The Middle Rockies – Blue Mountains ecoregion represents a large, rugged mass of mountains and valleys covering major portions of the U.S. states of Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, and a small part of Washington. This 52 million acre ecoregion is topographically diverse, and abrupt elevation changes from valley floors to mountain summits are common. The dominant vegetation of the ecoregion is coniferous forest, however the diversity in elevation influences a variety of ecosystems, including sagebrush-grasslands, salt-desert scrub, and subalpine meadows. Over half of the ecoregion is owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service, while approximately 30 percent of the ecoregion is private land. The top threats to biodiversity in the ecoregion are incompatible grazing and forestry practices, invasive species, the development of second homes and resorts, and fire suppression. Additional information on this ecoregion is available from the Washington Biodiversity Project.
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