Footsteps I



Much of Nevada can be a harsh and difficult land. (Photo by Tom Baugh)

I recently traveled to the western edge of the Great Basin in the US State of Nevada. In almost all ways this is a very big and mostly very lonely land. Except for major cities such as Reno in the northwest and Las Vegas far to the south, most other communities are relatively small and compact as if gathered-in against the immensity of the surrounding sagebrush and sand that dominates much of the area. On the west, the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range pierce the frequently blue skies...skies broken by the highest peaks and only occasional contrails of very high-flying military and civilian jets. These mountains block what little rain Nevada receives from the Pacific Ocean in this time of increasingly severe drought in the western United States.  Author Mary Austin once referred to the area south of the site I was visiting as the 'land of little rain' and, mostly, that is the case for much of the Great Basin and the other desert regions east of California. The earth in these places range from a sandy yellow brown, to beige, to alkali white. The vegetation the dark green of Pinyon and blue-grey of sagebrush. Although these colors and tones are the general rule they are not exclusive.

Wheeler Peak, Nevada. (Photo by Tom Baugh)



Cemeteries and mine tailing dumps remind us of early Virginia City, Nevada. (Photo by Tom Baugh)

It was the exception to the desert tones and hues that had brought my son Kevin and I to this site in the shadow of Wheeler Peak. South of the Nevada state capitol at Carson City, the interstate highways spawned smaller two lane ribbons of asphalt leading to communities such as Smith and Yerington and,  old mining camps such as Aurora and, further south Bodie. Occasionally, we would pass bluish metal markers noting the historical significance of a particular site. There are a number of these historical site markers in Nevada, especially western Nevada, because a lot of history took place here.  The 49 ‘ers crossed these lands before ascending the steep and rugged eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada range in search of the gold in California only to make the return trip in 1859 to establish the mineral-rich mines of Gold Hill, Silver City, and the queen of them all, Virginia City in Nevada’s Comstock Lode. 

Several of us have formed a study group to address Environmental Aesthetics. For those who are interested, please  contact me at springmountain1@att.net.

(Continued in next post)

Water, Hot and Cold I

 

I recently completed work on a small project in northwestern Nevada. As one of my colleagues, a young African scholar, likes to say…the project is in the land of cowboys and Indians. The study site is a thermal wetland composed of a number of seeps and springs that flow from the earth at the base of the foothills of the massive Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. These majestic mountains tower thousands of feet above the springs and the adjacent valley to the east. The waters of the springs are heated to a very hot 38C by the fault they sit atop. My task was to develop an ecological description of the site, including the flora and fauna, describe the human impacts to the site, and suggest some remediation and restoration activities.  I had a lot of help in this project from professionals and nonprofessionals who volunteered their time to conduct plant and bird surveys and assist in other ways.  These springs are only a remnant of a much larger system, part of which has been developed into a privately owned recreation facility with hot water…water to release the pain and tensions of life from those who submerge their often aging bodies into the steamy waters. The light odor of hydrogen sulfide permeates the mists that rise into the air of the cool desert mornings.  On the adjacent coldwater slough migratory waterfowl slide onto the surface of the spreading waters of the nearby river, with their origins high among the adjacent peaks.  Wetland is probably too grand a name for this small, shallow lagoon adjacent to the slough.  At one time, however, before the resort and the levee that separates the thermal springs from the slough were constructed, it is likely that this was a much more extensive landscape feature.

Baugh, T., D. Petite, L. J. Schmidt. River Fork Ranch Thermal wetland. Natural Areas Journal 34(3): 381-384.

Baugh, T., D. Petite, and J. Woods.  (In press). Natural Areas Journal River Fork Thermal Ranch- Biota.

(Continued in the next post)