For the second year in a row, NWP has put together a twelve person team of runners to compete in an ultra-distance relay race. This year, rather than travel back to Portland, OR, we decided to enter the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey. A 178-mile race that began in Reno and went through Lake Tahoe and Virginia City before ending back in downtown Reno. Each team member was asked to raise a $1,000 for wilderness and was required to run three legs during the race. Below is teammate’ Andy Mitchell’s own thoughts on the experience.

In retrospect, running was the easy part-- the quiet, fresh air, pretty scenery part. The low stress, straightforward, simple, objective part. A reprieve from

logistics and fundraising.

When we weren’t running, we were on edge. Bad reception would bring cryptic messages crackling through from van 1: "Where are you? Steve ran a seven-minute mile-- we are early... EARLY!" We were groggy faces drag-ging sleeping bags through pine needles, motivated by clouds of midnight mosquitoes and passing cars. We piled

into our mini van; so much for a full hours’ sleep. We sped ahead to the next transition, watching out for cops, raccoons and Vinil. Thank goodness for satel-lite radio and the Prince remix. We would leapfrog around the runner and stop to offer water and

cheers, all with the next runner changing in the back and

the previous runner smiling and sweating into the seats.

The van had to drop a gear to get up Kingsbury Grade; so did Erica—but she powered up to the summit and passed a well-worked bracelet to Cameron. He took it down the Nevada side with the steady rhythm of a long-haul semi in the passing lane. Next went Katie, all smiles and effortless cruise. Then Steve on mythic winged san-dals. Stephanie would bravely take over from me, and we would find her well down the road making a steady clip. Only if we made it to a hand off early could we ponder the

dilemma “to port-o-can, or not to port-o-can?”

Weeks prior to ever hitting the pavement, phone calls went out. So did emails, snail mails, brochures, faxes, text messages, mental telepathy, smoke signals, whispers, winks and nods. The fifties rolled in from NYC, Atlanta, Michigan, Chicago, Wisconsin, SoCal, and all five

corners of the Reno-Tahoe watershed. Nevadans who have seen decades old mining scars, tire tracks, and subdivisions proudly turned over checks. Folks from far away had no trouble considering that even if they had never been to Nevada, they might one day come, and when they do they would rather see

sage brush vistas and desert buttes than cookie cut-ter cul-de-sacs named

after them.

Fortified by this reality, I ran 6.2 miles at 3:30 AM through Jacks Valley, NV, and it was the best 53 minutes of my summer. I was motivated and in-spired by the confidence of so many people who got on board for this cause and will continue to do so. Our 178 miles impressed so many contributors, but it is we who are impressed by them. We know that even though we ran so far and so hard, in this wil-

derness pursuit, that was the easy part.

Andy Mitchell Reno, NV

Summer Odyssey- pg. 1

Business Spotlight & Director’s Corner - pg. 2

Lake Lahontan- pg. 3

White Pine County Update - pg. 4-5

Gold Butte Update - pg. 6

Volunteer Spotlight, Caption Contest, Farewell to Erika Pollard - pg. 7

WILD Calendar - pg. 8

Nevada Wilderness Project

Summer Odyssey

In this Issue:

Summer 2006

Photo by Steve Leslie

Photo by Kristie Connolly

NWP Board of Directors

Bret Birdsong, President

Brian O’Donnell, Vice President

Lynn Schiek, Secretary

Chris Todd

Morlee Griswold

Tori King

NWP Staff

John Wallin Director

Kristie Connolly Associate Director

Nancy Beecher Conservation Director

Mackenzie Banta Development Director

Cameron Johnson Northern NV Outreach Director

Cynthia Scholl Membership Coordinator

Nancy Hall Gold Butte Organizer

Coalition Partners

Campaign for America’s Wilderness

Friends of Nevada Wilderness

Nevada Outdoor Recreation Assoc.

Red Rock Audubon Society

Sierra Club - Toiyabe Chapter

The Wilderness Society

Page 2 www.wildnevada.org Summer 2006

Nevada Wilderness Project

Northern Office

8550 White Fir Street Reno, NV 89523 775.746.7850

Southern Office

4220 S. Maryland Pkwy Suite 402B

Las Vegas, NV 89119 702.369.1871

www.wildnevada.org

A 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation

NWP

Mission Statement:

The Nevada Wilderness Project is committed to saving spectacular, rug-ged-and imperiled-public lands in Nevada as

Wilderness, the strongest protection possible.

