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Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

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Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

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GENERAL INFORMATION
Criteria: 
  • Currently a Ramsar Site
  • Listed on more than one "valuable wetland" list by natural resource agencies or nongovernment organizations
  • Protects biological diverse wetland flora, fauna and/or their habitat
  • Supports significant numbers of wetland-dependant fauna, such as water birds or fish

Ash Meadows NWR contains a variety of wetland types, including forested (Fraxinus-dominated), shrub-scrub (Baccharis, Pluchea, and Salix dominated), herbaceous (Carex, Juncus, Distichlis, Phragmites, Typha, and Schoenoplectus dominated), and open water wetland types. Large acreages remain inundated or saturated into the hot summer months of the Mojave Desert, with a shallow, near-surface water table present the remainder of the year.  The wetlands are surrounded by the hot, dry Mojave Desert, dominated by saltbush (Atriplex spp.). While many desert plant species go dormant during the hot, dry summer, a significant number of species found on the Refuge have their flowering season during the summer (“Summer is a Season for Wildflowers at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.” Nevada Native Plant Society Newsletter, October 2021.)

It was one of the first four Ramsar sites designated in the United States (18 December 1986). A Brigham Young University study indicates that the water arriving at Ash Meadows is completing a 15,000-year journey, flowing slowly underground from what is now the Nevada Test Site ("Oasis near Death Valley fed by ancient aquifer under Nevada Test Site."). Combined with the adjacent uplands, Ash Meadows protects 11 rare (one Endangered, four Threatened species) of plants; fourteen species of aquatic invertebrates; and three Endangered fish species including one species with two subspecies, both listed as Endangered. Ash Meadows contains the largest remaining oases in the Mojave Desert. Hydrology is supplied by 50+ springs and seeps.  Several springs flow at greater than 1,000 gallons per minute. 


Exemplary Ecosystem Services:
  • Aesthetic/cultural heritage value/provisioning
  • Recreation (birdwatching, ecotourism)
  • Education

For thousands of years, Southern Paiute (Nuwuvi) and Timbisha Shoshone (Newe) settled near the spring pools of Ash Meadows. They lived off the land by tending to corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers; cultivating nutritious mesquite seed pods; and hunting small game. From their Ash Meadows homes, they traveled to the Spring mountains to gather pinyon pine nuts, hunt mountain sheep, and exchange news with friends and relatives.

Their connection to the land was strong and remains strong today. Many descendants live in nearby communities in Southern Nevada and on the Timbisha Shoshone Reservation in Death Valley, California. The old archaeological sites, historical home locations, mesquite groves, and crystal pure waters of Ash Meadows continue to play an important role in their modern culture.

“We treat everything on the land as our relative because it is alive, has a voice, and deserves the utmost respect. This is how we treat each other using the songs and stories of the land." – Quote from the Nuwuvi and Newe Working Group.

In addition to the state of the art visitor center, Ash Meadows offers three accessible boardwalks for birding (bird checklist available at visitor’s center), botanizing (book “Plants of Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge” available from visitor’s center or Death Valley Natural History Association), dog walking, fish viewing, photography, ranger-led programs, and wildlife viewing.

The visitor center, with its educational displays and videos showcasing the Refuge, there is a full-time visitor services manager and knowledgeable front desk staff to answer questions, provide educational ranger-led talks for school and other organizational groups, and programs, such as the junior ranger program.

CONSERVATION STATUS AND THREATS
Conservation status: Ramsar Designation, National Government Protection

Adjacent Land Use: Mining

Approximate natural buffer width: > 100 ft

Public Access: Yes, fairly accessible

Other information:

There is a mine near the extreme south end of the Refuge.  Another potential disturbance (Lithium exploration) is proposed just to the north of the Refuge, and is pending a formal submission to the Bureau of Land Management for review.

ECOLOGY
Approximate size: 9700 ha, approximately 2800 ha of wetlands
General wetland characterization: Inland fresh seasonally flooded basin/flat, Inland fresh meadow, Inland shallow fresh marsh, Inland deep fresh marsh, Inland open fresh water, Inland fresh shrub swamp, Inland fresh wooded swamp, Inland saline flats, Inland saline marsh
Adjacent Water Bod(ies): 
  • Stream
Name of body of water: The springs and wetlands are headwaters/tributaries to the Amargosa River system, which has its headwaters north of Beatty Nevada, with numerous springs and seeps along its course. The river is mostly shallowly subsurface for more than half of its entire length, which is underground to the west of Ash Meadows.  Subsurface water from Ash Meadows has its confluence with the main subsurface flow just south of Death Valley Junction, California. Near the towns of Shoshone and Tecopa California, sections of the river have surface flow.  Waters from the Amargosa River system eventually drain into Badwater, a shallow, highly saline, permanently flooded basin in Death Valley National Park.

Surficial Geology:

Soils:

Soils within wetland vegetation associations are, to a large extent highly saline, with a white, alkali layer, or a low chroma, dark gray to black, silty clay.  Few subsurface soil descriptions are available, due to the protection of archaeological resources on the site.


FLORA AND FAUNA
the Marcell Experiment Forest Peatlands are near the boreal-temperate forest border where we have species from both biomes.

Dominant flora: Wetland-related dominant species: Fraxinus velutina, Baccharis salicina, Typha latifolia and T. domingensis, Schoenoplectus americanus, Pluchea sericea, Juncus balticus, Carex praegracilis, Distichlis spicata, and Phragmites australis.  Two species of mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa and P. pubescens), both of which are indicators of subsurface waters are also dominant in many parts of the Refuge.

Unique flora: Because Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, with its extensive waters and wetlands lies within the Mojave Desert, it is surrounded by many miles of hot, dry desert plant communities. While these plant communities are not uncommon elsewhere, they are unique in this setting. Numerous small stands of California sawgrass (Cladium californicum), Warm Springs Fimbry (Fimbristylis thermalis), and California loosestrife (Lythrun californicum) are associated with the springs.

Dominant fauna: Desert bighorn sheep utilize the springs for water.  Numerous bats are found, with the likely potential occurrence of fifteen species, including the Pallid bat, Spotted bat, Greater western mastiff bat, Allen’s big-eared bat, Silver-haired bat, Western red bat, Hoary bat, Western yellow bat, Western small-footed Myotis, Long-eared Myotis, Ringed Myotis, Long-legged Myotis, Yuma Myotis, and the Big free-tailed bat. Two rodents are also recorded in the wetlands, the Western Harvest Mouse and Botta’s pocket gopher.

Unique fauna: The wetlands and open water habitats are primarily stop over locations for migrating shorebirds and waterfowl (31 species of waterfowl, 4 species of loons, 5 species of grebes, 2 species of pelicans, 1 species of cormorant, 8 species of bitterns and herons, one Ibis, osprey, 6 species of rails, sandhill cranes, 4 species of plovers, 2 species of stilts, 23 species of plovers and sandpipers, 14 species of gulls and terns and belted kingfishers are known to visit or are residents).  A bird checklist is available at the Refuge, printed May 2022.

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