Blue Lakes

An Overview of the Blue Lakes/Pine Forest Range

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:36:28 -0400

Situated in far northwestern Nevada just south of the Oregon border, Blue Lakes are the only alpine lakes in the region, and their value to anglers in the area is immeasurable. But, perhaps more importantly, is the value to the region for sportsmen all over America—it’s perhaps the best region to visit if you’re a chukar hunter, and if you’re interested in mule deer, pronghorn or bighorn sheep hunting, this is the corner of Nevada you’ll want to hit in search of big game.

Presently, the Pine Forest Range, including the Blue Lakes, is dotted by Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas. Some of these areas might warrant that wilderness designation, but others are likely better off being released from WSA designation to allow for some much-needed conservation work that is simply not allowed in WSAs.

This is prime sage grouse country that is threatened now by invasive vegetation—primarily cheat grass, which is the first vegetation, native or exotic, to establish itself after a disturbance, like a fire, for instance. Recovery work in WSAs is limited, which means a WSA impacted by an exotic vegetation invasion can’t be adequately treated.

The lakes themselves provide a high-quality backcountry fishing experience in a designated wilderness study area, with rainbow trout and the unusual tiger trout (a sterile hybrid of a brook trout and brown trout) on the angling menu. An open shoreline lends itself to sight-casting to surprisingly big trout, and it’s a modest hike, meaning toting a float tube into the lakes is not unheard of. Presently TU and Field & Stream are working with local sportsmen, elected officials and agency staff to reconsider the WSA situation in this region, with the hopes of protecting Blue Lakes and the watersheds that drain off the Pine Forest Range—many of these streams have the potential for Lahontan cutthroat trout reintroduction.

As it is, the area is a destination for upland bird hunters who love to chase the wily chukar, and for many, that’s enough to warrant protection. Throw in the fishing component, and Blue Lakes and the Pine Forest Range are high-quality sporting destinations that deserve long-term protection.

What’s in Blue Lakes and the Pine Forest Range?
Fishing assets: Rainbow trout, brown trout, Lahontan cutthroat trout, brook trout, tiger trout.
Hunting assets: Chukar, sage grouse, mule deer, bighorn sheep,
pronghorn.
Other: This is a recreational paradise for desert-loving hikers, cyclists and off-road enthusiasts.

Threats: This area is threatened by a cheat grass invasion that has surpassed epidemic proportions. Additionally, unsustainable populations of wild horses and burros overgraze the fragile desert flora.

Also, limitations on what can be done to improve or recover wildlife habitat in designated wilderness study areas hinder any large-scale efforts to make habitat more welcoming to important game animals.

Best Wild Places: Exploring the Blue Lakes (Day 3)

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:29:10 -0400

Deputy Editor Jay Cassell and Greg Moore (Trout Unlimited’s communications specialist for TU’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Projects, spent three days with Jim Jeffress, TU’s Nevada backcountry coordinator, exploring the Blue Lakes – Pine Forest Range in the far northwest corner of Nevada, close to the Oregon line. Here's the report from Day 2.

Blue Lakes are four alpine lakes in the Blue Lakes WSA. It’s an 18-mile off-road drive to reach the parking area, followed by a mile-long mostly uphill hike.

They are incredibly beautiful, with little sign of man using the area. The Pine Forest Working Group’s land-management proposals were unanimously approved by the Humboldt County Commission on October 18, so now it’s up to Nevada’s congressional delegation to take the proposal to Congress for official designation as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

The plan is to combine the Blue Lakes WSA with the Alder Creek WSA, add almost 1800 acres from area ranchers in exchange for land that they can use.

Click here to see more photos from Day 3 of the Blue Lakes Adventure.

Exploring the Blue Lakes: Day Three

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:25:29 -0400

Deputy Editor Jay Cassell and Greg Moore, Trout Unlimited’s communications specialist for TU’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Projects, spent three days with Jim Jeffress, TU’s Nevada backcountry coordinator, exploring the Blue Lakes – Pine Forest Range in the far northwest corner of Nevada, close to the Oregon line.

Best Wild Places: Exploring the Blue Lakes (Day 2)

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:50:38 -0400

The second day of the tour was two-fold: chukar hunting in the McGee Mountain multiple use area, a 5000-acre piece of property near the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge; then going to Knott Creek Reservoir for some more trout fishing. Yesterday, I was told that the BLM’s original wilderness inventory was 49 million acres across Nevada.

I had a tough time wrapping my head around those figures until Moore told me that more than 76 percent of the state is public land managed by the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service, with the vast majority of it in BLM hands. Add land controlled by the military, and almost 85 percent of the state is owned by the Federal Government. When you’ve got so much land, proper management, with input from all involved parties, is critical.

McGee Mountain was a typical example of land used by a variety of interests, from sportsmen to ranchers to miners.

--Jay Cassell

Click here to see more photos from Day 2 of the Blue Lakes Adventure.

Exploring the Blue Lakes: Day Two

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:45:45 -0400

Best Wild Places: Exploring the Blue Lakes (Day 1)

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:12:55 -0400

The first day involved flying over this vast area, with Jeffress pointing out the bodies of water in question, as well as showing us where the current roads and boundaries are.

As we did our fly over, Jeffress explained that the Pine Forest Range holds a combination of wildlife study areas (WSAs). The Wilderness Act of 1964 directed the Bureau of Land Management to inventory and/or study all roadless areas of 5000 acres or more to see which ones have true wilderness characteristics.

In 1977 the BLM started to inventory almost 49 million acres across Nevada (which is the seventh largest state in the U.S.). By 1979, 34 million acres were dropped from the inventory; the remaining 15 million were divided up into intensive wilderness inventory units. In Nevada, the BLM designated 110 wilderness study areas, covering 5.1 million acres, in a report sent to Congress. Until Congress moves forward with a permanent designation or drops any WSAs, these areas are managed as wilderness.

That’s Knott Creek Reservoir below – it borders the 5,142-acre Alder Creek WSA. Much of the east shore is actually within the WSA, but a local county commission-sanctioned WSA review committee has recommended a realignment of the boundaries, so people can use the area.

My take as an outsider, looking in? These WSA’s have basically been just sitting there since 1977, waiting for someone to come along, study them, then make the recommendations needed to move them into wilderness or some other type of designation.

Jeffress and the Pine Forest WSA working group have finished studying the two WSAs in this area, and are making recommendations on how the resources may be best used to everyone’s advantage. It’s quite the complicated issue, involving suggestions to move or close roads, alter boundaries so some areas are whole, so people currently camping in areas where they shouldn’t be will now be legal, and more – including water and grazing rights, which are always complicated in the West.

—Jay Cassell

Click here to see more photos from Day 1 of the Blue Lakes adventure.

Exploring the Blue Lakes: Day One

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:03:11 -0400