Sustainability
Can locals save Ash Meadows?
This story was reported and published as part of a collaboration between the Nevada Current and Nevada Public Radio. You can hear the audio version at knpr.org/podcast/desert-air. Amargosa Valley residents file into seats on a basketball court in an aging community center with water-stained ceilings. The residents attending the Amargosa Valley Town Board meeting in February […]
Wildlife managers report first possible wolf pack sighting in NV in over 100 years
State wildlife managers reported a possible wolf pack sighting in Nevada for the first time in over 100 years on Wednesday. Last week, a helicopter crew conducting an aerial moose survey spotted three suspected wolves traveling together in northeast Nevada near Merritt Mountain, north of Elko. State wildlife biologists are now working with the U.S. […]
What does the public really think about hunting?
When politicians threaten to eliminate Social Security, it is compared to touching the ‘third rail’, the one that carries electricity to power the locomotive. This admonition suggests great political harm may come to the perpetrator; caution is advised. Taking a close look at hunting and some of its facts and flaws is seen by some […]
More willing water rights sellers in NV than money, say water regulators
Landowners in Nevada have been more than willing to surrender their groundwater rights in exchange for cash payments thanks to a water conservation program financed by the federal government, said state water regulators — but time and money are running out. Lack of storage infrastructure, drought, and warming trends have led to long-term over-pumping of […]
Energy regulator nominees face Senate committee
President Joe Biden’s three nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission faced questions from a U.S. Senate committee Thursday, with senators probing their views on fossil fuels and climate policy, the reliability of the nation’s electric grid and gas delivery system and how to handle the pressing need for new electric transmission lines, among other […]
Solar power project threatens prime desert tortoise habitat, conservationists warn
Several conservation groups are asking the federal government to cancel a proposed utility-scale solar energy development, arguing the project will cause significant impacts to the imperiled Mojave desert tortoise. If approved, the Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project proposed by Spain-based Candela Renewables would span 2,400 acres of public land in the Mojave Desert about […]
Lake Tahoe remains murky after 25 years and a $2.9 billion investment
A nearly $3 billion effort shepherded by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency during the last two decades to ‘Keep Tahoe Blue’ has prioritized spending on recreation and transportation over improving water quality, according to the agency’s own data. “The TRPA is more concerned about economics than the lake’s restoration. And the lake is in really […]
Lithium Americas to get massive federal loan to develop Thacker Pass mine
The U.S. government offered Canada-based Lithium Americas a financial lifeline Thursday to develop a Nevada lithium deposit that contains the largest-proven lithium reserves in North America. Citing a need to secure a domestic supply of lithium for electric car batteries, the Biden administration agreed to provide a $2.26 billion conditional loan for the construction of […]
Is Nevada’s Wildlife Commission on the brink of extinction?
The Nevada Wildlife Commission’s endorsement Friday of a plan to remove 75% of wild horses and burros from the state’s public lands, along with its refusal to consider a ban on controversial coyote killing contests, are both out of step with the desires of residents and tourists and could hasten efforts to revamp the board, […]
March blizzard strands vehicles, and saves Nevada winter
Powerful storm activity throughout the Sierra Nevada in early March changed the water supply outlook for Nevada in a matter of days, according to federal resource managers. Following a four-day blizzard that started on Leap Day, snowpack percentages in the eastern Sierra — a major water source for the Truckee River — jumped by a […]
Ash Meadows should be cared for, cherished, and protected from mining
Over the past few years, I’ve thought a lot about how I think and feel about wild places, our public lands, and the rules, regulations, and agencies that govern them. As a long-time resident of Beatty, Nevada near the headwaters of the Amargosa River, one such wild place that I care deeply about is Ash […]
Climate impacts on sporadic winter storms and rising temperature in the Sierras
This last weekend we saw the largest storm to hit the Sierras this winter. The Central Sierra Snow Lab measured 75.2 inches of new snowfall over a four day period ending March 4. So what does this mean in terms of snowpack, drought, and how our wildfire season will pan out? And how does this […]