TV. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
↑ "Forestwide Standards and Guidelines" (PDF). United States Forest Service. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
↑ "Big Jacks Creek Wilderness - Area Management". Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
↑ This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document: McGrath, C.L., Woods, A.J., Omernik, J.M.; et al. "Ecoregions of Idaho" (PDF). (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs; with a Reverse side).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Owhyhee Canyonlands Wilderness Areas.

Big Jacks Creek near Bruneau, Idaho (Station 13169500) - United States Geological Survey
Owyhee Uplands Backcountry Byway - Bureau of Land Management

Protected areas of Idaho

Federal

National Parks	Yellowstone

National Historic Sites & Historical Parks	Minidoka NHS Nez Perce NHP

National Monuments	Craters of the Moon Hagerman Fossil Beds

National Forests	Bitterroot Boise Caribou-Targhee Clearwater Coeur d'Alene Idaho Panhandle Kaniksu Kootenai Nez Perce Payette Salmon-Challis Sawtooth St. Joe Wallowa–Whitman Wasatch-Cache

National Grasslands	Curlew

National Recreation Areas	Hells Canyon Sawtooth

National Wildlife Refuges	Bear Lake Camas Deer Flat Grays Lake Kootenai Minidoka Oxford Slough Waterfowl Production Area

National Conservation Areas	Snake River Birds of Prey

Wilderness Areas	Big Jacks Creek Bruneau–Jarbidge Rivers Craters of the Moon Frank Church–River of No Return Gospel Hump Hells Canyon Hemingway–Boulders Jim McClure–Jerry Peak Little Jacks Creek North Fork Owyhee Owyhee River Pole Creek Sawtooth Selway-Bitterroot White Clouds

State

State Parks	Bear Lake Bruneau Dunes Castle Rocks City of Rocks Coeur d'Alene Parkway Dworshak Eagle Island Farragut Harriman Hells Gate Henrys Lake Heyburn Lake Cascade Lake Walcott Land of the Yankee Fork Lucky Peak Massacre Rocks McCroskey Old Mission Ponderosa Priest Lake Round Lake Thousand Springs Three Island Crossing Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes Winchester Lake

Wildlife Management Areas	Big Cottonwood Billingsley Creek Blackfoot River Boise River Boundary Creek Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Carey Lake Cartier Slough Cecil D. Andrus C.J. Strike Coeur d'Alene River Craig Mountain Deer Parks Farragut Fort Boise Georgetown Summit Hagerman Market Lake McArthur Lake Montour Montpelier Mud Lake Niagara Springs Payette River Pend Oreille Portneuf Red River St. Maries Sand Creek Snow Peak Sterling Tex Creek

Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation (website)

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