Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas are patches of land that have special federal protection. This protection is the strongest possible and guarantees that the most beautiful and wild places remain that way forever.
The great thing about these wilderness areas is that they serve many uses, and that wilderness considers all kinds of human values as being valuable to the wilderness experience.
Icthyosaur drawing
As a conservationist and a scientist, I have many interests when it comes to protecting and conserving the Nevada landscape. These range from making sure wild places are there for future generations to protecting areas that have value for scientific endeavors. These scientific endeavors can be very broad, ranging from opportunities for researchers to examine wildlife and plant populations in areas free of the direct effects of human actions to serving as places that store valuable information, like the geologic and fossil records, to be catalogued and explained.
Recently, the Nevada Wilderness Project was asked to provide comments on a request for a scientific research permit in one of Nevada’s Wilderness Study Areas. It turns out that a paleontologist had recorded an ichthyosaur (a fish-like reptile that went extinct about 20 million years ago; also see this) in the Augusta Mountains WSA some years ago. A research team requested a permit to go in and do a complete excavation of the fossil. They recognized the need to respect the minimum tool ethic and chose to use hand tools to complete the job. They also asked for permission to have a helicopter come in, lower a carrier, and haul the discovery off-site without landing in the area, or to bring in horses if the helicopter option could not gain approval.
This was one of those instances where wilderness value was exemplified beyond the scenic, visual, and recreational opportunities that people generally associate with wilderness areas. Scientific discovery is exciting, and it is great to know that areas being afforded wilderness protection in Nevada are helping to inform man’s knowledge of the history of the planet and the region.
With an emphasis on the “ich,” the word ichthysaur sounds like something my older brother would have called me — along with “turdface,” or the weird but infuriating “mucous membrane.” What a dork.
But being an ichthysaur 100 million years ago sounds like it might have been pretty cool. They shared some similarities to our modern whales and dolphins; they were big, built for speed and breathed air. Humans first described the genus in 1699 from fossil fragments discovered in Wales.
A little more than 100 years later, in 1811, a 12-year-old girl named Mary Anning found the first complete ichthysaur fossil near her home in southern England. Wikipedia says that Anning went on to become a well-known 19th century fossil collector and made several important discoveries that became key pieces of evidence supporting the then-new concept of extinction. Way to go Mary.
And hats off to the scientists working in Nevada’s Augusta Mountains — where the ichthysaurs once swam. I hope their discoveries are fruitful.