Business Spotlight: Escape Adventures

The dog days of summer are here, with much of the state experiencing record-high temperatures. In Reno the past few weeks, we’ve routinely hit 100 on the ther-mometer, prompting lots of Nevadans to head to higher elevations for some recreation and relief.

Our work across the state is heating up as well! White Pine County remains front and center, and in this issue, we’ve included a special section on the imminent introduction of the White Pine lands bill and steps you

can take to ensure all wilderness lands get the protection they deserve on pages 4 and 5. You’ll also read about some of Nancy Beecher’s dreams of the Pleistocene on page 3 as we ramp up our summer fieldwork season. From sweltering Mesquite, Nancy Hall keeps us up to date on the roads designation comment period for Gold Butte - a critical process for keeping Nevada’s piece of the Grand Canyon wild. And on page 7, we bid a fond farewell to Erika Pollard, who is moving on to new challenges in Utah.

We also to pay homage in this issue to all of the runners in the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey in our cover piece by uber volunteer Andy Mitchell. We’re on track to a wonderful tradition with that event, which serves as a great exam-

ple of how a small group of people can make a big difference for Nevada

wilderness. I hope you’ll enjoy this issue and act on as many issues as you can—if you don’t, who will?

John Wallin

Director’s Corner

Celebrating human power and the natural envi-ronment in a way that motivates, preserves and educates is the mission of Escape Adventures, a Las Vegas-based hiking, road cycling, mountain biking and multi-sport tour company owned by Jared & Heather Fisher. Both single and multi-day tours take participants into incredible, back-country landscapes around the western United

States, including Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Oregon and California. The tour company operates under a leave-no-trace ethic and encourages responsible

non-motorized use of backcountry trails.

Since 2004, Escape Adventures has been a business supporter of the Ne-vada Wilderness Project. Having a strong backcountry ethic along with employees and customers who enjoy recreating in pristine, natural settings, it makes good business sense that Jared & Heather Fisher have chosen to support public land protection efforts and the Nevada Wilderness Project. Though some would find a company that promotes mountain biking an unlikely partner in wilderness protection, Jared & Heather understand the need to give some of our public lands the highest level of protection that wilderness affords.

We look forward to deepening our relationship with Escape Adventures and appreciate their efforts to motivate and educate their guests about Nevada’s wild places while grinding the pedals and hitting the backcountry trails! For more infor-mation on Escape Adventures and their tours, check out their website at

www.escapeadventures.com or give them a call at 800-596-2953.

There was Once a Lake…….

Page 3 www.wildnevada.org Summer 2006

This is what I saw when I closed my eyes. The earth was unlike any I had ever experienced, and I took a deep breath and smiled at the sight because it cooled me down. Although a moment ago I had been standing on firm ground,

I was now floating in immense waters.

I was in the Smoke Creek Desert, yet I was in a lake. A lake that held more water than most Nevadans ever see. If I had a bird’s-eye view I would have seen over 8,000 square miles of water covering the western Great Basin, includ-

ing much of northwestern Nevada. Hard to imagine, I know. Let me explain.

I had driven and walked for miles over the baked ground in 90-degree heat and intense sun that day. The silence was so loud that I could hear the still air in my ears. The top surface of the dry lake bed was crusty, and the re-flections of the sun’s rays were cruel to my eyeballs. This is why I shut my eyes in the first place, not expecting to have such visions. Visions of the Smoke Creek Desert -- or, more accurately, ancient Lake Lahontan -- 12,000 years ago,

nearing the end of the last Ice Age.

The rain pelted my face, and I knew that I was either hallucinating from the heat or doing an amazing job of envisioning the land’s history. More rain, less evaporation, and water streaming from melting glaciers had filled these giant lake beds. I lifted my eyelashes and caught a glimpse of a giant mammoth, 13-ft tall at the shoulder and 6.5 tons heavy. Relatives of elephants, these animals evolved in Africa 3 million years ago and later spread to the new world. Other animals began to appear in my line of sight: giant bison with 6-ft horn spans, llama-like camels, saber tooth cats as large as lions, great American lions, ground sloths, cave bears and American cheetahs. A large shadow hovered over me, and I ducked as a 30-lb

bird called Teratornis (a relative of the condor with a 14-ft wingspan) flew

overhead.

