Date: September 24, 2004

CONTACT: Jamie Thompson, Public Affairs Officer, (775) 623-1500

NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY PROJECTS – GREAT SUCCESS!

The two National Public Lands Day events hosted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Northwest Nevada on September 17-19 were both successes. One was sponsored by BLM's Winnemucca Field Office at Porter Spring northwest of Lovelock and the other by the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area (NCA) at Soldier Meadows Hot Spring north of Gerlach. About 70 people came together to clean up and protect their public lands and resources: 25 at Porter Spring and 45 at Soldier Meadows.

Porter Spring, an important stop for migrating neo-tropical birds, was occupied for many years by a series of temporary residents. The result was an area of several acres littered with falling-down outbuildings, abandoned vehicles, trash, and debris. The volunteers, many of them Audubon Society members, braved cool temperatures to demolish dangerous outbuildings and gather literally tons of trash into piles. Some trash was removed immediately and the rest soon will be transported to a sanitary landfill. BLM and the Audubon Society will work together in the future on a plan to restore the riparian area and enhance bird watching and other recreational activities at the site.

Soldier Meadows is an area inside the NCA where several hot springs and their associated riparian areas provide habitat critical to the survival of an unusual plant and a unique fish. The Soldier Meadow Desert Dace is a native species of fish found nowhere else in the world and considered a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The Soldier Meadow cinquefoil is a low-growing herbaceous plant considered a candidate species by FWS, which is found only here and in one location in Northeast California.

The volunteers, including many members of Friends of Black Rock-High Rock, removed several pick-up loads of trash and debris from Soldier Meadows, replaced a sign at the entrance to High Rock Canyon, and obliterated former vehicle routes now closed to motorized use. Since this project included overnight camping at the Soldier Meadows Guest Ranch, BLM made evening presentations to volunteers concerning resources in the area.
BLM appreciates the efforts of the volunteers who make these projects possible. All volunteers this year received National Public Lands Day T-shirts and coupons good for a free day between now and October 1, 2005, at any fee site managed by the BLM, the FWS, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

More information about these projects and the organizations that provided volunteers is available by calling the Winnemucca Field Office at (775) 623-1500 and asking for Clarence Covert (Porter Spring NPLD project ) or Dave Lefevre (Soldier Meadows Hot Spring project).

- BLM -