The Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577, September 3, 1964) and related acts require the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines to survey certain areas on Federal lands to determine their mineral resource potential. Results must be made available to the public and submitted to the President and the Congress. This report presents the analytical results of a geochemical survey of the North Fork John Day River Roadless Area (B6253) in the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests, Grant County, Oregon. The North Fork John Day River Roadless Area was classified as a further planning area during the Second Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE II) by the U.S. Forest Service, January 1979.
The North Fork John Day River Roadless Area comprised 21,210 acres in the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests, Grant County, Oregon, about 30 miles northwest of Baker, Oregon. The irregularly shaped area extends for about 1 mile on both sides of a 25-mile segment of the North Fork John Day River from Big Creek on the west to North Fork John Day Campground on the east. Most of the roadless area is in the northern half of the Desolation Butte 15-minute quadrangle. The eastern end of the area is in parts of the Granite and Trout Meadows 7½-minute quadrangles.
