|
Lincoln County Conservation District 360 Lincoln St. PO Box 445 Caliente, NV 89008 Lincolncountycdnv@gmail.com 775 726-3101 |
“Conserving our Resources for Future Generations”
LINCOLN COUNTY ANNUAL REPORT
JULY 1, 2019 to JUNE 30, 2020
LOCALLY-LED CONSERVATION – RESOURCE NEEDS ASSESSMENT BECOMING CONSERVATION ACTION PLANS
Lincoln County Conservation District (LCCD) continues to work for conservation and proper management of private and federal/state lands in Lincoln County and Nevada. We took another huge step forward by beginning to write Conservation Action Plans based on our Resource Needs Assessment (RNA) completed in cooperation with Nevada Association of Conservation Districts (NvACD) in 2019. We will also incorporate information obtained from the public online survey report we await from UNR. We work with producers, agencies, groups and our Local Work Group to identify specific actions to address identified resource concerns.
Like other CDs in Nevada, LCCD is well poised to be a local leader in conservation because we have specific, wide-ranging authorities under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 548, and a specific role in a federal planning system, the Local Work Group of the NRCS conservation planning process. In a county with 98% federal ownership and scattered private land parcels, the CD is pivotal to working for proper land management across ownership boundaries. We can meld funding, work across boundaries, and be a safe place for local people to connect with agencies and groups. NRCS and other agencies are looking for local input.
Our style has been and will continue to be to take advantage of opportunities and ideas as they crop up; in this way we are able to adapt to the needs of the community. However, we are now armed with excellent information gained through a recognized process that we can use to systematically address resource concerns in Lincoln County. We believe in partnerships and participate and coordinate accordingly between state, private and federal interests at the local and state level.
The RNA identified the top three resource concerns in Lincoln County:
- Plant Condition and Health
- Livestock Water Availability – Inadequate Distribution
- Invasive Species Including Plants, Pests, Weeds, and Aquatics
At our January meeting we received training from the RNA contractor for how to develop Conservation Action Plans (CAPs). At our March meeting we began our first CAP, with the Objective 1 to be Increase Livestock Water Availability in Coal Valley and the first goal is to complete an already designed and NEPA-ready pipeline. The permittee will install the pipe; the BLM will check if they have a ripper than can be used and advise on a rehabilitation plan for seeding after.
Goal 2 is to pursue new pipelines for another permittee. The CD sent the permittee specific suggestions for how to jointly work with BLM and NRCS to expedite NEPA and obtain funding to initiate these projects. The CD also sent a letter of support to BLM and N-4 Grazing Board and spoke at the N-4 meeting in favor of the project. The CD will not engineer or install the project – that is the responsibility and purview of the permittee and the agencies, but we can raise awareness, support, distribute funding if available, and provide the means to bring the parties together.
The BLM manager present at the CD meeting in January said BLM is getting more done by working jointly with NRCS than with any other program. The have a Categorical Exclusion (CX) to do pipelines in road rights of ways which helps them prioritize projects; it moves a project up in priority when they can do work without an EA required or threat of protest. He said any help the CD can offer would be great such as a letter of support for a project; everything helps. LCCD’s intention is to work on CAPs at our business meetings on an ongoing basis.
LCCD LEADS THE LINCOLN COUNTY LOCAL WORK GROUP (LWG)
LCCD called together and led the first Local Work Group meeting October 4. There was excellent representation: Maggie Orr and Jessica Mathews, LCCD; Lauren Williams, DCNR CD Program; Rick Orr, LCCD RNA contractor, retired NRCS and BLM; Cameron Boyce, Acting Field Office Manager, Caliente BLM; John Hiatt, Red Rock Audubon; Eric Johnson, immediate past Director of Nevada State Parks, landowner; Cory Lytle, Lincoln County Planning Dept., Meadow Valley Wildlife Unlimited, Lincoln County Advisory Board to Manage Wildlife; Varlin Higbee, Lincoln County Commissioner, rancher; Vaughn Higbee, rancher; Christiana Manville, USFWS Partners in Conservation Program; Bevan Lister, Lincoln County Commissioner, alfalfa producer, Farm Bureau State President, Sagebrush Ecosystem Council member.
