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AC Blog
Work crew in the Amargosa Basin
Fishes of the Amargosa Basin
By Patrick Donnelly Vice President, Amargosa Conservancy Great Basin Director, Center for Biological Diversity Before the Amargosa Basin was the hottest, driest place in North America, it was relatively moist. Abundant precipitation during the Pleistocene (as recently...
Warm Weather Hiking: When to go, what to bring
Temperatures are on the rise in the Amargosa Basin, which means it's a good time to reevaluate your approach to warm weather hiking. First, to be completely clear: May, June, July and August tend to be extreme in the Amargosa Basin. Temperatures regularly exceed 115...
Summer Seminar Series, 2022
The Amargosa Conservancy is thrilled to launch its first ever Summer Seminar Series! These seminars will feature presentations by our board of directors on the history, ecology, geology, and other fields related to our work in the Amargosa Basin. This is your chance...
Celebrating the Antiquities Act has never been more important.
On June 8th, our nation will observe the 116th anniversary of the Antiquities Act, and there has never been a more important time to celebrate this historic preservation policy and support its current use. When Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law in...
Volunteer Project to Trim Athel Grove at Salt Creek Hills
Located near highway 127 about midway between Baker and Shoshone, Salt Creek Hills ACEC (Area of Critical Environmental Concern) is a small but important riparian resource managed by the Bureau of Land Management’s Barstow office. During the Ice Ages, the...
The drought is real in the Amargosa Basin. Here’s how we’re responding.
Spring is a time of rejuvenation in the Amargosa Basin. As the days begin to warm, the dense mesquite-willow groves of the Amargosa wetlands begin to green up, and a dozen different bird songs fill the air. Creosote on the bajadas blooms bright and golden against the...
Executive Director’s Report: How the AC is supporting a scientific approach to water policy
While peering out the window of a single-engine Cessna 210 propellor plane on an Ecoflight over the northern Amargosa Basin, I had two thoughts simultaneously: This river is incredibly beautiful. This river is incredibly vulnerable. The Amargosa River faces threats at...
A Pond of Many Purposes: Collaborative Conservation on China Ranch
The pond at China Ranch is a perfect example of collaborative conservation done right. This pond functions as a passive irrigation system that captures the natural flow of Willow Creek through gravity as opposed to active pumping. China Ranch relies heavily on this...
Ecoflight Illustrates the Majesty and Precarity of the Northern Amargosa Basin
Early in the morning on Saturday, March 12th, individuals working and living in the Amargosa Basin and Death Valley region met at Calvada Meadows Airport near Pahrump, NV. The morning shown bright and windless: ideal conditions for flying in a single-engine Cessna 210...
2020 Amargosa State of the Basin Report
This 2020 State of the Basin Report (SOBR) was prepared by Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. (Partner) on behalf of the Amargosa Conservancy (AC) as part of a much larger effort that is being conducted between AC, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), U.S. Bureau of Land...
An Amargosa Moment: The Elusive Bend
Join Mason Voehl, our new Executive Director for this exciting new series on our AC blog all the moments and encounters in the Amargosa that leave lasting impressions on us.
AC Volunteers Assist with Screwbean Mesquite Planting Project
Written by Christiana Manville, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service On Saturday January 8, 2022, partners and volunteers came together to plant 63 mesquite trees on The Nature Conservancy’s Beatty Narrows property just south of Beatty. We planted 56 screwbean mesquite...
Partners and Volunteers Band Together to Improve Signage at China Ranch Trailhead
AC Board Member John Hiatt wipes freshly poured concrete off of the posts of the new trailhead sign at China Ranch. On January 15th, AC volunteers and Brian Brown from China Ranch Date Farm joined together to install a brand new trailhead sign at the China Ranch...
Introducing: An Amargosa Moment
Join Mason Voehl, our new Executive Director for this exciting new series on our AC blog all the moments and encounters in the Amargosa that leave lasting impressions on us.
California Botanist Named 2021 E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Award Recipient
AC Director Naomi Fraga Wins Award for Outstanding Science to Save Native Plants
History and Change on the Old Spanish Trail
For several decades after 1829, Los Angeles and Santa Fe were linked by a 700-mile trade route known as the Old Spanish Trail. Mule trains crossed the Amargosa region, between Las Vegas and the Mojave River, via a series of springs a day’s travel apart. A 22-minute...
Amargosa in the News: Wildlife Preservation from Extinction
This week the Los Angeles Times published a beautiful, moving and elegantly illustrated article by Louis Sahagún, covering projects across California with the noble goals of rescuing a variety of biological species from extinction and revitalizing plants and wildlife...
Bill Christian, A Remembrance
It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Bill Christian, co-founder of the Amargosa Conservancy and beloved leader in Amargosa Basin conservation.
Meet the Amargosa 2019
PDF version of Meet the Amargosa.
Photo Series: Amargosa Seasons – winter
Winter in Amargosa is a season of drama.
Film: Keepers of Bitter Waters
Keepers of the Bitter Waters: A film by Fred Bell.
Meet the Amargosa 2018
PDF version of Meet the Amargosa.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund
One of the most important public parks programs — the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) — is getting closer to its expiration date on September 30. Join us in demanding a vote on legislation to permanently reauthorize LWCF before the September expiration deadline.
Pining about large scale solar: Why the Yellow Pine Project will leave us with broken hearts
Just over the mountains from Tecopa, in the Lower Pahrump Valley, there is a plan to install a 3000 acre solar array in otherwise untouched, old growth desert – an area featuring desert tortoise and Joshua Trees.
Alerta: defiende el DRECP
La Administración de Trump ha establecido el DRECP como su último objetivo: socavando el proceso público, ocho años de colaboración y compromiso, y amenazando nuestras tierras públicas. El DRECP - Plan de Conservación y Energía Renovable del Desierto - está destinado...
Notice: Defend the DRECP!
The DRECP is a land use plan designed to allow renewable energy development on least conflict public lands, and balance that with conservation and recreation on public land – uses that are critically important to Desert communities and their economies.
Action Alert: Defend the DRECP!
The Trump Administration has set the DRECP (Desert Renewable Energy and Conservation Plan) as its latest target – undermining the public process, eight years of collaboration and compromise, and threatening our public lands.
Vole party + leaving Shoshone
Experiences as an intern: babysitting a colony of voles and leaving Shoshone
This past season as a natural resource steward in Shoshone, California
While the work we did here specifically fits the needs of these landscapes, the sustainable practices we implored and the skills we learned can be carried on with us to our future endeavors, able to be adapted to varying landscape types.
Back on the Tracks
After a few hectic weeks, the Amargosa Conservancy interns are getting back to their normal routine.