Juniper Dunes Wilderness

Infobox_protected_area | name = Juniper Dunes Wilderness
iucn_category = Ib


caption =
locator_x =
locator_y =
location = Washington, USA
nearest_city = Redd, Washington
lat_degrees = 46
lat_minutes = 23
lat_seconds = 30
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 118
long_minutes = 51
long_seconds = 20
long_direction = W
area = 7,140 acres (28.9 km²)
established = 1984
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body = U.S. Forest Service

The Juniper Dunes Wilderness is a protected wilderness area comprising 7,140 acres (28.9 km²) in Franklin County, Washington. Established in 1984, it is noteworthy for the northernmost growth of western juniper trees that live among the area's large sand dunes.cite web | title=Juniper Dunes Wilderness | url=http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wname=Juniper%20Dunes| accessdate=2008-02-21]

Flora and fauna

Common wildlife found in Juniper Dunes Wilderness include mule deer, bobcat, coyote, badger, skunk, weasel, porcupine, pocket gopher, kangaroo rat, several species of mouse, hawk, owl, raven, quail, partridge, pheasant, dove, numerous songbirds, and rattlesnakes.

Other than the namesake junipers, no trees grow in significant numbers here. Other vegetation found in the Wilderness include rubber rabbitbrush, green rabbitbrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, Indian ricegrass, white sand-verbena, Franklin sandwort, sicklepod milkvetch, turpentine cymopterus, hymenopappus, prickly pear cactus, sand-dune penstemon, lanceleaf breadroot, sand dock, Carey balsamroot, wild-hyacinth, larkspur, wild flax, snow buckwheat, desert parsley Indian-potato, and silverleaf phacelia. [ [http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben279.html Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area, Franklin County, Washington] - Botanical Electronic News]

Access

Currently no legal access to Juniper Dunes Wilderness exists, as the entire surrounding land is privately owned. An agreement in early 2007 with landowners allows visitors, with permission, to travel on one of several old jeep trails that end near the Wilderness boundary.

References

External links

*cite news
first =
last =
author = Eric Degerman
url = http://archive.tri-cityherald.com/SPORTS/outdoors/juniperdunes.html
title = The Sahara of Washington Juniper Dunes Wilderness, just convert|15|mi|km north of Pasco, seems a world away
publisher = Tri-City Herald
date = 2002-04-24
accessdate = 2006-06-29
*cite news
first =
last =
author = Anna King
url = http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/v-rss/story/8642534p-8534430c.html
title = Access deal met at Juniper Dunes
publisher = Tri-City Herald
date = 2007-02-15
accessdate = 2007-02-15
*cite news
first =
last =
author = Karen Sykes
url = http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/032097/hike20.html
title = Head east to escape the rain at Juniper Dunes Wilderness
publisher = Seattle Post-Intelligencer
date = 1997-03-20
accessdate = 2008-02-21