Desert Biosphere Reserve


The Desert Biosphere Reserve and Experimental Range is a biosphere reserve and experimental range in western Millard County, Utah, United States, that is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.

Description

The experimental range was established in 1933 when of public lands were designated "as an agricultural range experiment station" by President Herbert Hoover.
The range is maintained by the U.S. Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station. It was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1976 but was withdrawn from the program as of June 14, 2017. It is located in the northwest of Pine Valley, a valley section in southwest Millard County, about west of Milford; the north section of the reserve covers the southern half of the Tunnel Springs Mountains. It protects a landscape typical of the Great Basin, with its typical geography of north-south aligned mountain ranges separated by desert basins. Vegetation is typical of the Great Basin shrub steppe, with shadscale saltbush ' and sagebrush '' scrublands predominant. The reserve also includes areas of Single-leaf Pinyon ' juniper woodland and pasture land.