The Sylvania Mountains Wilderness is a federally designated
wilderness area
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
located east of
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
in the state of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The wilderness is 18,677acres in size and is managed by the
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
(BLM).
The
California Desert Protection Act of 1994
The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 is a federal law () sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, passed by the United States Congress on October 8, 1994, and signed into effect by President Bill Clinton on October 31 of the same year, that ...
created the Sylvania Mountains Wilderness and was added to the
National Wilderness Preservation System
The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...
. The wilderness is bordered by
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
stateline on the east,
Piper Mountain Wilderness on the west and
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...
to the south.
Geography
The
Sylvania Mountains
The Sylvania Mountains are located in Inyo County, California and Esmeralda County, Nevada in the United States. The range trends in an east–west direction, north of the Last Chance Range at the northern end of Death Valley National Park.
The L ...
are a subrange of the
Last Chance Mountains and straddle the California-Nevada border. There is no distinct crest, only rounded summits and ridges with many canyons, drainages and bahadas (fans of alluvial soil that have combined at the base of canyons). Elevations range from .
Flora and fauna
There are limited water sources, but the springs that do exist support
mule deer
The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.
Unlike the related whit ...
,
desert bighorn sheep
The desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico. The Bu ...
,
chukar,
coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
, as well as ground squirrels and lizards.
The wilderness flora is a mixture of
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
and
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
plant life.
Joshua tree
''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca.
This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...
s are numerous, as well as
desert tea,
hop sage,
cheesebush,
deerhorn cholla and in the highest elevations,
single-leaf pinyon
''Pinus monophylla'', the single-leaf pinyon, (alternatively spelled piñon) is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range is in southernmost Idaho, western Utah, Arizona, southwest New Mexico, Nevada, eastern and southe ...
,
big sagebrush
''Artemisia tridentata'', commonly called big sagebrush,MacKay, Pam (2013), ''Mojave Desert Wildflowers'', 2nd ed., , p. 264. Great Basin sagebrush or (locally) simply sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in ari ...
and
Utah juniper
''Juniperus osteosperma'' (Utah juniper; syn. ''J. utahensis'') is a shrub or small tree native to the southwestern United States.
Description
The plant reaches , rarely to 9 m, tall. The shoots are fairly thick compared to most junipers, ...
. Rare plants in the area include
fernleaf fleabane (''Erigeron compactus''), a native perennial wildflower, and
Mormon needlegrass (''Eriocoma arida''), a native perennial that grows in Joshua Tree and
Pinyon-juniper woodland communities.
Recreation
The hiking trails are closed four-wheel-drive roads and rise gradually from the bahada to pinyon woodlands in the higher elevations. The most rugged area is the White Cliff Canyon in the eastern portion with cliffs rising above the canyon floor. The wilderness is very seldom visited due to a lack of water and extreme temperatures in the summer months. Wildflower season is from March through May.
Relics of
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
activity are still present both within the wilderness and along the mountain range into Nevada.
See also
*
Piper Mountain Wilderness
*
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...
*
Pack it in, pack it out
*
Environmental ethics
In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resourc ...
References
*
* http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ridgecrest/wilderness/sylvania_mountains.html
External links
Sylvania Mountains Wilderness- BLM
*
*
{{authority control
Protected areas of Inyo County, California
Wilderness areas of California
Protected areas of the Mojave Desert
Bureau of Land Management areas in California