Cottonwood and Wyman Creek Drainage

Immediately east of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Botanical Area, this area includes the drainage of Cottonwood, Crooked and Wyman Creeks and it exhibits the vegetative zonation typical of the eastern slope of the White Mountains.

Below 1,980 meters (6,500 feet) the primary cover is a shadscale scrub, with Atriplex confertifolia and Ephedra nevadensis the main elements. Most of the area is in a pinyon woodland, which extends up from the scrub to about 2,900 meters (9,500 feet). Pinus monophylla is the dominant, often sole, tree component of the woodland, and basin sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata, predominates in the understory. Utah juniper, Juniperus osteosperma is found scattered, sometimes in almost pure stands, in the woodland.

In the higher elevations a subalpine forest occurs, with limber pine, Pinus flexilis, and some bristle-cone pine, Pinus longaeva. In the highest parts there are alpine fell fields.

In some of the moist areas forests of quaking aspen, Populus tremuloides, are found. Several meadows are present and contain such species as Juncus balticus, Carex douglasii, Trifolium andersonii var. beatleyae, Mimulus spp., Haplopappus spp., and other herbs and grasses. Along the creeks the riparian growth includes the willows Salix lasiolepis and Salix lutea. Water birch, Betula occidentalis, and black cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa, are occasional elements, as is Juncus mexicanus.

The rare or uncommon Heuchera duranii and Eriogonum latens are found in the area.

The flora is generally that of the Great Basin, with numerous Rocky Mountain elements.

Animal life is abundant and diversified. Though many are widely distributed, such as the mountain lion, Felis concolor, and bighorn, Ovis canadensis, others such as Townsend's ground squirrel, Citellus townsendi, Virginia's warbler, Vermivora virginiae, and the broad-tailed hummingbird, Selasphorus platycercus, are typically Great Basin or eastern species. Of note is the Inyo (dwarf) shrew, Sorex tenellus, which was first described from this area and whose range is limited to the White Mountains and the mountains immediately to the south and east. Piute cutthroat trout, Salmo clarkii seleniris, were successfully planted in the previously trout-barren Cottonwood Creek in 1946.

Mesozoic granitics underlie most of the area; however, there are Precambrian and Cambrian dolomites, shales, siltstones and sandstones in the higher elevations. Pliocene volcanics are also present.

Integrity: There are some jeep trails, mining claims and a power line in the area. Cattle graze portions of the area, some extensively. However, much of the area is virtually undisturbed.

Use: Research, educational, observational, on public lands. Some private.

June 1981