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Contents Volunteers at the Black Rock Rendezvous Strong support for protecting Gold Butte Lush Cosmetics crew gets dirty for wilderness UPS project in the Spring Mountains Nevada's Changing Wildlife Habitat: An Ecological History — save 30% Upcoming events and volunteer projects Your online donation is secure and helps protect wild lands all across Nevada. |
June 7, 2012 Volunteers at the Black Rock Rendezvous
At the Black Rock Rendezvous over Memorial Day weekend, more than 200 attendees joined Friends of Nevada Wilderness, the Bureau of Land Management, Friends of the Black Rock, the Sierra Club, Oregon-California Trails Association and others to brave wind, chill, rain, heat and dustall to enjoy the turbulent magic of the Black Rock. More than 30 volunteers honored those who died in service by performing restoration and monitoring projects on Nevadas public lands. On the eastern edge of the Calico Mountains Wilderness, volunteers installed wilderness boundary signs to help visitors understand where the road ends and the wild country begins. Another team helped improve restoration in sensitive habitat that had once been degraded by vehicles. Two additional teams hiked to remote springs in the Calicos to monitor the health of these essential fonts of desert life.
Throughout the weekend, community spirit was abundant, and people pitched in to help fix tires, right blown-over campers, feed everyone and keep campsites clean. I think we all had a Black Rock experience this weekend that will live a long time in our memories and lives, volunteer Scott Hall. I appreciated all the community spirit in discovering the Black Rock with our friends and family.
Strong support for protecting Gold Butte
Friends of Nevada Wilderness, in partnership with the Nevada Wilderness Coalition, sponsored an independent poll of attitudes towards Gold Butte. By large margins and across party lines, age, gender and ethnicity, Clark County residents strongly support protection of Gold Butte as a National Conservation Area with wilderness. Check out the survey results, map, fact sheets and videos from Gold Butte. Lush Cosmetics crew gets dirty for wilderness
They usually spend their day selling Glorious Mud, but employees from the Lush Cosmetics store in Mandalay Bay got their hands dirty in a different way when they volunteered in the Rainbow Mountain Wilderness this May. A dozen volunteers spent the morning re-naturalizing an area damaged by human impact. After working up a sweat, the team of volunteers headed over to the cool green lawn at the Spring Mountains Ranch State Park for a picnic.
Pearl Gottschalk, Charitable Givings Ambassador for Lush, enjoyed the blue skies and hard work. "I think this is one of the best days we've ever done as a company." Shannon, a Lush volunteer, agreed. "This is way better than being stuck indoors all day!" Seeing the impact of their hard work helped the volunteers make the connection between sales and stewardship.
"We say we want to protect wilderness," Pearl said, "but it's important that we actually see what that means. "Lush sells Friends of Nevada Wilderness "Charity Pots," so we talk about Friends in the store all the time but now we're getting a chance for our employees to actually get out, get their hands dirty and to see that what they do on the sales floor really matters," Pearl said.
All photos for this story are (c) Jose Witt except the Charity Pot which is (c) Kurt Kuznicki UPS project in the Spring Mountains
On Friday, May 11th, 8 wonderful UPS employees joined us in the Spring Mountains NRA to work with the USFS on the new Cliff Rose Trail! These enthusiastic volunteers brushed and cleared 1,177 linear feet in preparation of new trail tread. Because of their hard work, we are one step closer to having another fun new trail to enjoy! Dan Heinz
Dan cared passionately about the things he cared about. Dan cared about wild country — wherever he found it. He worked to protect that land from development, stupidity and off-highway vehicles. Dan fought effectively to change minds and foster good rule-making by the land management agencies in charge of the critters and wildlands he loved. Dan was a "force to be reckoned with," and his voice will be missed.
Charles S. Watson, Jr.
In 1958, he founded the Nevada Outdoor Recreation Association (NORA). He fought hard for strong language in and passage of the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act of 1976 — the document that guides management on BLM lands. Charlie loved to talk about the remarkable beauty of Nevada's public lands and he created his "Big Book", a massive assembly of his photos, maps, and protection proposals for Nevada's public lands. The "Big Book" is housed at the Nevada Historical Society. Charlie was a quirky man with a big heart and an undying passion for protecting Nevada. Friends of Nevada Wilderness will try to carry on his vision for long-term protection of those special BLM lands in Nevada. We will miss Charlie. Nevada's Changing Wildlife Habitat: An Ecological History — save 30% by George E. Gruell and Sherman Swanson
For millennia the ecology of the Great Basin has evolved because of climate change and the impacts of human presence. Nevadas Changing Wildlife Habitat is the first book to explain how and why the plants, wildlife and environment of the Great Basin have been transformed over time. The authors also outline the choices that current users and managers of rangelands face in being good stewards of this harsh but fragile environment and its wildlife. 30% special discount for Friends of Nevada Wilderness members! Yes! For you, the University of Nevada Press will honor a 30% discount off the book's retail price! You must purchase the book online before the end of July 2012 to receive the discount. Here's how:
The discount will be applied during the checkout process. This discount is only available if you purchase the book ONLINE. Get ready for some great, informative reading.
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You are invited: events and wilderness volunteer projects Friends of Nevada Wilderness offers up lots of fun opportunities to help your Nevada wildlands heal and prosper. June 9 Hunter Creek day trip (Mount Rose - just west of Reno) - email Wes to RSVP or call (775) 762-6730. June 15 - 17 Black Rock Fence/Exclosure Project (Four hours north of Reno. FAMILY FRIENDLY) - email Pat to RSVP or call (775) 815-5598. June 22 - 24 Trail restoration and maintenance (in the Santa Rosa Range - 1 hr north of Winnemucca. FAMILY FRIENDLY) - email Brenna to RSVP or call (775) 623-5656. July 4 Bonanza Extravaganza (Mt. Charleston Wilderness - just west of Las Vegas) - email Jose to RSVP or call (702) 203-1720. July 5 - 7 Pahute Peak Wilderness backpack and spring monitoring (Black Rock NCA - 1 hr north of Reno. HIGH ELEVATION and STRENUOUS) - email Brian to RSVP or call (775) 324-7667. July 13 - 15 Lye Creek Campground Maintenance (Santa Rosa Ranger District - 1 hr north of Winnemucca. FAMILY FRIENDLY) - email Brenna to RSVP or call (775) 623-5656. July 13 - 15 Summer of Sheldon volunteer trip (Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge - 4 hrs north of Reno. All fitness levels) - email Pat to RSVP or call (775) 815-5598. New projects will be announced in later emails. See also the stewardship events page. |
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"Charity Pots" (body lotion) benefiting Friends of Nevada Wilderness
are available at the Lush Cosmetics store in Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. 
At the tender age of 75, Dan Heinz, retired U.S. Forest Service ranger and full-time
conservationist, died peacefully at home on April 30, 2012. 
On April 17th, Nevada lost one of its most passionate defenders
of Public Lands, Charlie Watson. Born on August 14, 1934, Charlie dedicated his life
to exploring, mapping and working to protect BLM lands. 