Friends Celebrates 1st Designation of New Nevada Wilderness Areas in Eight Years
Dec. 23, 2022 - Today, President Biden signed into law H.R.7776 - James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. This bill, which was approved by both the House and Senate earlier in the month designed more than 182,000 acres of new Wilderness Area, marking the first time since 2014 that new Wilderness has been added to the previous inventory of 3.4 million acres in Nevada. The new Wilderness areas are the Clan Alpine Mountains (128,362 in Churchill County), the Desatoya Mountains (40,303 acres in Churchill and Lander Counties), and the Cain Mountain Wilderness Area (14,050 acres in Churchill and Lander Counties).
In addition, Congress created the Numunaa Nobe National Conservation Area which encompasses much of the Stillwater Range and the Numu Newe Special Management Area to help protect important cultural values. In total there are more than 500,000 acres of new conservation protections.
Friends Celebrates Volunteers and Supporters at Annual Wingding
So many volunteers and so little time!
Friends of Nevada Wilderness honored its outstanding volunteers and supporters at the annual Wingding at Rancho San Rafael Friday night, but didn’t have time to read off the names of every person who donated time, money and energy in 2022.
Friends Celebrates Announcement of Nevada's Newest National Monument
Nov. 30, 2022 - The pending designation of the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument will be a historic addition to the list of legacy public land designations in Nevada, according to the non-profit Friends of Nevada Wilderness.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of this act announced by the Biden Administration,” said Friends Executive Director Shaaron Netherton. “Permanent protection of this place expresses reverence for cultural antiquity and the spiritual power this land will always hold for Indigenous people.”
Thanks to You, Friends Met Our Match!
Thanks to many generous donors who love Nevada's wild lands, we received over $32,000 towards our Truck Match Fund - surpassing our goal by $4,000 - for a total of $60,000 with the additional matching grant of $28,000!
Friends Opposes Ill-Conceived Gerlach Project
October 6, 2022 - Friends of Nevada Wilderness has submitted formal comments asking the Bureau of Land Management to deny plans by Ormat to drill for and subsequently build an industrial scale geothermal project abutting the town of Gerlach and valuable public lands. The comments were submitted in partnership with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).
Friends Receives Generous Truck Match Challenge of $28,000!
Thanks to a generous foundation match of $28,000, Friends will be able to keep the wheels turning for our northern Nevada stewardship program - but only if we raise an additional $28,000 before the end of October to match this wonderful gift!
Friends Celebrates Wild Nevada on 58th Anniversary of Wilderness Act
September 3, 2022 - The anniversary of the 1964 Wilderness Act on Sept. 3 is a good time to remind ourselves of what we mean when we talk about “Wild Nevada.” Just what is that, anyway?
Dark Sky Fest a Stellar Success
August 25, 2022 - Nearly 150 people gathered in Cedarville, CA, August 19 & 20 to celebrate the starry skies in and surrounding the Massacre Rim Wilderness Study Area and International Dark Sky Sanctuary.
First Ever Alt Summer Break was Wet and Wild!
August 12, 2022 - A little summer rain didn’t stop a crew of Southern Nevada staff and seven hardy volunteers from getting some major work done in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA) in early August.
Public Lands v. Politics…Going into extra innings
July 26, 2022 - Friends has worked incredibly hard this year to seize opportunities for Congressional approval of critically important conservation designations in Nevada. And while there have been a couple of unexpected strikeouts, the theme so far in 2022 could be, just like in a good baseball game, “it ain’t over till it’s over.”