All of these animals, once inhabitants of this region, are gone. Climate change, as well as man, may have caused their extinction. It was climate change that also led to the drying of the lake beds. Not human-caused climate change, as we hear about these days, but natural background cli-

mate change.

Starting over 12,000 years ago, temperatures rose, and glaciers around the country melted; in the arid western U.S., evaporation increased and lake water became steam. Nowadays, Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake are the only permanently standing water remnants of ancient Lake Lahontan in Nevada. Playas such as Smoke Creek Desert and Black Rock Desert, once part of Lake Lahontan, are now dry lake beds covered with salt. Buried

deep within these sites lies a rich history in fossils.

Before I shut my eyes and floated in the lake, our field worker Derek Bloomquist and I had captured the past with open eyes. We saw wave-cut terraces on the side of Poo-dle Mountain WSA, where the ancient lake shore used to reach. We even saw a structure

created during the lake’s existence called a tufa (see right photo). Pretty cool.

Along with experiencing great sightings, Derek is doing important work. As a tem-porary field worker, Derek ground-truths wild lands of Nevada. With a GPS unit and topog-raphic maps in hand, by vehicle and foot, he covers specific areas that we might propose as wilderness in the future. He meticulously writes notes and takes photographs of roads that aren’t on the map and mapped roads that aren’t on the ground, other human impacts, bio-logical and archaeological observations, and any other item of interest that might play a role

in our final proposals to Congress.

If you are interested in becoming active within the NWP, we are always looking for great people who wish to contribute to our field inventories, hikes, photography, creative prose and other volun-

teer efforts. If you have that itch, please contact me at nancy.beecher@wildnevada.org.

Nancy Beecher NWP Conservation Director

Recreation of a mammoth fossil found in Black Rock Desert, Nevada. [Nevada State Museum]

Photo by Marcial Reiley

Photo by Larry Fellows

White Pine County

Update

Page 4 www.wildnevada.org Summer 2006

4-6 weeks. We should see a bill in 4-6 weeks. This is what our folks in Washington, DC have been telling us, and it is what we have been telling you for the past 4-6 months. Every time we seem to be getting close to introduc-tion, something inexplicably sends the draft of a White Pine County Public Lands Bill back to the drawing board. But as the 109th Congress draws closer to the end of its session, legislation remains imminent, and our confidence in the Delega-tion’s determination to designate wilderness

in White Pine County is still high.

Nevertheless, the time has come for us to begin raising our voices so that the call for wilderness in White Pine County will be heard by our elected officials. At the end of July, coalition volunteers gathered at two different events to help get the word out about wilderness in White Pine County. On July 25th, we gathered at the Great Basin Brewery in Sparks for a White Pine County celebration and strategy session. Sixteen volunteers armed with pens and paper wrote 40 letters to our delegation members asking them to protect Blue Mass in the Kern Mountains, Red Mountain and Shellback in the White Pine Range, Mt. Grafton WSA, and

the South Egan WSA.

The next evening, 18 volun-teers gathered at our Project office in Reno to phone bank both members of the Project and Friends of Nevada Wilderness. The reason for the phone bank was to ask members to call Senators Reid and Ensign at their offices in Washington with the message that White Pine County should be wild, and special places like the South Egan Wilderness Study Area and Shellback Ridge in the White Pine Range should be protected forever as wilderness. The event was a HUGE suc-cess! Our volunteers made over 800 calls and received 200 commitments from members to call our Senators. That’s a combined 400 calls going into Capital Hill. NWP has never done a phone bank

before, but we will be trying again once the bill has been introduced. Hearty thanks goes out to Leif Christensen, Kristen Ashbaugh, Andy Mitchell, Erin Babcock, Kate Pool, Ross Cooper, Heather Singer, Erik Holland, Mojo

Rogers, Linda McNeil, Mary Lou Banta, Cali Crampton, Roxanne Sterr, Kaitlin Backlund, Doug Goodall (who made calls from Salt Lake City!), Richard Knox, Pat

Bruce, and Angie Dykema.

