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Since the Nevada Wilderness Project begun in 1999, 2,530,188 acres (3,953 square miles or 2 Delawares) has been designated Wilderness, with another 500,000 acres of National Conservation Areas. This could not have been accomplished without your help.
2000 - The Black Rock Desert - High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Act
During the summer of 1999, soon after the formation of Nevada Wilderness Project, an opportunity arose which would set a favorable tone for the work that we were undertaking in Nevada. Retiring Senator Richard Bryan, D-NV announced his intention to protect the vast desert and canyonlands of the Black Rock region in northwestern Nevada. An area rich in history and wilderness values, the region, is considered one of the wildest unprotected places left in the lower forty-eight states. The growth in the Reno area, the continuing population boom in northern California, and the increasing popularity of the art-culture fest, Burning Man, all contributed to the demands that were being placed on this fragile region. Already a popular weekend camping location and one of the top hunting regions in the state, the Black Rock had attracted the attention of conservationists for years. Sen. Bryan offered a real shot at protecting this vast landscape, and Nevada Wilderness Project joined together with other members of the conservation community in northern Nevada to seize the opportunity. (read more)
2002 - The Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act
In the spring of 2001, Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign announced their intention to begin a process toward an omnibus public lands bill for Clark County. For over a decade Las Vegas had experienced the highest growth rates in the country. This growth has created tremendous infrastructure, recreation, and conservation challenges for southern Nevada. As part of this process, the Project and its partners in the Nevada Wilderness Coalition worked to accomplish two things. The first thing was to ensure that Wilderness protection figured prominently as part of any public lands plan. The second effort was to ensure that any public lands vision of southern Nevada was based on biological, and not political, boundaries. (read more)
2004 - The Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act
Following the passage of the “Clark County bill”, Nevada’s Senators turned their attention to the north and east. Specifically, Lincoln and White Pine counties. Using the same basic template found in the Clark county legislation, the delegation sought to address the myriad of public land and growth issues that the counties were facing. Initially, White Pine county seemed the next in line for congressional action, but Lincoln county jumped to the head of the pack and the Senators responded by requesting various interest groups provide congress with their vision of the county. (read more)
2006 - The White Pine County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act
Since 2001, the Nevada Wilderness Project and our partners in the Nevada Wilderness Coalition have been working to protect wilderness-quality public lands in Eastern Nevada as wilderness. In 2003, after exhaustive research and fieldwork, our coalition produced a proposal to protect over 3.1 million acres of public lands in Eastern Nevada as wilderness. Though our organizations strongly believe that public lands legislation should follow ecological rather than county boundaries, Nevada Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign have adopted a county-by-county approach to addressing public lands legislation. In 2003, it became clear that Congress would focus on a Lincoln County lands bill, and in 2004, the Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act was passed by Congress (read more).
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