Why is this guy so happy?

Because National Public Lands Day is finally here!

National Public Lands Day - Gold Butte

National Public Lands Day at Gold Butte,

This year event was co-hosted by the Friends of Gold Butte and the BLM. Friends of Nevada Friends of Nevada Wilderness was honored to be able to support Friends of Gold Butte & the BLM in their efforts. Volunteers from many user groups came together to build a post and rail fence, and restore and naturailze and old route. Volunteers also planted 50 native plants ans took a little bit of time to explore the awesome Gold Butte backcountry.

National Public Land Day, Black Rock Desert

Night skies on the Black Rock are about the best anywhere. We could see the Milky Way with our eyes and got to look at Jupiter and its four moons with a telescope one of our volunteers brought. A fine potluck with some awesome cooking topped off a warm work day out on the playa. The Nevada Outddor School provided fun kid activities while the parents worked. There were even a couple pet goats with their long beards hanging around camp with glow sticks around their necks.

Cave Springs, Mt Charleston Wilderness

Working for Wilderness
Six volunteers hiked up Trail Canyon armed with shovels, rakes, a pick and of course a couple of cameras to get some stuff done at a beautiful spot named Cave Springs. Now you Charleston locals you know that Cave Springs is one a few places that you can get water along the trail . A few folks have been camping too close to the springs and user created trails are sprouting up everywhere. Someone has hooked the piping back up to one of the springs but some of the old used piping was sticking up and laying exposed. The old pipes were plugged up, and sticking up out of the ground like giant alien bug antennas from a 1950's horror movie... a real eyesore. So Friends of Nevada Wilderness volunteers hiked in and removed the old pipe (we left the one piping system that still works, so water still flows to the trough). Volunteers also removed the campfire rings and naturalized four of the campsites that were right on top of the springs. Volunteers also concealed some of the other spring piping to keep the area looking natural. I suppose that some backpackers don't realize that we're not the only ones that need water; animals need water too. Camping at a spring not only deprives animals of much needed water , but it also increases the probability of lots of human waste & trash will eventually damage the spring area (yuck!). I know that no one wants to do the wrong thing, we just need to get the word out to folks. Please pack out your trash, bury your waste properly, and camp at least 1/4 mile from any spring. The animals will love you for it.

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Special thanks to John, Bill, Carl, Pat, Mike and John, who made the long hike up the trail and made a huge difference for all the wildlife that call the Mt Charleston Wilderness home.

Keeping it Wild in LV

Making a difference.

Sometimes we ask ourselves, "what can I do?" Well if you were to ask Bill James, John Hiatt & John Bialecki they would say "a lot." We were all sadden to hear of the graffiti in Fletcher Canyon, one of the prettiest canyons in the Mt Charleston Wilderness. I heard comments from a lot of folks, about the graffiti and how somebody needs do something about it. Well when these three guys heard about it they asked, "when are we going up there to clean it up?" Thanks to the partnership between Friends of Nevada Wilderness and the good folks at the US Forest Service we got our opportunity today. It took about 6 good hours of hard scrubbing but these guys made a real difference...Fletcher is Wild once more. If you want to get involved, if you want to make a difference on your public lands, please join us on a Friends of Nevada Wilderness stewardship project. We would love to team up with you to Keep it Wild.

Griffith Peak, Mt Charleston Wilderness

Long time Las Vegas Conservationist,and Friends of Nevada Wilderness Board Member John Hiatt is pictured removing campfire rings in an attempt to protect the ancient Bristlecones on the summit of 11,070 Griffith Peak on a Friends of Nevada Wilderness Stewardship Project in the Mt. Charleston Wilderness...yes it was raining & hailing...Go John!


What a way to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, with lightning, thunder, hail, rain,and wind. Oh my gosh it just doesn't get any better than that...Really Good Stuff.

Alder Creek WSA

August 21st - 23rd, 2009

Friends of Nevada Wilderness lead a restoration project in the Alder Creek Study Area in the Pine Forest Range the weekend of Aug 21st. Six volunteers helped to complete the restoration of approximately a half mile of OHV Trespass leading into the Study Area. Volunteers Camped at the Knott Creek Reservoir and were able to get in a short hike into Blues Lakes Sunday on the way home.

Arc Dome Wilderness

August 14th - 16th, 2009

Friends of Nevada Wilderness lead a trail maintenance project into the Arc Dome Wilderness the weekend of Aug 14th. Two sturdy volunteers participated in this project, hiking three miles to the Arc Dome/Sawtooth Junction on the Toiyabe Crest Trail where they posted two trail markers to further increase accessibility on the TCT. On the Way back down Caleb Burke, Sheena Britschgi and FS Representative Davie Kyle cleared rock and lopped the trail which had become overgrown.

Kolcheck Trailhead Project

Friends of Nevada Wilderness volunteers in partnership with the Ely Ranger District worked at the west end of the Kolcheck Trail Head near the High Schells Wilderness area. The project took place from 8-20—8-23-2009. On the 21st volunteers dug out two 3 foot holes in which a large kiosk would be placed. On Saturday volunteers placed the kiosk. Built two 20-foot sections of buck and pole fencing, and restored aprox. 100 feet of road through revegetation and vertical mulching.

Totals:7 volunteers
1 kiosk installed
40 feet of buck and pole fence built
100 feet of road restored

Kingston Canyon Trailhead Project

Friends of Nevada Wilderness volunteers in partnership with the Great Basin Institute and the Austin/Tonopah Ranger District worked together on the Kingston Canyon Trailhead project in the Toiyabe Range. The work spanned from 7-31—8-2-2009. The three groups accomplished the following:

July 31 Crew drove to Kingston Guard Station. 3 crew members hiked South on TCT 3 Miles and 3 members hiked 5.2 miles. .8 Mile lopped on high stretch of trail and 1.2 Mile lopped on lower stretch as crew worked their way back to the trailhead. (Light lopping). Crew set up camp at Guard Station. Crew scouted and planned work at the equestrian and hiking parking lots and trailheads.
August 1 2 TCT signs placed at Equestrian Trailhead. 1 TCT post placed near Hiker Trailhead. 2 TCT signs hiked in South 4 miles on TCT and placed along crest. 1.25 Miles of corridor cleared from Trailheads towards meadows below beginning of switch backs up TCT. 600 feet of tread shaped.
August 2 Corridor cleared through meadows approximately 1.25 Mile. Tread defined through meadows approximately .5 Mile. 500 feet of tread shaped.

Totals: 9 volunteers
4.5 miles of trail cleared
3 directional markers placed
.75 miles of tread shaped and defined