As we gear up for #GivingTuesday and the holiday season, we are touched by the generosity of individuals and businesses that have supported the protection of our public wildlands over the years. We would like to recognize, that for Giving Tuesday, the John T. Drakulich Farmers Insurance company made a gift of $2,500 to protect and preserve the wonder, joy, and health the environment brings to our community. Our trail crews will be grateful for this amazing gift. Thank you!
UPDATE: Stewardship comes in many forms for our staff. Last week, Nora and Chris hiked into Mt Rose Wilderness, just before the winter storms, to spread native seed in areas we have been removing Musk Thistle for almost a decade.
Ormat is proposing to develop geothermal plants just outside of Gerlach along County Road 34. Comments due to the BLM by November 30. For more details and to leave your comment, please view the official release statement here.
Friends of Nevada Wilderness will be fighting this project that would be wedged between the Black Rock Desert NCA and the lower eastern slopes of the proposed Granite Banjo Wilderness. It would directly impact the region’s dark skies, the Granite Banjo Wilderness Proposal, the Americana Art installation of Guru Lane, water sources, and international tourism in Gerlach and the Black Rock Playa.
Our Northern Nevada stewardship team, led by Nora and Chris, headed to the Gabbs Valley Wilderness Study Area (WSA) with a focus on knocking down mining claim markers and replacing worn out and broken boundary marking signs. The same diligent work local conservationist Jim Boone was seen completing in the Fred Bell produced documentary “Fowl Claims” which premiered earlier this month at our Wild & Scenic Film Festival Livestream.
The Wild & Scenic Film Festival Livestream sponsored by KNIT was held on Saturday, October 10 to a virtual audience around Nevada and the US. With the pandemic limiting crowd sizes, the festival went online in our 8th year of hosting the event. We may have been limited in interaction but there was an abundance of cheer and fellowship as we enjoyed personal stories about public lands, overcoming obstacles, environmental issues, and Indigenous rights. We sought to highlight the spirit of what unites us in conservation, community, and our love for Wilderness.
We hope everyone felt as inspired as we did while watching the films. Thank you for supporting our annual event and fundraiser. We appreciate everyone who took the time to become a member or renew their membership with their ticket purchase. If you would like to become a member or make a gift to protect Wilderness, visit our donate page here.
We look forward to seeing you at next year's event, in person!
National Public Lands Day 2020 marked our first volunteer projects since the start of the current pandemic. As expected, it was an awesome day spent on public lands across Nevada. Our Nothern Nevada Stew Crew teamed up with Friends of Black Rock High Rock and Nevada Outdoor School. Our Southern Nevada Team led volunteers on a cleanup of Spirit Mountain Wilderness. Both projects were held on beautiful BLM public lands.
National Wildlife Refuge Week is October 11-17. Observed the second full week of October, the celebration highlights the great network of lands and waters that conserves and protects Americans’ precious wildlife heritage. Nevada has 9 National Wildlife Refuges. Currently, we are seeking to add Wilderness protection to the roadless mountain ranges of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge which house a large population of bighorn sheep, Nevada's state animal. Join us in standing for permanent protection for the Desert Refuge by visiting https://www.dontbombthebighorn.org.
Join online September 5th, 8:00-9:30 pm PDT for a FREE virtual star party! See live images of deep space objects from telescope operators within the Basin and Range Dark Sky Collective!
It’s easy to imagine trail work as hardcore - blazing a path with a saw in one hand and an ax in the other. While ten hours of our day do consist of brushing, sawing, axing, building tread, and miles of hiking, the remaining hours are spent at camp. But there is much more to making a successful trail crew.
We've got some exciting news! After halting our volunteer projects, we are announcing our first volunteer event since early Spring. In-person volunteering is back just in time for National Public Lands Day 2020 (September 26)!
