Nevada's Environmental Legacy: Progress or Plunder

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A herd of sheep grazing on the public domain. Note the barren landscape, a result of overgrazing. Photo by Jack Hursh. Wild horses at Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Placement Center near Reno. These animals were gathered from the public domain by the Bureau of Land Management to prevent their starvation. Many are rehabilitated and placed for adoption. Photo by Becky Purky, Bureau of Land Management. Rangeland charred by fire in Elko County, 2006. Photo by Jack Hursh. Lumber mill in the Sierra Nevada. Note the flume that carried logs from the mountain to the mill. Photo courtesy of R. J. Waters. Lumber mill at Spooner’s Summit in the Sierra Nevada, 1876. This timber was harvested for construction of the Comstock mines. Note the clear-cut slopes of the mountain, a cause of subsequent erosion. Photo courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society. Extensive mine tailings at the Combination Mine dump near Virginia City. After more than a century, the tailings are still almost barren of vegetation. Photo by Kris Ann Pizarro. Contemporary aerial view of Virginia City, looking west. The light-colored patches scattered below and above the town are mine tailings. Photo courtesy of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. Charcoal ovens, or “beehives,” near Pioche, built for converting local trees into charcoal for smelting ore. Photo by Kris Ann Pizarro. Early view of the Basic Magnesium plant at Henderson. Photo courtesy of Special Collections, Lied Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A new scar on the land. A contemporary open pit mine in northern Nevada. There are several such mines in Nevada, most intended for the extraction of microscopic gold. Photo by Chris Ross, Bureau of Land Management. An oil-pumping rig in Railroad Valley, eastern Nevada. Photo by Chris Ross, Bureau of Land Management. The Brunswick Mill on the Carson River. Because of the enormous quantity of mercury released by the mill into the Carson River, this is Nevada’s only federal “superfund” reclamation site. Photo courtesy of the W. M. Keck Museum, Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno. Evidence of land subsidence caused by extensive pumping of underground water in the Las Vegas Valley. Photo by John Bell. below: Deep fissures in the earth reflecting land subsidence near Las Vegas. In this case, the subsidence destroyed a residential structure. Photo by John Bell. Aerial view of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Photo courtesy of Special Collections, Lied Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Aerial view of the Las Vegas Airport (later McCarran International Airport) in 1950. Downtown Las Vegas can be seen in the distant background. Photo courtesy of the Clark County Department of Aviation. Aerial view of McCarran International Airport, 2006. Heavy development completely surrounds the airport. Photo courtesy of the Clark County Department of Aviation. Billboard target at Fallon Naval Air Station, 1960. Note scattered weapon debris in foreground. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy. Using a dosimeter to check radioactive fallout on a Nevada ranch. Photo courtesy of the Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas. Soldiers in training near an atomic bomb explosion at the Nevada Test Site, 1950s. Photo courtesy of the Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas. View of Reno with Peavine Mountain in the background. Development is gradually consuming the lower slopes of this and other mountains surrounding Reno, closing off recreational trailheads and intruding into the habitat of native mule deer and other wildlife. Photo by Jack Hursh. facing page: top: Protest rally near the Nevada Test Site, featuring Carl Sagan. Photo courtesy of the Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas. bottom: Portal of the tunnel into Yucca Mountain, proposed national nuclear waste repository. Photo courtesy of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. Dredging the Truckee River east of Reno to restore its natural channel. The Nature Conservancy is restoring a large tract of land in this area to provide habitat for wildlife and a natural floodplain for the river. Photo courtesy of the Reno Gazette-Journal. ...