We discussed the purpose and possibilities of the LWG, reviewed the priorities revealed by the Resource Needs Assessment, and adjusted the ranking slightly. (From the meeting Minutes):
“Cory suggested that we make distribution of water to improve productivity and health of pastureland and rangelands our number one priority. Rick said what has not been examined in the past is the cumulative long-term effect of applying a practice; he believes if the CD just works on the number one and two priority issues identified by the LWG, they will be able to see if it affects priority number three.
“The LWG determines:
Priority #1 is Livestock Water Availability-Inadequate Distribution/Wildlife Water Distribution (listed at Priorities # 2 and #11 in the RNA – combined as per discussion in RNA of their relationship to each other)
Priority #2 is Invasive Species Including Plants, Pests, Weeds, and Aquatics (#3 in RNA)
Priority #3 is Plant Condition and Health (#1 in RNA); The LWG wanted to keep wild horses and pinyon-juniper (PJ) encroachment issues alive and noticed.”
“Maggie hopes that as the group works through the NRCS process, other stake-holders may be able to understand each other’s processes and contribute input to each other. She said a LWG meeting is really not just another meeting to attend – if we can build the relationships, understand each other’s processes and work across ownership boundaries, we can do better and more efficient management and solve resource concerns in Lincoln County together by whatever means is best suited, with whomever’s funding can accomplish it. It isn’t about the CD, it is about and for the private landowner, State Parks, BLM, the City or County – anyone responsible for a piece of ground. The CD just provides the nexus between authorities granted by NRS 548 and a place in a federal planning system – the NRCS CD-LWG-STAC connection. The CD can meld funding from multiple sources, apply for grants, receive funding and administer those grants.”
The beauty of the Local Work Group (LWG) process as outlined in the Farm Bill is it is a locally led group of elected officials, the LCCD Supervisors, leading a group of producers, agencies and resource-involved entities, to work across ownership boundaries, via the CD, to get to the bottom of solving resource concerns on an on-going basis. It is a way to:
- Pool funding
- Coordinate for more effective project work in a given area
- Develop relationships that carry over into other work being done
- Make recommendations to the NRCS State Conservationist for how best to allocate NRCS dollars in Lincoln County on both private and public lands
- Create a place for agencies and producers to share ideas and come together
- Consider and apply solutions locally, not from above
This process has come to life in a project brought to LCCD by landowners along Camp Creek. See page 8 under the Meadow Valley Wash section of this report.
ONGOING PARTNERING / COLLABORATION
The following entities participate regularly at our meetings:
- UNCE
- NRCS
- BLM
- USFWS (both Partners in Conservation Program and Pahranagat NWR)
- Nevada DCNR Conservation Staff Specialist
- State Conservation Commission / NV Association of Conservation Districts
- Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF)
- Tri-County Weed Control
- Nevada Department of Wildlife
Our intent, beyond accomplishing our own goals and projects, is to create the opportunity where these entities will hear / recognize a need of another that they can assist / act upon. We hold regular meetings every other month and special ones if needed for any decisions required for our projects. LCCD remains in good standing with all State Conservation Commission requirements. The Local Work Group will extend our previous efforts.
LCCD continues to grow as a voice in Lincoln County, the state of Nevada and the West. A Supervisor made a presentation to the Lincoln County Commissioners about the Resource Needs Assessment and Local Work Group as well as an annual update of CD activities on October 7. Our federal partners’ work includes prevailing on the wild horse removal litigation for the Caliente Complex and removing 1716 horses from the Eagle HMA. Ely BLM is the only district in the nation that has NEPA done to be ready to round up horses. USFSW put in a cement fish pool and improved a ditch as a pilot project of what can be done in Pahranagat to increase water downstream and improve habitat for fish.
