VIVA LAS Winter 2005

WILDERNESS !
Wilderness Protected in Lincoln County
In December, President Bush signed
the Lincoln County Conservation, Recrea-
tion, and Development Act of 2004. De-
spite the name, this was in fact a biparti-
san development bill with a significant
wilderness component.
Thanks to your hard work and dedication,
the wilderness title of this legislation pro-
tects 768,294 acres of legal wilderness
as part of the National Wilderness
Preservation System! Although this
amount of wilderness is less than one
third of what the Nevada Wilderness Coa-
lition proposed, the areas protected do
represent the largest single designation in
Nevada's history.
Of particular note to Nevadans who have
worked so hard to protect wilderness in
Nevada are two areas the BLM ignored in
its intensive wilderness review in the
1980s: the 28,000+ acre Mt. Irish Range
Wilderness and the 13,000 acre Big
Moapa Peak in the Mormon Mountain Wilderness
Rocks Wilderness. With these protec-
tions, Congress has once again high-
lighted that BLM wilderness recommenda-
tions are seriously flawed. These areas
also stand as permanent testimony to the
power of folks like you. When you organ-
ize, educate, and agitate, the result is per-
manent protection for these special places
in our wild heritage.
This legislation also contains some difficult
development provisions which remain
troublesome to the Nevada Wilder-
ness Coalition and the entire Nevada
environmental community . We re-
mained opposed to any interbasin
water transfer that is scientifically and
ecologically unsound.
Stay tuned for news about what’s
next for wilderness in Nevada. We’ll
certainly continue to engage our bi-
partisan Congressional delegation,
and we’ll work hard to ensure that
wilderness protections are a part of
any public lands discussion. And in
the meantime, know that without your
time, effort, and money, we could not
have achieved this remarkable con-
servation victory!
— John Wallin, Di-
rector

