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Nevada Wilderness Project
In This IssueThere’s something in the air across Nevada. It’s been hazy all summer. Fires are burning across the state
and region affecting urban and wild areas alike. Burned areas from previous years continue to recover. In this issue of the Newsletter we get updates on burn recovery from our Gold Butte Organizer, Nancy
Hall (pg 1) and Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition fire restoration specialist, Neil Frakes (pg 3), as well as some some awesome insights into the ecology of fire and fire management from George Wuerthner.
Thank you to Neil, Nancy and George for offering your expertise!
Fire Season has taken hold of the west again!
10? - Though the air in Nevada this summer has been intermittently filled with smoke, the hori-
zon lit by fire casting eerie glows on the mountains, “there are few threats to wilderness landscapes from wildfire, per se,” says George Wuerthner, ecologist, author and photogra-pher. “Wildfires are a natural ecological process that actu-ally preserves wildness” Still, Wuerthner says that there are a lot of other considerations involved in managing lands and fire. Wuerthner’s book, The Wildfire Reader: A Cen-tury of Failed Forest Policy, was published in 2006 by the Foundation for Deep Ecology.
“It is important to real-ize that wildfire is a natural ecological [regime] in most of Nevada’s veg-etative communities,” Wuerthner says, but adds that the history of fire suppres-sion in the west has not been the sole influence on all plant communities. “This is important to understand.”
Much of Nevada’s wild lands are grazed by cattle and much of that land has been affected by the spread of cheat-grass. “Cheatgrass is a highly flammable annual,” Wuerth-ner says. “It dries out sooner than native perennials and hence lengthens the fire season.” That coupled with high grazing eventually taxes the native grasses’ ability to recover
Here in Mesquite, I watch the thunderheads build over the Arizona strip, and hold my breath hoping there will not be the tall white plume of smoke at sunset. There are tens of thousands of acres affected by wildfire just beyond the Virgin Mountains so far this year.
In 2005, the Mojave Desert lost 700,000 acres of joshua tree forest, black-brush, creosote, and pinion and juniper ecosystems in the Southern Nevada Complex Fire (SNCF). Gold Butte’s (2005) fire was minimal at 18,000 acres, compared to those in the then newly designated Big 4, Mormon, Meadow Valley, Delmar and Clover Mountain Wilderness.
The vastness of the SNCF had a combination of causes. Record rainfall nurtured invasive species such as red brome and sahara mustard which carried the fire throughout areas unaccus-tomed to fire. High winds and the invasive grasses carried the fire across large areas quickly. The devastation was heart breaking. I had advocated so passionately for the Big 4 to be designated Wilderness!
What is next for these wilderness areas? First, a multi agency group of dedicated land managers, the BAER team [Burned Area Emergency Response, a Na-tional Interagency Team], was assigned to work on the
continued on page 2continued on page 7
Photo by Warren Shaul
Fire in the Gold Butte Complex,
Nancy Hall
www.wildnevada.org
Summer 2007
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Northern Office8550 White Fir Street
Reno, NV 89523775.746.7850
Southern Office4220 S. Maryland Pkwy
Suite 402DLas Vegas, NV 89119
702.369.1871
A 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation
NWP Board of DirectorsBret Birdsong, President
Brian O’Donnell, Vice President
Lynn Schiek, Secretary
Chriss Todd
Tori King
NWP StaffJohn Wallin
Director
Kristie Connolly
Associate Director
John Tull
Conservation director
Mackenzie Banta
Development Director
Cameron Johnson
Northern Nevada Otreach Director
Nick Dobric
Southern Nevada Outreach Director
Cynthia Scholl
Membership Coordinator
Nancy Hall
Gold Butte Organizer
Nevada Wilderness Project
The Nevada Wilderness Project is committed to saving the spectac-ular, rugged-and imperiled-public lands in Nevada as Wilderness, the
strongest protection possible
Coalition PartnersCampaign for America’s Wilderness
Friends of Nevada WildernessRed Rock Audubon Siciety
The Wilderness Siciety
by Nancy Hall Gold Butte Organizer
WEE-thump. It’s a funny word. Or is it? It is a Paiute word meaning “ancient ones” and the namesake of a small wilderness near Searchlight, Nevada. The Weethump Wilderness is home to some of the oldest Joshua Trees in the Mojave Desert and is an example of how a small group of people in today’s world can preserve a piece of the ancient wilds for future generations. In 2002 It became the first citizen proposed wilder-ness on BLM land in the country to be enacted through grass-roots action.
