2012-05-28 View of Humboldt Sink and Lake from Topog Peak in Nevada

The Humboldt Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a

wildlife management area A Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife. New Zealand There are 11 Wildlife Management Areas in New Zealand: * Horsham Downs Wildlife Man ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, encompassing the

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

es at the terminus of the

Humboldt River The Humboldt River is an extensive river drainage system located in north-central Nevada. It extends in a general east-to-west direction from its headwaters in the Jarbidge, Independence, and Ruby Mountains in Elko County, to its terminus in th ...

Habitats and wildlife

The Humboldt WMA contains

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s ranging from alkali desert scrub to open water, in three shallow

intermittent lakes Intermittency is a behavior of dynamical systems: regular alternation of phases of apparently periodic and chaotic dynamics. Intermittent or intermittency may also refer to: *Intermittent river or stream, the one that ceases to flow every year or ...

: Upper Humboldt Lake, Lower Humboldt Lake, and Toulon Lake. Due to high climatic variation from month to month and from year to year in the Great Basin, the amount of water that reaches the

Humboldt Sink The Humboldt Sink is an intermittent dry lake bed, approximately 11 mi (18 km) long, and 4 mi (6 km) across, in northwestern Nevada in the United States. The body of water in the sink is known as Humboldt Lake. The sink and it ...

can vary enormously, from up to during years of high flow (such as in 1998Wiemeyer, Stanley N
''Humboldt River and Humboldt Wildlife Management Area Contaminant Monitoring.''
Rep. no. 1130-1F25. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 25 June 2001. Retrieved 21 Oct. 2012.) to the entire area going dry. Water flows into the Humboldt WMA depend in part upon the amount of irrigation water used by farms immediately upstream in the Lovelock Valley. Although resident populations of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

and other

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

rise and fall according to the level of flow into the Humboldt WMA, the

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s provide a valuable stopover for migratory and breeding bird populations.

Duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

s, such as

mallards The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

, and

American coot The American coot (''Fulica americana''), also known as a mud hen or pouldeau, is a bird of the family Rallidae. Though commonly mistaken for ducks, American coots are only distantly related to ducks, belonging to a separate order. Unlike the w ...

s are common, as are shorebirds such as the

American avocet The American avocet (''Recurvirostra americana'') is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae, that is found in North America. It spends much of its time foraging in shallow water or on mud flats, often sweeping its bill ...

and raptors such as

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s and hawks. Some

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

live among the stands of invasive

tamarix The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tam ...

. The WMA is mostly used recreationally for

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

, as well as

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

during the occasional periods of high water flow.

Camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more na ...

is also permitted. The WMA is open year-round at all hours, with no charge for entry.

History

The area of the Humboldt WMA has a history of human habitation dating back several thousand years. Just outside the WMA's boundaries is

Lovelock Cave Lovelock Cave (NV-Ch-18) is a North American archaeological site previously known as Sunset Guano Cave, Horseshoe Cave, and Loud Site 18. The cave is about 150 feet long and 35 feet wide.Heizer, Robert F., and Lewis K. Napton (1970). ''Archaeology ...

, an important archaeological site in which Native American artifacts have been found, including the world's oldest known duck decoys, which have been dated at over 2000 years old.''Humboldt Wildlife Management Area.''
Reno, NV: Nevada Department of Wildlife, 2009. Retrieved Oct. 20, 2012. Pamphlet. During the mid-1800s, emigrants following the California Trail came to this area, known as Big Meadows, for their last chance to collect water and graze their animals before crossing the dreaded

Forty Mile Desert The Lahontan Valley is a basin in Churchill County, Nevada, United States. The valley is a landform of the central portion of the prehistoric Lake Lahontan's lakebed of 20,000-9,000 years ago. The valley and the adjacent Carson Sink represent a ...

.United States. Department of the Interior. National Park Service
Across Nevada: National Historic Trails Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide.
Published April 2012. Retrieved Oct. 20, 2012. The WMA was created in 1953 and gradually grew to its current size of through a series of leases, purchases, land trades, and donations.

Environmental issues

The Humboldt WMA, since it is located at the end of the

which has the largest

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

in Nevada, absorbs anthropogenic pollutants from areas upstream. Through the process of bioaccumulation, pollution from sewage,

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

drainage, dewatering from mines, etc. can reach high enough concentrations to harm fish and wildlife, as well as humans who consume them. A study published in the 1990s found that concentrations of

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...

, boron, mercury, and

selenium Selenium is a chemical element with the symbol Se and atomic number 34. It is a nonmetal (more rarely considered a metalloid) with properties that are intermediate between the elements above and below in the periodic table, sulfur and tellurium, ...

exceeded levels associated with harm to avian species.

References

{{reflist

External links

Nevada Wildlife Management Areas
- Nevada Department of Wildlife
Detailed map of the Humboldt WMA and areas upstream
Protected areas of Pershing County, Nevada Protected areas of Churchill County, Nevada Wetlands of Nevada Wildlife management areas of Nevada

Habitats and wildlife

History

Environmental issues

See also

References

External links