Nevada's environmental legacy

by James W. Hulse

"Nevada's history as a state has been largely a story of the exploitation of its natural resources. Mining has torn down mountains and poisoned streams and groundwater. Uncontrolled grazing by vast herds of sheep and cattle has denuded grasslands and left them prey to the invasion of noxious plant species and vulnerable to wildfire. Clear-cut logging has changed the composition of forests and induced serious soil erosion. More recently, military testing, including hundreds of atomic blasts to test the efficacy of nuclear weapons, has irreversibly polluted vast expanses of fragile desert land. And rampant development throughout the state over the past four decades, along with the public's growing demand for recreational facilities, has placed intolerable demands on the arid state's limited water resources and threatened the survival of numerous rare plant and animal species." "Nevada's Environmental Legacy is an informed and readable survey of environmental policies and problems in the