Federal heritage designation sought for Highway 50

Sunday, April 16, 2000 | 2:22 a.m.

The Great Basin Heritage Partnership is asking Congress to designate a 300-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 50 from Austin to Delta, Utah as a National Heritage Area.

The designation would bring the remote, sparsely populated region publicity, new road signs and $10 million in federal funds to promote tourism at a time when mining is slumping, they say.

"That would be a wonderful opportunity for us," supporter Virginia Terry of Ely told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Supporters met with Nevada's congressional delegation in March and will seek support from state legislators this week in Verdi during a conference on public land policy.

"We have to get the state people to think it's a good idea," Eureka County Commissioner Sandy Green said.

The nation has 16 such heritage areas, but the one proposed for Nevada and a small portion of Utah would be the first in the West.

The Highway 50 corridor being considered features Great Basin National Park near Baker and the historic mining towns of Eureka and Austin.

Ely, about 350 miles east of Reno, boasts the popular Nevada Northern Railway Museum and its own mining history.

Mike Reed, dean of the University of Nevada, Reno's College of Business Administration, said the federal designation would help boost tourism.

"They need to get national marketing exposure," he said. "You have the whole idea of the loneliest highway in the country.

"Anything they can do to publicize the highway and the historic relevance of their towns is good."

Supporter Lorraine Clark of Ely said no opposition has surfaced to the plan and the group is hopeful of securing congressional approval this year.

"It's a win-win for everyone because no restrictions on land use are involved," she said.

"It's a market strategy to promote the attractions of the entire region. The towns are so small that they don't have the resources to do it on their own."