They share a love for life and land. They depend on the water that flows here and the preservation of their natural habitat. They are the abundantly diverse flora and fauna that make the high desert rangeland of Nevada their home.
While some are year-round residents and others are simply passing through, the wildlife of northern Nevada depend on their natural habitats for survival. About 170 miles north of Reno is an area known as Home Camp—a tract of wildlife-rich, high desert rangeland with an abundance of ecological resources.
Nevada Land Trust facilitated the acquisition of Home Camp’s 17,500 acres in northwest Washoe County thanks to Round 7 Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) funding.
Home Camp’s protection contributes to the preservation of specially designated species such as the greater sage-grouse and the wall canyon sucker; both summer and lambing habitat for the California Bighorn sheep; and possibly the only known location within the state of Nevada of the rare plant, prostrate buckwheat.
On any given day, visitors may witness several of the different species of wildlife that interact with the land, as Home Camp serves as summer and transition range for mule deer and pronghorn antelope, and encompasses water resources that are essential to wildlife, with approximately 10.25 miles of streams and 59 acres of wet meadows associated with springs.
Today, Home Camp is accessible to the public for a wealth of recreational activities, including hiking, hunting, and bird watching, in addition to featuring one of the few northern Washoe County recreational fishing sites, Boulder Reservoir, which is stocked by the Nevada Department of Wildlife with rainbow trout.
If there is ever any wonder as to why Nevada is celebrated around the world for the diversity of its landscape and abundance of wildlife, all one would need to do is hike in and around Home Camp—where evidence of nature’s splendor is plentiful, and a healthy, happy ecosystem is alive and flourishing.
