Sand Addiction - August 2007 - (Page 74) Exploring Nevada’s Sand Dunes In a series of five different articles, we will take you around to five of Nevada’s sand dunes that are open to offhighway vehicle use Sand Mountain, Crescent Dunes, Winnemucca Dunes, Amargosa, and Clayton Valley. BLM manages nearly 48 million acres of public land in Nevada, comprising 68 percent of the state's land base; all of the dunes we will feature lie on BLM land. By: Jon Crowley, DuneGuide.com Much of Nevada is incredibly remote because of its geographical features and it is hard to build houses and shopping malls when about 85 percent of Nevada's land is owned by the federal government. By far, the largest land manager in Nevada is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Overall, there is a little bit of everything when you look at Nevada’s sand dunes. Sand Mountain and Amargosa are by far the most popular due to their close proximity to the large population centers of Las Vegas and Reno. Winnemucca is less popular, but is pretty accessible and offers a large area of rolling dunes to explore. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, Crescent Dunes and Clayton Valley are much more remote and experience only a few riders. In this issue, we’ll cover Sand Mountain, the tallest and most popular dune in Nevada. Sand Mountain has its share of controversy, too, as you’ll see if you check out the Land Use section. Sand Mountain Butterfly Listing Is Denied After completing a 12-month review of the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided the butterfly won't receive federal protection as a threatened or endangered species. The Service made this decision in response to a petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Xerces Society, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Nevada Outdoor Recreation Society to list the butterfly as either threatened or endangered. Service has concluded that the recent limitation of motorized vehicles to a designated mandatory route system will ensure that further habitat loss does not occur and reduces the significance of this threat. After considering this new information, the Service concluded the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly is not currently at risk of extinction and listing under the Act is not warranted. reassess the data. About the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly: According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the gradual destruction of the Kearney Buckwheat habitat, on which the butterfly depends, poses a potentially significant threat to the butterfly in the foreseeable future. The 74 www.sandaddiction.com As part of the butterfly conservation plan, the Bureau of Land Management is installing fences and signs to confine off-roaders to designated routes in the 4,795acre recreation area. The restrictions apply to about 60 percent of the area and the remaining 40 percent is open sand dune that is unaffected by route designation. The designated routes will be similar to the voluntary route system implemented a few years ago with one big exception: Riders found in closed areas can now be issued tickets, so it is best to stay on designated routes and open areas. Stay tuned, because the Center for Biological Diversity will most likely take action in court to force the Fish & Wildlife Service to The Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly is a subspecies of blue butterfly that is found throughout the west. It differs only slightly from other blue butterflies in its family, but the Endangered Species Act affords the same protection to subspecies as it does to species. The Sand Mountain Blue has one flight per year between late July and early September. The butterfly depends completely on its host plant, Kearney Buckwheat. The butterfly uses the plant’s nectar, lays its eggs on it, and the larvae eat the flowers. If the plants are damaged or destroyed, butterfly habitat shrinks. Kearney Buckwheat is only found in active sand dunes and no other suitable habitat has been found for the Sand Mountain Blue within 100 KM. Photo – Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly - Jon Crowley, DuneGuide.com http://DuneGuide.com http://DuneGuide.com http://www.sandaddiction.com
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