Ranch History and the Mines

As with most things, it takes time, good listening skills and a little putting 2 and 2 together to get the whole picture. I think I've got most of the picture here of the history and present state of the Ranch, but this may be a long post, so hang in there.

In the late 1800's, Upper and Lower Clover were started as one ranch, and Squaw Valley was a separate ranch. There are still some old homestead sites around, but I don't have photos yet. There is a huge old ranch building down at lower clover, high pitched roof line, wood everywhere inside and out, that looks to be built sometime around the early to mid 1900's. It has cooks quarters, a bunkhouse, and a ranch managers dwelling all in one building. It has been empty for quite some time but later this summer I will be working on cleaning it up a bit, and hopes for restoring it are in the works. Some time in the mid 1900's, Squaw Valley and Upper and Lower Clover were all combined into one ranch, and owned by a large ranching family who still owns the Spanish Ranch (some of you may have heard of it) one valley over from us.

In 1995, that family sold the ranch to Barrick Mines. Here is an excerpt from the Barrick Mines corporate home page with their take on the ranch between 1995 and now:

Barrick owns the Squaw Valley Ranch near the Goldstrike mine in north-central Nevada. The 153,000 hectare ranch consists of both Barrick-owned property and grazing rights on U.S. federal lands. After purchasing the ranch in 1995 the Company leased the ranch back to its original owner. However eight years later, after expiration of the lease, Barrick turned its attention to the environmental health of the land and developed an innovative approach to the stewardship of this property. A baseline study of streams and vegetation was completed, Lahontan trout habitat and sage grouse leks (strutting and mating grounds) identified, and a plan for habitat enhancement developed. The management plan involved a three-pronged approach:

• Changes to water distribution, including improvements to irrigation systems and increased water conservation measures
• Changes to grazing to provide for rest and recovery of overgrazed lands
• Protection of riparian areas and other sensitive habitats

This plan is supported by a variety of partners, including:

• The community of Midas
• Northeastern Nevada Stewardship Group
• Trout Unlimited
• Nevada Bighorns Unlimited
• U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
• Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW)

Performance monitoring is an important part of the management plan. After two years, change is already evident, including the appearance of healthy willows along the riparian areas of streams, providing much needed shade and bank stability, and an increase in sage grouse populations on monitored leks. Managed grazing has improved the overall productivity of the property.

Unfortunately, a lightning-caused range fire burned nearly 40,500 hectares on the ranch allotment in July 2005. The fire destroyed mule deer and sage grouse habitat, as well as riparian vegetation along a number of streams.

Cooperation with government and non-government organizations led to the development of a habitat recovery and fire protection plan for the ranch. The BLM, NDOW, Barrick and the Reno, Nevada and Midas Bighorns Unlimited groups developed a comprehensive plan to seed fire-damaged lands with sagebrush (the key plant for sage grouse production and winter survival).

In addition, Barrick will also seed “green strips” with non-native, non-invasive species which will remain green well into summer and serve as fire breaks to reduce the magnitude of seasonal fires in the area. These species are palatable to wildlife and will add diversity to the area without encroaching on native plant communities.

(back to me) The original owners that leased the ranch back from Barrick in 1995 left in 2003. The ranch sat unused for a few years, and Jesse and Ricarda, who manage it now have been here for 4 years. They were specifically chosen to be a part of the ranch restoration because they were willing to look at ranching from a new more sustainable perspective, and do things a little differently than traditional ranching. The consultant who originally did some of the work for Barrick, is now one of the background partners in the Ranch. He does not live here, but still visits frequently and is involved in the planning and land management.

Since the ranch sits in the middle of the Mine's land, Barrick maintains most of the dirt roads. We see a lot of traffic going up and down the valley in the morning and mid afternoon as the mines shuttle employees in vans and large tour buses from Golconda and Winnemucca. The mines run 24/7, and we are told provide a very solid living wage. The unemployment rate in this county is significantly less than the rest of the state because of the mining operations.

Additionally we have learned that there are about 1500 wild/feral horses on the property. The BLM will start a large scale round up right after the 4th of July weekend to keep the population under control. The horses will go to auction.

All in all, the more we learn, the more we really like this ranch and the way it operates. I have no pictures of the mines, so these are just a few random pictures.