LCCD is an active participant in the Lincoln County Sage Grouse Local Area Work Group (LAWG), conducting projects coordinated with BLM treatments and organizing a tour for landowners and agencies on July 16, 2019 that brought the long-term expertise of Duane Coombs of Intermountain West Joint Venture and Sam Lossing of Smith Creek Ranch to share their experience with low-tech stream course management and coordination between funding sources to landowners in Lincoln County. The tour was a huge success with 27 participants including eight landowners and representatives from NDF, Lincoln County, BLM, Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team, DCNR CD Program, State Parks and the LAWG. Please see the complete discussion in the GREATER SAGE-GROUSE WILSON CREEK PROJECTS section on page 7.
COVID-19 precluded the annual Meadow Valley Wildlife Unlimited dinner but we still sponsored the event which has been delayed until 2021. COVID also kept the CD from reporting to the Lincoln County Commission and our May meeting was held by phone utilizing the CD’s conference call line. We also were unable to hold a Local Work Group meeting in the Spring and Pioche Honor Camp crews were unable to work as the inmates were on lock-down at the Camp. NDF Crew supervisors were able to continue some field work.
LCCD Supervisors participated at and/or contributed to many meetings and works-in-progress; many during the spring via zoom or phone due to COVID-19
- Lincoln County Sage grouse Local Area Work Group
- NRCS State Technical Committee, by invitation
- NvACD Annual Meeting and Soil Health Tour
- Nevada Section Society for Range Management’s Winter Meeting in Elko
- Society for Range Management International Annual Meeting in Denver
- Pahranagat Valley Local Work Group addressing the Central Valley Drain
- Southern Nevada and Pahranagat Valley Cooperative Weed Management Areas
- Panaca Farmstead
- Nevada Collaborative Conservation Network (NvCCN)
- Lincoln County Commission
- N-4 Grazing Board
- Spine dace enhancement with NDOW at Crystal Spring
PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION
Lincoln County CD continued a seminar series titled “Conservation District Workshop.” The intent is to provide an ongoing series of informative presentations on a variety of topics of interest to people in Lincoln County with an emphasis toward agriculture and natural resources. The CD held a joint Annual Meeting with the Lincoln County Farm Bureau in November. After the usual amazing steak dinner, the Nevada Youth Range Camper we sponsored talked about his experience which he said he thoroughly enjoyed and he wishes to go back and bring other Lincoln County students with him.
John Reese, a BLM Range Conservationist from Utah, who advocates for agency and land owner cooperation followed, giving an inspiring message about his work and the opportunities he has found to meet both producer and agency objectives in a cooperative manner. His talk highlighted the type of work LCCD intends to pursue with their Conservation Action Plans and Local Work Group.
LCCD would have continued its strong support of education by automatically sponsoring two students to attend the Nevada Youth Range Camp in June; however, organizers had to cancel camp for the first time in 59 years due to COVID-19. One of our Supervisors is assisting Nevada Section of Society for Range Management to offer an alternative essay contest on a rangeland topic for Nevada students to be chosen to participate in the International Society for Range Management High School Youth Forum in Boise next year, or receive a scholarship.
We supplied add-on money for kids showing animals at Clark County Fair Junior Livestock Show as well as for Cedar City Livestock Show participants as we believe the program teaches the American dream of how to work and see results; sometimes you profit and sometimes you don’t. We also offer our building meeting space to local groups such as 4-H, Lincoln Communities Action Team and many others such as CAMBA, Caliente Area Mountain Bike Association, RSVP, Homecoming, opioid abuse counseling, and provide the location for educational classes and meetings via video conferencing for no charge.
The CD continued to maintain and improve the building and grounds so as to provide for the conference room space and offices for NRCS, UNCE, Workforce and the Farmer’s Market. We made arrangements for Trac-B Exchange to meet clients twice a month to conduct counseling and treatment to reduce the use of illicit substances and opioid use in the Caliente area. LCCD approved continuing a community demonstration garden in the space by our office and pays the power bill for the cooler used by the Farmer’s Market which is located next to our building and utilizes our parking lot. We purchase from local stores and hire local contractors to support our rural community.