Wilderness Hero : Kurt Kuznicki

Kurt began his journey of activ-
ism fairly recently, but in a short
amount of time he has made his
presence known and in fact if
you asked most people they
would tell you that he must be
an old pro from the “good old
days”. In fact Kurt got the bug
during the recent Lincoln
County campaign, and thanks to
the early tutelage of Carrie
Sandstedt, he is now a man on
a mission to protect the remain-
ing, unprotected wilderness land
in Nevada.
When asked what made him
take the leap from a guy who
loved to climb (his big one early
on was 13,900’ Mt. Humphreys
in the Sierra in the 1970s) and
backpack, to a guy who gets
letters signed, takes visitors out
to wild places, and puts on a
suit to visit Washington DC and
talk to politicians, he said it
comes down to knowing what is
in your heart. Right versus
wrong. No need to be a library
Kurt challenging the monster burger!
of information about wilderness,
the laws, the Congress, or other
minutia, but listen to the thing that
gets you to 13,000’ or on top of a
granite bulb in Lava Beds.
The simplicity of his transforma-
tion should not be lost on any of
us. We love these places, not out
of some analytical sense of num-
bers or some matrix of values,
but because it resonates with us
at our core. For Kurt, the only
thing that was missing was that
back to Washington DC that
personal contact that allowed him
was sponsored by NWP in the
to see what is possible and be
fall of 2004. He was joined in
given the chance to participate.
the trip by Nancy Hall, Bill Hug-
Thankfully for NWP and the wild
gins, and Kim Jardine. Accord-
areas of Nevada, Kurt found us.
ing to Kurt, “It truly was one of
So where is his favorite place in the best experiences of my
Nevada? Maybe surprisingly it is life…Democracy in action.”
Burbank Canyon WSA in Douglas
Thank you Kurt. Thanks for
County. It is small, but it packs a
taking the time to get involved
wallop according to Kurt. It is also
and for inspiring others with
the only BLM WSA in Nevada,
your actions and the simplicity
where you could run into all of the
of your message-”All you need
big Nevada carnivores-bobcat,
to do is to take the first step,
coyote, mountain lion, golden ea-
the rest is the easy part.”
gle and black bear!
Where does he want to go next?
Headline News 1
His list would require a rather long
spreadsheet, but the top two settle Wilderness Hero 1
somewhere between the glacier of
Nevada’s only national park near FUNdraising 2 — 3
Ely, or the Park Range WSA,
Business Highlight 3
which is one wild place far off the
beaten path in the wild between Lincoln Co. Map 4
Duckwater and Moores Station.
Finally, Kurt’s most memorable
Wilderness Spotlight 5
experience so far as a Nevada WILD Calendar 6
wilderness activist was the trip
 HOUSE PARTY FUNDRAISING SUCCESS !
Adam Chamberlain helped organize and pull off the hugely
successful 2nd-annual NWP FUNdraiser at Patagonia Inc.
headquarters in Ventura, California on December 9. The day
kicked off with a Pancake Mountain Breakfast with flapjacks,
eggs and bacon served up by some of Patagonia's finest vol-
unteers. Erika Pollard, from the Project, shared a Brown Bag
lunchtime presentation showcasing Nevada Wilderness suc-
cesses. And the day was wrapped up with a Mormon Moun-
tain Margarita and Smoothie party.
There was also a silent auction ongoing throughout the day
with a great selection of items, including a backcountry moun-
tain bike adventure trip from Escape Adventures in Las Vegas,
rock climbing instruction from Sky’s the Limit guide service in
Board Member Tori King, Jennifer, Mark and Nick Walters at the Las
Las Vegas, a surfing class with Surfclass.com in Ventura, sev-
Vegas House Party. Photo © Erika Pollard eral Kelty backpacks and Margaret Stangeland's famous
soaps. All told, the day was a huge success with nearly 100
Patagonia employees donating to the Project with doubly gen-
Once again, NWP’s fabulous board members pulled through
erous matching gifts from both the Senior Management Team
with three hugely successful end-of-the-year fundraising ef-
and the Patagonia Company.
forts. With two house parties in November - one in Reno and
another in Las Vegas, a day-long fundraiser at Patagonia A huge thank you to all those who organized and participated
headquarters in Ventura, CA, and corporate matching funds in our end of the year FUNdraising festivities with special
from Pepsi Co. and Patagonia Inc., our fundraising efforts for thanks to Kim Jardine, Marcial Riley, Tori King, Mark and Jen-
2004 ended with a bang. nifer Walters, Morlee Griswold, Chris Todd, Adam Chamber-
lain, Pepsi Bottling Group, Yvon and Malinda Chouinard, Mi-
Hosting her second annual house party, board member Kim
chael Crook, and the entire Patagonia community. Your sup-
Jardine again served up some great food, a home grown slide-
port of the Nevada Wilderness Project through the donation of
show by her partner, Marcial, and a fun evening with fellow
your time, your hard-earned dollars, gifts-in-kind and/or ser-
Reno Service Center Patagonia employees on November 11,
vices helped make each event a great success. Thank you
2004. John Wallin, the Project’s director, was on hand to
also to each and every person who attended the festivities and
give a Wilderness update as well as mingle with many of our
chose to become a member of Nevada Wilderness Project.
existing Patagonia members and help Kim and Marcial recruit
We continue to be inspired by the enthusiasm of our board and
a few new ones. As usual, Kim’s enthusiasm and great host-
each and every fabulous Wilderness member we acquired
ess abilities turned the evening into another success for Ne-
throughout the year.
vada Wilderness support.
Thanks to board mem- - Erika Pollard,
House Parties in Reno, ber Tori King, an ac- National Outreach Director
count manager for
Vegas and Ventura. Pepsi Bottling Com-
pany in Las Vegas,
one of her enthusiastic
co-workers and fellow account manager, Mark Walters and his
wife Jennifer, generously hosted a Project house party fund-
raiser on November 20, 2004. With food and beverages either
donated or provided at a reduced cost by local Las Vegas
businesses having a great relationship with Pepsi (Jersey
Mike’s Subs and convenience stores, Rebel Oil and Shortline
Express), the nearly 50 people attending, most of whom were
Pepsi employees themselves, were some of the first folks to
help us celebrate the new Lincoln County Wilderness after the
bill passed on November 17. Party-goers enjoyed libations,
good conversation, a Nevada Wilderness slideshow and some
Vegas-style card playing! Nearly everyone attending became
a member of the Project and with the Pepsi corporate match
for each employee donation to the Project, we surpassed our
fundraising goal for the event!
Finally, in celebration of the Project’s huge accomplishment in
Lincoln County, board members Morlee Griswold and Chris Amy Stanfield, Sierra Alder and Kate Miller and Manny Molina at the
Todd and former NWP fieldworker and fabulous volunteer, stove at Ventura Event. Photo © Adam Chamberlain

Page 2 Winter 2005 — www.wildnevada.org Viva Las Wilderness !