Granite spires in the Blue Mass/Kern Mtn Proposed Wilderness Photo by Pete Dronkers

White Pine County

Action Alert!

Page 5 www.wildnevada.org Summer 2006

We are asking members to continue calling Sena-tors Reid and Ensign in Washington to tell them

that they want to see more wilderness in White

Pine County. Below you will find their phone numbers and the simple message that we need delivered. If you would like more information on these areas, please check our “Proposals” section

on the Project website, www.wildnevada.org.

Senator Reid’s number in Washington is

202.224.3542

Senator Ensign’s number in Washington is

202.224.6244

Remember, let your senator know that you support wilderness in White Pine County and want to see the South Egan Range and White Pine Range protected as wilderness. Leave your name and address with the receptionist so they know you are a constituent. Also, since we are expecting formal legislation to be introduced very soon, please check our web-site to find out the bill number and title be-

fore you call!

Photo by Pete Dronkers

Red Mountain stands at 9,322’ and offers sweeping views of

the Currant Mountain Wilderness and surrounding peaks within

the White Pine Range.

South Egan Towers Photo by Peter Druschke

South Egan WSA Photo by Nevada Wilderness Coalition

Aspen grove in Mt. Grafton Proposed Wilderness

Photo by Scott Smith

Gold Butte Update

Nevada’s Piece of the Grand Canyon Puzzle

Page 6 www.wildnevada.org Summer 2006

The BLM continues to work on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Interim Roads Designation for Gold Butte. It should be available for comment sometime mid August. This is an excellent opportunity to express concern for the natural, scenic and cultural resources that are being impacted daily by vandalism, theft, illegal ORV hill climbs, habitat fragmentation and destruction.

The Citizen’s Wilderness Proposal identifies over 342,595 acres of wilderness quality lands. Presently, there are only two designated wilderness areas in Gold Butte: Lime Canyon Wilderness and Jumbo Springs Wilderness. Million Hills Wilderness Study Area and Virgin Mountain Na-tional Natural Area are managed for primitive recreation; Garrett Buttes has been released from Wilderness Study Area management. It is important to safeguard all quality wild lands and to designate routes that were only identified in the original Wilderness Inventory.

The Bureau of Land Management has designated Gold Butte as an Area of Critical Envi-ronmental Concern, (ACEC). In addition, this area is identified in the Clark County Multi Species Habitat Conservation Plan as critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise. This critical habi-tat is necessary for the survival and recovery of the tortoise to ensure the US Fish and Wildlife Service permit continues to help growth within the county. The location of roads should reflect the tortoise needs.

Native Americans have lived in and used this area for over 6,000 years. Sites include caves, petroglyph panels and roasting pits. Various rock art panels show many generations of use. With the growth of the surrounding valleys and the popularity of ORV use, these resources are being compromised. Campsites are expanding on top of soft sand middens and delicate sand-stone outcroppings. Vandalism, theft and pot hunting have increased. It is important the Route designation pulls roads away from these resources and closes roads crossing over middens, roast-ing pit and dwellings.

Please check our website at www.wildnevada.org for notification of the comment period. For information about this spectacular Southern Nevada treasure and how you can help, contact Nancy Hall at nancy.hall@wildnevada.org.

Nancy Hall Mesquite, NV

Page 7 www.wildnevada.org Summer 2006

Great volunteers come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors and skill sets. This edition’s Volunteer Spotlight shines on our web guru, Drew Story from Ventura, CA. Drew is a member who learned about NWP through our board member, Chris Todd, his partner in crime in Patagonia’s web office. Last summer, Drew received a Patagonia internship to redesign our website, a Herculean task that has greatly improved our messaging and marketing ability on the information highway. Most re-cently, Drew saved us with his quick skills after our website had been hacked and reconfigured to play communist anthems to the backdrop of Islamic fundamentalist propaganda. Seriously, for sev-eral days our website was no longer advocating for the protection of Nevada but instead for the lib-eration of Palestine and Chechneya.