GREATER SAGE-GROUSE WILSON CREEK PROJECTS
LCCD takes an active part in the Nevada effort to protect and manage Greater Sage-grouse; we have applied for and completed a State Conservation Commission Sage Grouse Habitat Grant each year since its inception in 2014. We are a member of the Lincoln County Sage-grouse Local Area Work Group and provide significant input to its efforts. The CD is in frequent communication with the BLM about how we can integrate effective projects in the area of Table Mountain, the prime sage grouse habitat in Lincoln County.
The State Conservation Commission awarded LCCD $31,072.21 in 2019 to treat an additional 60 acres adjacent to the previous project; to clear and masticate PJ and sagebrush, build additional beaver dam analogs with material produced from the clearing, and continue to tie the work in with the surrounding BLM projects such as the Atlanta Road Sage-Grouse Habitat Improvement Completion Project funded by Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) – Eastern Nevada Landscape Restoration Project. Fry Ranch is also a project location for a US Forest Service (USFS) Landscape Scale Restoration grant ($150,000) received by NDF in 2016 with a five-year completion time. A $50,000 collaboration effort with NDF started in 2017 and has continued to be implemented on the property in 2018 and into 2019.
Seventeen acres of mastication were completed, pinyon-juniper was windrowed, beaver dam analogs installed, and decadent sagebrush was removed for release of understory and to reduce the fire hazard. In addition, 300 sagebrush caches from the research of Kent McAdoo and Kirk Davies were anchored in the cleared areas. The idea is to harvest near seed-ripe sagebrush plants and secure them to the ground so they provide a seed source and a means of trapping snow to enhance germination of sagebrush seedlings in areas that have burned or had other disturbance. COVID-19 kept the Pioche crews in Camp for the Spring of 2019, reducing the amount of field work able to be accomplished.
As mentioned in the Ongoing Partnership section on page 4, LCCD was instrumental in organizing a tour of the continuing work on Wilson Creek. We wanted to inform agency people and most importantly hear from landowners and show off what has been done to encourage interest from others to expand our area of impact. We wanted to give them the benefit of the extensive experience of Duane Coombs and Sam Lossing from their work at Smith Creek Ranch in the Desatoya Mountains of central Nevada.
The trip report stated: Locals were not disappointed; Duane and Sam shared insights, stories and real-world experience that inspired hope and excitement; Duane stated, “You are the folks that live here and I hope I have given you fresh eyes; I believe you that live right here have the answers already; now you know you can do this at home. The benefit will happen faster than you might believe and the point is to 1) hold the water as long as possible, 2) hold the dirt close by, 3) use materials that are here.” Duane thinks society has a problem thinking we need an expert when we really just need to look in the mirror; he thinks it best to avoid information overload and vapor lock that can cause us to not do anything.
The way Duane and Sam accomplish holding the water and dirt on site is by simple one log or one rock high Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs). We don’t want to call them dams, they don’t hold the water, they just slow things down so there is time for recharge of bank storage of water and dropping sediment above the BDA. The best storage for water in Nevada is in streambanks as there is no evaporation; Duane wants to capture it and hold it in place as long as possible so it ultimately creates more flow over time.
The CD sponsored a lunch to keep participants around for a discussion. The result was favorable: landowners talked through their concerns about the effect on water rights and decided they would like to put in BDAs all along Wilson Creek. They also agreed it would be a technique they would seriously consider on other properties they hold in Meadow Valley Wash. From the trip report: Lauren Williams of the DCNR CD Program suggested a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) grant; she brought the application to the tour. Duane thinks we would have a strong proposal for funding as we have established work, BLM is on board, the landowners on the drainage want to do it, and NDF is available to do the work; it Is all set. The strength of this application is a coalition of landowners that want to create coordination using techniques to improve a mesic environment.
