Haystack Butte
Ownership: FS
Ecoregion: Blue Mountains
Forest: Ochoco NF
District: Crooked River National Grasslands
Ecological and Physical Description
Haystack Butte Research Natural Area (RNA) was established to represent a western juniper/Big sagebrush/Idaho fescue (Juniperus occidnetalis / Artemesia tridentata / Festuca idahoensis) plant community in the High Lava Plains ecoregion. Haystack butte lies on a small isolated plateau surrounded by rolling terrain. The RNA has very steep slopes and lies within the boundaries of Crooked River Gorge/Crooked River National Grassland watershed and Dry Canyon/Deschutes South watershed. Western juniper/bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata)/Idaho fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) and western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass are the two dominant plant associations of the RNA.