Decisions made with enormous support should stand

By Jocelyn Torres

Sunday, July 30, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Like many hidden treasures, you can make new discoveries at every turn in Basin and Range National Monument. This largely undeveloped area less than three hours from Las Vegas captures a truly American landscape, and a way of life before the flashy developments and man-made lakes appeared.

The first time I visited Basin and Range, I was struck by the vivid lichen that colored the rock formations like paint splattered on a canvas; petroglyphs of warriors, wildlife and what resembled an alien spaceship (Area 51 lies just south of the monument), and the vastness of Coal Valley. I will also never forget the story about the fungus and the algae taking a “lichen” to each other.

Since that first time, I’ve been in the monument during flash floods, blazing hot summers and perfectly breezy days, and, as with the varying weather, no experience has ever been alike. Each person brings their own perspective: While some will spend trips to the monument explaining what the flora could be useful for, others point out the shape of Darth Vader in the rock formations, and some just stare at the dark skies and bright stars rarely seen in the city.

The area has been home to the Numic-speaking ancestors of the Southern Paiute and Western Shoshone, mining prospectors and Basque sheepherders. Traces of previous human habitation are sprinkled throughout the monument, and there is undoubtedly more to be discovered. You can see prehistoric petroglyphs and rock shelters — some dating back over 13,000 years — log cabins and even a ghost town.

Aside from the prehistoric and pioneer heritage found here, Basin and Range is home to a unique variety of Mojave and Great Basin vegetation communities, habitat for at least two dozen threatened and sensitive wildlife species, the White River Catseye — a delicate looking plant with small white flowers — found nowhere outside of Nevada; and possibly the largest work of contemporary art, City.

Artist Michael Heizer has been working on the project, often compared to the size of the national mall in our nation’s capitol, for more than 40 years, and completion is expected in the very near future. City represents architecture spanning from ancient cities to modern buildings and can only be experienced in the vastness of Garden Valley.

City will be a top attraction once it opens, but as of now the areas within the monument known as Shooting Gallery, Mt. Irish and the White River Narrows are popular destinations to visit because of their high concentration of petroglyph panels. The monument encompasses much more, including a natural arch on the northwest boundary, the stunning Garden and Coal valleys and, in the Worthington Mountains, 2,000-year-old bristlecone pines and the impressive Leviathan Cave.

Nevadans, like myself and the Friends of Basin and Range, have been working to protect the rare and undeveloped valleys, vital habitat and cultural artifacts in what is now known as Basin and Range National Monument for at least a decade.

Less than two years after securing protection for the culture, history and landscape by adding Basin and Range National Monument to America’s National Conservation Lands — a system of protected lands that stands alongside our national parks and wildlife refuges and includes places like Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area — we are here once again doing all we can to prove Basin and Range deserves protection.

More than 90,000 people spoke up in support of Nevada’s national monuments — Basin and Range and Gold Butte — during the public comment period opened as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order reviewing certain national monument designated under the Antiquities Act.

Yet the monuments’ fate remains unknown despite tens of thousands speaking up in support along with Native American tribes; federal, state and local elected officials; businesses and tourism groups like the Latin Chamber of Commerce and Nevada Resort Association; scientists; the arts community and archaeological, conservation and recreation groups.

Also unknown is what a non-protected status, specifically a status removed through an unprecedented and illegal action by the president, would mean for the activities in which many Nevadans continue to participate.

A limbo status, in addition to the threat of oil and gas exploration and development, could limit access to hiking, hunting, birding, camping, OHV riding and grazing — all activities which are allowed under the monument designation.

As we face many unknowns, and await Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s final recommendation to President Trump on national monuments, one thing is certain: Our time would be better spent moving forward restoring and enjoying our national monument than rehashing decisions made with input from community members, elected officials, businesses, archaeologists, recreationists and conservationists.

Jocelyn Torres is the Nevada program director for the Conservation Lands Foundation.