Conservation easements on 1,800 acres in Carson Valley making progress

Conservation easements on nearly 1,800 acres including two historic ranch properties could be done by next summer.

Bureau of Land Management Carson City District Director Ken Collum told county commissioners on Thursday that documents required to prepare a purchase agreement for 420 acres on the Van Sickle Station Ranch.

Dating back to the early years of settlement in Carson Valley, Van Sickle Station was a popular way station on the way to the California gold fields in 1855, prior to the discovery of the Comstock Lode.

The ranch served as a Pony Express Station.

The land proposed for acquisition using funds from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, is located on either side of Muller Lane and is next to the River Fork Ranch on the northeast side.

Parcels east of Foothill Road extend toward the West Fork, while south of Muller Lane, parcels don’t start until just past Brockliss Slough and extend to near the West Fork of the river.

The Dangberg Home Ranch property is awaiting a required appraisal, Collum said. The property is currently owned by Park Ranch Holdings and consists of 1,373 acres of land between the East and West forks of the river.

Current owners would retain the title to the property and would be able to ranch the land but the easement would prohibit any development.

There is no requirement that owners follow through with the sale and several haven’t over the years. Funding for the purchases comes from the sale of public lands in the Las Vegas Valley.

Collum said the BLM anticipates completing conservation easements on the two properties by next summer.

The sale of the properties in question has been in progress since 2019. There was $13.7 million allocated to buy the property that surrounds the historic Dangberg Home Ranch south of Minden.

Sandwiched between the two sites is 903-acre LongField owned by the Bently Family Partnership. The West Fork of the Carson River passes across the site which is being advertised for sale. Sellers say the property has the oldest water rights in Carson Valley.

According to the BLM, web site, 3,540 acres of land has either been preserved or is in the process, including the purchase of 14,522 acres of Bently land in the Pine Nut mountains.

The program is celebrating its 15^th year since an easement was purchased on the 566-acre Hussman Ranch south of Gardnerville.

Nominations for the 19^th round of funding for the act, which has raised nearly $4 billion over the last 23 years, are due 4:30 p.m. Friday.

The 18^th round recommendations were approved by the Secretary of the Interior on Oct. 7. That round doesn’t include any conservation easement projects for Douglas County, but there are significant fire reduction and Lake Tahoe projects that address forest health, science stewardship, sustainable recreation and watersheds.

Fire prevention proposals include around $5.9 million in fuels reductions and $8.7 million in creating fire adapted commu8nities in the Tahoe Basin. Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District is receiving $432,470 from the fund.

In all there are $50.68 million in hazardous fuels and wildfire prevention projects, with around 54 percent going directly to Lake Tahoe, according to the BLM.