 FUNDRAISING UPDATE: Your Support Goes a Long Way!
Who would have thought that just 5 short years since the founding of the Nevada Wilderness Project, we have protected almost 2
million acres of wild lands in Nevada as permanent Wilderness. We have been fortunate that many factors have fallen into place and
contributed to these successes. However, no factor has been more important than the work and support that we have received from
our very own members and volunteers. YOU have made this happen! Generations to come will be able to enjoy the precious oppor-
tunity deserved by every human being to experience the beauty of unspoiled lands because of your efforts and generous support. We
have protected these spectacular, rugged-and imperiled lands as permanent Wilderness – in perpetuity. As the fastest growing state
in the nation, this is no small success.
Furthermore, we’ve only just begun! There are still many more acres of imperiled pristine wild lands in the
state that deserve protection and we are already beginning to prepare ourselves for another campaign. As
the successes of the past, our future campaigns will need your support in order to suc-
ceed. Please consider making a donation today and asking your friends and family to
become members as well.
**************************************************************************************************
Join the Nevada Wilderness Project’s monthly giving group, The Wild Legacy Club, to
provide critical support for the protection of Nevada’s wild heritage for the enjoy-
ment of generations to come. Learn more and sign up at www.wildnevada.org Want this Fabulous t-shirt? With a
$25 donation it’s yours! Join on-line
— Anna Ball, Development Director or use the form on the back page.

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
indispensable support that helped protect over a million acres
of wilderness in.
Menno Van Wyk, Montrail’s founding CEO, dropped by the
Project offices a couple of years ago to learn more about our
work. We spent an afternoon with Menno, showing him the
potential of Nevada wilderness and our larger conservation
vision. He came away impressed with our grassroots focus
and our bottom line success.

“Our customers require wild places to use our products,”

www.montrail.com
With our roots in the cutting edge, environmentally savvy out-
door clothing company Patagonia, the Nevada Wilderness
Project understands the power—both human and financial—
that businesses can bring to bear on wilderness protection
efforts. One obvious sector we’ve focused on is the outdoor
industry—in particular, companies whose customers depend
on vast wild country for their human-powered recreation.
One such company is Seattle-based Montrail, a manufacturer
of high quality footwear for trail running, adventure racing,
walking, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, and mountain-
eering.
Montrail got involved with the Nevada Wilderness Project
through the company’s membership in the Conservation Alli-
ance, a non-profit organization of outdoor businesses whose
collective annual membership dues support grassroots citi-
zen-action groups and their efforts to protect wild and natural
areas. The Project has received two grants from the Conser-
vation Alliance for work in Eastern and Southern Nevada,
Menno said. “We recognize that protecting wilderness is
good business. We support the Nevada Wilderness Project
because their work—based as it is in the nuts and bolts work
of grassroots organizing—is obviously successful. We’re
delighted to be partners with the Project because they are
leading the way nationally
“Our customers require wild in designating new wilder-
places to use our products,” ness areas.”
Menno said. “We recognize
that protecting wilderness is
good business.” Montrail’s mission to pro-
tect wilderness doesn’t
stop at the Nevada border—in fact, Menno was recently
elected President of the Conservation Alliance. “We’re going
to try to increase support for groups like the Nevada Wilder-
ness Project because that is the best way to ensure that our
customers can continue to enjoy our products,” he said.
We’re grateful to Montrail and Menno Van Wyk for their sup-
port of the Project, and for their role in the Conservation Alli-
ance. This support has been instrumental in our success,
and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership
in the future.

Page 3 Winter 2005 — www.wildnevada.org Viva Las Wilderness !

 768,294 Acres of New Wilderness in Lincoln County!

Page 4 Winter 2005 — www.wildnevada.org Viva Las Wilderness !