LCCD accepted the responsibility to be the entity that manages the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Sagebrush Landscapes Conservation Programs 2019 grant to be used on mesic areas/wetland restoration along Wilson Creek. Because the grant is handled on a reimbursement schedule, LCCD’s 2020 State Conservation Commission Sage Grouse Habitat Grant is for $7500 to serve as the first payment for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to install Beaver Dam Analogs on Wilson Creek. Once the reimbursements begin, the funding will be applied to the work on Wilson Creek such as seeding, weed control, mastication, or other need as determined in the ongoing effort when no longer needed for NFWF costs. One new technique will be to obtain sedge plugs from Spring Valley State Park and plant them in the areas behind the BDAs to get the sediment we are trapping anchored. This was one of the lessons learned from Duane and Sam on the tour. This tour created the space for the Camp Valley project in Meadow Valley Wash. (see below)
MEADOW VALLEY WASH PROJECT
LCCD celebrates the support shown by the Lincoln County Planning Department in early 2020 to put funding into the Lincoln County proposed budget to match funds offered by the USFWS Partners program for a low technology repair to the Mathews Drop Structure between Caliente and Panaca. Unfortunately, the exigencies of the COVID-19 situation precluded the County from committing the funds and the USFWS Partners funding was diverted to the important Camp Valley Project.
The CD gratefully acknowledges the County and Partners program for recognizing the importance of repair / maintenance to the Mathews Drop Structure that the CD has been advocating for and coordinating to accomplish since 2011.
Camp Valley is a headwaters creek for Meadow Valley Wash. The Camp Valley Meadow Rehabilitation Project was brought to the CD by a landowner in early May, 2020. After intensive communication and cooperation between the landowner, the CD, the USFWS Partners program, NDF and NDOW – all partners with a working-together history in Lincoln County, a proposal was brought to LCCD at their May meeting just two weeks later. This is only possible because of the relationships and trust that have been built working together on the RNA, Pahranagat, and Sage grouse projects, and the hardworking staffs.
The landowner’s goal is to help rehabilitate the wet meadow areas that used to be prominent along this stretch of Meadow Valley Wash. Back in the late 90’s, there were a series of events that led to the deepening and widening of the channel in that location. A large fire further up the drainage followed by some severe monsoonal moisture events flooded the wash several times.
It cut this particular location from wash depths of 8-15 feet to over 25-30 feet in some areas. Over the years, the deepening of the channel has led to the loss of good riparian and wet meadow areas. The water levels are much lower than just 20-some-odd years prior. We seek to reverse the downward trend of incision and widening of the channel and raise the channel bed in some areas, reestablish desired, functional vegetative communities and improve the variety and quality of wildlife habitat for Sage grouse and a host of other species.
The proposal is to install a variety of erosion and grade control structures within the creek from locally sourced aggregate and pinyon and juniper trees available from the private property. We expect to do the work in phases over ten to twenty years, both for financial reasons and to step by step build upon what the stream system does, sometimes by doing more work ourselves and some years to let the system adjust to what we have done. The vision is to construct grade control filter structures that will be built to the specifics of its stream location that in 20 years will be 20 feet underground because we have assisted the stream to heal itself.
Funding has been arranged from USFWS Partners program, Nevada Division of Forestry Landscape Scale Restoration US Forest Service grant, and NDOW Habitat Conservation Fee grant money. LCCD has done the hard work of signing up for all the online programs necessary to receive the federal and state funding. The CD will also be able to utilize its POOL/PACT insurance to employ a project manager, five to six temporary jobs and insure the heavy equipment, labor and volunteers.
Landowner work and equipment will provide much of the required match. The landowners have a working knowledge of the area, experience hiring competent labor and local experience. Each landowner who chooses to participate will sign a Landowner Agreement with the USFWS Partners program. The initial phase will work on about a mile of Camp Creek. The USFWS will obtain the necessary permits from the US Army Corps of Engineers and the State 401 Water Quality Certification and state Working in Waterways permit. NDF staff will do the cultural survey and work with the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office to complete that compliance. The landowners will volunteer some work and the CD will provide the means to bring all the pieces together
PAHRANAGAT VALLEY DRAIN PROJECT
Final Report for Permit #NVW-45913, Alamo, Lincoln County, Nevada, May 15 to November 11, 2019 by Christiana Manville, USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program Biologist:
The goal for this project was to allow water to flow more easily through the Pahranagat Drain, to reduce winter flooding on the surrounding pasture land, and improve water delivery to Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)…Work consisted of removing live and dead woody material and debris from the channel and removing dead woody material from the banks.
