Cave Lake State Park planning process to begin at Fire and Ice event

ELY, Nev.—A new master planning process for Cave Lake State Park will begin during the Fire and Ice event January 17-18 at the park.

The purpose of this effort is to update the 1990 master plan for Cave Lake State Park including new acreage recently added to the park in 2007 by the White Pine County Lands Bill. This plan will help guide management’s direction for recreation and natural resources for the next 10 to 15 years.

The public is asked to begin thinking about the update of the plan for the park. There will be displays and handouts at the event, as well as opportunities to talk at length with park planners at Fire and Ice.

“We invite the public and other agencies to play an important and genuine role in determining the management strategy for recreation while protecting the magnificent and unique resources of Cave Lake State Park,” said Dave Morrow, administrator for Nevada State Parks.

More information is available at www.parks.nv.gov/masterplans.htm. A questionnaire may be downloaded and emailed to jscanland@parks.nv.gov. It may also be mailed it to the address below:

Nevada Division of State Parks
901 S. Stewart St., Ste. 5005
Carson City, NV 89701-5248

The 2009 Fire and Ice Festival Celebrates the 100th birthday of Steam Engine # 93

[Submitted news release.]

The 2009 White Pine County Fire and Ice Festival, held at Cave Lake State Park January 17-18, is going to be a sight to behold. This year the festival will begin with the 100th birthday celebration of this nation’s best preserved short line railroad with steam engine #93.

On Saturday January 17, 2009, at 5:00 pm the train will pull out of the station in Ely, Nevada along with two cars filled with passengers and one VIP car. The passengers will be given an hour long tour of the area, and then on their way back into Ely, fireworks will go off from the train itself — a never seen before event

There will also be a train ride the following morning, Sunday January 18th, at 9:30. Both are open to the public.

Director’s December Update

This is the Director’s update sent to DCNR employees yesterday.

The Governor and legislative leaders have been meeting during the last few weeks and appear to have determined, at least conceptually, a way to address the Fiscal Year 2009 (ends June 30, 2009) budget shortfall. There is no silver bullet here and the short term solution will include a number of financial actions including likely additional budget reductions. The good news is that these cuts may not be as deep as previously feared. The legislature will again meet in special session on December 8 and 9 to ratify these solutions. While this will hopefully be a “stopgap” through next summer, the 2009 regular session (which begins in February 2009) will have to address the Fiscal Year 2010 and 2011 shortfalls which are projected to be well over $1 billion.
 
The division administrators are meeting regularly with Deputy Director Kay Scherer and me on the budget situation and ways to address our portion of the shortfall. As always, the welfare of our most valuable department resource, our employees, are our first priority.

Fire and Ice 2009 poster