Pueblo Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Pueblo Mountains are a remote mountain range
in the United States located in southeastern Oregon
and northwestern Nevada
. The highest point in the range is Pueblo Mountain
. The dominant vegetation
throughout the range are grasses and sagebrush
; however, there are meadows with cottonwood, aspen
, and willow
groves along some stream drainages. Most of the Pueblo Mountains are public lands, administered by the Bureau of Land Management
. There is very little human development in the Pueblo Mountains and most visitors come to hike
cross-country, camp
, and hunt
.
are part of the Basin and Range Province of the Western United States
which is characterized by a series of parallel fault blocks forming long north-south oriented mountain ranges separated by wide high desert valleys. The Steens-Pueblo block fault represents the northern-most extension of these structures. The Pueblo fault is not as massive as the Steens Mountain
; however, it is tilted at a 45 degree angle, a much greater angle than the Steens fault. This accounts for the relatively high elevation of the range's main ridgeline which averages 7300 feet (2,225 m) above sea level along its crest.
The range is composed of the same basalt
that blankets much of southeast Oregon. However, the Pueblo Mountains also have much older metamorphic rock
underlying the more recent basalt flows. These older rocks are exposed along the range’s east-facing escarpment
. These rocks may be related to some of the Triassic
formations of the Blue Mountains Province
to the north. These strata have diorite
and granodiorite
intrusions, probably formed in the Cretaceous Period. The southern part of the Pueblo range has metamorphic rocks rich in quartz
impregnated with gold
, silver
, and copper
.
state line. Just west of Pueblo Mountain is West Pueblo Ridge. The ridge is a westward tilted escarpment that runs the length of the Pueblo range. At 8420 feet (2,566.4 m), the peak of West Pueblo Ridge is the second highest point in the range.
The Pueblo Mountain landscape is characterized by rugged ridges with steep escarpments cut deeply by seasonal drainages. The ridges are separated by high-desert basins
. There are meadows around spring
areas. Machine Meadow and 10 Cent Meadow are two of the largest meadows. The Pueblo Mountains range only has a few streams
that flow year around. These include Van Horn Creek and Denio Creek.
The vegetation in the Pueblo Mountains is dominated by large sagebrush and desert grasses. Common grass species include Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass
, cheatgrass, Thurber's needlegrass, mountain brome
, Sandberg's bluegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail. There are high mountain meadows around springs and narrow riparian greenways that follow the year-around streams. Some greenway areas have cottonwood, aspens, and willow groves. Meadow and high desert wildflowers found in the Pueblo Mountains include larkspur
, Indian paintbrush
, cinquefoil, shooting star
, columbines, monkey flower, asters, buttercups, low pussytoe
, lupin
, arrowleaf balsamroot
, penstemon
, agoseris
, draba
, Mariposa lily, sego lilies
, evening primrose
, and iris
.
The wildlife in the Pueblo Mountains is adapted to the high desert environment. Pronghorn antelope are common in the open, sagebrush covered basins while Mule deer
like the cottonwood and willow groves. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
released Bighorn Sheep
in the Pueblo Mountains in 1976, 1980, and 1983. Today, they can be found on the steep slopes and high rim rocks. Jackrabbits, antelope ground squirrels
, bushy-tailed woodrat
s, and coyotes are common throughout the range, as are Small footed myotis bats
. Beaver
can be found in 10 Cent Meadows and several mountain streams as well as riparian areas in the Van Horn Basin. Bird species native to the Pueblo Mountains include sage grouse
s, canyon wrens
, rock wren
s, valley quail
, and chukar
s. There are also larger birds like golden eagle
s, red-tailed hawk
s, turkey vulture
s, and raven
s that ride the thermals above the mountains. There are also rare Whitehorse cutthroat trout
in both Van Horn Creek and Denio Creek.
are the most popular activities. There are also grazing
allotments and mining claims
in the mountains. The Pueblo Mountains are currently being evaluated for possible wind energy
sites.
While the Pueblo Mountains are not a designated wilderness area, traveling in the mountains can be very challenging. The Desert Trail runs through the mountains; however, it is not a developed hiking trail. The route is simply marked by rock cairn
s that serve as guideposts, allowing hikers to trek cross-country over the semi-arid, high desert terrain from one marker to the next. The cairns were built as a cooperative venture between Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
, and the Desert Trail Association (a private organization). The Desert Trail Association publishes a a topographic map for hikers that gives directions for orienteering
from cairn to cairn.