Weethump.com is a blog chronicling our adventures in wild places and the Ne-vada Wilderness Projects efforts to replicate that success. We invite you to be a part of it by posting comments on the blog, adding your photos to www.flickr.com/groups/weethump and sending us your stories from Nevada’s Wilderness, to [email protected].
You can also find articles from the newsletter on the blog as well as extended con-tent including interviews with prominent people in the community, photography, and addidional informative articles on the web.
www.weethump.com
SWIM, BIKE AND RUN!
Join the Nevada Wilderness Project for the Pumpkinman Triathlon outside of Las Vegas at Lake Mead and Boulder City on October 14th 2007.
This event will be a fun way to make new friends, get in shape and help protect Nevada’s wild places all at the same time.
There is the option to participate in either an intermedi-ate distance triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run), sprint distance triathlon (.75k swim, 20k bike and 5k run), or be part of a relay team. For more information about the event and the course check out the Pumpkinman website at http://bbscendur-ancesports.com/pumpkinman.html.
In order to support the Nevada Wilderness Project’s important work, athletes will raise $1200 if they do a full triathlon and $600 as part of a relay team. The Project will cover your entrance fee. Commitment is required by Au-gust 15th 2007. For more information please feel free to contact Mackenzie Banta or Cynthia Scholl at [email protected] or 775.746.7851.
Emergency Stabilization Plan. Having volunteered with the BLM, and my familiarity with the archaeological resources, I had the opportunity to work with the BAER team. It was amazing to see the amount of area covered by the team in one week and the intensi-ty of the energy that flowed through the task force. Next, Mother Nature’s plan begins to
progress. Shoots from the base of the joshua trees began to appear, bunch grasses and the desert almond began to regrow.
continued from page 1
3 Ways to Keep It Wild in Nevada:
www.weethump.com
Summer 2007
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Southern Nevada Complex Fire Recovery
Followed by a wet summer and relatively wet winter the Southern Nevada Complex Fires that burned in 2005 were dominated by invasive annual grasses such as cheatgrass and red brome in 2006. This is especially true at lower elevations. However, the 2006/’07 winter was comparitively dry, and these areas tend to not have as much red brome/cheatgrass currently. Rather, they tend to be dominated by a non-native annual forb called Erodium (also known as storksbill or filaree). At the higher elevations, cheatgrass and red brome still tend to domi-nate. But native perennial plants are also regenerating, moreso than at the lower elevations. Resprouting shrubs such as scrub oak, serviceberry, and skunkbush sumac continue to grow larger. Native perennial forbs, especially desert globemallow, mock vervain (Glandularia gooddingii), and showy goldeneye are common in some areas.
Many of the higher elevation burned blackbrush and pinyon-juniper communities were seeded with native perennial species in wilderness during the first winter post-fire. As of last year, few of these seeded species were establishing. We’re just beginning to monitor these areas this year, so I really can’t say what’s going on out there. I don’t feel especially comfortable projecting into the future, because I don’t think we really know much about how these areas respond to fire in the long term. I have some personal hypotheses, but only time will tell.
by Neil Frakes
The Desert National Wildlife Refuge Needs Your Help
Less than fifteen miles from the Las Vegas Strip is a place that is on the opposite end of the spectrum
from the eye-piercing lights, hordes of gambling tourists and towering casino hotels. The place is the Desert Na-tional Wildlife Refuge. Here the stars light up the night sky, hordes of wildlife call it home and mountain ranges tower over remote valleys.
Southern Nevada is blessed to have one of the wildest places left in the contiguous US. Covering over 1.5 million acres, the Refuge is the largest wildlife refuge outside of Alaska. Established in 1936 for the protection and enhance-ment of Desert Bighorn Sheep it now contains the largest population of them in the world. The wildlife service stated, “It is doubtful that any part of the State of Nevada offers a greater diversity of animal life than the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.”
Not all is nirvana in the Refuge. Development from Coyote Springs in the east and North Las Vegas is bring-ing houses right up to the boundary. The rapid growth threatens to deplete the springs on which wildlife depend. Military conflicts from the Nevada Test Site and the Nellis Air Force Range also clash with the needs of the Refuge’s
wildlife. And if that’s not enough, the Department of Energy wants to take a piece of our Refuge and use it for energy corridor development.
