Tough threats call for new strategies to conserve Nevada's Basin and Range

From the Spring Mountains outside of Las Vegas to the Bodie Hills near the California-Nevada border, the Conservancy is changing the way we approach increasing threats to Nevada's vast and remote landscapes including climate change and invasive species like cheatgrass. Conservancy scientists have pioneered new strategies to tackle these challenges by using cutting-edge science and satellite imagery. The process, called "Enhanced Conservation Action Planning" (Enhanced CAP), was developed by the Conservancy's science team and is increasingly recognized by public land managers as a better way to plan for management and restoration of large landscapes.

Through the process, Conservancy staff guide land managers in an exercise that uses ecological models to asses the health of ecosystems, explore alternative restoration activities that could be used to improve the landscape, and identify the best return on investment to maximize the dollars available for restoration.

Read an article from the Inyo County Register about this work.

Spring Mountains @ Nevada DCNR

Eastern Nevada Project

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site

The Nature Conservancy's Eastern Nevada Project and the federal Bureau of Land Management's Ely District each contain portions of the Great Basin and Mojave Desert Ecoregions. More than 650 plant and animal species thrive in the diverse ecological systems throughout the 72-million-acre Great Basin. Hundreds more flourish - sometimes improbably - in the arid but uniquely adapted 33 million acres of the Mojave.

The Conservancy and BLM are working with other stakeholders in an innovative public-private partnership seeking ways to balance biological preservation with land uses such as grazing, agriculture, wildlife management and recreation. Eastern NV Project @ Louis Provencher

Threats
The combined effects of fire suppression, historic over-grazing, excessive groundwater depletion and invasive weeds pose the greatest threat to the biological health of these lands.

Plants
Sagebrush, pinyon-juniper woodlands

Animals

greater sage grouse
pygmy rabbit
desert bighorn sheep
migratory and riparian birds including:
- southwest willow flycatcher
- yellow-billed cuckoo
numerous important aquatic species including:
- Hardy spring snail
- Emigrant spring snail
- Morman White River spring fish
- White River speckled dace
- Pahranagat round tail chub

Our Conservation Strategy
The Conservancy is committed to securing the permanent protection of 80 sites consisting of about 2.5 million acres of Eastern Nevada's most ecologically significant lands and waters. These sites - which comprise entire watersheds, vast landscapes and complex natural systems - are located primarily on publicly owned lands managed by the BLM and US Forest Service.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
When the BLM announced plans to update its 22-year-old Resource Management Plan for the 11.4-million-acre Ely District, the Conservancy and other members of the non-profit Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition - a working group including BLM, USFS, the US Fish and Wildlife Agency, ranchers, conservationists and state and local agencies - were invited to review management processes and strategies and make recommendations.

From fall 2002 to winter 2003, scientists from the Conservancy led a series of multi-partner workshops to help the ENLC and BLM address the threats and establish conservation priorities for four planning areas encompassing 3 million acres:

Eradicating and/or managing invasive weeds/grasses/tamarisk throughout entire watersheds by providing inventory support, funding support and taking measures to prevent introduction.
Allowing for landscape-scale prescribed fire and mechanical fuel thinning.
Introducing new ecological concepts in public land management policy including computer modeling and statistical modeling and measuring of ecological results.

Preserves/Projects/Places to Visit
Contact Dr. Louis Provencher, (775) 322-4990, ext. 20