Drew’s tireless efforts and dexterous fingers deserve our many thanks. He’s committed to keeping Nevada wild, and he’s “happy to help keep Nevada from being a nuclear waste dump” in any way he can. His freelance business, The Design Mission, is also a member of 1% For the Planet, a generous sponsor of ours in the past. Kristie summed Drew up best when she wrote, “ Drew rocks and helps us through our web problems all the time.” Thank you Drew, we appreciate your work

for Nevada’s wilderness!

In effort to inject a little more humor into our daily

lives, we’re asking people to submit captions for

our photos. To the right, you’ll find a photo. Sub-

mit the winning caption, and receive a prize, as

well as your name and caption in print in the fol-

lowing newsletter. Please email submissions to

cameron.johnson@wildnevada.org.

Enjoy!

Caption Contest

After five and a half years with the Project, former Conservation Director and cur-rent Foundation and Donor Relations colleague Erika Pollard is moving on to…Utah! She will be exploring new opportunities there as her husband Aaron steps into his new role as a regional sales director for Oracle and as they groom their young son Vann to become a

Wasatch powder hound.

Erika has done incredible work with the Project, from principle authorship of the Clark County and Lincoln County wilderness proposals, to organizing Nevadans with her intelligence and charm and to her most recent role forging a sustainable organizational de-velopment program that has set the tone for the Project’s growth and stability. It’s not un-usual for employees of small non-profits to juggle many tasks, but Erika’s unique leader-ship and grace has made an immense difference in both the quality and the joy of our work. For her many skills (two that come to mind: as a mixer of Bombay Oscars on the

playa and dancing to the Doors with drunken miners in badger hats at rural gas stations) and as a mentor and

friend, she will be sorely missed!

Relaxin’ in a Great Basin Mike Colpo — Reno, NV

Volunteer Spotlight: Drew Story

Your caption here!

A Fond Farewell to Miss Erika!!

HELP US PROTECT YOUR WILDERNESS

Join NWP staff and volunteers on trips to potential wilderness areas! You can see beautiful places and help protect them at the same time by writing letters and plugging in to our ef-

forts in a way that’s interesting and fun. All outings are weather permitting. Please log on to www.wildnevada.org for more information.

NEVADA WILDERNESS CALENDAR

WILDERNESS VALUES TRIPS & EVENTS

It’s easy to help… Cut out this form and mail it to: NV Wilderness Project, 8550 White Fir St; Reno, NV 89523

Enclosed is my donation of: I would like to make a recurring donation:

Monthly

Every 3 months

Annually

$25.00

$50.00

$100.00

$250.00

$500.00

Other Amount: ____________

Comments:

Name Phone Number

Address

Email address

City State Zip

Please include check or money order payable to: Nevada Wilderness Project.

For secure credit card transactions, please visit

http://www.wildnevada.org

Please join us for our

monthly volunteer night at

Reno’s Great Basin

Brewery (www.greatbasinbrewingco.com)

Aug 15th, 6-8pm

Sept 12th, 6-8pm

Oct 17th, 6-8pm

Northern Nevada Events -

Aug. 10 Sparks Farmers’ Market - Please come on by our booth at the Market

Aug. 26-27 Wilderness Values Trip to White Pine County, destination TBD

Sept. 9-10 Wilderness Values Trip to Northern Nevada, destination TBD

Oct. 6-8 Women’s Wilderness Values Trip

Please contact Cameron Johnson at cameron.johnson@wildnevada.org for more information.

Southern Nevada Events - Sept 12th - Wilderness Values Trip to Gold Butte Sept 26th - Wilderness Values Trip to Gold Butte

Nevada Wilderness Coalition Events -

August 3 - Wilderness Happy Hour at Moose’s Beach House (5-7pm) August 5 - Festival in the Pines at Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort (10am—4pm) August 9 - Dead Poet Book Meeting at 937 S. Rainbow (6:30-8:30pm) August 27 - Nevada Wilderness Coalition Picnic at Cathedral Rock Group Picnic Site B (1-5pm)

Please contact Nancy Hall at nancy.hall@wildnevada.org for more information.

Photo © Kristie Connolly

Cover Photo by Howard Booth

Printed on recycled paper