Cattle
and sheep grazing in the Pueblo Mountains began when the first ranches were established along the eastern edge of the mountains in the mid-1860s. Today, the Bureau of Land Management oversees grazing allotments in the area. As a result of these allotments, cattle can be found grazing in some mountain meadows and on open rangeland during the spring and summer.
Miners were among the first to explore the Pueblo Mountains. There are at least 18 locations where mining took place in the past. However, commercial mining has never been successful in the area. Today, there are still valid mining claims in some parts of the Pueblo Mountains along with a few abandoned miners' cabins.
Wind power is now being explored in the Pueblo Mountains. In 2006, the Bureau of Land Management approved a wind energy test at a 468 acre (1.9 km²; 0.731250646552196 sq mi) site in the Pueblo Mountains. The test allowed a private wind energy company to install, operate, and maintain two meteorological poles. The test equipment on the poles monitors weather condition in the area to determine if winds would be strong and steady enough for commercial development. In 2009, the Bureau of Land Management renewed the test permit for an additional three years.
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
in the United States located in southeastern Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and northwestern Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The highest point in the range is Pueblo Mountain
Pueblo Mountain
Pueblo Mountain is the highest mountain in the Pueblo Mountains located in southeastern Oregon, United States....
. The dominant vegetation
Vegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...
throughout the range are grasses and sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata
Artemisia tridentata is a shrub or small tree from the family Asteraceae. Some botanists treat it in the segregate genus Seriphidium, as S. tridentatum W. A. Weber, but this is not widely followed...
; however, there are meadows with cottonwood, aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
, and willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
groves along some stream drainages. Most of the Pueblo Mountains are public lands, administered by the Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
. There is very little human development in the Pueblo Mountains and most visitors come to hike
Backpacking (wilderness)
Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...
cross-country, camp
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
, and hunt
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
.
Geology
The Pueblo Mountains in southeastern OregonSoutheastern Oregon
Southeastern Oregon is a geographical term for the area along the state of Oregon's borders with Idaho, California, and Nevada. It includes the populous areas of Burns, Klamath Falls and Lakeview.-Counties:-Cities and towns:Burns |Chemult |Chiloquin |...
are part of the Basin and Range Province of the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
which is characterized by a series of parallel fault blocks forming long north-south oriented mountain ranges separated by wide high desert valleys. The Steens-Pueblo block fault represents the northern-most extension of these structures. The Pueblo fault is not as massive as the Steens Mountain
Steens Mountain
Steens Mountain is a large fault-block mountain in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in Harney County, it stretches some and rises from an elevation of about above the Alvord Desert to its peak at...
; however, it is tilted at a 45 degree angle, a much greater angle than the Steens fault. This accounts for the relatively high elevation of the range's main ridgeline which averages 7300 feet (2,225 m) above sea level along its crest.
The range is composed of the same basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
that blankets much of southeast Oregon. However, the Pueblo Mountains also have much older metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
underlying the more recent basalt flows. These older rocks are exposed along the range’s east-facing escarpment
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
. These rocks may be related to some of the Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
formations of the Blue Mountains Province
Blue Mountains (Oregon)
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the western United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into southeastern Washington...
to the north. These strata have diorite
Diorite
Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene, magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory...
and granodiorite
Granodiorite
Granodiorite is an intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase than orthoclase-type feldspar. Officially, it is defined as a phaneritic igneous rock with greater than 20% quartz by volume where at least 65% of the feldspar is plagioclase. It usually contains abundant...
intrusions, probably formed in the Cretaceous Period. The southern part of the Pueblo range has metamorphic rocks rich in quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
impregnated with gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, and copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
.
Topography
The Pueblo Mountains cover an area of 356 square miles (922 km²), running 30 miles (48.3 km) north to south and 22 miles (35.4 km) east to west. The highest peak in the range is Pueblo Mountain, which is 8632 feet (2,631 m) above sea level at its summit. It is located in Oregon, 8 miles (12.9 km) north of the NevadaNevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
state line. Just west of Pueblo Mountain is West Pueblo Ridge. The ridge is a westward tilted escarpment that runs the length of the Pueblo range. At 8420 feet (2,566.4 m), the peak of West Pueblo Ridge is the second highest point in the range.
The Pueblo Mountain landscape is characterized by rugged ridges with steep escarpments cut deeply by seasonal drainages. The ridges are separated by high-desert basins
Basin and Range
The Basin and Range Province is a vast physiographic region defined by a unique topographic expression. Basin and Range topography is characterized by abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins...
