INITIAL ATTACK: Nevada Division of Forestry’s Air Operations (video)

MINDEN, Nev.—Take an inside view of the Nevada Division of Forestry’s initial attack response team based in Minden, Nevada. Meet the Air Operations personnel and see how the division provides support fighting wildland fires in Nevada and California. By July 31, 2007, the team conducted initial attack operations on 30 fires for a total of 93 hours of flying time. The peak of the 2007 fire season had not yet begun.

County approves funding agreement for Santa Maria River Park

DAYTON, Nev.—The County Commission approved a funding agreement Thursday, which will fund a Carson River access and park in the Santa Maria Ranch Planned Unit Development in the Dayton area.

According to an agenda summary form, the $328,000 grant comes from the Nevada Division of State Lands and Conservation and Resource Protection Grant Program. The grant comes from Question 1 monies, which were approved via Nevada voters in 2002 for projects of this nature, along with $75,000 from a Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant. The Board approved the latter in April while the County’s land match obligation has been covered via a nearly 34-acre property donated via Dayton Land Developers, LLC.

Read the complete story at The Leader-Courier.

State Question 1 grant to help Carson City acquire 86-acres as open space

CARSON CITY, Nev.—In a rare real estate deal that left everyone involved smiling, the Carson City Board of Supervisors unanimously decided last week to buy the 86-acre Buzzy’s Ranch property with the intention of keeping the space largely undeveloped. “Right now, I’m in heaven,” said Open Space Manager Juan Guzman, who helped broker the deal. “This is a dream come true.”

Read more about the Carson City open space acquisition at the Carson Times.

Yucca Mountain work continues (LVRJ)

LAS VEGAS—Is it science? Or is it defiance?

It’s both, say federal and state officials embroiled in a court battle over using Nevada’s water for drilling operations at the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.

On Thursday, an 8,000-gallon tanker truck churned through Midway Valley delivering water to several drill rigs, six days after the state engineer ordered the Department of Energy to stop using the water for the drilling project. The use of the water for collecting rock samples deep in the Earth’s crust defies a court-approved agreement. Read the complete story at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.