BTCV Nevada 2007
After the success of BTCV's collaboration with the Nevada Outdoor School (NOS) in 2006, we decided to take it even further in 2007. This year we made up a crew of volunteers, some with experience volunteering with BTCV, and some who had come to us for the first time to join this project.
Their three month stint commenced at the beginning of July. Group journalist Richard Green takes up the story...
Day 1 – 3/7/07
The British BTCV crew of volunteers all arrived in Reno, Nevada on July 3rd. There are nine of us in the crew from different parts of the UK and we all have different levels of experience of environmental conservation work. The crew consists of myself, Richard Green, also Tom Sharples, Tom Lalley, Dave Arthur, Dion Battersby, Charmaine Murray, Christopher Polly, Louise Hart and Mike Playfair. We all have taken various routes to get to Reno, some having overnight stops. Tired and jet-lagged we were picked up at the airport by Dave, Patrick and Amanda (all NOS staff). Dave came over as a volunteer with the BTCV group in 2006, so he had been in the same position as us, which was reassuring.
After a slap up evening meal in a restaurant we set off in two vehicles on the 160 mile journey to Winnemucca. Like all towns in Nevada, big and small, gambling is king- with casinos on practically every street. But that’s not what has drawn us thousands of miles from home. We settled in to our two trailers in an RV resort on the outskirts of town, which will be our home-base for the next two months.
Day 2 - 4/7/07
The Brits all joined NOS staff and other American (Vista/Americorp) volunteers for a morning of team building exercises. These included trust games, name games and was a lot of fun, after which was an office induction. As it was July 4th, we attended a party at Project Co-ordinator Stephanie’s house for a barbecue, which provided an opportunity to meet colleagues and unwind. It was also our first meeting with Gerald who is the Bureau of Land Management’s WSA recreation planner, whose role is to help protect the 815,000 acre wilderness area that we will be working in. It’s full title is the Black Rock Desert – High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area. The day finished with a spectacular fireworks display where the whole town seemed to be in attendance.
Day 3 - 5/7/07
We met up again with Gerald at the BLM building who explained about the work we would be doing in the desert starting the next day. It has historical importance, as well as being a haven for wildlife, because of the large numbers of wagon trains that traversed it from the 1840’s to get to California and Oregan.
There has been a delay in the start of the work because of vehicle problems. Two vehicles, including a large van that was supposed to transport the UK crew, became effectively written off because of mechanical problems. The NOS had to buy a secondhand vehicle, a Suburban, to carry us all, which is a big deal for a non-profit organization. Louise in our party became an official driver so we could have use of this vehicle.
We spent the rest of the day buying supplies and preparing equipment for next day’s trip.
Day 4 – 06/07/07
We left early in the morning for the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Instant Study Area in the north of the National Conservation area. It took a few hours to get there along amazing straight paved roads and rough tracks. We got to the camp site and had just pitched up our tents when it started to rain, which turned into a downpour that the NOS people got quite excited about, as this was an scarce event. Patrick Pollard, Restoration crew leader declared that we had brought the rain with us!
When the rain stopped we started work on a road restoration. Now it became clearer what we were doing there. The roads, or rather unofficial tracks, that were created by hunters & others, left scars in the landscape that needed restoration to their wild state, e.g, covered with rocks and vegetation. In just over an hour it looked like no track had ever been there.
We then went back to the camp, where we were joined by Stephanie Lefevre; Executive Director of NOS and her husband David Lefevre; Black Rock Desert NCA Recreation Planner with the BLM and their young son Fin. We all ate and when it got dark we went to bed. There are no ground fires allowed at this time of year.
Day 5 – 07/07/07
We got up early and were joined by Pat from the Friends of Nevada Wilderness. Four of the Brits (Dion, Louise, Charmaine and Myself) joined his crew, while the rest joined Patrick’s crew). Little did we know how tough it would be to do road restoration work in the extreme heat. It was rewarding though as in our group Pat had great knowledge of the area and found a complete Obsidian (volcanic glass) spear head dating back about three thousand years. Like all archeological finds here it had to be put back where it was found. We also found a tiny scorpion under a rock. In the afternoon we joined the other group on another road rehab site, where we saw wild horses galloping off in the distance.
By the evening we were all exhausted but satisfied with day’s work and Stephanie held a quiz with prizes such as hats and money off vouchers at local stores. And we got T-shirts from Pat. We were also taught to play hacky sac by Holly Palmer, Naturalist with NOS which was great fun.
Day 6 – 08/07/07
As we had completed most of the road work already, today is about recreation. It started with a early hike which was on the extreme side, climbing hills and crossing streams, but it was worth it for the stunning scenery. After the walk we all went to the nearby Summit Lake Indian Reservation, to meet Steve, the chief of the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe. He showed us the stream where the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout swim. They are the only pure strain trout in America. He ended up taking us to the private Summit Lake with shear 15 feet high sides. This provided a great opportunity for swimming and diving which was refreshing in the heat.
Day 7 – 09/07/07
This was our last day, so I went for an short walk as the sun was rising to take in the beauty of the area. I was lucky to find another obsidian spearhead, this time incomplete, just lying around. There were loads of tiny hummingbirds in nearby bushes, as well as woodpeckers and ground squirrels.
We all packed and were on our way by 10 am and on the journey home stopped at the Blue Lakes in the stunning Pine Forrest Mountain Range. We swam in the lake which was amazing; clear water with tree covered mountains all around.
We came back to Winnemucca to find that it had burned down- well almost. Huge fires had scorched the hills all around the town almost reaching peoples houses. In fact fires had been raging all over Northern Nevada due to record temperatures, with dry vegetation being set alight by lightning strikes.
As it was Chris’s birthday, when we got back we sampled the local nightlife and had some well earned beers.