. There are meadows around spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
areas. Machine Meadow and 10 Cent Meadow are two of the largest meadows. The Pueblo Mountains range only has a few streams
STREAMS
In computer networking, STREAMS is the native framework in Unix System V for implementing character devices.STREAMS was designed as a modular architecture for implementing full-duplex I/O between kernel or user space processes and device drivers. Its most frequent uses have been in developing...
that flow year around. These include Van Horn Creek and Denio Creek.
Ecology
Bluebunch wheatgrass
Pseudoroegneria spicata is a species of grass known by the common name Bluebunch Wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is known by the scientific synonyms Elymus spicatus and Agropyron spicatum. The grass can be found from Alaska to Texas. It occurs in many types of...
, cheatgrass, Thurber's needlegrass, mountain brome
Bromus
Bromus is a large genus of the grass family . Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 to 400, but plant taxonomists currently recognize around 160–170 species...
, Sandberg's bluegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail. There are high mountain meadows around springs and narrow riparian greenways that follow the year-around streams. Some greenway areas have cottonwood, aspens, and willow groves. Meadow and high desert wildflowers found in the Pueblo Mountains include larkspur
Delphinium
Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The common name, larkspur, is shared with the closely related genus Consolida...
, Indian paintbrush
Indian Paintbrush
Indian Paintbrush most often refers to:* Castilleja spp.Indian Paintbrush may also refer to:* Butterfly weed* Hawkweed* Steven Rales' production company, whose productions include The Darjeeling Limited, Towelhead and Fantastic Mr. Fox...
, cinquefoil, shooting star
Dodecatheon
Dodecatheon is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the Primrose family Primulaceae. The species have basal clumps of leaves and nodding flowers that are produced at the top of tall stems that rise from where the leaves join the crown. They are commonly called Shooting Stars because of the...
, columbines, monkey flower, asters, buttercups, low pussytoe
Antennaria dimorpha
Antennaria dimorpha is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name low pussytoes. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Nebraska, where it is generally found in dry areas. This is a small mat-forming perennial herb growing in a...
, lupin
Lupin
Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins or lupines , is a genus in the legume family . The genus comprises about 280 species , with major centers of diversity in South and western North America , and the Andes and secondary centers in the Mediterranean region and Africa Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins...
, arrowleaf balsamroot
Balsamorhiza
Balsamorhiza is a genus of plants in the sunflower family known commonly as balsamroots. These are perennials with fleshy taproots and caudices bearing erect stems and large, basal leaves. Atop the tall stems are showy yellow sunflower-like blooms. Balsamroots are native to western North America...
, penstemon
Penstemon
Penstemon , Beard-tongue, is a large genus of North American and East Asian plants traditionally placed in the Scrophulariaceae family. Due to new genetic research, it has now been placed in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae...
, agoseris
Agoseris
Agoseris is a small genus of liguliferous herbs in the Asteraceae or sunflower family. In general appearance they are reminiscent of dandelions and are sometimes called mountain dandelion or false dandelion...
, draba
Draba
Draba is a large genus of cruciferous plants, commonly known as whitlow-grasses. There are over 400 species:*Draba abajoensis Windham & Al-Shehbaz*Draba × abiskoensis O.E.Schulz*Draba × abiskojokkensis O.E.Schulz...
, Mariposa lily, sego lilies
Calochortus nuttallii
The Sego Lily, Calochortus nuttallii, is a bulbous perennial which is endemic to the Western United States. It is the state flower of Utah.-Description:...
, evening primrose
Evening Primrose
Evening Primrose is a musical with a book by James Goldman and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on a John Collier short story published in the 1951 collection Fancies and Goodnights....
, and iris
Iris (plant)
Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...
.
The wildlife in the Pueblo Mountains is adapted to the high desert environment. Pronghorn antelope are common in the open, sagebrush covered basins while Mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
like the cottonwood and willow groves. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats....
released Bighorn Sheep
Bighorn Sheep
The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...
in the Pueblo Mountains in 1976, 1980, and 1983. Today, they can be found on the steep slopes and high rim rocks. Jackrabbits, antelope ground squirrels
Antelope squirrel
The antelope squirrels or antelope ground squirrels are the genus Ammospermophilus of sciurids found in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico....
