1. VIVA LAS Winter 2005
WILDERNESS !
Wilderness Protected in Lincoln County
In December, President Bush signed troublesome to the Nevada Wilder-
the Lincoln County Conservation, Recrea- ness Coalition and the entire Nevada
tion, and Development Act of 2004. De- environmental community . We re-
spite the name, this was in fact a biparti- mained opposed to any interbasin
san development bill with a significant water transfer that is scientifically and
wilderness component. ecologically unsound.
Thanks to your hard work and dedication, Stay tuned for news about what’s
the wilderness title of this legislation pro- next for wilderness in Nevada. We’ll
tects 768,294 acres of legal wilderness certainly continue to engage our bi-
as part of the National Wilderness Moapa Peak in the Mormon Mountain Wilderness partisan Congressional delegation,
Preservation System! Although this and we’ll work hard to ensure that
Rocks Wilderness. With these protec-
amount of wilderness is less than one wilderness protections are a part of
tions, Congress has once again high-
third of what the Nevada Wilderness Coa- any public lands discussion. And in
lighted that BLM wilderness recommenda-
lition proposed, the areas protected do the meantime, know that without your
tions are seriously flawed. These areas
represent the largest single designation in time, effort, and money, we could not
also stand as permanent testimony to the
Nevada's history. have achieved this remarkable con-
power of folks like you. When you organ-
servation victory!
Of particular note to Nevadans who have ize, educate, and agitate, the result is per-
worked so hard to protect wilderness in
Nevada are two areas the BLM ignored in
manent protection for these special places
in our wild heritage. — John Wallin, Di-
its intensive wilderness review in the
1980s: the 28,000+ acre Mt. Irish Range
This legislation also contains some difficult rector
development provisions which remain
Wilderness and the 13,000 acre Big
Wilderness Hero : Kurt Kuznicki
back to Washington DC that
Kurt began his journey of activ- personal contact that allowed him
was sponsored by NWP in the
ism fairly recently, but in a short to see what is possible and be
fall of 2004. He was joined in
amount of time he has made his given the chance to participate.
the trip by Nancy Hall, Bill Hug-
presence known and in fact if Thankfully for NWP and the wild
gins, and Kim Jardine. Accord-
you asked most people they areas of Nevada, Kurt found us.
ing to Kurt, “It truly was one of
would tell you that he must be
So where is his favorite place in the best experiences of my
an old pro from the “good old
Nevada? Maybe surprisingly it is life…Democracy in action.”
days”. In fact Kurt got the bug
Burbank Canyon WSA in Douglas
during the recent Lincoln Thank you Kurt. Thanks for
County. It is small, but it packs a
County campaign, and thanks to taking the time to get involved
wallop according to Kurt. It is also
the early tutelage of Carrie and for inspiring others with
the only BLM WSA in Nevada,
Sandstedt, he is now a man on your actions and the simplicity
where you could run into all of the
a mission to protect the remain- of your message-”All you need
Kurt challenging the monster burger! big Nevada carnivores-bobcat,
ing, unprotected wilderness land to do is to take the first step,
coyote, mountain lion, golden ea-
in Nevada. the rest is the easy part.”
gle and black bear!
When asked what made him of information about wilderness,
the laws, the Congress, or other Where does he want to go next?
take the leap from a guy who Headline News 1
minutia, but listen to the thing that His list would require a rather long
loved to climb (his big one early
gets you to 13,000’ or on top of a spreadsheet, but the top two settle Wilderness Hero 1
on was 13,900’ Mt. Humphreys
granite bulb in Lava Beds. somewhere between the glacier of
in the Sierra in the 1970s) and
backpack, to a guy who gets
Nevada’s only national park near FUNdraising 2 — 3
The simplicity of his transforma- Ely, or the Park Range WSA,
letters signed, takes visitors out tion should not be lost on any of Business Highlight 3
which is one wild place far off the
to wild places, and puts on a us. We love these places, not out beaten path in the wild between Lincoln Co. Map 4
suit to visit Washington DC and of some analytical sense of num- Duckwater and Moores Station.
talk to politicians, he said it bers or some matrix of values,
comes down to knowing what is Finally, Kurt’s most memorable
Wilderness Spotlight 5
but because it resonates with us
in your heart. Right versus at our core. For Kurt, the only experience so far as a Nevada WILD Calendar 6
wrong. No need to be a library thing that was missing was that wilderness activist was the trip
3. 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.
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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 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
With our roots in the cutting edge, environmentally savvy out- delighted to be partners with the Project because they are
door clothing company Patagonia, the Nevada Wilderness leading the way nationally
Project understands the power—both human and financial— “Our customers require wild in designating new wilder-
that businesses can bring to bear on wilderness protection places to use our products,” ness areas.”
efforts. One obvious sector we’ve focused on is the outdoor Menno said. “We recognize
industry—in particular, companies whose customers depend that protecting wilderness is
on vast wild country for their human-powered recreation. good business.” Montrail’s mission to pro-
One such company is Seattle-based Montrail, a manufacturer tect wilderness doesn’t
of high quality footwear for trail running, adventure racing, stop at the Nevada border—in fact, Menno was recently
walking, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, and mountain- elected President of the Conservation Alliance. “We’re going
eering. 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.
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 We’re grateful to Montrail and Menno Van Wyk for their sup-
collective annual membership dues support grassroots citi- port of the Project, and for their role in the Conservation Alli-
zen-action groups and their efforts to protect wild and natural ance. This support has been instrumental in our success,
areas. The Project has received two grants from the Conser- and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership
vation Alliance for work in Eastern and Southern Nevada, in the future.
Page 3 Winter 2005 — www.wildnevada.org Viva Las Wilderness !
4. 768,294 Acres of New Wilderness in Lincoln County!
Page 4 Winter 2005 — www.wildnevada.org Viva Las Wilderness !