EA proposes to amend Umatilla Management Plan to establish a 1900 acre area as the Wenahee Breaks Research Natural Area within the boundary of the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness, approximately 15 air miles west of Troy, Oregon. It has been identified as a cell need (or elements) in the Blue Mountains for
several vegetation types: 1) mid-elevation ponds with aquatic beds and marshy shore; 2) grandfir/
twinflower; 3) grand fir/ big huckleberry; and 4) grand fir-Pacific yew. In addition to the
mesic grand fir plant associations, this complex also contains, Douglas-fir/ pinegrass, Douglasfir/
ninebark, ninebark-snowberry plant associations common to the mesic forests in the Blue
Mountains physiographic province. Establishment record and designation order formally establish the area, which fulfills an RNA need for a mesic grand fir-dominated forest type in the Blue Mountains.
