Eastern Idaho Plant Species Are Diverse, Study Shows

So you think most of the eastern Idaho is covered with nothing more than sagebrush?

Think again.

A team of plant specialists has found 472 species of plants on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, the immediately adjacent foothills of the Lost River and Lemhi mountain ranges and on the slopes of Big Southern Butte.

The Environmental Science and Research Foundation said plant specialists feel that the 550,000-acre federal research facility on the eastern Idaho desert includes the largest protected area of sagebrush steppe in the American West.

A report was published by the foundation. Affiliates from Idaho State University, with assistance from the prime site contractor, Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Co., wrote the report, released on Saturday.

“The INEL supports a rich diversity of native plants,” said Jay Anderson, a foundation university affiliate and professor of ecology at Idaho State. He was primary author of the plant study.

The study said there are 10 categories of plant communities, ranging from lava rock to juniper woodlands.

Typically, native vegetation can be pictured as having two stories. Underneath a canopy of sagebrush are hundreds of species of lower-growing herbs.

About 40 percent of INEL has not been grazed by livestock for nearly 50 years. Lessening the impact of grazing has allowed the restricted area to retain much of southern Idaho’s native flora.

Researchers found 85 percent of the plant species were natives.