Silver King HMA

Location: The Silver King HMA is located in northern Lincoln County, Nevada approximately 60 air miles south of Ely, and 20 miles northwest of Caliente.

The area consists of 574,962 acres of BLM land and 498 acres of a mix of private and other public lands for a total of 575,460 acres.

Size: The area consists of 574,962 acres of BLM land and 498 acres of a mix of private and other public lands for a total of 575,460 acres.

Topography/Vegetation: The area is within the Great Basin physiographic regions, characterized by a high, rolling plateau underlain by basalt flows covered with a thin loess and alluvial mantle. On many of the low hills and ridges that are scattered throughout the area, the soils are underlain by bedrock. Elevations within the Silver King HMA range from approximately 5,000 feet to 9,500 feet. Annual precipitation ranges from approximately 7 inches on some of the valley bottoms to 20 inches on the mountain peaks. Most of this precipitation comes during the winter and spring months in the form of snow, supplemented by localized thunderstorms during the summer months. Temperatures range from greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer months to minus 20 degrees in the winter.

Vegetation within the Silver King HMA varies with elevation, soil type, and precipitation. The vegetation is diverse with desert shrub/sagebrush/grass plant communities dominating the lower elevations while sagebrush/mountain shrub/grass/pinyon-juniper/mountain mahogany plant communities dominate the benches and higher elevation sites.
The plant species dominating the lower elevations include Wyoming big sagebrush, black sagebrush, winterfat, shadscale, budsage, sickle saltbush, black greasewood, rabbitbrush, Indian ricegrass, Sandburg bluegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, needlegrass, and assorted forb species.

The plant species dominating the higher elevations include Wyoming big sagebrush, mountain sagebrush, black sagebrush, low sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, Utah serviceberry, snowberry, golden and wax currant, pinyon pine, Utah juniper, curlleaf mountain-mahogany, limber pine, white fir, bluebunch wheatgrass, needlegrass, and assorted forb species.

AML:  60-128