We do have the opportunity to preserve a truly unique desert wilderness experience. The wildlife service
has recommended the area be designated as wilderness for decades and citizens have advocated for it in two different public lands bills. What the refuge needs most is a constituency of people who care about the place and want to see it preserved for future generations to enjoy. For ways to get involved and help out contact:
Joshua tree sprouts 5 months after the
fire, Nancy Hall
DNWR photo by Ramsey Hong
www.wildnevada.org
Summer 2007
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www.weethump.com
Summer 2007
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www.wildnevada.org
Summer 2007
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Many of you have probably heard people talk about the “P-J Community” in reference to the dominant veg-etation in the mountainous Great Basin. P-J refers to the pinyon-juniper complex of tree species that is common at mid and upper elevations throughout Nevada’s mountain ranges, typically from around 5,250 feet up to about 8,000 feet. In Nevada, singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) are the most com-mon species of each type, and pinion occurs at the highest elevations with juniper mixing in at middle elevations.
In recent de-cades, there has been concern about the apparent expansion of P-J into other vegetation communities. This expansion is frequently referred to as “encroachment” because the P-J complex significantly alters the plant composition underneath the trees (understory). Scientific consensus appears to point to a rapid expansion of these two tree species out of rocky areas and steep mountain slopes and into grasslands and other lower elevation sites (Tausch and West 1988, Miller and Tausch 2001), primarily due to fire suppression and fine fuels reduction from extensive livestock grazing (Knapp and Soule 1998, Miller and Rose 1999). This expansion immediately followed expansion into Nevada by pioneers about 130 years ago.
P-J expansion results in many changes to the land-scape. Most notably, trees that can reach 30-40 feet in
height alter the vistas and appearance of a mountain range. Plant diversity is generally reduced because there are fewer species growing in the shade of the trees than would occur in an open grassland or shrub community. Also, erosion increases due to the lack of small plants acting as a mecha-nism to hold the soil in place during rainfall and other wa-ter run-off events (Blackburn 1975, Blackburn et al. 1992, Pierson et al. 1994). Wildlife species change as a result of plant changes as well. Most notably, mule deer and cougars
have greatly increased in numbers in Nevada be-cause of the expansion of the P-J com-munity.
The greatest change may be to the fire cycle, but through
the interaction of P-J and other plant and animal species. P-J communities produce heavy fuels in high loads that can carry wildfire at extreme intensities if the forest canopy burns. Bark beetles and drought can lead to mortality of large stands of P-J, and these areas are susceptible to ex-treme wildfire conditions that are likely to lead to replace-ment of the vegetation community with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), a non-native grass that has greatly transformed the fire cycle and plant and animal diversity across the Great Basin (Miller and Tausch 2001).
To see the reference list, please visit www.weethump.com. Photo of PJ in the Robert’s Mountains by Mike Hen-derson.
Pinyon-Juniper Encroachment
Directions from Reno – Head south on 395 to Holbrook Junction. Turn left onto Rt 208 and follow it through the town of Wellington until the intersection of Hwy 338. Turn south onto 338 towards Bridgeport and follow until reaching a right hand turn for Risue Rd, Forest Service Rt 050. DeLorme Nevada Gazetteer D5 & 6.
Vitals – East Sister Peak is part of the Sisters in the Sweet-water Mountains which span across the Nevada/California
border. Currently it is designated as a 20,000 acre Forest Service Roadless Area that the agency has listed as capable for wilderness, only part of this area is actually in Nevada. The peak itself stands at well over 10,000 ft and offers amazing views of the Eastern Sierra, the Great Basin Rang-es as far east as the Toiyabes, and very cool temperatures, even in the summer. The best route to the summit is via the west side of the peak. There is a pack trail leading through the canyon, but to gain the peak one must travel overland.
The Sisters, Lyon County, NV
by John Tull
www.weethump.com
Summer 2007
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year to year.
Wuerthner has some great ideas on how to approach managing fire risk in urban wilderness versus remote wil-derness, e.g. Mount Rose or Mount Charleston versus Arc Dome or the Jarbidge.