Pahranagat Drain is the historic channel for the Pahranagat River that has been straightened and deepened…The drain is about 10 miles long. The project area is a 2.2-mile segment of the drain just south of Alamo, Nevada. 
In the project area, the drain is lined by a narrow strip of trees on one or both sides, surrounded by grass pastures or alfalfa. Prior to starting the project, the drain had a high sediment load due to tilling of fields and flood irrigation of fields. The bottom of the drain contains several feet of fine sediment under the water. Because the slope of the drain is very flat, the sediment does not get cleared out of the system…
This project was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) Program. The Lincoln County Conservation District implemented the project with the help of private landowners who live along the drain. All in-water work occurred between August 26, 2019 and October 4, 2019, while the drain was at low flows.
The only piece of heavy equipment used in the project was a Caterpillar excavator model 320 C. The only part of the machine that entered the water was the excavator bucket…Woody debris, trash including construction waste, live cattails and willows that slowed water flow, and some sediment was removed from the drain. Also, non-native Russian olive trees growing on the banks were removed…There is less sediment in the channel than at the start of the project.
This project makes water management in Pahranagat Valley easier which benefits all landowners and native fish. Decreasing the sediment entering the drain and increasing the capacity of the drain benefits the NWR, specifically habitat that supports the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and the refugium for the endangered Pahranagat roundtail chub. Both the flycatcher and chub are listed in Nevada’s Wildlife Action Plan as Species of Conservation Priority. The CD is a pivotal player in maintaining the momentum of this ongoing project.
COMMITTEES
The Lincoln County Conservation District organizes its work by five committees: Agriculture, Range, Information and Education, Water Resources, and Environmental. The Pahranagat Valley and Meadow Valley Work Groups, under the Agriculture Committee, will continue to consult with NRCS. LCCD will support efforts by the local NRCS office to improve initiation and completion of EQIP projects on public and private lands, fostering the relationship between the agencies. Work completed by NRCS in northern Lincoln County included irrigation pipeline (1944 feet), sprinkler system (107 acres), range planting (35 acres), and structures for water control (2 each). New conservation plans were developed on private and public range allotments with three new contracts worth over $315,246.
Work completed by NRCS in southern Lincoln County included livestock pipeline (98,750 linear feet), range planting (35 acres), structures for water control (2 each), and brush management (320 acres). New conservation plans were developed on private (1) and public range allotments (2) with three new contracts worth over $697,000.
This work is also excellently explained and showcased in this NRCS video about the Trifecta of Success between a permittee, the BLM and NRCS as discussed on page 2. This video is well worth watching. https://youtu.be/hLXlQHy7yv0
The Caliente Service Area for NRCS has been split between the District Conservationists in Ely and Las Vegas who come to the Caliente office on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. The dividing line is Hwy 375, US 93 and the Union Pacific Railroad, from west to east. COVID-19 kept the staff away from Caliente for the most part.
The Environmental Committee advises on the Southeastern Lincoln County Habitat Conservation Plan and will continue to monitor and advise on this and other projects on federal land that will affect life in Lincoln County and the West.
CD BUSINESS
LCCD continued the agreement under NvACD to obtain insurance coverage with Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool (POOL/PACT). The new policy is a huge improvement from our previous policy coverage to protect our Supervisors and property.
The POOL/PACT insurance will allow LCCD to be the partner on the Camp Valley Project that provides insurance for the heavy equipment and to hire the staff needed to complete the work.
LCCD pays dues to and sponsors the Nevada Association of Conservation Districts (NvACD), pays dues to the National Association of Conservation Districts, and fulfills the requirements of the Nevada State Conservation Commission