The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

The Nature Conservancy has been working in the Carson River watershed since 1989 to protect critical wetlands, meadows, and riparian habitat.  Using land protection strategies, habitat restoration projects and community outreach, the Conservancy develops strong community partnerships with local businesses, ranchers, schools, non-profit organizations and public agencies in order to find conservation solutions that work for people and for nature.

The Carson River flows 184 miles from the high-altitude Carson Iceberg Wilderness of the central Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, through the Lahontan Reservoir, and into the Carson Sink wetlands in the Great Basin of Nevada (see map).  The Carson River watershed supports:

• Nearly 250 bird species
• Sandhill cranes, bald eagles, large populations of white-faced ibis, and one of the only colonies of tri-colored blackbirds in Nevada
• Many wildlife species, including western pond turtles, leopard frogs, mule deer, black bear, mountain lion, and the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout

The work of The Nature Conservancy on the Carson River focuses on protecting important wildlife habitat including:

• Cottonwood and willow riparian
• Wet meadows
• Wetlands

The middle reaches of the Carson River supports some of the best remaining examples of these habitats in the western Great Basin.  Freshwater communities such as these are highly threatened in the arid desert and have been lost from many areas due to water diversions, channelization of rivers, habitat conversion, agricultural and residential development, and invasive species.

How We Work

• Land protection is accomplished by working with willing landowners to preserve their properties in perpetuity through acquisition or conservation easements to protect them from incompatible uses such as development.  Clear Creek is one example of land protection in the Carson watershed.
   
• Restoration includes direct actions to correct past damages on the river, improve habitat, and create more natural conditions in the floodplain.  Restoration work is underway at River Fork Ranch, including planting native vegetation, removing dredge spoils and berms that disconnect the river from its floodplain, and expanding wetlands. 
   
• Sustainable agriculture protects large, unfragmented open space for wildlife habitat and provides an important way of life.  The Conservancy is working to find innovative partnerships that demonstrate that conservation and agriculture can work hand-in-hand to maintain the economic health of private ranches and provide healthy habitat, such as at Bently-Kirman Field. 
   
• Public access and environmental education help develop a stewardship ethic within the community, which is important to the long-term success of conservation efforts.  The Conservancy is working to give people the opportunity to learn about the Conservancy's work, experience the Carson River first-hand through recreational access, and model sustainable living practices at places like the Whit Hall Interpretive Center at River Fork Ranch. 

Where We Work

River Fork Ranch: an 805-acre working cattle ranch at the confluence of the east and west forks of the Carson River owned by the Conservancy.  River Fork Ranch is also home to the Whit Hall Interpretive Center, an educational center for the community and hub for the preserve's trails.

Bently-Kirman Field: a more than 1000-acre property, protected through a conservation easement with partner Bently Agrowdynamics in 2005, that demonstrates that land protection, public access, and ranching can be compatible activities.  

Clear Creek: 853 acres of forest and meadow along the only perennial tributary to the Carson River protected in 2008 with the help of partner Clear Creek Tahoe, LLC.

Sturgis Ranch: a 734-acre working ranch at the biologically-diverse transition zone of the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada ecoregions protected by a conservation easement in 2001.