Ward Mountain Restoration Project: An ecological assessment and landscape strategy for native ecosystems in the Ward Mountain landscape

Introduction

The Bureau of Land Management’s Ely District Office (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) entered into a cooperative agreement in August 2009 with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to complete an ecological assessment for approximately 120,000 acres at and around Ward Mountain southwest of Ely, Nevada. The Ward Mountain project area is a largely unfragmented landscape that includes a diversity of Great Basin ecosystems in the Egan Range and adjoining valleys. The 120,000 acre project area includes lands managed by BLM and the USFS, as well as Ely Shoshone Tribal Lands. Private inholdings are scattered throughout the project area.

Due to its close proximity to Ely, the Ward Mountain area is used for varied recreation activities and its northwestern corner serves as the main municipal watershed for the city of Ely. Moreover, there are concerns about the potential for wildfire spread from Ward Mountain to Ely. The fire regime in many of the Ward Mountain systems is outside the natural range of variability due to past land management practices and the invasion of nonnative annual grasses at lower elevations. Several vegetation communities are in need of restoration to improve or maintain watershed health.

The assessment’s primary purpose was to inform and guide the formulation of future site-specific, ost-effective vegetation management projects to protect, enhance and restore the ecological integrity of the area. The assessment was developed using satellite imagery, remote sensing, predictive ecological models, and cost-benefit assessments. Three workshops were held (one advance session via WebEx conference and two multi-day workshops in Ely) with agency natural resource managers to review and refine ecological models, review findings, and identify and explore potential vegetation management scenarios. The cooperative agreement reflects the mutual desire of BLM, USFS, TNC and other stakeholders to conserve and restore the Ward Mountain area.