§460ppp Findings

Summary

Congress found that the Black Rock Desert and High Rock Canyon in northwest Nevada protect the last major intact stretches of the California emigrant trails, with old wagon ruts, carved inscriptions, and a landscape little changed since pioneer times. The area also shows many Northern Great Basin landforms and supports lots of native plants and animals, including birds of prey, sage grouse, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, free-roaming horses and burros, and some threatened fish and plants. It contains sites eligible for landmark status, such as part of the 1843–44 John Charles Fremont route and the place where Peter Lassen died, along with prehistoric Native American sites, wooly mammoth remains, very large natural potholes, and a remnant dry Pleistocene lakebed (playa) where the Earth’s curvature can be seen. Two large wilderness areas around the site help protect solitude and the trail views. Public lands here have been grazed for over a century and that use has helped local stability and the economy. Grazing is expected to continue under the conservation area’s management plan and other laws. The playa is the main destination for most visitors, including large permitted events, and those events are also expected to be run under the management plan and other laws.