BLM Special Areas are unique public lands that are part of the National Landscape Conservation system, or NLCS. The NLCS was established in 2000 to recognize and protect some of the West’s most spectacular landscapes. To be included in the NLCS, an area must be an officially designated National Monument, National Conservation Area, National Historic or Scenic Trail, Wild and Scenic River, Wilderness Area or Wilderness Study Area.

 

The BLM Ely District manages 22 Wilderness Areas in eastern Nevada. Fourteen are in Lincoln County and resulted from the Lincoln County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act of 2004. Eight are in White Pine County and resulted from the White Pine County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act of 2006.

 

Wilderness Areas are defined by the Wilderness Act of 1964 as a place "…Where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." Designation is meant to ensure that the land is preserved and protected in its natural condition. Wilderness Areas can contain ecological, geological or other features that have a historic, scenic or scientific value.

 

Wilderness Areas offer visitors outstanding opportunities for solitude, as well as primitive and unconfined types of recreation. Caving, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, primitive camping, rock climbing and rocking hounding are all allowed inside Wilderness Areas. Mechanized forms of transportation, such as automobiles, ATVs, motorcycles and mountain bikes, are not allowed inside Wilderness Areas.

 

Eastern Nevada’s public lands have many other exceptional areas that are highly prized for their scenic and recreational values. However, they are not part of the NLCS because they have not been nationally designated by either the President or Congress.