 Wilderness Area Spotlight: Schellback Area
Shellback Proposed Wilderness—White Pine County

The Shellback area, just south of Highway 50 and adjacent to the Illipah
Reservoir Recreation Area is in a beautiful part of Nevada west of Ely.
The area is managed by the USFS.
This Forest Service Roadless area could also be called Moorman Ridge,
as it makes up the central spine of this 38,540 acre proposal area.
Marked by several springs on the “wet” west side of the ridge, this area is
home to some great hiking and hunting opportunities. There are three
very short cherrystems that
provide vehicle access on
Photo © John Wallin
the north and southeast.
Aspen can be found at the spring sites and elk, bighorn sheep, and mule
deer can be seen. Birding is great as well, with all the common Nevada
species, along with some of the less common birds of the Great Basin in
Nevada, including Ferruginous Hawk and Greater Sage Grouse if you are
lucky. Elevations range from 7,000’ to 8,500’, with a pinyon- juniper eco-
system on the west side, with a sagebrush ecosystem on the eastside.
While the area is an identified roadless
Photo © John Wallin
area by the Forest Service, there is the
potential for oil and gas
development in the
area.
The Shellback Pro-
posed Wilderness is in a
unique area of White
Pine County in the
White Pine Range that
receives relatively little
recreational use.
Access: Just south of
Hwy 50 at Illipah, there
is a graded road the
forms part of the west-
ern boundary. Hikers
can start on the south-
Photo © John Wallin
east near Limestone
Peak and Hayden Canyon or on the west near the Aspen
Spring area. Remember not to camp directly on springs.
The turn off for the Illipah Recreation area, which sits at
the northwestern corner of the unit, is about 25 miles
west of Ely.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Nevada Atlas & Gazatteer: p. 48 D1-2; E1-2; F1-2

USGS 7.5 Topo Maps: Hamilton; Illipah; Treasure Hill;
Limestone Peak; Indian Garden Mountain; Willow Grove.

Page 5 Winter 2005 — www.wildnevada.org Viva Las Wilderness !

 NEVADA WILDERNESS CALENDAR — WILDERNESS VALUE TRIPS
Join NWP staff and volunteers on trips to potential wilderness areas! You can see beautiful places and help protect them at the same
time by writing letters and plugging in to our efforts in a way that’s interesting and fun. All outings are weather permitting. Please log
on to www.wildnevada.org for more information.

Northern Nevada
February 20 - Big Den Creek Snowshoe - Desatoya
Mountains Wilderness Study Area
Difficulty: Moderate (Group limit 8)
March 12 - Mt. Limbo Hike, Selenite Mountains - Mt.
Limbo Wilderness Study Area in Pershing Co.
Difficulty: Strenuous (Group limit 8)
April 2-3 - Burbank Canyons Backpack - Canyons Wil-
derness Study Area.
(Group limit 8)
April 16-17 - Lava Beds Car Camp and Hike - Pershing
County Photo © Kristie Connolly
Difficulty: Moderate (Group limit 12)
April 30-May 1 - Shellback Proposed Wilderness - White Southern Nevada
Pine Range in White Pine County
February 26-27 - Gold Butte Car Camp – Clark County
Difficulty Moderate/Strenuous (Group limit 8)
Difficulty: Moderate (Group limit 10)
May 21 - Smoke Creek Desert Day Hike
March 19 - Highland Range Day hike – Clark County
Difficulty: Moderate (Group limit 10)
Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous (Group limit 8)
June 4th - Fox Range Wilderness Study Area
April 21 Not-so-full-moon hike in First Creek East –
Difficulty: Moderate (Group limit 10)
Clark County
June 11-12 - Highland Ridge Proposed Wilderness – Difficulty: Moderate (Group limit 15)
White Pine County
May 7-8 Pahranagat Range Car Camp – Lincoln County
Difficulty:Moderate (Group limit 10)
Difficulty: Moderate/Strenuous (Group limit 10)

HELP US PROTECT YOUR WILDERNESS

It’s easy to help… Cut out this form and mail it to: NV Wilderness Project, 8550 White Fir St; Reno, NV 89523
Comments:

Enclosed is my donation of: I would like to make a recurring donation:

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