Vegetation Monographs by Dr David A. Charlet

Vegetation Zones
Intermountain Region, Great Basin Division, Central Great Basin Section.

Vegetation Community Structures
Shrublands, Woodlands.

Overview
The Cortez Mountains is a relatively long, steep, northeast- trending mountain range. The range is separated from the northern tip of the Toiyabe Range by Cortez Canyon and reaches the southern banks of the mainstem Humboldt River near Palisade. Pine Valley and Crescent Valley bound the range to the southeast and northwest, respectively. The Sagebrush Zone dominates most of the range. Sagebrush shrublands arise from base elevations on all sides of the mountain range except the extreme southwest and northeast where small woodlands of Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) and singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) descend to base elevations. Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) has been found in Horse Creek. The Montane Zone in the Cortez Mountains is very small and highly fragmented except near Mount Tenabo which contains mountain brush shrublands. Mount Tenabo is sacred to the Western Shoshone whose creation story relates that they emerged from the earth here. Currently, gold is emerging from the mountain and the Western Shoshones are excluded, as Mount Tenabo is surrounded by enormous, active open-pit gold mines.