, bushy-tailed woodrat
Bushy-tailed Woodrat
The Bushy-tailed Woodrat, Packrat, or Woodrat is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in Canada and the United States....
s, and coyotes are common throughout the range, as are Small footed myotis bats
Eastern Small-footed Myotis
The Eastern Small-Footed Myotis or Eastern Small-footed Bat is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It can be found in Ontario and Quebec in Canada and in the eastern United States...
. Beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
can be found in 10 Cent Meadows and several mountain streams as well as riparian areas in the Van Horn Basin. Bird species native to the Pueblo Mountains include sage grouse
Sage Grouse
The Sage Grouse is the largest grouse in North America, where it is known as the Greater Sage-Grouse. Its range is sagebrush country in the western United States and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. A population of smaller birds, known in the U.S. as Gunnison Sage-Grouse, were recently...
s, canyon wrens
Canyon Wren
The Canyon Wren is a small North American wren, and is about 14.5 cm long. It ranges from far southern British Columbia and Montana south through much of Mexico to western Chiapas and east to Oklahoma and Texas...
, rock wren
Rock Wren
The Rock Wren is a small songbird of the wren family. It is the only species in the genus Salpinctes.The 12 cm long adults have grey-brown upperparts with small black and white spots and pale grey underparts with a light brown rump...
s, valley quail
California Quail
The California Quail, Callipepla californica, also known as the California Valley Quail or Valley Quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family...
, and chukar
Chukar
The Chukar Partridge or Chukar is a Eurasian upland gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It has been considered to form a superspecies complex along with the Rock Partridge, Philby's Partridge and Przevalski's Partridge and treated in the past as conspecific particularly with the first...
s. There are also larger birds like golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
s, red-tailed hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West...
s, turkey vulture
Turkey Vulture
The Turkey Vulture is a bird found throughout most of the Americas. It is also known in some North American regions as the Turkey Buzzard , and in some areas of the Caribbean as the John Crow or Carrion Crow...
s, and raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
s that ride the thermals above the mountains. There are also rare Whitehorse cutthroat trout
Cutthroat trout
The cutthroat trout is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is one of the many fish species colloquially known as trout...
in both Van Horn Creek and Denio Creek.
Human uses
Most of the Pueblo Mountains are public lands, administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The entire mountain range is quite remote. As a result, there are few visitors. Hiking, camping, hunting, horseback riding, wildlife viewing, and photographyPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
are the most popular activities. There are also grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
allotments and mining claims
Mineral rights
- Mineral estate :Ownership of mineral rights is an estate in real property. Technically it is known as a mineral estate and often referred to as mineral rights...
in the mountains. The Pueblo Mountains are currently being evaluated for possible wind energy
Wind energy
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion; see also wind power.Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary area A during the time t is:E = ½ m v2 = ½ v 2...
sites.
While the Pueblo Mountains are not a designated wilderness area, traveling in the mountains can be very challenging. The Desert Trail runs through the mountains; however, it is not a developed hiking trail. The route is simply marked by rock cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
s that serve as guideposts, allowing hikers to trek cross-country over the semi-arid, high desert terrain from one marker to the next. The cairns were built as a cooperative venture between Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department , officially known as the State Parks and Recreation Department, is the government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon which operates its system of state parks...
, and the Desert Trail Association (a private organization). The Desert Trail Association publishes a a topographic map for hikers that gives directions for orienteering
Orienteering
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...
from cairn to cairn.
Cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and sheep grazing in the Pueblo Mountains began when the first ranches were established along the eastern edge of the mountains in the mid-1860s. Today, the Bureau of Land Management oversees grazing allotments in the area. As a result of these allotments, cattle can be found grazing in some mountain meadows and on open rangeland during the spring and summer.
Miners were among the first to explore the Pueblo Mountains. There are at least 18 locations where mining took place in the past. However, commercial mining has never been successful in the area. Today, there are still valid mining claims in some parts of the Pueblo Mountains along with a few abandoned miners' cabins.
Wind power is now being explored in the Pueblo Mountains. In 2006, the Bureau of Land Management approved a wind energy test at a 468 acre (1.9 km²; 0.731250646552196 sq mi) site in the Pueblo Mountains. The test allowed a private wind energy company to install, operate, and maintain two meteorological poles. The test equipment on the poles monitors weather condition in the area to determine if winds would be strong and steady enough for commercial development. In 2009, the Bureau of Land Management renewed the test permit for an additional three years.