A Ribbon of Life in the Carson Desert
The Carson River begins high in the Sierra Nevada south of Lake Tahoe, California. The 236-mile-long river flows swiftly down the east side of the Sierra before meeting the Great Basin near Carson City, Nevada, and then flowing more gradually east and north across the Carson Valley. The Carson Valley lies in the rain shadow of the Sierra, and the Carson River provides a lifeline of green vegetation across an otherwise arid landscape.
Near the historic town of Dayton, Nevada, WRC is working to acquire the 1,627-acre Lower Carson Ranch and its 4.5 miles of river frontage along the lower Carson. Extensive riparian habitat along the winding river, green pastures and upland sagebrush steppe provide excellent habitat for fish and wildlife. Native fish found in the lower Carson include mountain whitefish, Lahontan redside shiner, Tahoe sucker, mountain sucker, and speckled dace. Rainbow and brown trout are stocked seasonally as part of a put-and-take fishery. Wildlife found at the ranch include mule deer from the Pine Nut herd, waterfowl, bobcat, mountain lion, wild turkey, neotropical migratory songbirds, raptors, reptiles and bats. The property is about six miles upstream from the Carson River Delta Important Bird Area.
Creating a new Nevada State Park
WRC plans to convey the ranch to Nevada State Parks, creating a state park at the edge of Dayton that will open 4.5 miles of riverfront to the public in an area where river access provides a tremendous benefit to the community. The property is also rich in Nevada history. Dayton was the state's second permanent Euro-American settlement, founded by miners in 1851. It was Lyon County’s first county seat and the site of Nevada's first gold discovery in 1849. The historic Fort Churchill Road that runs through the ranch was part of the Pony Express route and is now part of the national American Discovery Trail, a continuous 6,800-mile trail that stretches from Delaware to California.
Conservation of the ranch will improve habitat for mule deer, waterfowl, songbirds, and raptors and safeguard water quantity and quality for fish and river recreation. This is WRC’s second project in the Carson River basin. Along the East Fork Carson upstream, WRC is also working to conserve the 1,688-acre Park Ranch, which boasts 1.6 miles of the river, including important mountain meadows that provide emerald islands for fish and wildlife in the High Sierra.
