Nevada senator prepares protection of pioneer trails, desert

Scott Sonner

Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Sen. Richard Bryan is nearing completion of a plan to federally protect 600,000 acres of historic pioneer trail corridors in northwest Nevada and parts of nearly a dozen wilderness areas in High Rock Canyon and Black Rock Desert.

The Nevada Democrat began circulating draft legislation to congressional offices and special interest groups Thursday outlining general plans for the proposed Black Rock Desert Emigrant Trail National Conservation Area.

He has not made any final decisions about some of the most controversial pieces of the puzzle, such as the specific acreage that would be set aside or which areas would be off limits to all-terrain vehicles, his aides said Thursday.

The draft does, however, address touchy issues. It suggests no new mining claims be allowed in the area, said Bryan's press secretary, Dave Lemon.

Bryan also suggests that establishment of the protected area would not harm livestock grazing or busy events, such as the Burning Man art festival. Hunting, trapping and fishing would still be allowed.

Bryan has made the bill a high priority as he prepares to retire at the end of next year. He is expected introduce the bill next month.

High Rock Canyon and Black Rock Desert - stretching from an area about 120 miles north of Reno northeast toward the Oregon border - contain "the last nationally significant, untouched segments of the historic California Emigrant Trails," according to the draft bill.

The area includes wagon ruts, historic inscriptions "and a wilderness landscape largely unchanged since the days of the pioneers."

The ruts are from the Applegate-Lassen and Nobles trails, part of the most famous gold rush ever. That mass immigration helped lead to California statehood in 1850 and strengthened the West's links to the United States.

Golden eagles, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, threatened fish, sensitive plants and free-roaming horses and burros live in the area, Bryan said.

"The two large wilderness mosaics that frame the conservation area offer exceptional opportunities for solitude and serve to protect the integrity of the viewshed of the historic emigrant trails," the draft said.

Bryan notes in the draft that public lands in the conservation area have been used for domestic livestock grazing for more than century. He said continued grazing will not endanger the historic trails.

The 10-page draft does not say how many acres would be in the wilderness areas. Those areas would be in addition to the estimated 600,000-acre conservation area along more than 100 miles of trail, Lemon said.

Under the plan, the Bureau of Land Management would study 11 adjacent sectors to decide where the wilderness areas would be.

The sectors are Black Rock Desert, Pahute Peak, North Black Rock Range, East Fork High Rock Canyon, High Rock Lake, Yellow Rock Canyon, Little High Rock, High Rock Canyon, Calico Mountains, South Jackson Mountains and North Jackson Mountains.