Amargosa Conservancy

Molly
loves
the desert....

And when
she gave me
a tour


out her
back door...

I could
see why.

Something
I've learned
in all
my travels...

is that
my best
days...

...are
meeting
local people
who love
their land.

It started
with the
Family
Nature
Summits.

In the
Adirondacks
we met
organic farmers....

local
cafe
owners....

weavers...

...and
snake
herders.

These people
absolutely glow
with
the passion...

with the love....


...of the land.

It is incredibly
inspiring
and thrilling

...to
meet people
with such
joy!

Biking
across
America

I met
with people
from the
local land trusts.

I heard
about their
incredible
love...

for
their
prairies...

their
mountains...

their
rivers...

...and
their
butterflies.

Now
whenever
I travel...

I turn to
Land
Trust
Alliance

to connect
me
with the
most wonderful
people...

you
can
imagine.

And Molly
was as
wonderful
as any
I've met.

To find her
I have
an hour
drive...

from
Death
Valley

to
nowhere.

Shoshone

surrounded by
a hundred
dusty miles.

But a town
where people
know
they need
each other.

They
have pride
in their museum...

the
desert art
of rusted
cars....

the
history
in ancient
rocks...

I find
a charming
green
little
house...

the home of
The
Amargosa
Conservancy.

...named
for their
life giving river...

...which flows
south,
then u-turns
north....

...to dead end
at the
Badwater Basin
in Death Valley.

The
Amargosy
Conservancy
started
in 2005

They have
three
part time
staffers...

103
supporters...

...and enough
passion
to fill
this desert
to the brim!

Len
helps Molly
show me around.

He's a
transplant
from Maine...

His
passion
is
birds.

I first overhear
his enthusiasm
describing
the owl
last night..

...clapping
his wings
as he flies
through the
desert night.

Len
loves
the owls!

As Len
and Molly
lead me -

- Watch out
for the
mesquite!

Len's ears
prick.

Binoculars
up!

Is it
the sweet
Bell's vireo?

The tiny
cactus wren?



No.

It's
his favorite -
phainopepla.


Demon-looking
cardinal...

...with
blood
red
eyes!

Spooky!

Len loves
all these
birds.

His blog,
Birdman88,
is full
of their stories...

...from their nests -
one of the few
soft spaces
in a
forbidding
world....

...to
their
mating.

We find
the Amargosa...

...a sweet
trickle
in a dry
world.

It's been
choked
by the
noxious
Tamarisk trees...

...which gulp
the sweet water
with impunity.

Molly and Len
have been
chopping down
the evil tamarisks.

But
they don't
have the manpower
to drag it
away.

I can relate.

It's like
our battle
with honeysuckle
back home!

We find
our way back
by Len's
blue poles.

We don't want
to get lost
in the desert!

They take
me down
to the
Amargosa
Canyon...

...past
China
Ranch...

...where Brian
and his
Hawaiian wife
have created
an oasis
of date palms.

photo by Las Vegas Food adventures

I want
to linger
and try
their
date breads....

photo by China Ranch

...or check out
the luxury
teepee
accommodations.

We enter
the
Amargosa
Canyon...

Golden
mountains
ahead...

A valley
of willows
and
tall grasses.

photo by NW Birding

Desert
cottontails
skitter
in the
underbrush.

In a week
Molly tells me
this valley
will be
lush
and
green.

Can you
believe
we even have
fish
that live here?

I am so
amazed
at the
resiliency
of life

in
the
desert.

The sun's
low rays
burn gold.

Time
to go...

- Let's go
to the marsh
for sunset,
says Molly.

As the sungold
fills the skies
Molly tells me
her fears.

photo by solar thermal magazine

They want
to pave
the desert floor
with huge arrays
of solar panels.

They'll destroy
the fragile
desert crust

the pupfish

the vireos.

Wait a minute!

This is crazy!


Haven't
we learned?!

We don't
need more
"too big to fail"?

We need
to each
make our
own
power....

Think
how much energy
we lose
in
transmission!

Let's keep
our power
local!

...and
leave
the desert
in peace!

We
watch
the sunset
quietly...



..and share
a love
of
the desert.