National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) Nevada There are currently nine (9) National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) in the State of Nevada, including the largest refuge located within the 48 contiguous states the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. One refuge the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge is contained mostly in Nevada with a small portion of its northern tip extending up into the State of Oregon. Nevada’s National Wildlife Refuges, all of which are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), include: 1 Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge – Established in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson to protect the white pelican nesting colonies, the Anaho NWR consists of the 750-acre (1.2 square mile) Anaho Island in Pyramid Lake, which is wholly contained within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation. Located approximately 45 northeast of Reno, Nevada, the Anaho NWR contains one of the largest white pelican nesting colonies in North America, as well as cormorant, great blue heron, and gull nesting colonies. This refuge is closed to the public for the protection of the colony nesting birds. 2 Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge – Located approximately 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas in Nye County, Nevada, the Ash Meadows NWR, established in 1984, encompasses some 14,000 acres (approximately 22 square miles) and provides critical habitat for 25 plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. This distinguishes the Ash Meadows NWR as having the greatest concentration of endemic species of any other local area in the United States. Of the 25 unique species, 12 have been listed as either Threatened or Endangered. Water is the key natural resource which makes the Ash Meadows NWR a unique Ecosystem in the dry Mojave Desert. In this area, water-bearing strata come to the surface in approximately 30 seeps and springs, providing a rich and complex variety of habitat. The earliest efforts to protect this area were undertaken by The Nature Conservancy, which purchased 12,613 acres of land in 1984 and subsequently sold it to the USFWS specifically to establish a wildlife refuge. 3 Desert National Wildlife Refuge – Established in 1936, the Desert NWR covers 1,588,459 acres (2,482 square miles) of the diverse Mohave Desert in southern Nevada and is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the 48 contiguous United States. The Desert NWR’s most important objective is the perpetuation of the desert bighorn sheep and its habitat. The refuge contains six major mountain ranges, the highest rising from a 2,500 foot elevation valley floor to nearly 10,000 feet. The dry climate and varying elevations provide varied plant life with creosote bush and white bursage dominant in the lower elevations, Mojave yucca and cactus dominant in the mid-elevations, blackbrush and Joshua trees prevalent near 6,000 feet, and single-leaf pinyon and Utah juniper become prominent at 6,000 feet. From 7,000–9,000 feet Ponderosa pine and white fir become dominant and near 10,000 feet the only remaining tree is the bristlecone pine. Throughout this area the big sagebrush is the most common shrub. Within this refuge, and in stark contrast to the typical habitat and wildlife prevalent throughout the refuge, are the numerous and diverse plant and animal communities at Corn Creek. Here springs turn the desert into an oasis attracting over 200 species of birds alone. 4 Fallon National Wildlife Refuge – Established in 1931, the Fallon NWR encompasses approximately 17,900 acres (28 square miles) where the Carson River terminates in the Carson Sink and is situated within the northwest portion of the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area. Due to typically limited and uncertain flows of the Carson River at its terminus, generally not enough water enters this refuge to maintain it as a viable wetlands. The area is currently managed by the USFWS along with the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge and is included as part of the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area. 5 Moapa National Wildlife Refuge – The Moapa NWR was established in 1979 in order to protect and secure habitat for the Endangered Moapa dace and a candidate for listing, the White River springfish. The refuge contains 32 acres (0.05 square mile) and is located just north of the Moapa River Indian Reservation, 5 miles northwest of Moapa, Nevada, located in Clark County. 6 Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge – Located approximately 90 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada, the Pahranagat NWR is located at the northern end of the Desert NWR and consists of 5,380 acres (8.4 square miles) of marshes, open water, native grass meadows and cultivated croplands. Established in 1964, the Pahranagat NWR hosts numerous waterfowl and other migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway, which stretches from Alaska and Canada to Mexico. The name “Pahranagat” comes from the Paiute Indian word meaning “place of many waters.” 7 Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge – This NWR, which was established in 1938, covers an area of 37,632 acres (58.8 square miles) consisting of marshes, open ponds and islands, bordered by wet meadows and grass/sagebrush-covered uplands. The Ruby Lake NWR, which collects the waters from over 160 springs along the base of the Ruby Mountains, lies within a closed drainage basin in Ruby Valley of northeastern Nevada approximately 65 miles southeast of the town of Elko along the eastern flank of the rugged and scenic Ruby Mountains at an elevation of 6,000 feet above sea level. During the Pleistocene Epoch, the Ruby Mashes were part of a much larger body of water known as Franklin Lake, an Ice Age lake which covered some 470 square miles and was over 200 feet deep, however, today, only the Ruby and Franklin Lake marshes remain and provide an important refuge to nesting and migratory waterfowl and water birds using the migration corridors of both the Pacific and Central Flyways. 8 Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge – Located in the northwestern corner of Nevada, the Sheldon NWR manages over 575,000 acres (approximately 900 square miles) of high-desert habitat as a representative area for native plants and wildlife. The Sheldon NWR was formally established in 1978 and represented a consolidation of two refuge and range protection areas: (1) the Charles Sheldon Wildlife Range, created in 1931 by President Herbert Hoover from the purchase of the 30,000–acre Last Chance Ranch by the Boone and Crockett Club and the National Audubon Society, and (2) the Charles Sheldon Antelope Range, an area of over one-half million acres created in 1936 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the conservation and development of natural wildlife resources. Today, this area encompasses remote settings, scenic vistas, numerous natural geothermal hot springs, old ranches and homesteads plus sites of archaeological significance. Some 20 million years ago this area was covered with pine forests and lush grasslands, nurtured by a mild climate and more than 50 inches of annual rainfall. Today, this area receives only from 4–8 inches of precipitation, primarily in the form of snowfall, and the prominent geological characteristic of this refuge is the subsequent volcanic activity which spewed rhyolitic magma over much of its area with basalt flows up to 100 feet thick. These have formed the large, broad tables prevalent in this area today. 9 Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge – Located approximately 15 miles east of Fallon, Nevada within Churchill County on the edge of the Carson Sink, the Stillwater NWR was formally established in 1991 when 77,500 acres (121 square miles) of the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area were set aside to preserve critical nesting and habitat for migratory waterfowl and other birds using the Pacific Flyway in western Nevada. In 1948, in order to preserve a shrinking wetland system, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nevada Fish and Game Commission entered into an agreement with the Truckee–Carson Irrigation District (TCID) to develop and manage 224,000 acres (350 square miles) of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)–Newlands (Irrigation) Project lands, designated as the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area, for wildlife habitat protection and preservation. Today, the Stillwater NWR includes a variety of habitats, from freshwater sloughs and marshes to brackish-water marshes and alkali flats. Each habitat hosts a unique assemblage of plants and invertebrates, which in turn attracts more than 160 bird species and many other animals.