“The first thing that has to be done is to eliminate the kinds of practices that favor changes in fire regimes. Since livestock grazing is permitted in most wilderness areas, this probably has the biggest impacts on wildfire management. As long as livestock are spreading weed species like cheat-grass, weakening native grasses, trampling wet meadows, destroying cryptogramic crusts, and so forth, you are going to favor the spread of cheatgrass and other weedy species that provides the fine fuels that favor fire spread.”
“The second thing is to use more prescribed burns in the appropriate habitats (i.e. vegetation regimes that had high frequency low intensity blazes) outside of wildlands to reduce fuels. Such treatments have to be done frequently because fire actually stimulates plant growth, so you have be prepared to do prescribed burns on a frequent basis. Right now we spend millions of dollars fighting fires but little on prescribed burns which can help to reduce the spread of fires. However, it must be noted that under severe conditions of drought, wind, high temperatures, and so forth, prescribed burns will not prevent the spread of fires.”
“The third thing is obvious--we need to let natural fires burn without suppression in wilderness areas so they can play their critical ecological role. And it’s important to realize that not all fires will be small ones. Big blazes do most of the ecological work.”
“Fourth we need to implement land use zoning. I know these are unpopular, but the spread of sprawl is
contributing to not only higher costs for fire suppression, but also affecting the ability of agen-cies to permit fires to burn in areas that would oth-erwise not pose a problem--such as the Mount Rose Wilderness. In a
sense, county commissioners and state legislatures that refuse to adopt land use planning that promotes urban growth boundaries are putting the public at risk. They are creating conditions that will, over time, make it more dangerous for everyone, increase taxes or reduce services as more money is diverted to fight fires that, under other circumstances, would not be fought at all. If you care about saving tax dollars, saving lives, and preserving natural land-scapes, then you have to get serious about land use plan-ning and zoning. Oregon has urban growth boundaries that greatly restricts urban sprawl, and hence fire fighting costs. Oregon’s model is worth emulating.”
“Fifth, there needs to be more emphasis placed upon homeowner responsibility for home protection. Reduc-ing flammable materials around homes goes a long ways towards reducing fire hazard. A metal roof significantly reduces house flammability.”
For the complete transcript of our interview with George, please visit weethump.com. For more on George Wuerthner, visit www.wuerthnerphotography.com.
continued from page 1
This recurring section will give you, the member, greater in-sight into natural science issues that affect wilderness areas. It will showcase the views and expertise of prominent ex-
perts from throughout the public lands community. We will fea-ture highlights from the responses here. Please visit www.weethump.com, NWP’s blog, for the complete interviews.
photos of Hawkin Fire by Maresa Martin
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comments:
Is the southern Nevada Big 4 Wilderness still wild? You bet! Section 4(d) (1) of the Wilderness Act of 1964 allows fire fighting in designated wilderness. The Nevada Public Lands Bills have addressed just that. In 2000, the Black Rock Bill clarified fire management operations and the Clark County Bill in 2002 included broader language allowing for fire suppression and needed mechanized use.
In Nevada, we are fortunate to have dedicated agency employees, and the Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition fire restoration specialist, Neil Frakes, working gently with Mother Nature to restore these ecosystems we so cherish as wild.
More from Nancy Hall on the Southern Nevada Complex Fire on page 3
Happy Hours @ Great Basin Brewery:Aug 1�th �-8pmSept 18th �-8pmOct 1�th �-8pmNov �0th �-8pm
NWP Events! Hikes/Events:Aug 1�th – Final Sparks Farmers MarketAug 19 – Wovoka Proposed Wilderness, Lyon CoSept 8th – Wovoka Proposed Wilderness, Lyon CoOctober 5-8 NV Wilderness Rendezvous, Esmeralda CoOctober 12th – Wild Men 2008 Calendar Party, Reign, LV, NVOctober 14th – Pumpkinman Triathlon, LV, NV Southern Nevada:
August 15th: Wild Nevada slideshow at the Dula Gym roundtable at 10am.
August 16th and September 20th: Henderson Farmers Market 10am-2pm.
Aug 16th: Happy Hour @ Crown & Anchor in Las Vegas at 6pm.
Aug 18th: Wilderness Values Trip to Mount Charleston at 8am.
September 1: We will be having an informational table and collecting letters at the Mount Charleston Bike Race.
Sept 15-16: Desert National Wildlife Refuge evening hike.
Sept 20: Volunteer Night.
Please contact the illustrious Nick Dobric for details on these events @
[email protected] (702) 369-1871
Northern Nevada:
