Acquiring minds

More than 17,000 acres within the Granite Range north of Gerlach is now protected for the public in a partnership among the Nevada Land Conservancy, Bureau of Land Management and landowners Todd and Sam Jaksick. The $6 million price tag was funded through the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. A statement released by the BLM and NLC said, “This is the largest and most complex SNPLMA acquisition to date, with more than a hundred distinct parcels with appurtenant water rights across three BLM administrative areas—the Winnemucca field office in Nevada, and the Surprise and Eagle Lake Field Offices in California.”

Despite its proximity to the Black Rock Desert, the land is full of springs, wet meadows and streams. It features high alpine meadows, aspen trees, native grasses and prime wildlife habitat for mule deer, antelope, California big horn sheep, sage grouse, chukar and is the only known home of the endangered Wall Canyon sucker fish.

The Nevada Land Conservancy is celebrating its 10th anniversary and, with this purchase, says it has protected more than five acres a day during the past decade.